Autodesk 057A1-05A111-1001 - AutoCAD LT 2009, AutoCAD LT 2009 Getting Started Manual

Getting Started

January 2008

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

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Contents

Make the Transition from Paper to CAD . . . . . . . . .1

Draw to Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Lay Out Your Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Organize Drawing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Establish Drafting Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Draw Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Draw Accurately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

View Your Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Create Dimensions and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Modify Your Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Why You Should Use this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Tutorials and Command Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Get Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chapter 2 Work with Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Use the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Cancel a Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Start a Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Undo or Redo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 3 Change Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Zoom to Magnify a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Pan to Reposition a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter 4 Drawing Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Start a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Plan the Drawing Units and Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Understand Models and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Organize Drawings with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Tutorial: Tour a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 5 Draw Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Object Properties Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Draw Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Draw Circles and Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Chapter 6 Precision Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Set Grid and Snap Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Draw with Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Snap to Precise Points on Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Object Snap Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Specify Angles and Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 7 Make Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Select Objects to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Erase, Extend, and Trim Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Duplicate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Move and Rotate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Fillet Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Use Editing Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Analyze Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Chapter 8 Add Symbols and Hatches . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Overview of Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Insert Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Overview of Hatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Insert Hatches or Solid Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Chapter 9 Add Text to a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Create and Modify Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Work with Text Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Set Text Size for the Viewport Scaling. . . . . . . . . . . .129

Chapter 10 Add Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Dimensions Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Create Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Use Dimensioning Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Create and Modify Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Modify Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

iv | Contents

Chapter 11 Create Layouts and Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Work with Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Choose and Configure Plotters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Plot from a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Contents | v

Make the Transition from Paper to CAD

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Draw to Scale

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Draw the object at 1:1 scale in the units you choose.

When you lay out and plot your drawing, you can specify any scale.

Drawing scale is something you consider when laying out your drawing. You establish scale differently in CAD than you do with manual drafting.

With manual drafting, you must determine the scale of a view before you start drawing. This scale compares the size of the actual object to the size of the model drawn on paper.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you first decide what units of measurement you will use, and then draw your model at 1:1 scale.

For example, when you draw a motor part, the length of one unit might equal one millimeter or one inch. When you draw a map, one unit might equal one kilometer or one mile.

This drawing of a mechanical carriage uses millimeters for the length of one unit. Views of the part were scaled later to create the layout for the printed drawing.

Draw to Scale | 3

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Lay Out Your Drawing

You create your basic design, or model, in a drawing area called model space.

When you’re ready to print, you can arrange different views of your model in a layout.

On paper, a layout is constrained by the sheet size you use. In CAD, you are not limited to one particular layout or sheet size.

When you draft manually, you first select a sheet, which usually includes a preprinted border and title block. Then you determine the location for views—plans, elevations, sections, and details. Finally, you start to draw.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you first draw your design, or model, in a working environment called model space. You can then create a layout for that model in an environment called paper space.

A layout represents a drawing sheet. It typically contains a border, title block, dimensions, general notes, and one or more views of the model displayed in layout viewports. Layout viewports are areas, similar to picture frames or windows, through which you can see your model. You scale the views in viewports by zooming in or out.

In this drawing of a cottage, layout viewports display the model in plan and elevation views.

Lay Out Your Drawing | 5

Organize Drawing Information

Turn off layers to hide complex details as you work.

Display layers when you need to see all components.

In both manual drafting and CAD, you need a way to organize your drawing content—a method for separating, sorting, and editing specific drawing data.

With manual drafting, you can separate information onto individual transparent overlays. For example, a building plan might contain separate overlays for its structural, electrical, and plumbing components.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, layers are equivalent to transparent overlays. As with overlays, you can display, edit, and print layers separately or in combination.

You can name layers to help track content, and lock layers so they can't be altered. Assigning settings such as color, linetype, or lineweight to layers helps you comply with industry standards.

You can also use layers to organize drawing objects for plotting. Assigning a plot style to a layer makes all the objects drawn on that layer plot in a similar manner.

This drawing of a press uses layers to define different linetypes and colors.

Organize Drawing Information | 7

Establish Drafting Standards

Dimension, text, and linetype styles can be established in a template drawing and used for creating new drawings.

Whether you work as a member of a team or on an individual project, developing standards is a requirement for efficient communication.

Manual drafting requires meticulous accuracy in drawing linetypes, lineweights, text, dimensions, and more. Standards must be established in the beginning and applied consistently.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you can ensure conformity to industry or company standards by creating styles that you can apply consistently.

You can create styles for text, dimensions, and linetypes. A text style, for example, establishes font and format characteristics such as height, width, and slant.

You can save styles, layers, layouts, title block and border information, and some command settings in drawing template files. Using drawing templates helps you quickly start new drawings that conform to standards.

This drawing of a roadway plan uses styles to maintain drafting standards for text, dimensioning, and linetypes.

Establish Drafting Standards | 9

Draw Efficiently

You can save drafting time by drawing one half of an item and then mirroring it to create the other half.

Draw with less effort and revise with more speed: these are two primary reasons you use CAD. You are provided with a complete set of drawing and editing tools to help eliminate repetitive, timeconsuming drafting tasks.

With manual drafting, you use drawing tools that include pencils, scales, compasses, parallel rules, templates, and erasers. Repetitive drawing and editing tasks must be done manually.

In AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you can choose from a variety of drawing tools that create lines, circles, spline curves, and more.

You can easily move, copy, offset, rotate, and mirror objects. You can also copy objects between open drawings.

In this drawing of a trolley, copying and mirroring were used to create repeated and symmetrical features. Offsetting was also used to draw parallel lines more efficiently.

Draw Efficiently | 11

Draw Accurately

The polar tracking feature displays visual guidelines at specific angles and can snap the cursor to an angle.

With object snaps, when you place your cursor here…

you can snap to the center point automatically.

Engineering and architectural drawings require a high degree of accuracy. With CAD, you draft more accurately than with manual methods.

With manual drafting, you must draw objects carefully to ensure correct size and alignment. Objects drawn to scale must be manually verified and dimensioned.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you can use several methods to obtain exact dimensions.

The simplest method is to locate points by snapping to an interval on a rectangular grid.

Another method is to specify exact coordinates. Coordinates specify a drawing location by indicating a point along an X and Y axis or a distance and angle from another point.

With object snaps, you can snap to locations on existing objects, such as an endpoint of an arc, the midpoint of a line, or the center point of a circle.

With polar tracking, you can snap to previously set angles and specify distances along those angles.

In this drawing of a pumping station, object snaps were used to ensure that lines connected perfectly. Polar tracking was used to draw lines at correct angles.

Draw Accurately | 13

View Your Drawing

You can zoom out to see more of your design, or zoom in to see more detail.

You can pan to shift to another area of your design.

The power of CAD makes it easy for you to quickly view different parts of your design at different magnifications.

With manual drafting, the size and resolution of your drawing is fixed.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, the size and resolution of your drawing can be changed as needed.

To do detailed work, you can increase display size by zooming in. You can zoom out to display more of the drawing. To move to another section of a drawing, you pan the drawing without changing magnification.

You can zoom and pan to create the best working conditions. This can be invaluable when working on large and detailed drawings, such as this health spa plan.

View Your Drawing | 15

Create Dimensions and Text

If you make dimensions associative, you can update the dimension size and value automatically when you stretch or scale the dimensioned object.

You can create leader lines with associated text. If you move the text, the leader is adjusted automatically.

Creating accurate dimensions and consistent, legible text is a time-consuming task for the manual drafter. CAD provides ways to streamline this task.

With manual drafting, if you resize any part of the drawing, you must erase and then redraw the dimensions. Changing text can often involve relettering the whole drawing.

With AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you create associative dimensions and text on the layout in paper space.

Associative dimensions are tied to the underlying model. Changes to the model automatically update the dimension values.

Standard types of dimensions include linear, radial, ordinate, angular, baseline, and more.

You can easily revise the content, font, size, spacing, and rotation of text in dimensions and notes.

In this detail drawing of a gutter, the text, leaders, and dimensions describe the required hardware.

Create Dimensions and Text | 17

Modify Your Drawing

Once you draw something, you can easily copy it without having to re-create it.

Revisions are a part of any drawing project. Whether you work on paper or with CAD, you will need to modify your drawing in some way.

