Wiley Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009
Contents
1. controls see Figure 1 7 These controls disappear when you are not pointing inside the panel but they reappear when you hover over the panel with your cursor eiseeeanel Tooltips appear when you hover over the Send to Ribbon controls and they describe what each control Options Toggle Orientation does The last control Toggle Orientation is a little misleading because it controls the dis play of the title bar Getting Familiar with the Drawing Area As you might imagine the drawing area in the middle of the AutoCAD window is the space where you ll be spending a lot of time It pays to get a feel for how it behaves early on As your introduction to the drawing area try the following exercise 1 Move the cursor around in the drawing area As you move the cursor notice that the coordinate readout in the status bar gives the X and Y coordinates and adds the Z coordinate 2 Click in the middle of the drawing area You have just selected a point Move the cur sor and a rectangle follows This is a selection window if any objects appear in the drawing area you can select them for editing A coordinate display appears at the cursor showing your coordinates in an X Y format Also notice the words Specify opposite corner in the Dynamic Input display This tells you that you have started a selection window and you need to select the opposite corner for the window 3 Move the cursor a bit in any direction then clic2. Reference Edil Facing inlensiy 50 T Help CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Starting Commands Another type of item you ll find in a menu is a command that directly executes an Auto CAD operation Try this exercise to explore a typical command 1 Click the Dynamic Input tool in the status bar to turn off Dynamic Input display mode When it is off it is gray You ll start your exploration of commands with this feature turned off so you can get a clear view of your activity You ll get a chance to try the Dynamic Input feature in later chapters starting with Chapter 2 2 Click the Rectangle tool in the Draw panel Notice that ele e 2 the command line at the bottom of the window now E Dynamic Input shows the following prompt Specify first corner point or Chamfer Elevation Fillet Thickness Width AutoCAD is asking you to select the first corner for the rectangle and also in brack ets it is offering a few options that you can take advantage of at this point in the command Don t worry about those options right now You ll have an opportunity to learn about command options in Chapter 2 3 Click a point roughly in the lower left corner of the drawing area as shown in Figure 1 8 Now as you move your cursor you ll see a rectangle follow the cursor with one corner fixed at the position you just selected You ll also see the following prompt in the command line Specify
3. Click this outline and press the Delete key the Layout 2 Move the cursor over the rectangle that immediately surrounds the rectangle and circle drawing that you created earlier in the chapter 3 Click the highlighted rectangle and then press the Delete key Your drawing disappears 4 Click the Model icon to return to model space You ll see that the objects you drew are still there 5 Click the Undo tool in the Quick Access Toolbar twice to return to the Layout1 view and undo your deletion of the outer rectangle The view of the rectangle and the circle returns 6 Click the Model icon to return to the original drawing area In step 3 your entire drawing disappeared when you deleted the outer rectangle This is because that rectangle is really a viewport into the drawing you created in model space When you are in a layout view a viewport acts like a window into your drawing By default AutoCAD creates a single viewport to show your drawing but you can have Your drawing as it appears in one of 29 30 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD multiple viewports of various sizes each displaying different parts of your drawing When you deleted that viewport you essentially closed your view into your drawing in the model space so your rectangle and circle disappeared from view They didn t really go anywhere It s just that your view of them was deleted You might have also noticed that a Layou
4. It is also an area that provides information about your drawing when you request it CHATTING WITH AUTOCAD AutoCAD communicates its needs to you in messages in the command line These mes sages often tell you what to do next or offer options usually shown in Enber Cancel Recent Input square brackets Commands often display a series of messages which you answer to complete the command If you aren t sure what to do check the command line for clues Flevatton F Ong o o SA Filet As an additional aid you can right click to display a context sensitive a shortcut menu If you are in the middle of a command this menu pro Soap Overrides vides a list of options specifically related to that command For example D pa if you right click before selecting the first point for the Rectangle com 2 doom LU StesringWwhees mand a menu appears offering the same options that are listed at the Aaa command prompt plus some additional options Using the Menu Browser The command line is a little unusual for a Windows program so the AutoCAD Menu Browser provides a familiar means of finding commands You can open the Menu Browser by clicking the AutoCAD icon in the upper left corner of the AutoCAD window shown earlier in Figure 1 3 You can think of the Menu Browser as a menu bar that is oriented vertically instead of horizontally across the top of the window If yowre familiar with Windows Internet Explorer you l
5. is also a link to the Autodesk User Group International web site About Information about the version of AutoCAD you are using Staying Informed with the InfoCenter Nearly every major Windows program is somehow linked to the Internet to offer the lat est news and updates for software AutoCAD provides the InfoCenter which appears as a bar in the upper right corner of the AutoCAD window Click the magnifying glass icon to the left of the InfoCenter bar to open the InfoCen ter search list EREJE ox 36 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD The InfoCenter provides a way to stay informed about the latest software updates and support issues for AutoCAD Click the arrow in the InfoCenter to open the InfoCenter menu and select the Search Settings option This opens the InfoCenter Settings dialog box LY InfoCenter Settings General Select locations to include in default search D Add y Remove Search Locations Search Locations lem to deplay Communication Center User s Guide AutoCAD Help aoaie Chareke Command Reference AutoCAD Hele Customization Guide AutoCAD Help New Featuies Workshop AuleCAD Help Cl Diver and Peripheral Guide AutoCAD Help O Network Administrator s Guide AutoCAD Help C Stand lone Instalation Guide AutoCAD Help Helphaca Help ace Help acs Helpiaca Help ace Helphacs Balloon Mortification RSS Feeds nm it of f A N eal I Search al avalable languages Heb
6. one of the Ribbon panel tools and leave it there for a moment you ll see a tooltip appear just below the cursor giving you a brief description of the tool Leave the cursor there a bit longer and the tooltip expands to show even 10 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 6 A tooltip showing the name of the tool a brief tutorial like graphic and the command name associated with the tool more information on how to use the tool see Figure 1 6 As a new user you ll find these tooltips very helpful AutoCAD 2009 Drawingl dwe _ Home Blecs References Annotate Tooke View Output a F ah y Th maz gz eo at a h p a ecole SOR D amp A aaaea aaaea 2 chive tat PP lal LT lle 8 O Gh i o g EEr cs Polyline Draw yers al Annotation a B Creates a 2D polvine A ID polyline is a connected sequence of segments crested as a single planar object You can creabea straight line segments arc segments or a combination of the two Tool name 1 2 x K 3 4 x x Description tutorial zz 6 5 gt Keyboard command equivalent we PLINE P Press F1 for more help i Context sensitive help Throughout the book when I ask you to select a tool from the Ribbon or from a tool bar PII use the name shown in the tooltip For example if you hover your cursor over any icon tool in the Ribbon you ll see the name of the tool at the top of the tooltip that ap
