Wiley 978-0-470-12150-4 Datasheet

Getting Familiar with AutoCADIf you are totally new to AutoCAD, you’ll want to read this chapter. It provides anoverview of AutoCAD’s layout and shows

When the drawing area is in the Restore Down position, it appears as a separate win-dow within the AutoCAD window. You can then resize the window to a

“CHATTING” WITH AUTOCADAutoCAD communicates its needs to you through messages in the command line. These messages often tell you what to do next or of

Another menu bar feature is the command description in the status bar. As you open amenu from the menu bar and point to options, you’ll see a brief de

Starting CommandsAnother 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

Figure 1.6Once you’veselected the first point of the rectangle, you’ll see a rectangle fol-low the motion ofyour mouse.Click here to start the rectang

In step 1, AutoCAD shows you exactly what the cursor is pointing to by highlightingobjects that will be selected with the next click.In drawing and er

Besides the visible tools, a few tools are hidden from view. You can expand the list oftools to select more tools. Click and hold the downward-pointin

Using Other ToolbarsI mentioned earlier that not all the AutoCAD toolbars are open and visible. If they were,you wouldn’t have any room for a drawing

continuesCOMMAND DESCRIPTIONStandard The most frequently used commands for view control, file management, and editing. This toolbar is ordinarily dock

You can dock toolbars to the top, bottom, or sides of the AutoCAD window to keepthem out of the drawing area.AutoCAD remembers your toolbar arrangemen

Understanding the AutoCAD WindowAutodesk has completely redesigned AutoCAD 2008’s 2D drafting interface, and to showit off, AutoCAD’s default opening

of the screen, and observe the value in the coordinate readout in the lower-left corner ofthe AutoCAD window. This is the standard AutoCAD default dra

2. Click a point in the lower left of the drawing area, as shown in Figure 1.9. Don’t worryabout the exact location. You’re just practicing right now.

WHEN YOU NEED TO UNDORecently AutoCAD User Group International (AUGI) conducted a survey to identify the mostcommonly used features in AutoCAD. The gr

Panning and Zooming to Adjust Your ViewOne of the greatest features of AutoCAD is its ability to draw accurately through a widerange of scales. For ex

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use the wheel to zoom in and out ofyour drawing view. You can also use it to pan across your drawing.

Understanding the Layout ViewAside from the command prompt, you’ve probably noticed that AutoCADbehaves like most other Windows programs. But one elem

3. Click the highlighted rectangle, and then press the Delete key. Your drawing disappears.4. Click the Model tab to return to model space. You’ll see

In step 3, your entire drawing disappeared when you deleted the outer rectangle. This isbecause that rectangle is really a viewport into the drawing y

point. If multiple options are available, they appear within the brackets and are sepa-rated by slashes (/). The default is the option AutoCAD assumes

As the prompt indicates, you now have three options. You can enter an angle, achord length, or the endpoint of the arc. The prompt default, to specify

The opening greeting, called a splash screen, appears momentarily; then if this is anew installation, AutoCAD will display the Workspaces message box.

Using the Search TabIf you’re a beginning AutoCAD user looking for help, the Help window’s table of contentsmight not be as useful as it could be. To

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,

The InfoCenter provides a way to stay informed about the latest software updates andsupport issues for AutoCAD. Click the Settings button to open the

If you are using AutoCAD 2008, try the following exercise to see how to get to the 3DModeling workspace (this workspace is not available in AutoCAD 20

2. Choose File ➔New. The Select Template dialog box appears.3. Select acad3D.dwt from the list, and click Open. A new file, called Drawing2.dwg,appear

4. Select 2D Drafting & Annotation from the Workspaces toolbar. You’ll be working inthis workspace for most of this book.5. Exit the 3D Drawing2.d

anywhere on the screen. When toolbars are away from the edge of the window and appear“free floating,” they are said to be floating toolbars, as oppose

You can also easily retrieve these palettes by clicking buttons on theStandard Annotation toolbar at the top of the AutoCAD window.Now let’s look at s

CONTROLLING THE STATUS BAR DISPLAYTo the far right of the status bar, you’ll see a downward-pointing triangle, or arrow; click thisarrow to open a men