On paper, you must erase and redraw to make revisions to your drawing manually.

CAD eliminates tedious manual editing by providing a variety of editing tools. If you need to copy all or part of an object, you don’t have to redraw it. If you need to remove an object, you can erase it with a few clicks of the mouse. And if you make an error, you can quickly undo your actions.

Once you draw an object, you never need to redraw it. You can modify existing objects by mirroring, rotating, scaling, stretching, trimming, and more. You can also change object properties, such as linetype, lineweight, color, and layer, at any time.

These before-and-after drawings show some typical edits to a house elevation. The revision cloud feature is used to mark areas of change.

Modify Your Drawing | 19

Introduction

Why You Should Use this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Tutorials and Command Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Get Additional Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Why You Should Use this Guide

Menu Browser

This Getting Started guide provides an introduction to the most commonly used features of both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. Use it to learn the basic features so you can begin working quickly.

Because you are provided with a rich set of features, there are often many ways of accomplishing a task. This guide focuses on the following:

■ What do you need to know to get started?

■ What is the recommended method for using the features presented?

After you become more familiar with the features, you will find your own ways of working efficiently based on the type of work that you do.

Tutorials and Command Access

There are severals ways you can access commands in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. They can be accessed through the command line, the ribbon, toolbars, palettes, and the Menu Browser.

Because the ribbon might have been customized, and some commands are not accessible from the ribbon, the tutorials in this guide usually direct you to access commands through the Menu Browser.

22 | Chapter 1 Introduction

NOTE All screen shots and dialog boxes in this guide display AutoCAD LT in the title bar. For the

2 Enter a

keyword

3 Double-click to

view a topic

4 Click to display a concept

related to the selected topic

5 Click to list

procedures related to the selected topic

6 Click to list

commands related to the selected topic

1 Click the

Index tab

explanations and tutorials in the Getting Started guide, there is no difference whether you use AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT. The features presented are identical.

Get Additional Information

Additional resources are available when you need more information. From the Help menu, you can access the following resources:

■ Help provides procedures, conceptual information, and command descriptions. You can also press F1 at the Command prompt, in a dialog box, or at a prompt within a command to display Help information.

■ New Features Workshop provides a series of overviews about new features.

■ Additional Resources provides several options for additional help from the Web.

Access Related Topics in the Help System

Keyword references are displayed at the end of most Getting Started topics. For example, the following information indicates that you can find concepts, procedures, commands, and system variables related to the LINE command by entering line in the Index tab of the Help window.

LINE

Try it: Locate a Help topic using a keyword

■ Start AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT and press the F1 key. Then follow the steps in the illustration.

Get Additional Information | 23

Tutorial: Use the Help System

In this tutorial, you will use the Help system to find information about how to start a drawing with a template file and how to create a layout.

NOTE It is important to learn how to use the Help system effectively. The Help system can provide

answers to save you from needless frustration.

1 Start AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT and press F1 to display the Help window.

2 In the left pane of the Help window, click the Contents tab if necessary to display the table of

contents. Then click the plus sign (+) next to User’s Guide.

The User’s Guide expands to display a list of chapters.

3 In the left pane, click directly on the title, Start, Organize, and Save a Drawing. The right pane of

the Help window displays links to several topics, with descriptions for each one.

4 In the right pane, click Start a Drawing. Then click Use a Template File to Start a Drawing.

You have navigated to a destination topic in the Help system. Notice that the table of contents in the left pane displays the topic structure for easy navigation.

24 | Chapter 1 Introduction

5 Click the Procedure tab. Then click the first procedure on the list. Click the Procedure tab to

redisplay the list.

6 Click the Quick Reference tab. The Quick Reference tab lists all commands and system variables

that are associated with this topic.

If you click a link on this tab, the Command Reference is opened in Help, and provides details about command and dialog box options.

7 Next, in the left pane, click the Search tab.

You will now locate topics that contain the word layout.

8 Type the word layout and press ENTER.

Several topics that contain the word layout are displayed. For the best results, enter several keywords or an exact phrase in quotes.

NOTE You can click the column labeled Title to sort the list of topics alphabetically. Then, click

the column labeled Location to sort the list of topics by book: Command Reference, User’s Guide, and so on.

9 Scroll down to find the User’s Guide topic, Work on a Layout Tab. Then double-click the topic.

The topic is displayed. But how do you know where you are in the table of contents? How can you display an adjacent, related topic?

Get Additional Information | 25

10 In the left pane, click the Contents tab.

The table of contents opens to the current topic. Use this method to find related topics easily.

NOTE If the table of contents does not automatically open to the current topic, click the Concept tab

in the right pane.

11 In the left pane, right-click any topic and then click Close All.

This is a quick method for collapsing the table of contents when too many subtopics are displayed.

12 Close the Help window.

26 | Chapter 1 Introduction

For more information, read Use the Help System Efficiently. In the Help system, on the Contents tab, click User’s Guide ➤ Get Information ➤ Find the Information You Need ➤ Use the Help System Efficiently.

To get started

Action Menu Browser

Access the Help system Help ➤ Help

Use New Features Workshop Help ➤ New Features Workshop

Find training resources Help ➤ Additional Resources ➤

Online Training Resources

Help system

HELP

Review and Recall

1 What is the purpose of the tabs in the right pane of the Help window?

2 In the left pane of the Help window, when would you use the Contents tab rather than the Index tab?

3 From what menu can you get information about new features?

Get Additional Information | 27

Work with Commands

Use the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Cancel a Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Start a Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Undo or Redo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Use the Mouse

specify points or select objects

display a shortcut menu

rotate to zoom, press to pan

Most people use a mouse as their pointing device. On a two-button mouse, the left button is usually the pick button, used to specify points or select objects in the drawing area. With the right button, you can display a shortcut menu that contains relevant commands and options. Different shortcut menus are displayed depending on where you move the cursor.

NOTE To see what options are available in any situation, try right-clicking to display a shortcut menu.

A wheel mouse is a two-button mouse with a small wheel between the buttons. This wheel can be rotated or pressed down to zoom and pan your drawing quickly. It is highly recommended that you use a wheel mouse.

Cancel a Command

If you accidentally click in the screen, display a shortcut menu, or start a command, you can always escape by pressing the ESC key on your keyboard.

Try it: Cancel a selection

■ Click in the drawing area and move the mouse. You are now in an object selection mode. Press ESC to cancel.

Start a Command

You can start a command using the Menu Browser, a toolbar, a palette, or the command line. Because AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are very flexible, you can work in the way that feels most comfortable to you.

You can choose commands from several different kinds of menus:

30 | Chapter 2 Work with Commands

■ Menu Browser access is from the bright red button at the top-left corner of the application

command window

command line

window. All the commands for the tutorials in this book are accessible from these menus.

■ The Object Snap menu is displayed when you hold down SHIFT and click the right mouse button. Object snaps facilitate precision drawing by snapping the cursor onto a feature on an object such as the endpoint of a line or the center of a circle.

■ Shortcut menus are displayed when you click the right mouse button. Different menus are displayed when you right-click an object, right-click in the drawing area, right-click a toolbar, or right-click within a dialog box, palette, or window.

Start Commands on the Command Line

You can initiate commands by typing them on the command line within the command window instead of using toolbars or menus. Additionally, some commands must be completed on the command line, regardless of how they are started.

Some commands have abbreviated names or command aliases. For example, you can enter c as an alias for CIRCLE.

After you type the command on the command line, press ENTER or SPACEBAR to start the command. You can also repeat the previous command by pressing ENTER or SPACEBAR.

NOTE In this guide and in the Help system, when you are instructed to enter something, type the bold-

face value on the command line, and then press the ENTER key.

Specify a Command Option

When you start a command, you will often see a set of options on the command line. For example, when you enter the CIRCLE command, the following prompt is displayed on the command line:

Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:

The default option, “Specify center point for circle,” is displayed before the square brackets. Alternate options are displayed between the aquare brackets.

■ To accept the default option, enter coordinate values, or use the pointing device to click a center point in the drawing area.

■ To choose a different option, enter the capitalized letters in the option name. For example, type 2P and press ENTER to choose the Two-Point option.