7. s create a new file to see how it s done 1 From the Menu Browser choose File gt Close to close the current file When the message box appears asking you to save changes click No Notice that the toolbars disappear and that the AutoCAD drawing window appears blank when no drawings are open 2 From the Menu Browser choose File gt New to open the Select Template dialog box 3 Select the acad dwt template file and then click Open to open a blank drawing window 4 To give your new file a unique name choose File gt Save As to open the Save Drawing As dialog box 5 Enter My First Drawing As you type the name appears in the File Name text box By default the file will be saved in the My Documents folder 6 Click Save You now have a file called My First Drawing dwg located in the My Docu ments folder Of course your drawing doesn t contain anything yet You ll take care of that next The acad dwt template file you selected in step 3 is really just an AutoCAD drawing file that has been set up with standard settings AutoCAD uses those settings to create a new file As you saw in the Select Template dialog box you can choose from several such templates The new file you just created shows a drawing area roughly 31 units wide by 13 units high The units can be inches meters or millimeters You determine what the units are equivalent to through the Drawing Units dialog box which you will learn about in Chapter 2 The dr
8. the Quick Start menu bar click New The Select Template dialog box appears Click New in the Quick Start menu bar The Select Template dialog box appears H Q KE views Took Preview Name FPT Templates SheetSets lranlacad Named Plot Styles3D cat famjacad Mamed Alot Styles dit My Documents laf cad det ve aan acadisoSD dixt i lnan acad 50 Mamed Plot Skyle 3 lnm acadtso Mamed Plot Styles dat a pan acadisa devt ay inde Ve lian Tuborial i rch dat sie tan Tuterrial iMfig dt Favonibes FTP lia Tukorial mairch devt E N Tutorial miifg dt Deskto P Filename acad3D dwt w open f Files of type Drawing Template dwt we 4 Select acad3D dwt from the list and click Open A new file called Drawing2 dwg appears Notice that this drawing is in a 3D space You ll learn more about 3D mod eling in Chapter 6 UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 5 AutoCAD 7009 Drawing3 dwg eC o x Annotate Tack Output a ae 2 OG E 75 10 Modding 4 Modify a 20 Spiral E J Elliptical Cinder j 4 Frustum cone 4 Frustum Pyramid EER FALE 5 Click the Workspace Switching tool and click 2D Drafting amp Annotation in the Workspaces toolbar You ll be working in this workspace for most of this book 6 Exit the 3D Drawing 2 dwg file by clicking the Close icon in the upper right corner of the drawing area The Close icon looks like an X Even thou
9. the cross referencing of drawings See Chapter 8 Commands for operating AutoCAD s rendering feature not available in LT Command for editing 3D solids not available in LT See Chapter 6 The most frequently used commands for view control file management and edit ing This toolbar is ordinarily docked below the menu bar An abbreviated version of the Standard toolbar Tools for controlling style options such as text styles and dimension styles Tools for creating and editing text See Chapter 9 Tools for setting up a plane on which to work This is most useful for 3D modeling but it can be helpful in 2D drafting as well See Chapter 6 continued 20 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD continued COMMAND DESCRIPTION UCS II Tools for selecting from a set of predefined user coordinate systems View Tools for controlling the way you view 3D models See Chapter 6 for more on 3D views Viewports Tools for creating and editing multiple views of your drawing See Chapter 6 for more about viewports Visual Styles Tools for controlling the way 3D models are displayed Walk and Fly Tools for controlling motion through a 3D model Web Tools for accessing the Web Workspaces Tools for managing workspaces Zoom Commands for navigating your drawing Opening toolbars is fairly simple but unless you know where to look you might never find them The following steps show you how to open the Draw toolbar 1 To open the Draw too
10. the following exercise to see how the Zoom tool works 1 Click the magnifying glass icon in the Home tab s Utilities panel to open the Zoom flyout 2 Select Window from the Zoom flyout im me Click the Zoom flyout arrowhead mi Window and select Zoom Window Tey wh Previous eq Realtime Qh sil QQ Dynamit C Scale GQ Center Q Object A In QQ Out 26 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 3 Click the first point indicated in Figure 1 11 You don t have to be too accurate Figure 1 11 Selecting a Zoom window Click this location first Then click this location to start the Zoom window x 4 Click the second point indicated in Figure 1 11 The area you selected expands to fill the drawing area Notice that the transition to the zoomed view is smooth This helps you keep track of exactly where in the drawing the zoom occurs 5 Right click and select Pan Notice that the cursor changes to a hand icon 6 Click and drag the cursor in the drawing area Notice how the view moves as you drag the cursor 7 Press Esc to exit the Pan command You can also right click and choose Exit from the shortcut menu 8 Finally to get your original view of the overall drawing open the zoom flyout again as you did in step 1 and select Previous Several other Zoom and Pan related commands exist but those you ve just tried are the ones you ll use 90 percent of the time You can try the other Zoom and Pan
11. CHAPTER 1 Getting Familiar with AutoCAD If you are totally new to AutoCAD yow ll want to read this chapter It provides an overview of AutoCAD s layout and shows you what to expect when you start to use it Even if you ve had an AutoCAD class or used an older version of AutoCAD you ll find this chapter helpful because it covers the new AutoCAD interface You ll start by taking a tour of the AutoCAD window to get familiar with the menus and other components You ll then get a chance to try your hand at drawing and in doing so you Il be introduced to the way AutoCAD s commands work You ll also learn how to use the Zoom and Pan tools to help you get around in a drawing And you ll look at the ways you can view your drawing by using the layout feature Finally you ll be introduced to the Help system for those times when you forget to have this book on hand This chapter covers the following topics Understanding the AutoCAD window Starting a drawing Panning and zooming to adjust your view Understanding the Layout view Understanding how command options work Getting help 2 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Understanding the AutoCAD Window Autodesk has completely redesigned AutoCAD 2009 s interface If you ve used AutoCAD before it will appear as though AutoCAD has completely changed Don t worry the underlying program still behaves in much the same way as before Through AutoCAD s workspace feature you can
12. NDOW Figure 1 3 Click the AUtoCAD icon to open the Menu Browser The Menu Browser AutoCAD 2009 Dra New Sheet Set ELE La Open Layer Insert Open Sheet Sct Format i Load Markup Set Tools ase Draw Dimension Impact Modify Hae Window EF save as gi eTransmit d Publish to Web 3 Export A Page Setup Manager tory Plotter Manager wf Plot Style Manager A Plot Preview E Phot m Recent Documents G Publish EE Open Documents E Export to Impression G Recent Actions Ga View Plot and Publish Details Help Epresa i Exit AUoCAD In the middle of the AutoCAD window is the drawing area where you ll do your actual drawing At the bottom of the screen is the status bar which provides information about many of the settings you ll use in AutoCAD The status bar also offers controls over many of the different drawing modes in AutoCAD Just above the status bar is the command window which is almost unique to AutoCAD The command line is a text window that displays commands as you use them as well as your keyboard input Messages often appear here that prompt you to perform a step in a command You ll learn more about the command line a bit later in this chapter see the Using the Command Line section In the upper right corner of the AutoCAD window you ll see the InfoCenter This is where you can get help about AutoCAD feature or find current information about Auto CAD on the Inte
13. Once you ve set up the InfoCenter you can begin to use a wide range of resources on the Internet aimed at the AutoCAD user If you click the InfoCenter s Communication Center tool the one that looks like a satellite dish you ll open a list of topics available The list is divided into main topics shown as gray title bars You can click the arrow to the right of a title bar to close or open a topic Summary AutoCAD is a rare example of a program that has successfully made the transition from a text based DOS program to a fully Windows compliant one The trick to using AutoCAD is in learning how to use it to input exact distances and directions Once you ve mas tered the input methods AutoCAD offers you re well on your way to producing accurate drawings If you find you have questions along the way this book will provide the right amount of help but don t forget the AutoCAD Help system It is full of great information and can be a real lifesaver That does it for your introduction to AutoCAD You might want to practice what you ve learned thus far When you re ready to get down to some serious drawing check out the next chapter There you ll be introduced to the drawing tools you ll need to pro duce accurate drawings