Start a Command | 31

Use the Dynamic Prompt

In addition to the prompt on the command line, a similar prompt is displayed next to the cursor called the dynamic prompt.

With the dynamic prompt, you can keep your eyes on your work and you don’t have to look down to the command line.

To display command options in the dynamic input prompt, press the DOWN ARROW key, and then click an option on the menu.

Try it: Use the Menu Browser to draw a line

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Click Draw ➤ Click Line.

2 At the Specify First Point prompt, click anywhere in the drawing area to locate a point.

The prompt changes: Specify Next Point or [Undo].

3 At the Specify Next Point or [Undo] prompt, click anywhere else in the drawing area to specify the

endpoint of the line segment.

4 Create a second line segment by clicking again to locate another point.

The Specify Next Point or [Undo] prompt is repeated so you can continue to draw segments until you end the LINE command.

5 Press ENTER to end the LINE command.

The two line segments that you just created share an endpoint, but are separate objects.

6 Click Modify ➤ Erase, and click each line. Then press ENTER to end the erase command.

Try it: Use the ribbon to draw a line

1 Home tab ➤ Draw panel ➤ Click the Line button.

2 Draw two line segments.

3 Home tab ➤ Modify panel ➤ Click the Erase button.

4 Click each line and then press ENTER to erase the lines.

32 | Chapter 2 Work with Commands

Try it: Use the command line to draw a line

1 On the command line, type line or the letter L. Press ENTER.

2 Click anywhere in the drawing area to locate a point.

3 At the Specify Next Point or [Undo] prompt, click anywhere else in the drawing area to specify

the endpoint of the line segment.

4 At the Specify Next Point or [Undo] prompt, click anywhere else in the drawing area to specify

the endpoint of the line segment.

5 Type u and press ENTER to undo the last line segment and click another location for the

endpoint.

6 Then type c (Close) and press ENTER to add a third line segment that connects to the initial point

and ends the command.

Try it: Use the command line to draw a circle

1 On the command line, enter circle or the letter c (type c and press ENTER).

2 At the Specify Center Point for Circle prompt, click anywhere in the drawing area to locate a

point.

3 At the Specify Radius of Circle prompt, enter 5 (type 5 and press ENTER).

4 On the command line, press ENTER to repeat the CIRCLE command.

5 Enter 2P to create a circle using two points (type 2P and press ENTER).

6 Click anywhere in the drawing to locate each point.

7 Repeat the CIRCLE command several more times, using each of the other options.

8 When you’re done, enter erase or e, and click each circle to select it. Then press ENTER to erase

the selected circles.

Try it: Use the dynamic prompt to draw a circle

1 At the dynamic prompt, enter circle or the letter c.

2 At the Specify Center Point for Circle prompt, press the DOWN ARROW key.

3 Click one of the CIRCLE options on the menu and complete the command.

Start a Command | 33

Undo or Redo Commands

Redo

Undo

Occasionally you will need to undo some of your work. Two Standard toolbar buttons reverse mistakes in your drawings.

■ Undo. You can backtrack previous actions. For example, click Undo to delete an object that you just created.

■ Redo. You can reinstate the actions that you backtracked with Undo. For example, click Redo to restore the object that you just undid.

To get started

Action Shortcut Menu Keyboard

End a command Right-click ➤ Enter ENTER or SPACEBAR

Repeat a command Right-click ➤ Repeat <action> ENTER or SPACEBAR

Cancel a command Right-click ➤ Cancel ESC

Undo the previous command Right-click ➤ Undo <action> U and press ENTER

Help system

OPTIONS, U, UNDO, REDO

Review and Recall

1 What are three ways that you can start a command?

2 What other key can you use to end or repeat a command in addition to ENTER?

3 What should you do to cancel a command?

34 | Chapter 2 Work with Commands

It will be easier to create or modify objects in this drawing by zooming in to magnify the view.

After you finish working on an area, you can zoom out to get a better overall view.

Once you have zoomed in, you can pan the view to center the objects you are working on.

Change Views

Zoom to Magnify a View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Pan to Reposition a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Zoom to Magnify a View

zoomed out zoomed in

A view is a specific magnification, position, and orientation of your design. The most common way to change a view is zooming. Zooming increases or decreases the magnification of the image displayed in the drawing area.

There are several methods for zooming in your drawings.

Zoom by Moving the Cursor

You can use a pointing device to zoom in real time—that is, to zoom in or out by moving the cursor. With the Realtime option of the ZOOM command, you drag the cursor up to zoom in; drag it down to zoom out. If you use a wheel mouse, rotate the top of the wheel forward to zoom in and rotate it backward to zoom out.

Zoom to a Specified Area

With the Window option of the ZOOM command, you can quickly zoom in on a specific area by using the mouse to define a rectangular zoom window. The area you define is centered in the new view.

Zoom to Display the Entire Drawing

Use the Extents option of the ZOOM command to display the entire drawing. This is useful when you need to return to an overall view quickly. This option is also useful if your drawing area is blank as a result of zooming in too close on a blank area or panning too far off the drawing area.

38 | Chapter 3 Change Views

Pan to Reposition a View

before PAN after PAN

Panning is another common way to change a view. Panning moves the position of the image displayed in any two-dimensional direction.

Pan by Moving the Cursor

You can pan in real time—that is, use the pointing device to reposition the image in the drawing area. Within the PAN command, drag the cursor to pan the image to a new location. If you use a wheel mouse, hold the wheel down and move the mouse to pan.

Tutorial: Zoom and Pan

In this tutorial, you can practice zooming and panning operations using the commands in the Menu Browser or directly with a wheel mouse.

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ Open.

2 In the Open dialog box, find the Sample folder in the AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT program files

folder. Click on each drawing file and open one that looks interesting.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ View ➤ Zoom ➤ Window.

4 Click somewhere near the center of the drawing. Move your cursor to form a rectangular area

and click again.

5 Click Menu Browser ➤ View ➤ Pan ➤ Realtime.

6 Drag the cursor in any direction to reposition the view. Press ESC to end the operation.

7 Continue to practice zooming and panning with these options:

■ Zoom Realtime (or use the wheel on a wheel mouse)

■ Zoom Previous

■ Zoom Window

■ Zoom Extents

■ Pan Realtime (or hold the wheel down and move the mouse)

Pan to Reposition a View | 39

Practice these options until you are comfortable with zooming and panning. These are the most common options for drawing in 2D.

NOTE If you zoom in and you notice that arcs and circles lose their smoothness, or if you can’t

zoom in or out beyond a limit, you can regenerate the display. Click View menu ➤ Regen All. This command also removes stray pixels.

8 (Optional) If you have a wheel mouse, you can zoom and pan without entering a command. Try

the following operations:

■ Move your cursor to an area in the drawing and rotate the wheel forward and backward to zoom in and out. Notice that your cursor location determines the stationary reference point of your zoom operation.

■ Press the wheel down and drag the view to pan it.

■ Double-click the wheel to zoom to the extents of the drawing.

9 Close the sample drawing without saving it.

To get started

Action Menu Browser Ribbon

Pan View ➤ Pan Home tab ➤ Utilities panel ➤

Pan

Zoom View ➤ Zoom Home tab ➤ Utilities panel ➤

Realtime

Reset the display limit for zooming View ➤ Regen

Smooth arcs and circles View ➤ Regen

Help system

PAN, ZOOM, REGEN, REGENALL

Review and Recall

1 What ZOOM option should you use to fit your entire drawing into the drawing area?

2 What is a fast way to redisplay the previous view?

3 What command smooths the display of curves and removes stray pixels?

40 | Chapter 3 Change Views

Establish layers to organize information as if on transparent drawing overlays.

Assign standard lineweights to ensure that lines will plot the same way regardless of drawing scale.

Use various linetypes to help identify different types of objects.

Drawing Setup

Start a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Plan the Drawing Units and Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Understand Models and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Organize Drawings with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Tutorial: Tour a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Start a Drawing

drawing template file with included title block

There are several ways to start a new drawing. The recommended method is to start with a drawing template file.

A drawing template file contains predefined settings, standards, and definitions that will save you significant setup time. When you start a drawing with a drawing template, these settings are passed on to the new drawing. Drawing template files include settings and basic drawing elements that you will use often, such as

■ Unit type and precision

■ Tool settings and preferences

■ Layer organization

■ Title blocks, borders, and logos

■ Dimension styles

■ Text styles

■ Linetypes and lineweights

■ Plot styles

Your product includes several drawing template files, including some that facilitate compliance with ANSI, DIN, ISO, and JIS standards. Nevertheless, it is very likely that you will customize one or more of these, or build your own drawing template files to meet your standards and requirements.

You can create a drawing template file by saving a drawing using the .dwt extension.

44 | Chapter 4 Drawing Setup

Try it: Open a drawing template file

1 Start a new drawing.

2 In the Select Template dialog box, click one of the following drawing template files and then

click Open.

■ Tutorial-mArch.dwt. Sample architectural template (metric)

■ Tutorial-mMfg.dwt. Sample mechanical design template (metric)

■ Tutorial-iArch.dwt. Sample architectural template (imperial)

■ Tutorial-iMfg.dwt. Sample mechanical design template (imperial)

The metric template files are scaled to use millimeters as the drawing unit, and the imperial template files are scaled to use inches as the drawing unit.

Start a Drawing | 45

Plan the Drawing Units and Scale

Shaft 1 unit = 1 mm (grid spacing = 2 mm)

Office plan 1 unit = 1 inch (grid spacing = 12 inches)

Unlike manual drafting, you don’t need to worry about setting a scale before you start drawing. Even though you eventually print or plot to paper at a specified scale, you create the model at 1:1 scale. However, before you start a drawing, you must first decide what drawing units you will use.

Choose the Drawing Units

In AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, distances are measured in drawing units. In a drawing, one drawing unit may equal one inch, one millimeter, one meter, or one mile.

Before you begin drawing, you decide what one drawing unit will represent—there is no setting that determines the length of a drawing unit.

Set the Format of Drawing Units

After you decide what drawing units to use, you can set the format of the drawing units. The format settings available for linear units are as follows:

■ Architectural. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1’-3 1/2”

■ Decimal. A length of 15.5 units displays as 15.5000

■ Engineering. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1’-3.5”

■ Fractional. A length of 15.5 units displays as 15 1/2

■ Scientific. A length of 15.5 units displays as 1.5000E+1

46 | Chapter 4 Drawing Setup

For example, if you are a mechanical engineer who normally works in millimeters, you would set the format for linear units to decimal. If you are an architect who normally works in feet and inches, you would set the format to architectural.

The drawing unit format controls only the display style of the drawing units on-screen, such as in the display of coordinates and values in the Properties palette, dialog boxes, and prompts.

Try it: Check the drawing unit format and precision

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Units. In the Drawing Units dialog box, notice the display style

selected for linear and for angular units.

NOTE Think of this dialog box as the Drawing Units Format dialog box.

2 Notice the value displayed under Precision. This represents the decimal or fractional rounding

of values displayed on-screen.

3 Close the dialog box.

Plan the Drawing Units and Scale | 47

Understand Models and Layouts

full-size model of a part created at 1:1 scale

layout with title block and rectangular layout viewports that contain scaled views

layout with viewports using different scales

The Model and layout buttons on the status bar provide two working environments. You use Model space to draw a full-size model of your subject. With layout space you can create a multiple-view layout for plotting.

■ Model space accesses a limitless drawing area.In model space, you first decide whether one unit represents one millimeter, one meter, one inch, or some other drawing unit. Next, you set the drawing unit format. Then you draw at 1:1 scale.

■ Layout space accesses drawing layouts. When you set up a layout, you specify the paper size you want to use. The layout represents a printed drawing sheet in which you can display one or more views of the model at various scales. This layout environment is called paper space. Here you create layout viewports that act as windows into model space. Each layout viewport can contain a different view of the model.

48 | Chapter 4 Drawing Setup

Try it: Switch between the Model and layout space

1 At the bottom-center of the application window toward the right side, click the Model button.

This action displays Model space, where you create and modify the geometry for your model.

The strip along the bottom of the application window is called the drawing status bar.

2 Right-click the same Model button and click the Display Model and Layout Tabs option. This

displays tabs at the bottom-left of your drawing area.

When you are learning, it’s easier to work with the tabs. You can hide the tabs and return to using buttons by right-clicking a tab and then clicking Hide Model and Layout tabs from the shortcut menu.

3 Click the layout tab to the right of the Model tab. Layouts are used to create printed drawings.

The layout has already been prepared, including a sample title block and a layout viewport, the blue rectangle.

4 On the layout, double-click anywhere within the rectangular viewport area. This is how you

access model space from a layout to pan the model space view and to add dimensions.

Notice that the border of the layout viewport becomes thicker and the crosshairs cursor is active only within the layout viewport.

5 Double-click in a blank area outside the rectangular viewport. This returns you to paper space.

The border of the layout viewport is no longer as thick and the crosshairs cursor is active within the entire drawing area.

6 Click the Model tab to return to Model space.

Understand Models and Layouts | 49

Organize Drawings with Layers

walls

furniture

all layers

electrical

Layers are the equivalent of the overlays used in manual drafting. In CAD, they are an important organizational tool.

Each layer includes an assigned color, linetype, and lineweight. Before you create objects, you set the layer on which the objects are to be created. This is called the current layer. By default, the current layer’s color, linetype, and lineweight are assigned automatically to the new objects you create.

Assign Layers

You can organize the drawing by assigning similar components to the same layer. For example, you can create a layer called Electrical and assign it the color green. Whenever you draw electrical objects, you switch to that layer. The objects you draw are created on the Electrical layer and are colored green.

Later, if you don’t want to view or plot electrical objects, you can turn off that layer.

NOTE It is very important to establish and maintain a company-wide layer standard. With a layer

standard, drawing organization will be more logical, consistent, compatible, and maintainable over time. Layer standards are essential for team projects.

Try it: Display the list of layers in a drawing

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Layer.

2 In the Layer Properties Manager, notice the name and default properties assigned to each layer.

These layers are just a sample of the types of layers that you will need to use in a well-organized drawing. There are many layer standards already in use, including those specified in companies and those recommended by professional organizations.

3 Enlarge the right side of the dialog box to display all of the columns. Click the titles of the Status,

Color, and Name columns to rearrange the order of the layers.

Review the descriptions of each layer in the column on the far right.

50 | Chapter 4 Drawing Setup

Control Layers

To make objects on a layer invisible, you can turn off the layer or freeze it in the Layer Properties Manager. You can also lock layers to reduce the possibility of modifying objects accidentally.

■ Turn off layers. Use this option rather than freezing if you frequently need to switch a layer’s visibility.

■ Freeze layers. Use this option if you don’t need a layer to be visible for a long time. Thawing a frozen layer causes an automatic regeneration of the drawing and is slower than turning a layer on.

■ Lock layers. Use this option to prevent objects on a layer from being modified. You can still use the objects on a locked layer for operations that don’t modify the objects. For example, you can snap to these objects to use them as guides for precision drawing.

Organize Drawings with Layers | 51

Tutorial: Tour a Drawing

In this tutorial, you tour a drawing of an arbor and picket fence design.

1 Click Menu browser ➤ File ➤ Open.

2 In the Select File dialog box, find the \Help\GettingStarted folder in the AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT

product folder and open arbor.dwg.

For you don’t see the drawing files, check to make sure that the Files of Type drop down list in the dialog box is set to Drawing (.dwg).

3 Click the Model tab (or click the Model button on the status bar).

4 As you move the mouse over the objects in the drawing, notice that the objects are automatically

highlighted.

5 Zoom and pan in model space to inspect the arbor design.

6 Perform a Zoom Extents to display the entire design.

7 Click the ANSI C Layout tab.

8 Zoom and pan in paper space to inspect the drawing layout.

9 Perform a Zoom Extents to display the entire layout.

10 Click Menu browser ➤ Format ➤ Layer. In the Layer Properties Manager, review the list of layers

that were created to organize this drawing.

Notice that the current layer has a green check next to it.

11 Click several lightbulb icons to turn off several layers.

12 Click the column labeled On to arrange the layers according to whether they are on or off. Then

turn the layers back on.