14. You can have multiple paper space layouts for different printed versions of your drawing For example you can have one layout for an 8 by 11 inch sheet and another layout for an 11 by 17 inch sheet Or if you use multiple printers you can have a layout set up for each printer The terms paper space and layout are often used interchangeably which can cause a lot of confusion to new users One way to think of these two terms is to say that paper space is where you lay out your drawing It s called paper space because it is where your drawing is translated into the paper shape size and layout of your drawing before you actually commit the drawing to paper Another way to look at paper space layouts is to think of them as a drawing mock up area Using a paper space layout you can set up multiple views of the drawing you cre ate in model space You can also add a title to your drawing and include borders or other graphic design features Since paper space layouts are labeled with the layout prefix as in Layout1 I ll just use the term layout in this book UNDERSTANDING THE LAYOUT VIEW Try the following exercise to see firsthand how layouts work 1 Click the Layout1 icon at the bottom of the drawing area Layoutl The drawing area changes to show your drawing plus some additional display ele ments as shown in Figure 1 12 The Layout shows you how your drawing will look when it is printed Figure 1 12
15. ar The panel will expand downward Once you click in the drawing area the panel returns to its normal view If you want to lock the expanded panel so that it stays open click the pushpin icon on the right side of the expanded panel s title bar a gt fet Drew Click the title bar to amp 3 oO expand the panel ___ Draw e Pushpin icon From now on when you see the term expanded panel you should expand the Ribbon panel by clicking the panel s title bar You might also notice that some of the tools have triangular arrows next to them You can click these arrows to open flyout menus that contain options related to the tool with which they are associated For example you can click the triangle next to the Circle tool to open a flyout that offers different ways to draw a circle You ll get a chance to use these features in Chapter 3 i Click the triangular arrow 2 Poini to open the flyout O Tan Tan Radius Tan Tan Tan Switching to Floating Ribbon Panels If you find that you use one particular Ribbon panel a lot you can tear off the panel and have it available as a floating Ribbon panel To do this click and drag the panel title bar toward the drawing area The panel s appearance changes slightly to offer some 12 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 7 A Ribbon panel in its floating appear ance showing its controls
16. at the bottom of the menu to open the dialog box you might have to use the scroll bar to the right of the Menu Browser to get to the bottom of the list Window Elements Display resolution Colee scheme s 1000 Arc and ciche smoothness L Display scroll bars in drawing wiridow tm amp Segments in polyline cuve U Display Drawing stalus bat C Display ecreen menu 3 After you ve taken a look at the Options dia log box close it by clicking Cancel The Options dialog box is like the Preferences dialog box in other programs In it you can find most of the general settings that affect AutoCAD s behavior Numerous settings are divided into tabs across the top of the dialog box The Options dialog box is one of many dialog boxes available through the menu bar C Use lange buttons for Toolbars Fl Show ToolTips H Show shocbout keys in ToolT igs H Show extanded ToolTip 2 Humber of seconds to delay F Show rollover ToolTip Layout elements C Oispley Layout and Model tabs H Display peinteble eres H Display paper background r Display paper shadow C Show Page Setup Manages for new layouts F Create viewport in nev layouts Rendered object smoothness 4 Contour lines pet surface Display pethonnance Pen and zoom wilh raster amp OLE e Highlight taster image frame orly F Apply solid til Show tert boundary frame onk M Draw tue silhouettes fo solde and surfaces Crochet size 5 TI
17. ating from the start point of the arc that you just selected and rotating about the center of the arc As the prompt indicates you now have three options You can enter an angle a chord length or the endpoint of the arc The prompt default to specify the endpoint of the arc lets you select the arc s endpoint The cursor is in Point Selection mode telling you it is waiting for point input To select this default option you need only select a point on the screen indicating where you want the endpoint Move the cursor so it points vertically from the center of the arc You ll see the polar tracking vector snap to a vertical position as shown in Figure 1 13 Click any location with the polar tracking vector in the vertical position The arc is now fixed in place As you can see AutoCAD has a distinct structure in its prompt messages You first issue a command which in turn presents options in the form of a prompt Depending on the option you select you get another set of options or you are prompted to take some action such as selecting a point selecting objects or entering a value The prompts offer a great deal of help by prompting you to take an action Getting Help AutoCAD provides a good set of help options that can answer most of the questions you might have while working on a drawing If you re stuck with an AutoCAD problem give the AutoCAD help options a try To get more familiar with the AutoCAD Help window
18. awing area youre presented with initially is your workspace although you re not limited to the 75 by 45 unit area in any way No visual clues indicate the size of the area so to check the area size for yourself move the crosshair cursor to the upper right corner of the screen and observe the value in the coordinate readout in the lower left corner of the AutoCAD window This is the standard AutoCAD default drawing area for using the acad dwt drawing template for new drawings Se EEISaCER Layoutl The coordinate readout won t show exactly 75 units by 45 units because the proportions of your drawing area are not likely to be exactly 7 5 by 4 5 Factors such as the size and resolu tion of your display and the shape of the AutoCAD window affect the dimensions of the drawing area 22 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD SWITCHING BETWEEN OPEN DRAWINGS AND THE MODEL AND LAYOUT VIEWS As with most Windows programs you can have several drawings open at one time Auto CAD offers the Quick View Drawings tool in the status bar with which you can easily navi gate among multiple drawings When you click the Quick View Drawings tool you will see a row of drawing preview panels just above the status bar These panels show the contents of the currently open drawings Closes file in the preview panel Saves file in the preview panel tt tia Oh On Fag mew 2007 Quick View Drawings You can then click a previe
19. cation on the screen Object This lets you select a view area based on the area occupied by an object For example if you want to zoom in so that a particular object fills the display area use this option In This is the same as using the Scale option and entering 2x to magnify your view two times Out This is the same as using the Scale option and entering 0 5x to view twice the cur rent view area You can also start a zoom or pan by clicking the magnifying glass icon or hand icon in the status bar or right click and select Zoom or Pan at any time You can right click in the middle of a zoom to switch to pan and vice versa You ve just about completed your first look at AutoCAD You ll want to know about just a couple of other features In the next section I ll introduce a display feature in Auto CAD that helps you set up your drawing for printing ACCURATE PANNING Realtime Pan is a great tool for quickly getting around in a drawing but sometimes you need to pan in an exact distance and direction A version of the Pan command lets you nudge your view to an accurate distance In the Menu Browser choose View gt Pan gt Point and you ll see the following prompt Specify base point or displacement This is the prompt you ll see for the Move or Copy command though in this case you re not affecting the objects in your drawing When you select a point at this prompt you ll see a rubber banding line in conjunction
20. cursor on the rectangle and the rectangle highlighted click the rectangle The rectangle is selected and the Quick Properties dialog box opens This dialog box gives you access to the properties of the selected object 3 Close the Quick Properties dialog box by clicking the X in its upper right corner You Il see a message box asking whether you want to turn off the Quick Properties panel for all future selected objects 4 Click the answer that says Turn off for all future selected objects You can easily restore coe raia the Quick Properties panel feature at any time by clicking the Quick Properties Panel tool in the status bar You ll learn more about the Quick Properties panel in Chapter 4 18 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD 5 The rectangle is still selected so press the Delete key to delete it This removes the rectangle from the drawing In step 1 AutoCAD shows you exactly what the cursor is pointing to by highlighting objects that will be selected with the next click When drawing and erasing the rectangle you were exposed to the most common pro cesses you need to know about to work in AutoCAD you selected a command from the menu bar and then you selected points in the drawing area while following the messages in the command line Commands from the toolbars work in the same way as you ll see next UNDERSTANDING THE COMMAND TOOL OPTION RELATIONSHIP One of AutoCAD s greatest assets i
21. easily change AutoCAD s interface to display the old familiar toolbars that are seemingly missing from this latest version You ll get a chance to look at workspaces later in this chapter In this section you ll look at AutoCAD s newest interface options The A symbol in this book denotes the Enter key Whenever you see it press the Enter key also known as the Return key AutoCAD works like most other Windows based graphics programs but it also has a few quirks This section gives you an overview of AutoCAD s layout Although many ele ments will be familiar a few will be new to you To start you ll see the two ways that AutoCAD displays a drawing Then for the rest of this chapter you ll focus on the 2D drawing environment After installing AutoCAD take the following steps to get to the 2D workspace 1 Choose Start gt All Programs gt Autodesk gt AutoCAD 2009 gt AutoCAD 2009 LT users will click AutoCAD LT 2009 in place of AutoCAD 2009 in the previous menu selection You can also double click the AutoCAD 2009 icon on your Windows Desktop The opening greeting called a splash screen appears momentarily then if this is a new installation AutoCAD displays the Workspaces message box This message box offers an option to select 2D Drafting amp Annotation 3D Modeling or AutoCAD Classic 2 Click 2D Drafting amp Annotation You ll see the AutoCAD window with a blank default document named Drawing1 dwg as
22. ement lt Displacement Specify a base 7 MSLIDE point or enter d Specify second point or use first point as displacement Specify a Moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction GETTING HELP 35 4 Click the Close button or press the Esc key 5 Press the Esc key to exit the Move command If you gain some confidence with AutoCAD s Help window you can go far in helping yourself learn basic AutoCAD commands But if you really get stuck this book will help you get past your barriers Finding Additional Sources of Help The Help window is the main source for reference material but you can also find answers to your questions through the other options in the Help menu Here is a brief description of the other Help menu options in the Menu Browser Info Palette AutoCAD 2009 LT only A pop up window that offers immediate help with the command you are using It s helpful for first time users When you issue a command with the Info palette open you will see an option or a list of options in the palette These options offer a brief tutorial or other information about the current command New Features Workshop Descriptions and tutorials focused on the new features found in AutoCAD 2009 You can update this unique support tool through the Autodesk website Additional Resources On line help from Autodesk s web site including a support knowl edge base online training resources and the developer center There
23. es the toolbars that are available in AutoCAD Like the floating Ribbon panel a toolbar will display its Close icon the X in the upper right corner when you hover over the toolbar with your cursor Otherwise the Close icon will be hidden COMMAND 3D Navigation CAD Standards Camera Adjustment Dimension Draw Draw Order Find Text Inquiry Insert Layers Layers Il Layouts Lights Mapping Modeling Modify Modify II Multileader Object Snap Orbit Properties Refedit Reference Render Solids Editing Standard Standard Annotation Styles Text UCS UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 19 Table 1 1 DESCRIPTION D A AutoCAD Toolbars Tools for controlling 3D views not available in LT Tools for checking the layer dimension and text styles against standards you have created not available in LT Tools for controlling camera objects Commands for helping you dimension your drawings Many of these commands are duplicated in the Dimension drop down menu See Chapter 10 Commands for creating common objects including lines arcs circles curves ellipses and text This toolbar appears in the AutoCAD window by default Many of these commands are duplicated in the Draw drop down menu Commands for arranging the order of overlapping objects If an object covers another object that you need visible you can use the Draw Order toolbar to move an object behind another or to the back of a set of ob
24. g the Redo tool the right pointing curved arrow on the Quick Access Tool bar Or enter Redo If you ve used earlier versions of AutoCAD and are wondering where the Undo and Redo drop down lists went you can find them by opening the Standard toolbar Right click the Quick Access Toolbar and select Toolbars gt AutoCAD gt Standard The Undo and Redo drop down lists enables you to be more specific about the point to which you undo or redo your work PANNING AND ZOOMING TO ADJUST YOUR VIEW 25 Panning and Zooming to Adjust Your View One of the greatest features of AutoCAD is its ability to draw accurately through a wide range of scales For example you can draw a football field zoom into a blade of grass and draw its cell structure With such a broad range of views to work with you need to be familiar with AutoCAD s view features The Zoom and Pan commands are the most fre quently used view features so you ll want to become familiar with them right away If you have a typical mouse with a scroll wheel you can use the wheel to zoom in and out of your drawing view You can also use it to pan across your drawing To zoom scroll the wheel To pan click and drag the scroll wheel You can obtain just about any view you need by using this method You ll also want to know about several other view related tools If you have a mouse that uses special drivers you might not be able to use the wheel to con trol pans and zooms Try
25. gh the default 2D file looks completely different from the new 3D file you created by using the acad3D dwt template they really are basically the same They just have different display settings turned on You can learn more about the different ways to display drawings in Chapter 6 You now have AutoCAD set up for 2D drawing so you ll take a more detailed look at the AutoCAD window You ll find that for the most part it is a typical Windows style graphics program window with a few twists Getting to Know the Window Components The AutoCAD window offers several controls to the program e Ribbon e Quick Access Toolbar e Menu Browser e Drawing area CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 2 The Ribbon and its components e Status bar Command window e InfoCenter Your AutoCAD window should look like the earlier Figure 1 1 which shows the default configuration for a new AutoCAD installation Since AutoCAD is so easy to cus tomize you might not see exactly the same layout but the basic components should be there AutoCAD 2009 offers the Ribbon that contains most of the common functions you ll need to use see Figure 1 2 The Quick Access Toolbar offers the most commonly used Windows functions such as Save Undo Redo and Print Quick Access Toolbar InfoCenter TT AuloCAD 2009 Drawingt ceg EEA Ribbon tabs Hore Ver Opt a Ribbon panels Ribbon panel title bars The Ribbon c
26. he Display button to display the topic information The Index tab lets you find specific topics in the AutoCAD Help system by entering a word in a list box Using Context Sensitive Help AutoCAD also provides context sensitive help to give you information about the com mand you are using To see how this works try the following 1 Close or minimize the Help window to return to the AutoCAD window 2 Click the Move tool in the Modify panel to start the Move command SA le le Modify GOL m amp d Br 3 Press F1 or choose Help from the menu bar to open the Help window A description of the Move command appears in the panel on the right E AutoCAD 2009 Help He gt amp amp Hide Back Forward Home Pi Options Conteris Indes Search UL M commands a MARKUP 7 MARKUPOLOSE 2 MaSSPROP TER Quick Reference MATCHCELL HATCHFADF z MATERIALATTACH MATERLLMAP z MATERIALS F MATERIALSCLOSE A MEASURE Ribbon Home tab Modify panel Move 3 HEN F MENULOAD A ae a Toolbar Modify 3 MIRROR 7 MIRROR F MLEADEA F MLEADERALIGH RO Menu Modify gt Move 3 MLEADEACOLLECT g MLEADEREDIT Shortcut menu Select the objects to move and right click in the F MLEADEASTYLE drawing area Click Move HLEDIT g MUINE command entry move MLETYLE 3 MODEL Select objects Use an object selection method and press ENTER when 4 MOWE you finisn 3 MREDO Specify base point or Displac