13 Click the Color column to arrange the layers according to color.

14 Click the Name column and click OK.

15 Close the drawing without saving it.

52 | Chapter 4 Drawing Setup

To get started

Action Menu Browser Icon

Start a new drawing File ➤ New

Save a drawing template File ➤ Save As

Set the display style of the units Format ➤ Units

Create a layout Insert ➤ Layout ➤ New Layout

Create and modify layers Format ➤ Layer

Help system

NEW, SAVEAS, STARTUP, UNITS, MODEL, LAYOUT, LAYER

Review and Recall

1 Why is it important to start a drawing from a drawing template file?

2 What is the difference between choosing drawing units and setting the drawing unit format?

3 What is the difference between the Model tab and a layout tab?

4 What are several benefits to creating a drawing with layers?

Tutorial: Tour a Drawing | 53

Create rectangles easily

Use lines for drawing objects and for construction geometry

Use circles and arcs to create regular curves

Offset lines to create parallel lines

Use polylines to combine line and arc segments

Use splines to create smooth, non-uniform curves

Draw Objects

Object Properties Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Draw Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Draw Circles and Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Object Properties Overview

click the icon to expand or collapse a category of properties

click to change a property

Right-click to set palette behavior options

All objects that you create have properties. Object properties are settings that control the appearance and geometric characteristics of an object. The general properties that are common to all objects are listed below. All other object properties are specific to the type of object.

Color Linetype scale Hyperlink

Layer Plot style Lineweight

Linetype Thickness

Assign Object Properties

Typically, you assign object properties using one of the following strategies:

■ By layer. Properties are assigned to a layer. Objects that are drawn on that layer automatically use those properties.

■ Individual properties. Properties are assigned to objects individually, regardless of the layer that they are drawn on.

56 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Use the Properties Palette

Color control

Linetype control

Lineweight control

Plotstyle control

Properties panel

The Properties palette is the primary tool for viewing, setting, and modifying the properties of objects. The Properties palette operates as follows:

■ If no objects are selected, the Properties palette displays the current default property settings, and you can set the default properties for all subsequently created objects.

■ When you click an object, the Properties palette displays the properties of that object, and you can change its properties.

■ If you click multiple objects, the Properties palette displays all the properties that they have in common, and you can change their common properties.

Try it: Display the Properties palette

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ New.

2 In the Select Template dialog box, click one of the drawing template files and then click Open.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Properties.

Leaving the palette open keeps it handy. You can turn on Auto-hide to make the Properties palette appear and disappear when your cursor moves over the Properties palette title bar.

Try it: Change the Auto-hide behavior of the Properties palette

1 Right-click the Properties palette title bar. Click Auto-hide on the shortcut menu.

2 Move the cursor on and off the Properties palette. Leave the Properties palette open.

Use the Properties Panel

You can use the controls in the Properties panel and the Layers panel to view, set, and modify the properties the same way as the Properties palette. By default, these panels are displayed in the Home tab of the ribbon located above the drawing area.

The Properties panel provides convenient access to the most important object properties.

Object Properties Overview | 57

Use the Layers Panel

Layer control

make the layer of the currently selected object the current layer

Layer Properties Manager

turn off the layer of a selected object the current layer.

Layers panel

The Layers panel controls layers and layer properties. Use the Layer Properties Manager button to change layer settings. The Layer control, a drop-down list, provides a quick method for changing several layer properties and for changing the current layer.

Tutorial: Change Object Properties

In this tutorial, you will use several controls to view and change the properties of layers and objects.

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ Open.

2 In the Select File dialog box, find the \Help\GettingStarted folder in the AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT

product folder and open arbor.dwg.

3 Click the Model tab.

4 Move your cursor onto the title bar of the Properties palette to open it.

Examine the current default properties settings.

5 Click a dimension object in the drawing to select it.

Notice that several properties of this object are displayed in the Properties panel on the ribbon. The layer of the object is Dimension. The color, linetype, and lineweight properties of the object are set to ByLayer. The color of the Dimension layer is red.

6 Move your cursor onto the title bar of the Properties palette to open it.

Examine the additional properties of the dimension object displayed in the Properties palette.

7 Click several more objects with different colors. Move your cursor onto the title bar of the

Properties palette.

Notice that only the common properties of the objects are listed.

8 Move your cursor off the Properties palette and press ESC to cancel the selection.

58 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Change the default color of a layer

Color control

Properties panel

Layer control

Layers panel

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Layer.

2 In the Layer Properties Manager, click the red box under the Color column of the Dimension

layer.

3 In the Select Color dialog box, click the green box and click OK. Close the Layer Properties

Manager.

Notice that all the objects on the Dimension layer are now green. Because all of the dimensions are on a single layer, you can change the properties of all objects on that layer in one operation.

Change the color of an individual object

1 Click any green dimension object to select it.

2 Properties panel ➤ Click the Color control ➤ Click Magenta.

The color of the selected object changes to magenta, overriding the green color of the object’s layer. If you change the layer color, the dimension object’s color will remain magenta.

3 Press ESC to exit.

4 Click the same dimension object.

5 Click the Color control and click ByLayer. This restores the color property behavior of the

dimension object.

Change the current layer

1 Click the Layer control on the Layers panel.

2 Click a different layer to make it the current layer.

All new objects will be created on this layer until you change the current layer to a different one.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Layer

4 In the Layer Properties Manager, click a layer to select it.

Object Properties Overview | 59

5 Click the green check mark button at the top of the Layer Properties Manager. Click OK to make

the selected layer the current layer.

6 On the Layers panel, click the Layer control again.

7 Click the lightbulb image for the Dimension layer to turn it off. Then click anywhere in the

drawing area.

All objects on the Dimension layer are now hidden.

8 Use the Layer Properties Manager to turn the Dimension layer back on.

9 Close the drawing without saving it.

60 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Use Linetypes

CONTINUOUS

HIDDEN

CENTER

PHANTOM

You can associate a single linetype with all of the objects drawn on the same layer or you can assign linetypes individually to objects.

To use a linetype, you must first load it into your drawing using the Linetype Manager.

Try it: Load a linetype and make it current

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ New, and select a drawing template file.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Linetype.

3 In the Linetype Manager, click Load.

4 In the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog box, scroll down the list of linetypes and click

HIDDENX2. Click OK.

5 Click Show Details.

Several linetype scaling options are displayed. Notice the Use Paper Space Units for Scaling option. You check this option if you want linetypes automatically scaled in layout viewports.

6 Click the HIDDENX2 linetype and click Current. Click OK.

Object Properties Overview | 61

Notice that the Properties panel in the ribbon displays the HIDDENX2 linetype as current rather

Dashed linetype scaled to the model

the Dashed linetype scaled to the layout

than BYLAYER. All subsequently created objects will be displayed using this linetype. This setting overrides the linetype assigned to the current layer.

7 Click the Model tab.

8 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Line, and click several locations in the drawing area to draw line

segments. Press ENTER to end the command.

9 Use the Linetype Manager or the Properties panel to return the current linetype to BYLAYER.

All subsequently created objects will be displayed using the linetype assigned to the current layer.

Scale Linetypes

When you scale views in layout viewports, you can create inconsistencies in the appearance of linetypes. In noncontinuous linetypes, the length of dashes and dots, and the space between them, may increase or decrease. You can set the scaling to correspond to the model or layout scale or to remain the same at any zoom scale.

Use the Details area of the Linetype Manager to control the linetype scale in layout viewports.

■ Global Scale Factor. Sets the global scale factor for all linetypes.

■ Current Object Scale. Sets the linetype scale for newly created objects.

■ Use Paper Space Units for Scaling. Scales the linetypes in paper space and model space identically.

To update a linetype scale, you need to regenerate the model space display within a layout viewport on the layout tab. The steps required are

1 Click a layout tab.

2 Double-click within a layout viewport to enter model space.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ View ➤ Regen.

The linetypes within the layout viewport are scaled according to the viewport display scale setting.

62 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Assign Lineweights

Using lineweights, you can create heavy and thin lines to show cuts in sections, depth in elevations, dimension lines and tick marks, and differences in details. Lineweights are independent of the current display scale. Objects with a heavier lineweight always appear at the specified line width regardless of display scale.

Try it: Choose a lineweight and make it current

1 Click the Model tab.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Lineweight.

3 In the Lineweight Settings dialog box, under Lineweights, click a heavier lineweight such as 0.50

mm or 0.020".

4 Click Display Lineweight and click OK.

Notice that the Properties panel displays the new lineweight as current. From now on, objects that are created will be displayed using the heavier lineweight.

5 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Line, and draw several line segments. Press ENTER.

6 Use the Lineweight Settings dialog box or the Properties toolbar to return the current linetype to

BYLAYER.

From now on, objects that are created will be displayed using the lineweight assigned to the current layer.

7 Practice setting linetypes and lineweights.

NOTE You can assign a color, linetype, or lineweight to individual objects, regardless of the default

layer setting. Whether you choose to assign these properties individually or by layer settings depends on your drawing organization and company standards.

Object Properties Overview | 63

Draw Lines

offset arcs

offset lines

The line is the most basic object that you will use. A line can be one segment or a series of successive segments, but each segment is a separate line object. If you need to draw a series of line segments as a single object, such as in a contour map, you create a polyline object instead.

Create Parallel Lines

An offset line is an exact replica of a line that is drawn at a specified distance from the original line. You can use the OFFSET command to create parallel lines as well as concentric circles and parallel curves.

Offsetting objects is a very efficient construction method.

Try it: Offset a line to create parallel lines

1 Draw a line.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Offset.

3 At the offset distance prompt, enter 10.

4 Click the line that you want to offset.

5 Click on one side of the line.

6 Press ENTER to end the command.

Draw Polylines and Polygons

A polyline is a connected sequence of line or arc segments created as a single object. Use polylines for creating objects such as

■ Traces on printed circuit boards

■ Borders

■ Contour lines, roads, and rivers in maps

■ Segments with fixed or tapered widths

Polygons are closed polylines with equal-length sides and angles. The Polygon command is the simplest method for creating equilateral triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, and so on.

64 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Draw Polylines

endpoint of arc final segment

To draw each polyline segment, you specify a start point and an endpoint. To draw additional segments, continue to specify points in your drawing.

Try it: Create a polyline

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Polyline.

2 At each prompt, click a point. After several points, do one of the following:

■ Press ENTER to end the command.

■ Enter c to create a closed loop.

3 Click the polyline. Notice that the segments all belong to a single object.

You can include arc segments in polylines.

Try it: Create a polyline with arc segments

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Polyline.

2 Draw a polyline segment (1 and 2).

3 At the next prompt, enter a to switch to Arc mode and continue with an arc segment (3).

4 Enter L to return to Line mode, and then draw another line segment.

5 End the command.

Try it: Create a rectangle

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Rectangle.

2 Click a location on the screen.

3 Move the cursor diagonally and click another location.

The resulting object is a closed polyline in the shape of a rectangle.

Draw Lines | 65

Try it: Create a polygon









inscribed radius circumscribed radius

mixed widthuniform width tapered segment

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Polygon.

2 Enter the number of sides, for example, 6.

3 Click a location for the center of the polygon.

4 Specify either the Inscribed or the Circumscribed option. This determines how the distance that

you enter in the next prompt is measured.

5 To specify a “radius” of the polygon, do one of the following:

■ Move the cursor and click a location.

■ Enter a distance.

The resulting object is also a closed polyline.

You can draw polylines of various widths by using the Width and Halfwidth options after you specify a starting point for a polyline. You can also make polyline segments taper.

Once you create a polyline, you can

■ Separate the polyline into independent segments with the EXPLODE command.

■ Join a polyine to another polyline, line or arc with the JOIN command.

66 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Draw Circles and Arcs

radius

center

radius

tangent objects

Center, radius Two points

defining diameter

Three points defining circumference

Tangent, tangent, radius

Start, center, angle

Center, start, angle

Start, end, angle

included angle

You can create a variety of curved objects, including circles and arcs.

Draw Circles

To create circles, use one of the following methods:

■ Specify the center and radius (default method).

■ Specify the center and diameter.

■ Define the circumference of the circle with two or three points.

■ Create the circle tangent to two existing objects.

■ Create the circle tangent to two objects and specify a radius.

Draw Arcs

To create arcs, you can specify various combinations of center, endpoint, start point, radius, angle, chord length, and direction values. The following examples illustrate three ways to specify two points and an included angle.

Draw Circles and Arcs | 67

NOTE The FILLET command creates an arc tangent to two existing objects. This is often the preferred

method for creating arcs and will be covered later.

To get started

Action Menu Browser Icon

Set properties Modify menu ➤ Properties

Load, scale, and manage linetypes

Change lineweight settings Format ➤ Lineweight

Draw lines Draw ➤ Line

Draw parallel lines Modify ➤ Offset

Draw polylines Draw ➤ Polyline

Draw polygons Draw ➤ Polygon

Separate polyline segments Modify ➤ Explode

Join polylines Modify ➤ Join

Draw circles Draw ➤ Circle

Draw arcs Draw ➤ Arc

Format ➤ Linetype

Help system

PROPERTIES, COLOR, LAYER, LINETYPE, LTSCALE, CELTSCALE, PSLTSCALE, LINEWEIGHT, LINE, OFFSET, PLINE, POLYGON, RECTANG, PEDIT, JOIN, EXPLODE, CIRCLE, ARC

Review and Recall

1 What is the result of setting the color of an object to ByLayer?

2 What is the fastest way to change the current layer to a different one?

3 What would you do to access a complete list of the properties of an object?

4 What command is recommended for creating parallel lines and curves?

5 What type of object is composed of a series of connected segments?

68 | Chapter 5 Draw Objects

Enter coordinate values to locate points precisely

Turn on polar tracking to draw along specified angles

Turn on Ortho to draw horizontal and vertical lines

Turn on Grid and Snap to draw within a predefined framework

Use object snaps to locate precise points on objects

Precision Drawing

Set Grid and Snap Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Draw with Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Snap to Precise Points on Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Object Snap Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Specify Angles and Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Set Grid and Snap Values

The grid and snap features set up a framework that you can use as a guide while drawing.

■ Grid displays a rectangular pattern of dots that extends over the area specified by the drawing grid limits. The grid helps you align objects and visualize the distances between them. The grid does

not appear in the plotted drawing.

■ Snap restricts the movement of the crosshairs to intervals that you have defined. When Snap is on, the cursor seems to adhere, or “snap,” to an invisible grid. Snap is useful for specifying precise points with the cursor.

Set Grid and Snap Spacing

The grid does not necessarily correspond to the current snap interval. You might set a wide grid spacing to be used as a reference but maintain a closer snap spacing for accuracy in specifying points. For example, you might set the grid spacing to 10 times the snap spacing in a metric drawing or 12 times the snap spacing in an imperial drawing.

Try it: Constrain the cursor with Snap

1 Start a new drawing.

2 Click the Snap button on the status bar.

Notice that the button changes color to indicate that Snap has been turned on.

3 Move the pointer around in the drawing area while Snap is turned on.

Notice that the cursor seems to adhere, or “snap,” to points at equal intervals in the drawing area.

Try it: Display a grid

1 Click the Grid button on the status bar.

Notice that the grid dots cover a limited area, the grid limits.

2 Turn Grid and Snap off.

If you zoom in or out, you might need to adjust grid spacing to be more appropriate for the new magnification.

72 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Try it: Change the Grid and Snap spacing

Grid limits shown by range of grid dots

1 Right-click either the Grid or Snap button on the status bar.

2 Click Settings on the shortcut menu.

3 In the Drafting Settings dialog box, specify new spacings for Grid and Snap. Click OK.

4 Turn on Grid and Snap.

Set Grid Limits

Try it: Change the grid limits

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Format ➤ Drawing Limits.

2 Click two points to represent the lower-left and the upper-right corners of a rectangular area.

3 Repeat using two different points.

Set Grid and Snap Values | 73

Draw with Coordinates

;

<

;

–X

-Y

0,0

-2,1

3,4

Coordinates represent locations in your drawing. When a command prompts you for a point, you can use the cursor to specify a point in the drawing area or you can enter coordinate values.

Use Cartesian and Polar Coordinates

In two-dimensional space, you specify points on a plane that is similar to a flat sheet of grid paper. You can enter two-dimensional coordinates as either Cartesian (X,Y) or polar (distance<angle) coordinates.