27. he upper right corner of the draw 3 ing area Minimize When the drawing area is in the Restore Down position it appears as a separate win _ mee at dow within the AutoCAD window You can then resize the window to any rectangular shape you need This is helpful when you have multiple AutoCAD drawing files open To maximize a drawing to fill the AutoCAD window double click the drawing window title bar Checking the UCS Icon The UCS icon is the L shaped icon you see at the lower left corner of the drawing area shown earlier in Figure 1 1 It helps you see your orientation at a glance by pointing to the positive X and Y directions UCS stands for user coordinate system That name is a hint that you can create and use other coordinates besides the default one that exists in new drawings By default the X direction is from left to right and the Y direction is from bottom to top but with AutoCAD you can alter your view orientation as well as include additional coordinate systems that can be oriented in different directions The UCS icon is especially helpful when you start to use these other coordinate systems and display modes but right now just be aware that it is there to help you get your bearings You might notice a small square at the base of the UCS icon This square tells you that you are in the world coordinate system which is the base coordinate on which other coordinate systems can be built You ll learn more about the UCS
28. in the middle of the AutoCAD window Autodesk Impressions an adjunct program to Auto CAD enables you to edit your drawings using tools similar to those found in Adobe Illustra tor You can close this toolbar I will not discuss this Autodesk product in this book If you are using AutoCAD 2009 try the following exercise to see how to get to the 3D Modeling workspace this workspace is not available in AutoCAD 2009 LT 1 In the lower right corner of the AutoCAD window you ll see a gear shaped e i f gt SEa E feck icon This is the Workspace Switching tool Click it to open a list that shows aoa 2D Drafting amp Annotation 3D Modeling and AutoCAD Classic Figure 1 1 AutoCAD when opened into a 2D Drafting amp Annota tion workspace ka TEA k Workspace Switching 3 4 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD If you re feeling adventurous you can go to Chapter 6 to find out more about AutoCAD s new 3D tools LT users will not have the 3D functions lt a 2 Select 3D Modeling from the list Notice that this list contains the same three _fuutoca Class p options found in the Workspaces message box that appears in step 1 of the previous Save Curent As procedure poy Workspace Settings Customize The current default file Drawing1 dwg is set up for 2D drafting but you can open a new file by using a file template already set up for 3D modeling 3 On
29. in Chapter 5 Using the Command Line The horizontal window at the bottom of the AutoCAD window is called the command window Besides the drawing area this is where you can get feedback from AutoCAD As you work in AutoCAD the command activity appears in the bottom line of the com mand window and scrolls upward When AutoCAD is waiting for input you ll see the word Command at the bottom of the command window This is the command prompt As you click a point in the drawing area you Il see the message Specify opposite corner in the command line Simultaneously a selection window appears in the drawing area Click another point without selecting any thing the selection window disappears and the command prompt returns You ll want to pay close attention to the command window as you start using Auto CAD because it tells you what AutoCAD expects you to do It also lists information when you query AutoCAD for certain types of information which you ll learn about in later chapters In addition to getting feedback from the command window you ll also see the com mand prompt at the cursor whenever you have the Dynamic Input display turned on 14 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD The command window is a little like a chat window when you re online You chat with AutoCAD by responding to messages that appear in the command line When Auto CAD asks for specific data the command line allows you to enter data using the keyboard
30. jects not available in LT Input box and search text tool to help you locate text strings in a drawing Commands for finding distances point coordinates object properties mass prop erties and areas Commands for importing other drawings raster images and OLE objects Drop down list and tools just below the Standard toolbar for controlling layer properties Additional tools for managing layers formerly Express Layer tools Tools for setting up drawing layouts for viewing printing and plotting Tools for adding and controlling lights in 3D models Tools for adding texture maps in 3D models Tools for creating and editing 3D objects Commands for editing existing objects You can move copy rotate erase trim extend and so on Many of these commands are duplicated in the Modify drop down menu Commands for editing special complex objects such as polylines multilines 3D solids and hatches Tools for adding leader notes to your drawing Tools for selecting specific points on objects such as endpoints and midpoints See Chapter 3 Tools for controlling 3D views Commands for a set of drop down lists and tools for manipulating the properties of objects This toolbar is ordinarily docked to the right of the Layer toolbar just below the Standard toolbar Tools for making changes to symbols or background drawings that are imported as external reference drawings not available in LT Commands for controlling
31. k again Notice that the selection window disappears Had there been objects within the selection window they would be selected This is similar to the way the cursor behaves on the Windows Desktop however in Windows you have to drag the cursor to create a selection window 4 Try selecting several more points in the drawing area Notice that as you click you alternately start and end a selection window As you click the drawing area you might notice that depending on whether you click to the right or to the left of the preceding point the selection window displays a different color If you click from left to right the selection window appears blue From right to left it s green These colors indicate a different mode of selection which you ll learn about in Chapter 4 If you right click a shortcut menu appears Just as with most other Windows applica tions a right click frequently opens a menu that contains options that are context sensi tive This means that the contents of the shortcut menu depend on where you right click as well as on the command that is active at the time of your right click You ll learn more about these options as you progress through the book For now if you happen to open this menu by accident press the Esc key to close it UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 13 Finally as with any window you can expand the drawing area or contract it into a smaller window by clicking the Restore Down icon in t
32. l Properties Sheet Set Sy Ef 12 Palettes Manager As you move your cursor over the drawing area you ll see the cursor appear as a crosshair cursor Palettes If you click the drawing area a pair of numbers and a selection window appear Click again and Tool palettes the selection window disappears With the crosshair cursor you can point to portions of the drawing area and the numeric display known as the Dynamic Input dis play tells you your XY coordinate within the drawing area The selection window lets you select objects in the drawing area You ll learn more about coordinates in AutoCAD in Chapter 2 and you ll look at selection windows a bit later in this chapter If you don t see the Dynamic Input display go to the status bar at the bottom of the AutoCAD window and click the Dynamic Input tool Dynamic Input UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 9 Along with the Dynamic Input display the command line and status bar just below the drawing area provide feedback as you work with AutoCAD commands see Fig ure 1 5 You can also see the XY coordinate in the far left of the status bar in the lower left corner of the AutoCAD window Figure 1 5 Command line The status bar and the command line Command e stomi ze E work with the draw e e pii Opposite cocoec ing area to give n feedback as you draw Coordinate readout CONTROLLING THE STATUS BAR DISPLAY To the far right of the s
33. l find that the Menu Browser behaves much like the Favorites list In fact the Menu Browser behaves like the tree view found in many navigation schemes WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MENU BAR Earlier versions of AutoCAD had a horizontal list of options called a menu bar across the top of the window If you prefer to use the menu bar you can turn it on by doing the following 1 Right click the Quick Access Toolbar 2 Select Show Menu Bar The menu bar appears just below the Quick Access Toolbar Note that the menu bar does not offer the tooltips you find in the Menu Browser If you prefer to use the menu bar rather than the Menu Browser you can still follow the instructions in this book Whenever I ask you to open the Menu Browser just go to the appropriate menu option in the menu bar instead UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 15 In the Menu Browser you ll see many of the standard Windows menu options such as File Edit Window and Help as well as a few that are specific to AutoCAD Another Menu Browser feature is the command description that appears as a tooltip whenever you hover over a menu option These descriptions often give enough detailed information to get you started using the option Try the following to see the tooltips firsthand 1 Open the Menu Browser and click Modify The list of items that appears includes the commands and settings that let you control the way AutoCAD displays your drawings 2 Move the cursor down
34. lbar right click the Quick Access toolbar in the upper left cor ner of the AutoCAD window A shortcut menu of options appears 2 On the shortcut menu choose Toolbars gt AutoCAD gt Draw The Draw toolbar appears in its docked position at the left side of the AutoCAD window Again docked just means the toolbar is merged with the border of the AutoCAD window to keep it out of the drawing area 3 You can undock a toolbar by clicking and dragging the toolbar s grab bar The grab bar is the dotted area you see at the top or left end of the toolbar Again the toolbar then is called a floating toolbar and shows its title bar In its floating position you can click the X in the upper right corner of the Draw toolbar to close it You can dock toolbars at the top bottom or sides of the AutoCAD window to keep them out of the drawing area If you do not want the toolbar to dock but instead want it to appear floating near the bor der of the AutoCAD window you can press the Ctrl key before you click and drag the toolbar into position This prevents toolbars from automatically falling into a docked position AutoCAD remembers your toolbar arrangement between sessions When you exit and then reopen AutoCAD later the AutoCAD window appears just as you left it STARTING A DRAWING 21 Starting a Drawing What you do to start a new drawing in AutoCAD is a little different from what you do in other programs so let
35. ommand listing The panel to the right changes to display a list of command names that start with the letter C 5 Look down the list and click Copy A description of the Copy command appears You also have the Concept Procedure and Quick Reference tabs along the top of the panel on the right These options provide more detailed information about how to use the selected item If you want to back up through the steps you have just taken click the Back button on the toolbar Using the Search Tab If you re a beginning AutoCAD user looking for help the Help window s table of contents might not be as useful as it could be To use it you have to know a little about what you want to find Sometimes it s quicker to use the Search feature of the Help window 1 Click the Search tab in the left panel If this is the first time you ve selected the Search tab you might see a message telling you that AutoCAD is setting up an index for searches 2 Enter Change in the text box at the top of the Search tab and then click Ask or press A The list box displays all the items in the Help system that contain the word Change 34 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD In this example the list that is returned is quite large You can use Boolean AND OR NEAR and NOT in conjunction with other keywords to help filter your searches Once you ve found the topic youre looking for select it from the Select Topic list and then click t
36. ontains several panels each of which contains tools for drawing and editing The set of panels changes depending on which Ribbon tab is selected The Rib bon panels can be moved with a click and drag of their title bars and the entire Ribbon can be set up to stay hidden until you need to use it You ll learn more about these fea tures a bit later in this chapter When Ribbon panels are away from the edge of the window and appear free float ing they are said to be floating as opposed to docked If you click the AutoCAD logo in the upper left corner of the window you open the Menu Browser which gives you a more conventional menu structure for finding Auto CAD functions with a few additional features see Figure 1 3 At the top of the Menu Browser you see the Search tool This enables you to find a specific tool by name just by typing the name into the search input box At the bottom of the Menu Browser you have three options Recent Documents Open Documents and Recent Actions If you point to Recent Documents the panel to the right lists the most recent files you ve opened Each file has a pushpin icon to the right enabling you to lock the item in the list If you point to Open Documents you ll see a list of docu ments that are currently open in AutoCAD The Recent Actions option lists the last few actions you ve taken using the Menu Browser You can repeat an action by selecting it from the list UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WI
37. options that you saw in the magnifying glass icon flyout in the Utilities panel You ll also find options in the Zoom command line options list Al1 Center Dynamic Extents Previous Scale Window Object lt real time gt Here is a list of the options you ll find in the magnifying glass icon flyout Extents This displays a view that encompasses all the objects in your drawing This option ignores the limits of your drawing Previous This displays the previous view just as Undo does for the Zoom command Realtime This is the default Zoom option It displays a magnifying glass cursor With this option you can click and drag up or down to change your magnification in real time You can right click to access the other Zoom options including Exit and Cancel All This displays the area of your drawing defined by the drawing limits plus any part of your drawing that falls outside the limits PANNING AND ZOOMING TO ADJUST YOUR VIEW 27 Dynamic This changes the display to an overall view A rectangle also appears which lets you select an area to which to zoom in To change the size of the rectangle click the rectangle You can adjust the size of the rectangle and thus change the size of the zoom area Click again to fix the rectangle size Right click and choose Enter to zoom in to the selected area Scale This lets you zoom in or out by a specific value It allows you to enter a specific view scale Center This allows you to center a lo
38. ork Nearly every AutoCAD command offers a set of options shown at the command line prompt These options let you alter the behavior of a command to suit your current drawing To see how command options work and to get a feel for the drawing process in general in this exercise you ll draw an arc and then place it exactly in the inside corner of the rectangle 1 Click the Arc tool in the Draw panel UNDERSTANDING How COMMAND OPTIONS WORK 31 The prompt Specify start point of arc or Center appears and the cursor changes to a crosshair cursor If you examine this Specify start point of arc or Center prompt you ll see that the start point contains two options The default option is stated in the main part of the prompt Specify start point If other options are available they appear within brackets as in the Center option that appears in the Arc tool s command prompt This Center option tells you that you can also start your arc by selecting a center point instead of a start point If multiple options are available they appear within the brackets and are separated by slashes The default is the option AutoCAD assumes you intend to use unless you tell it otherwise Enter C4 to select the Center option The prompt Specify center point of arc appears Notice that you had to enter only the C and not the entire word Center When you see a set of options in the command line note their capitalization If you choose to res
39. ork done if it weren t for these two features But Undo and the Esc key are just two of a set of features you can use to reverse something you have done If you find you ve done something unintentionally you can use the following options to get out of trouble Backspace If you make a typing error press the Backspace key to back up to your error and then reenter your command or response Esc When you need to exit a command or a dialog box quickly without making changes just press the Esc key in the upper left corner of your keyboard UJ If you accidentally change something in the drawing and want to reverse that change click the Undo tool the left pointing curved arrow in the Standard toolbar You can also enter U at the command prompt Each time you do this AutoCAD undoes one operation at a time in reverse order The last command performed is undone first then the next to last command and so on The prompt displays the name of the command being undone and the drawing reverts to its state before that command If you need you can undo everything back to the beginning of an editing session Undo If you decide that you want to back up a few steps in an operation you just performed you can use the Undo tool the left pointing curved arrow on the Quick Access Toolbar Each click of the Undo tool steps you back one operation Redo If you accidentally undo one too many commands you can redo the last undone com mand by clickin