■ Cartesian coordinates are measured from two perpendicular lines, the X axis and the Y axis. The X value specifies horizontal distance, and the Y value specifies vertical distance. For example, the

coordinates 5,3 represent a point 5 units along the X axis and 3 units along the Y axis. The origin (0,0) indicates where the two axes intersect.

■ Polar coordinates use a distance and an angle to locate a point. For example, the coordinates 5<30 specifies a point that is a distance of 5 units from the origin and at a 30 degree angle from the X axis.

You can use absolute or relative values with each method. Absolute coordinate values are based on the origin. Relative coordinate values are based on the last point entered.

Draw with Absolute Cartesian Coordinates

Use absolute Cartesian coordinates when you know the precise X and Y values of the location of the point. For example, the line in the illustration begins at an X value of –2 and a Y value of 1 and ends at 3,4. The entries on the command line were as follows:

Command: line Specify first point: #–2,1

Specify next point or [Undo]:#3,4

Entering the # identifies the coordinates as absolute coordinates.

74 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Draw with Relative Cartesian Coordinates

Use relative Cartesian coordinates when you know the location of a point in relation to the previous point. For example, to locate a point relative to the absolute coordinates –2,1, start the next coordinates with the @ symbol.

Command: line Specify first point: #–2,1

Specify next point or [Undo]: @5,3

Entering @5,3 locates the same point in this example as entering #3,4 in the previous example.

NOTE Absolute coordinates are entered differently if the Dynamic Input button on the left side of the

status bar is turned off. In that case, the # is not used to specify absolute coordinates.

Draw with Coordinates | 75

Snap to Precise Points on Objects

Press SHIFT and right-click to display the object snap menu

object snaps

Using object snaps is the most important way to specify an exact location on an object without having to use coordinates. For example, you can use an object snap to draw a line to the exact center of a circle, to the endpoint of another line segment, or to the tangent on an arc.

You can specify an object snap whenever you are prompted for a point. When you move your cursor over an object, an active object snap point is identified with AutoSnap markers and tooltips.

Use Single Object Snaps

At any prompt for a point, you can specify a single object snap by holding down SHIFT, rightclicking, and choosing an object snap from the Object Snap menu.

Once you have specified an object snap, use the cursor to select a location on an object.

NOTE To cycle through all the object snap points available for a particular object, press TAB.

76 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Set Running Object Snaps

To use the same object snap repeatedly, set it as a running object snap. It will stay active until you turn it off. For example, you might set Center as a running snap if you need to connect the centers of a series of circles with a line.

You can set multiple running object snaps, such as Endpoint and Center, as running object snaps. Running object snaps can be turned on and off from the status bar.

Try it: Change the running object snap settings

1 Right-click Object Snap on the status bar.

2 On the shortcut menu, click Settings.

3 On the Drafting Settings dialog box, select the object snaps you want to use. Click OK.

4 Draw several lines and circles using object snaps to locate points precisely.

Snap to Precise Points on Objects | 77

Object Snap Descriptions

The following table illustrates commonly used object snaps.

Object snap Snaps to

Endpoint Object endpoints

Midpoint Object midpoints

Intersection

Object intersections or, for single object snaps, locations where intersections would occur if objects were extended

Center

Quadrant

Perpendicular

Tang ent

Center points of circles, arcs, or ellipses

Quadrants of arcs, circles, or ellipses

Points on objects that form a perpendicular alignment with the last point specified

Point on a circle or arc that, when connected to the last point, forms a line tangent to the object

78 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Specify Angles and Distances

Polar tracking restricts cursor movement to specified angles

alignment path

tooltip display of distance and angle

Polar: 1.5<45

Polar tracking constrains the cursor to an angle, in this case 180 degrees...

then direct distance entry determines the exact length of the line, in this case, 1000

You can quickly specify angles and distances using the polar tracking, direct-distance entry, and angle override features.

Use Polar Tracking

As you draw lines or move objects, you can use polar tracking to restrict the movement of the cursor to specified angle increments (the default value is 90 degrees). For example, you can create a series of perpendicular lines by turning on Polar before you start drawing. Because the lines are constrained to the horizontal and vertical axes, you can draw faster, knowing that the lines are perpendicular.

Try it: Use polar tracking

1 Click Polar Tracking on the status bar to turn it on.

2 Draw several lines at 90 degrees from each other.

Specify Distances

Use direct distance entry to specify an exact line length quickly—by moving the cursor to indicate a direction and then entering the distance from the first point. When polar tracking is on, using direct distance entry helps you draw perpendicular lines of a specified length efficiently.

Specify Angles and Distances | 79

Try it: Draw several lines of specified lengths

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Line.

2 Click a point and then move the cursor to the right (0 degrees).

3 Enter a value.

4 Move the cursor up (90 degrees) and enter another value.

5 Repeat several more times and then press ENTER.

Specify an Angle

If the angle that you want to use is not going to be used frequently, you can enter an angle override. For example, if you start drawing a line at the coordinates –2,1, and want that line to be at a 10 degree angle with a length of 50, you would enter

Command: line

Specify first point: #–2,1

Specify next point or [Undo]: <10

(Move the cursor in the desired direction)

Specify next point or [Undo]: 50

Tutorial: Draw with Precision

In this tutorial, you will practice using several precision tools to create the following drawing, which can be the beginning of a design for

■ A health spa with exercise pool

■ A catch for a window lock

■ A housing for a motor assembly

NOTE It is important that you save this drawing as you work. It will be used in several future tutorials

in this guide.

80 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Start a new drawing

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ New.

2 Select the tutorial drawing template file that is closest to your intended application and units of

measurement:

■ Tutorial-mArch.dwt. Sample architectural template (metric)

■ Tutorial-mMfg.dwt. Sample mechanical design template (metric)

■ Tutorial-iArch.dwt. Sample architectural template (imperial)

■ Tutorial-iMfg.dwt. Sample mechanical design template (imperial)

3 Click the Model tab.

4 Click File ➤ Save. Use MyDesign as the file name.

Use Grid and Snap to create a drawing

1 On the status bar, turn on Grid and Snap. Dynamic Input should also be turned on.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Line and click several locations to create a series of line segments

to create the previously illustrated design. The exact dimensions don’t matter, but use reasonable distances for the design. Press ENTER to end the command.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Circle ➤ Center, Radius.

4 Click a point to locate the center of the circle, and then click another point to specify its radius.

5 Turn Grid and Snap off.

Create a line using object snaps

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Erase.

The crosshairs cursor changes into a square pickbox cursor.

2 Click directly on one of the lines that you created and then press ENTER.

The line is erased, but how do you create another line to take its place with precision?

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ Draw ➤ Line.

4 Press SHIFT and right-click. From the object snap menu, click Endpoint.

5 Move the cursor over an endpoint of a line. When you see an AutoSnap marker, click.

6 Press SHIFT and right-click again. From the object snap menu, click Endpoint.

7 Move the cursor over the opposite endpoint and click. Press ENTER to end the command.

The endpoints of the new line are located exactly at the endpoints of the adjacent lines.

Specify Angles and Distances | 81

8 Do the following:

■ Experiment with creating lines using the following object snaps: Midpoint, Center, Perpendicular, and Tangent.

■ Turn running object snaps on and create several more lines.

■ Create a line from the center of the circle at a 30 degree angle and 10 units long.