40. other corner point or Area Dimensions Rotation Figure 1 8 Selecting the first _ lt a AutoCAD 2009 Drawing dwe TEI oo x point of a rectangle Home ee a Annotate Tote Va Output a Ej a ey Me a es Ei E ft ht iS e fay Ureswed Layer Se E a oe o B sarn O o 8 708 ko Click here to start the rectangle Corian Tomua camard Declan Specity first corner point or Cheter Elevarions Fillet Thicknesa Uidch T ERR mel EERIE Sisal eae en Bele UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 17 4 Click another point anywhere in the upper right region of the drawing area A rect angle appears see Figure 1 9 You ll learn more about the different cursor shapes and what they mean later in this chapter Figure 1 9 AutoCAD 7009 Drawing dwe PTE oo x Once you ve selected the first point of the rect angle you ll see a rectangle follow the motion of your mouse Towai i PeC LAr Speciry Tira corner point or Chemter Zlevation s Fillets Thickness Wicca Specify other corner point or Arca Dieenaiona Rotation no E ilate ea 1a is ee eS ta eich Next try deleting the rectangle you just drew 1 Place the cursor on top of the rectangle but don t do anything yet Notice that as you pass the cursor over the rectangle it is highlighted In a crowded drawing this high lighting can help you determine exactly what will be selected when you click an object 2 With the
41. pears as shown in Figure 1 6 In most cases you ll be able to guess what each tool does by looking at its icon The icon with an arc in the Draw panel of the Ribbon for instance indicates that the tool draws arcs the one with the circle shows that the tool draws circles and so on But for further clarification the tooltip gives you the name of the tool Finding Hidden Panels and Tools In the next section you ll start to work in the drawing area by drawing some lines Before you do that though take a moment to examine the left part of the Ribbon where the Draw panel of the Ribbon resides You will be instructed to use the tools in this Ribbon panel frequently throughout this book so it will be helpful for you to get a feel for their arrangement and what they contain Besides the visible tools a few tools are hidden from view Click the Blocks and Refer ence tab just above the Ribbon The row of Ribbon panels changes to a new set of panels Click the Home tab above the Ribbon to return to the previous set of panels As you work through exercises in this book l Il abbreviate the name of the Ribbon tabs to simplify the instructions For example l Il say On the Home tab s Draw panel to refer to the Draw panel on the Home tab of the Ribbon UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW 11 If you see a triangle on the right side of a Ribbon panel title bar you can expand the panel to reveal more tools To do this click the panel title b
42. point in the upper right of the drawing area as shown in Figure 1 10 Again it s not important if you don t pick the exact location The rectangle is now in place Now add a circle to the drawing 1 Click the Circle tool in the Draw panel 2 Click the location shown in Figure 1 10 to place the center of the circle Now as you move the cursor a circle appears whose radius follows the location of the cursor 3 Click another point as shown in Figure 1 10 to fix the circle s radius in place If you prefer you can enter an exact radius value for a circle instead of clicking another point to fix the circle radius You now have a circle and a rectangle As you can see you create objects by placing key points of their geometry within the drawing area For the rectangle it was two corners for the circle it was the center and a location on the perimeter Once you ve placed objects in the drawing you can use a variety of tools to edit them In later chapters you ll learn more about those editing tools In the following section you ll learn how to get around in your drawing 24 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD WHEN YOU NEED TO UNDO The AutoCAD User Group International AUGI has conducted a survey to identify the most commonly used features in AutoCAD The group found that the Undo feature and the Esc key were at the top of the list Everyone makes mistakes and it would be impossible to get any w
43. pond to prompts by using the keyboard these capitalized letters are all you need to enter to select that option In some cases the first two letters are capitalized to differentiate two options that begin with the same letter such as LAyer and LType Now select a point for the center of the arc as shown in Figure 1 13 The prompt Specify start point of arc appears You ll also see a rubber banding line from the center point you just selected to your cursor Figure 1 13 Using the Arc Finally click here for command the end point First click here for Then click here for the arc center the start point gt x If you point directly to the right you ll see that the rubber banding line snaps to an exact horizontal orientation and you ll see a tooltip appear at the cursor This is a feature called polar tracking vector and it helps you draw in exact horizontal 32 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD and vertical directions much like a T square and a triangle The tooltip shows your cursor s location relative to the center point you just selected It displays this infor mation in what is known as a polar coordinate You can learn more about polar coor dinates in Chapter 2 With the rubber banding line pointing to the right click to select a point as shown earlier in Figure 1 13 The prompt Specify end point of arc or Angle chord Length appears Move the mouse and a temporary arc appears origin
44. rnet Another unique item in AutoCAD s window is the set of tool palettes shown in Fig ure 1 4 You can use these palettes to keep your favorite tools and drawing components in one convenient place for quick access 7 8 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Figure 1 4 x x The Properties pe Noselection w i Lah z E Cyndie Helix an palette at left and E g the tool palettes at 2D Spiral right j Eliptical Cylinder Linetype ec 1000 Liresnesghit Thieress 0 0000 3D Visualization Material ByLayer Shadow di Casts and Rec Plot style Plot style By Color Plot stylet Mone Alot table a Model Plot tablet Not available ByLayer k Frustum Cone Frustum Pyrarnid lew Center x 2 1017 Center Y 5 4355 Center Z 0 0000 Height B T726 Adth ia ATi m Properties Tool palettes E Tool Palettes All Palettes Properties palette The Properties palette shown on the left and the AutoCAD tool palettes shown on the right of Figure 1 4 might not appear in your AutoCAD window by default but you can open the tool palettes by clicking the View tab in the Ribbon and selecting Tool Palettes from the Palettes panel The drawing area the status bar and the View tab command line work together to give you feed i back while you create and edit your drawing r Ue 3 w BB EJ Too
45. s its ability to adjust to your way of performing tasks If you prefer using toolbars you can gain access to nearly all the AutoCAD functions through toolbars If you prefer using options from a menu bar again you can perform most of what you need through them And the Ribbon offers the most commonly used functions in Auto CAD Experienced users know how to use the command line and know nearly all the com mands by heart The AutoCAD commands are really at the heart of its operations Menu bar options the Ribbon and the toolbar buttons are really just different ways to invoke AutoCAD com mands When you click a toolbar button or a menu option you are really initiating a com mand through AutoCAD s menu system sometimes with predetermined options already selected In fact if you watch the command line as you click a menu option or toolbar but ton you ll see that the messages in the command line are the same regardless of where you invoked the command For this reason l Il often intermix the terms tool option and command because at a prac tical level they are really all the same Just be aware that menu options and toolbar buttons invoke commands Using Other Toolbars If you are familiar with earlier versions of AutoCAD you ll remember that toolbars were the primary method for using the many AutoCAD drawing and editing tools The toolbars are still available and can offer a quick way to get to the tools you need Table 1 1 describ
46. shown at the top of Figure 1 1 If this is a new installation you will also see the New Features Workshop window If this hap pens select Maybe Later and then click OK AUTOCAD 2009 VERSUS AUTOCAD 2009 LT AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD 2009 LT are essentially the same programs with some differ encesboth large and small The LT version has limited 3D capabilities and no 3D workspace Customization features too are limited in the LT version With the exception of the 3D fea tures you should be able to use the features discussed in this book when using AutoCAD 2009 LT UNDERSTANDING THE AUTOCAD WINDOW Quick Access Toolbar InfoCenter E Eoo Menu Browser A AuioChD 7009 Drewing ces EEES HIRIE Hom Becks 4 References na Took Wie Dut Ribbon os DO BOR Alea Bye S Se reed ie TAAL Ms dle le E amp ee amp CHES Ele Ba aa h ag Udina Drawing area UCS Command window Status bar 7 BES Ae pa EEEE In some installations you might see a Startup dialog box If this happens to you click Cancel and AutoCAD will display the blank default document 3 The default document appears to be an empty 2D space You ll also see a special tool palette called the Ribbon along the top as shown in Figure 1 1 This is a set of 2D drafting and annotation tools that gives you ready access to the most common draft ing functions If this is a completely new installation you might see the Autodesk Impressions toolbar
47. t tool displays a white area over a gray back ground This white area represents the area of the paper onto which your drawing will be printed The white area also shows a dashed line close to its edge This dashed line represents the printable area of your paper The current default printer connected to your computer determines both the paper area and the dashed line If you have a printer that accepts paper of different sizes you can select a different sheet size and the new sheet size will be reflected in the white area shown in the layout You ll learn how to control sheet sizes and layouts in Chapter 12 As you might guess you use the layout to lay out your drawing for printing You can print from the model space if you want but you have much more control over your printer output from a layout TURNING ON THE LAYOUT TABS AutoCAD can be set up to display layouts as tabs at the bottom of the drawing area To turn them on right click the Model or Layout tool located at the bottom of the AutoCAD win dow and then select Display Layout and Model Tabs The tabs will appear just below the drawing area To hide the tabs right click any tab and select Hide Layout and Model Tabs If you want to leave the tabs off you can still switch from model space to a layout by clicking the Model or Layout tool If you have multiple layouts you can use tool just to the right of the Layout tool to select a layout Understanding How Command Options W
48. tatus bar you ll see a downward pointing triangle or arrow click this arrow to open a menu that controls the display of the status bar You can also just right click in a blank area of the status bar to display this menu You use this menu to turn the items in the status bar on or off A check mark by an item indicates it is currently on If for some reason you do not see all the buttons mentioned in the preceding discussion check this menu to make sure that all the status bar options are turned on Note that the LT version does not have an Otrack option in the status bar Using the Ribbon If you ve used the latest version of Microsoft Office for Windows Vista you ll be familiar with the Ribbon The Ribbon is a bit like a super toolbar that offers quick access to the most commonly used tools In addition the Ribbon offers a lot of helpful information in the form of expanded tooltips Specifically the Ribbon is a collection of tools that invoke commands These tools are grouped into several tabs Each tab contains a set of panels and each panel contains a set of icons representing tools and showing their function see the earlier Figure 1 2 The tools also offer tooltips that provide a lot of information including a description that helps you understand what the icons represent If the Ribbon does not appear on the screen you can click in the command window and then type ribbon to restore it to the window If you move the cursor onto
49. the list of menu items As you highlight each item notice that a tooltip appears These tooltips help you choose the menu option you need and in many cases give a kind of mini tutorial on how to use the option These tooltips are the same as the ones you see with the Ribbon panel tools Near the bottom of the tooltip you ll see a single word in capital letters This is the keyboard command equivalent to the highlighted option in the menu shown earlier in Figure 1 6 If you prefer you can actually enter these keyboard commands to start the tool or menu item you have highlighted You don t have to memorize these command names but knowing them will help you later if you want to customize AutoCAD 3 Some of the menu items won t show a tooltip but will have arrows to their left This means the menu option has additional choices For instance click the Object option and you ll see the list of options expand below the Object option Click the Object option again and the list closes Opening Dialog Boxes You might have noticed that other menu options are followed by an ellipsis This indicates that the option displays a dialog box as the following exercise demonstrates 1 Click the Tools option in the Menu Browser lT Options Curent profile Waking Files Display Open and Save Plot and Publish System User Preferences Dratting 30 Modeling Selechon Profiles FR Current drawing Drawingl dwg 2 Click the Options item
50. try the following 1 Press F1 to open the AutoCAD 2009 Help window 2 Click the Contents tab which contains a table of contents The other two tabsIndex and Searchprovide assistance in finding specific topics E AutoCAD 2009 Help D e gt Hide Barc Forward Home Contents Index Search User s Guide Command Reference Drive and Penpherd Gude Installation and Licensing Guide Customization Guide F AutoLISP Yisual LISP snd DXF F Actives Automation and VBA Print AutoCAD 2009 Help GETTING HELP 33 Need help fast Use the three tabs in the upper left to navigate through the Help system Post questions on Autodesk discussion groups Access additional PDF documents on your computer Open the Learning resources web page for additional help including the support database tips and tutorials General Informaton Hew Features Workshop Show Me Animations Use the Help System Efficient View the Product Readme Help Files User s guide Command Reference Driver and Peripheral Guide Customization Guide AUtOLISP Visual LISP amd DXF ActiveX Automation and VBA Resources on the Web Learning Resources AutoCAD Web Page Technical Support 3 Scan down the screen until you see the topic Command Reference and double click it Both panels of the Help window change to show more topics 4 Expand the Commands list and then click the item labeled C near the top of the c
51. w panel of a drawing you want to switch to the selected drawing appears in the drawing area Click in the drawing area to make that drawing current When you hover over a preview panel with your cursor additional preview panels appear showing you the model and layout views of the drawing to which you are pointing Model and Layout previews Ri Abn Tuas a Gi p Ey 83inew2007 E plan Fy akiko s plans2 ax You can then click in a model or layout preview to have it display in the drawing area Click in the drawing area to make the selected view the current one STARTING A DRAWING 23 Next try drawing a couple of objects just to get comfortable with drawing in Auto CAD In the following exercise you ll draw a rectangle then you ll add a circle 1 Click the Rectangle tool in the Draw panel Remember that you can use the toolt ips to help you locate a tool You can also choose Draw gt Rectangle from the Menu Browser 2 Click a point in the lower left of the drawing area as shown in Figure 1 10 Don t worry about the exact location Youre just practicing right now After clicking you ll see that one corner of the rectangle follows the cursor Figure 1 10 l l Drawing a circle Click here for the center of the circle Click here to fix the circle s radius Click here to start the rectangle Then click here to complete the rectangle 3 Click a
52. with the next prompt Specify second point The rubber banding line indicates the direction and distance of your pan As with any other command that displays a rubber banding line you can select points to indicate distance and direction or you can enter coordinates This enables you to specify exact dis tances and directions to pan your view 28 CHAPTER 1 GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AUTOCAD Understanding the Layout View Aside from the command prompt you ve probably noticed that AutoCAD behaves like most other Windows programs But in one of its features AutoCAD is a little different from other Windows graphics programs Specifically at the bottom of the AutoCAD window you Il see an icon that looks like a triangle over a grid If you hover over the icon you Il see that it is labeled Layout1 Another icon to the left of Layout is called Model EES SSS elon eS Model The Model icon is currently active telling you that you are in what is called model space If you have followed the exercises in this chapter you ve been working in model space all along Model space is the display you ll use to do most of your drawing It s like your main workspace Clicking the Layout1 icon opens a view that is like a page preview with the added advantage of enabling you to draw within the preview This preview is called a paper space layout Besides previewing your drawing Layout also gives you control over the printed scale
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