9 Erase any objects that are not part of the illustrated result.

10 Save the drawing. MyDesign should be the file name.

To get started

Action Menu Browser

Set Snap and Grid spacing Tools ➤ Drafting Settings, Snap and

Grid tab

Use single object snaps SHIFT+right-click for the

object snap menu

Set running object snaps Tools ➤ Drafting Settings, Object

Snap tab

Change AutoSnap settings Tools ➤ Options, Drafting tab

Change polar settings Tools ➤ Drafting Settings

Help system

GRID, SNAP, DSETTINGS, LIMITS, UCS, DYNMODE, OSNAP, OPTIONS

Review and Recall

1 How do you turn off the grid dots in your drawing area?

2 The term origin refers to what coordinate values?

3 Pressing SHIFT while you right-click displays what shortcut menu?

4 What button can you turn on to ensure that the line you are drawing is exactly vertical?

5 What is meant by the term direct distance entry?

82 | Chapter 6 Precision Drawing

Use COPY to create duplicates at locations that you specify

Use MIRROR to create an exact replica of objects across a mirror line

Use DIST to measure the distance between two points

Use FILLET to connect two lines with an arc

Use OFFSET to create parallel lines and concentric circles

Use TRIM to remove the parts of objects that extend beyond cutting edges that you specify

Make Modifications

Select Objects to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Erase, Extend, and Trim Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Duplicate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

Move and Rotate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Fillet Corners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Use Editing Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Analyze Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Select Objects to Edit

Objects selected using window selection

When you edit objects, you select one or more objects to specify a selection set of the objects. You can use two methods to specify which objects to modify:

■ Choose the command first. Choose an editing command and then select objects to modify.

■ Choose the objects first. Select objects and then start the editing command. In addition, when

you use this method, grips are displayed on the objects that you can use to modify the objects directly. You can clear a selection by pressing ESC.

Object Selection Methods

The two most common methods to select objects are

■ Select individual objects. Click objects individually.

■ Specify a selection area. Click a rectangular area around the objects to be selected.

Specify a Selection Area

You can select objects by enclosing them in a rectangular selection area. You define a rectangular selection area in the drawing area by clicking opposite corners. The order in which you specify the corners makes a difference.

■ Drag from left to right to create a window selection, which selects only objects entirely within the selection area.

■ Drag from right to left to create a crossing selection, which selects objects within and crossing the selection area.

NOTE You can remove objects from the selection set by pressing SHIFT and then clicking them.

86 | Chapter 7 Make Modifications

Erase, Extend, and Trim Objects

ResultSelected objectsObjects selected with

window selection

These methods delete objects or change their lengths:

■ Erase deletes the entire object.

■ Extend lengthens an object to a precise boundary.

■ Trim shortens an object to a precise boundary and removes the excess.

Erase Objects

You can use all the object selection methods with the ERASE command. The example shows how you use window selection to erase a section of piping.

Try it: Practice using window and crossing selection

1 Click Menu Browser ➤ File ➤ New.

2 Create some lines, arcs, and circles.

3 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Erase.

4 Select several objects using a crossing selection and press ENTER.

Notice which objects are selected and erased.

5 Select several more objects using a window selection and press ENTER.

Again, notice which objects are selected and erased.

6 Select the other objects that you created in step 1 individually and press ENTER to erase them.

Erase, Extend, and Trim Objects | 87

Extend Objects

Select objects to extend nearest to the end to be extended

Press ENTER to accept all objects as boundaries

Result Cutting edges selected with a crossing selection

Object to trim selected Result

You can extend objects so that they end precisely at a boundary defined by other objects. If you press ENTER instead of selecting boundary objects, all visible objects in the drawing become potential boundaries. The illustration shows lines extended precisely to the circle, which is the nearest boundary.

Try it: Extend an object

1 Create a short line. Then create circle that encompasses the line.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Extend.

3 At the Select Objects prompt, click the circle.

Notice that you select the boundary objects first. The next step is easy to forget.

4 Press ENTER to end boundary selection.

5 At the next Select Objects prompt, click one end of the line and then the other end of the line.

Press ENTER to end the command.

Trim Objects

Trimming objects is very similar to extending them. To trim, you cut an object at an edge defined by one or more objects. By default, objects defined as cutting edges must intersect the object to be trimmed.

88 | Chapter 7 Make Modifications

Try it: Trim an object

1 Create two horizontal lines and two vertical lines as shown in the left side of the previous

illustration.

You can use the Perpendicular object snap to make sure that the two horizontal lines intersect the vertical line at a right angle.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Trim.

3 At the Select Objects prompt, click locations 1 and 2 as previously illustrated.

Notice that you select the boundary objects first.

4 Press ENTER to end boundary selection.

5 At the next Select Objects prompt, click the vertical line at point 3 as shown. Press ENTER to end

the command.

NOTE With both EXTEND and TRIM, you must accept the selection set of boundary objects by pressing

ENTER, and then select the objects to be trimmed. If you press ENTER without selecting any boundary objects, all objects become potential boundaries.

Erase, Extend, and Trim Objects | 89

Duplicate Objects

Result

1 Select the circle

2 Specify a base point (endpoint object snap)

3 Specify second point (endpoint object snap)

There are several ways to make copies of objects:

■ Copy creates new objects at a specified location.

■ Offset creates new objects at a specified distance from selected objects or through a specified

point.

■ Mirror creates a mirror image of objects around a specified mirror line.

Copy Objects

To copy an object, you select one or more objects to copy, specify a start point, called a base point, and then specify a second point to determine the distance and direction of the copy. The two points can be anywhere within the drawing. For example, in the following illustration, the circle is copied from one rectangle to a corresponding location on the second rectangle.

Try it: Copy an object

1 Create two rectangles and a circle as shown on the left side of the previous illustration.

2 Click Menu Browser ➤ Modify ➤ Copy.

3 At the Select Objects prompt, click the circle and press ENTER.

4 At the Specify Base Point prompt, press SHIFT and right-click to display the object snap menu.

Click Endpoint.

5 Click the corner of the rectangle at point 2 as shown.

90 | Chapter 7 Make Modifications

6 At the Specify Second Point prompt, press SHIFT and right-click to display the object snap menu.

Objects selected Base point specified

and a distance entered

Result

enter a distance

Object selected(bush) Result

base point

next point

second point

Click Endpoint.

7 Click the corner of the other rectangle at point 3 as shown.

8 Press ENTER to end the command.

The copied circle is at the same location relative to its enclosing rectangle as the original circle.

You can also copy objects specifying a base point followed by direct distance entry, typically with polar snap turned on.

The Copy command automatically repeats so you can easily create multiple copies.

Offset Objects

Offsetting creates a new object that seems to trace a selected object at a specified distance. Offsetting circles creates larger or smaller circles depending on the offset side. For an easy way to create parallel lines or concentric circles, use offsetting.

Duplicate Objects | 91

NOTE Offsetting several objects followed by trimming or extending them is a very efficient drawing

object offset

original object

mirror line

Objects selected Mirror line defined Result with original retained

technique.

Mirror Objects

You mirror objects around a mirror line, which you define with two points. You then choose to delete or retain the original objects.

Mirroring is useful for creating symmetrical objects. You can draw half the object and quickly mirror it rather than draw the whole object.

92 | Chapter 7 Make Modifications

Move and Rotate Objects

1 2

Select objects, specify base point and new location of the selected objects.

Objects selected Result

Base point and angle of rotation

An important drawing technique is to create one or more objects and then move or rotate them into place.

Move Objects

You move objects the same way that you copy them. You select the object to move, specify the base point (1), and then specify a second point to determine the distance and direction of the move (2). In the illustration, these steps move the window higher and away from the door.

Rotate Objects

You rotate objects by specifying a base point and a rotation angle. You can specify the rotation angle by specifying a point or entering a value for the angle.

In the following example, you specify the base point (1) and a second point (2) that determines the angle of rotation (2) for the orientation of a house.

Instead of specifying the second point in the example, you could have entered -35 to specify the rotation in degrees.

NOTE By default, a positive angle results in a counter-clockwise rotation. However, this setting can be

changed using the Units command.

Move and Rotate Objects | 93

Fillet Corners

Objects selected Result

Radius set to 0, objects selected

Result

Filleting connects two objects with an arc of a specified radius that is tangent to the objects.

Use the Radius option of the Fillet command to specify arc radius of the fillet. Changing the radius sets the default radius for subsequent fillets. By default, the filleted objects are trimmed as shown in the illustration.

One useful technique is to set the fillet radius to 0. This results in two objects intersecting in a sharp corner as illustrated. No arc is created.

NOTE You can hold down SHIFT while selecting the objects to override the current fillet radius with a

value of 0.

You can also fillet circles, arcs, and polylines. More than one possible fillet can exist between circles and arcs depending on where you select the objects.

94 | Chapter 7 Make Modifications

Autodesk 057A1-05A111-1001 - AutoCAD LT 2009, AutoCAD LT 2009 Getting Started Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual