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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Publisher's note: This edition from 2020 is based on AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021 and does not make use of the most recent AutoCAD features. A new second edition, updated for AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023 including new topics, such as Floating drawing windows and the COUNT feature, has now been published.
Key Features
- Explore the AutoCAD GUI, file format, and drawing tools to get started with CAD projects
- Learn to use drawing management tools for working efficiently on large projects
- Discover techniques for creating, modifying, and managing 3D models and converting 2D plans into 3D models
Book Description
AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are one of the most versatile software applications for architectural and engineering designs and the most popular computer-aided design (CAD) platform for 2D drafting and 3D modeling. This hands-on guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, starting from a simple tour of the user interface through to using advanced tools.
Starting with basic drawing shapes and functions, you'll get to grips with the fundamentals of CAD designs. You'll then learn about effective drawing management using layers, dynamic blocks, and groups and discover how to add annotations and plot like professionals. The book delves into 3D modeling and helps you convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. As you progress, you'll cover advanced tools and features such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs, and you'll learn how to implement them with the help of practical exercises at the end of each chapter. Finally, you'll get to grips with rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD.
By the end of the book, you'll have developed a solid understanding of CAD principles and be able to work with AutoCAD software confidently to build impressive 2D and 3D drawings.
What you will learn
- Understand CAD fundamentals using AutoCAD's basic functions, navigation, and components
- Create complex 3d solid objects starting from the primitive shapes using the solid editing tools
- Working with reusable objects like Blocks and collaborating using xRef
- Explore some advanced features like external references and dynamic block
- Get to grips with surface and mesh modeling tools such as Fillet, Trim, and Extend
- Use the paper space layout in AutoCAD for creating professional plots for 2D and 3D models
- Convert your 2D drawings into 3D models
Who this book is for
The book is for design engineers, mechanical engineers, architects, and anyone working in construction, manufacturing, or similar fields. Whether you're an absolute beginner, student, or professional looking to upgrade your engineering design skills, you'll find this AutoCAD book useful. No prior knowledge of CAD or AutoCAD is necessary.
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Seitenzahl: 762
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
Ähnliche
Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021
Copyright © 2020 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Commissioning Editor:Wilson D'souzaAcquisition Editor:Karan GuptaContent Development Editor: Akhil NairSenior Editor: Hayden EdwardsTechnical Editor: Deepesh PatelCopy Editor: Safis EditingProject Coordinator:Kinjal BariProofreader: Safis EditingIndexer:Rekha NairProduction Designer:Jyoti Chauhan
First published: May 2020
Production reference: 1150520
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78980-915-2
www.packt.com
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Contributors
About the authors
Yasser Shoukry is an engineering professional with a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He lives in Egypt and has more than 10 years of experience in different fields. He has worked in the construction industry as an MEP engineer, participated as a CFD technical analyst in automotive R&D and building smoke management projects, and worked on 3D modeling projects for oil and gas companies. The countless hours of drafting and modeling spent on all of these projects have given him extensive knowledge and experience in using AutoCAD. Moreover, he has great experience in AutoCAD training as he has successfully published training courses for AutoCAD on different online learning platforms.
Jaiprakash Pandey is a certified Autodesk AutoCAD professional and a member of the Autodesk Expert Elite community. He has worked in the design, manufacturing, and training industries and primarily delivers training to corporate clients. He has extensive experience in delivering CAD training to clients from Fortune 500 companies, design consulting firms, government organizations, and the military. Jaiprakash lives in India and has also created online courses and CAD training material for colleges and online portals. His articles have appeared in many CAD- and engineering-related publications.
About the reviewer
Abhijeet Narwal has always been intrigued by the mechanics of complex machines. Product design is an aspect of engineering that comes to him naturally, and he has more than 5 years of experience in this sphere. Building on his passion, he graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with an MS Mechanical Engineering, specializing in manufacturing and design innovation. He has worked in different domains of design, including the automotive, agriculture, and robotics industries. Currently, he is working at Ford Motor Company as a product design engineer, which requires extensive knowledge of AutoCAD, Ansys, CATIA, Creo, and SolidWorks.
Packt is searching for authors like you
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021
About Packt
Why subscribe?
Contributors
About the authors
About the reviewer
Packt is searching for authors like you
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the color images
Conventions used
Get in touch
Reviews
An Introduction to AutoCAD
AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD for Macintosh
Understanding the user interface
The application button
The quick access toolbar
The info bar
The ribbon area
The file tabs
The ViewCube and navigation bar 
The selection cursor 
The command line/palette 
The user coordinate system
The layout tabs 
The status bar toggles 
Navigating in AutoCAD
Selecting and panning
Zooming in and out
Making selections
A simple selection
The selection window
The crossing window
The "window lasso" selection
The "crossing lasso" selection
Setting units and limits
Setting units
Setting limits
Saving settings as a template 
Saving a drawing file as DWG
Summary
Basic Drawing Tools
Understanding the coordinate system
Cartesian coordinates
Polar coordinates
Using the Line command
Making lines with direct distance entry
Making lines using absolute coordinates
Using polar coordinates
Using relative coordinates
Making a drawing without coordinate values
The status bar modes
Using Dynamic Input
Using ortho mode
Using polar tracking
Making a circle
Center, radius, and diameter
2-Point and 3-Point
Tan, Tan, Radius and Tan, Tan, Tan
Making an arc
Start, Center, End
Start, End, Radius
Center, Start, End
Making a rectangle
Making a rectangle using absolute coordinates
Making a rectangle using relative coordinates
Making a rectangle with Dynamic Input
Making a polygon
Inscribed and circumscribed polygons
Making polygons
The Move and Copy commands
The Rotate command
Simple Rotate
Rotate with Reference
The Fillet command
The Trim command
The Extend command
Summary
Learning about Modify Commands
Using Object Snaps
The Endpoint and Midpoint snaps
The Center snap
The Geometric Center snap
The Node snap
The Quadrant snap
The Intersection snap
The Extension snap
The Perpendicular snap
The Tangent snap
The Nearest snap
The Parallel snap
The Object Snap override
Object Snap tracking
Making an ellipse
The Construction Line command
The revision cloud tool
The Rectangular revision cloud tool
The Polygonal revision cloud tool
The Freehand revision cloud tool
Working with regions
Making regions
Point and point style
Working with Spline
Spline fit
Spline CV
More Modify commands
The Mirror command
The Offset command
The Scale command
Making a copy of the scaled object
Scale with a reference
The Chamfer command
Making a Chamfer using an angle
Making Chamfers on multiple vertices
The Join command
The Explode command
The Stretch command
Summary
Working with Arrays and Reusable Objects
Using advanced status bar modes
Grid mode
What if the grid spacing does not match the settings?
Snap mode
Selection cycling
Making Arrays
The Rectangular Array
The Associative option
The Polar Array tool
The Path Array
Working with blocks
Making blocks
Inserting blocks
Insertion Options
Inserting blocks from other drawings
Modifying blocks
Redefining blocks
Working with groups
Creating groups
Using groups
Working with attributes
Making attributes
Understanding attribute modes
Making invisible attributes
Summary
Managing Drawings with Layers and Properties
Managing object properties
Adding linetype
What if the linetype does not look right in the drawing?
Adding transparency
Adding lineweight
Adding color
Changing properties using the PROPERTIES palette
Using Match Properties
Modifying property types to match
Using enquiry commands
Quick
Distance
Radius
Angle
Area
Drawing management using layers
Making layers
Adding color to layers
Adding linetype, lineweight, and transparency settings
Assigning objects to layers
What if lineweight and transparency changes are not visible in the drawing?
Making a drawing on an active layer
On, Off, and Freeze
Layer lock
No-plot layers
Using the quick access tools in the Layers panel
Layer off
Layer isolate
Layer freeze
Layer lock
Match Layer
The layer states manager
Summary
Working with Hatches, Text, and Dimensions
Filling an area with Hatches
Hatches with pick points
Hatches with the Select option
Hatch color
Hatch transparency
Hatch angle
Set Origin
Associative Hatch
Gap Tolerance
Creating color gradients
Adding text to the drawing
Creating a text style
Adding Multiline text
Changing text formatting
Adding symbols
Adding single line text
Working with dimensions
Making a dimension style
Using the Lines tab
Using the Symbols and Arrows tab
Using the Text tab
Using the Fit tab
Using the Primary Units tab
Adding dimensions
Using the Linear dimension tool
Using the Aligned dimension tool
Using the Angular dimension tool
Using the Arc Length dimension tool
Using the Radius dimension tool
Using the Diameter dimension tool
Using the Ordinate dimension tool
Using the Jogged dimension tool
Understanding the Dimension tool
The Continue dimension tool
The Baseline dimension tool
Modifying dimensions
Using alternate units in dimensions
Adding tolerances
Multileaders
Creating a multileader style
Using the Leader Format tab
Using the Leader Structure tab
Using the Content tab
Adding a multileader
Summary
Tables, Isometric, and Parametric Drawings
Working with AutoCAD tables
Making a table in AutoCAD
Modifying tables
Making a sample table
Adding data to a sample table
Adding text justification
Adding new columns
Merging cells
Adding data using formulas
Adding a formula to the Total cost cell
Exporting tables in Excel format
Importing an Excel table into AutoCAD
Working with the table style manager
Working with data links
Understanding fields
Making isometric drawings
Preparing a workspace for isometric drawing
Making the drawing
Working with parametric drawings
Using the Infer Constraints status bar toggle
Applying geometric constraints
Adding dimensional constraints
Adding relationships between different geometries
Adding formulas to constraints
Summary
Customization Tools
Making custom linetypes
Making a simple linetype using the Make Linetype tool
Making complex linetypes using Express tools
Making linetypes using code
Making custom Hatches patterns
Customizing the user interface
Making a custom panel
Making user interface changes
Using Design Center
Inserting blocks from Design Center
Inserting named objects from other drawings
Using tool palettes
Inserting blocks from a tool palette
Adding custom blocks to tool palettes
Working with complex polylines and splines
Complex polylines
Editing polylines
Complex splines
Spline tolerance in Spline Fit
Start and end tangency in Spline Fit
Making Spline CV
Modifying a Spline CV
Modifying a spline using SPLINEEDIT
Summary
External References and Dynamic Blocks
Working with External Referencess
Inserting XRefs
Attach External References window options
Scale
Path type
Rotation
Insertion point
Reference Type
External References tab
Modifying XRefs
Clipping XRefs
External Referencess palette
Open
Attach
Unload and Reload
Detach
Bind
XRef type
Changing the path type
Selecting a new path
Using eTransmit for XRefs
Working with dynamic blocks
Making a dynamic block using constraints
Making a dynamic block using parameters and actions
Flip parameter
Alignment parameter
Rotation parameter
Visibility parameter
Cleaning and fixing drawing issues
Using PURGE to clean drawings
Using OVERKILL to clean drawings
Using the AUDIT command
Using the RECOVER command
Summary
Introduction to 3D Modeling
Technical requirements
3D modeling workspaces
Introduction to workspaces
Exploring the 3D Basics workspace
Exploring the 3D Modeling workspace
Navigation and switching views
Basic navigation
The ViewCube
Preset views
Creating a custom named view
Adjusting visual styles
Preset visual styles
Adjusting visual style settings
Configuring multiple viewports 
User Coordinate System (UCS)
Appearance of the UCS icon
Rotating the UCS
Translating the UCS
Aligning the UCS with objects
Creating a UCS by specifying points
Saving the modified UCS
Dynamic UCS functions
Summary
Creating Primitive 3D Shapes
Creating primitive 3D shapes
Creating Boxes
Creating Cylinders
Creating Cones
Creating Spheres
Creating Pyramids
Creating Wedges
Creating a Torus
Creating a Polysolid
Summary
Conversion between 2D and 3D
Using the Extrude command
Using the Revolve command
Using the Sweep command
Using the Loft command
Using the Presspull command
Using the Flatshot command
Using the Section Plane tool
Summary
Modifying 3D Objects
Exploring basic modify commands
Using 2D modify commands with 3D objects
Move/copy commands
Mirror/3D mirror commands
Rotate command
Scale command
Using the 3D Gizmo tool
Move Gizmo
Rotate Gizmo
Scale Gizmo
No Gizmo
Using Boolean operations
Using the union command
Using the subtract command
Using the intersect command
Solid editing commands
Using the separate command
Using the shell command
Using the slice command
Using the Thicken command
Face editing commands
Using the taper faces command
Using the extrude faces command
Using the offset faces command
Edge editing commands
Using the FILLETEDGE command
Using the chamfer edge command
Summary
Surfaces and Mesh Modeling
Surface modeling
Creating surfaces
Creating planar surfaces
Creating network surfaces
Blend surface command
Surface patch command
Surface offset command
Modifying surfaces
Surface fillet
Surface trim
Surface untrim command
Sculpt command
Mesh objects
Creating mesh objects
Creating primitive mesh objects
Using the smooth object command 
Using curves to create mesh objects
The REVSURF command
Ruled surface command
Edge surface command
Tabulated surface command
Modifying mesh objects
Working with selection filters
Modifying the mesh vertices
Modifying the mesh edges
Modifying the mesh faces
Using the extrude face command
Using the split face command
Using the merge face command.
Using the close hole command
Using the Collapse Face or Edge command
Adding creases to smoothed objects
Refining the fesh
Summary
Paper Space Layouts and Printing
Understanding the paper space
Introduction to paper space
Exploring the layout tab
Setting up the paper space tabs
Creating viewports and title blocks
Creating rectangular viewports
Adjusting the viewport settings
Method 1
Method 2
Creating orthographic and isometric views for a three-dimensional model
Creating viewports with general shapes
Creating a title block
Examples for creating and setting layout tabs and viewports
Example 1
Example 2
Understanding the printing process
Starting the print command
Choosing what to print
Using plot styles
Examples for using Plot Style Table Editor
Example 1
Example 2
Summary
Rendering and Presentation
Setting the lighting of the scene
Lighting intensity units
Creating Point light sources
Creating a Spotlight source
Creating a Distant light source
Weblight source
Sun lighting
Displaying shadows
Applying and viewing materials
Setting the visual style to display materials
Exploring the Materials Browser
Applying materials to objects
Material Mapping
Using custom materials/texture maps
Cameras
Creating a new camera
Modifying cameras using grab points
Rendering scenes
Setting the render quality
Setting the rendered image resolution
Rendering 
Importing and exporting 3D files
Summary
Preface
The book is about AutoCAD, which is a computer-aided 2D and 3D drafting software developed by Autodesk. If you are an engineering student, a drafter, or a design engineer, or if you just have great ideas and need a powerful drafting tool to bring them to life, then AutoCAD was designed for you. AutoCAD was the first CAD computer program ever created and is still the best 2D drafting tool on the market. In addition, it has a comprehensive and intuitive set of 3D modeling tools.
This book is written as a guide for you to explore the capabilities of AutoCAD, starting from scratch. We will look at the basic drawing tools and learn about the basic concepts. From there, we'll be moving gradually up to advanced drawing management, external references for working in groups, and 3D modeling.
Who this book is for
This book is for absolute beginners when it comes to AutoCAD who want to learn 2D and 3D AutoCAD right from scratch. The book can be used for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and although it uses the 2021 version of AutoCAD, students using older versions from 2016 onward will be able to follow the book without any issues. This book is not recommended for those using AutoCAD on a Mac, as the user interface will be different.
For installing AutoCAD some of the basic hardware requirements are following:
8 GB Minimum and 16 GB recommended.
2.5-2.9 GHz processor Minimum and 3+ GHz recommended.
64 Bit windows operating system with a minimum disk space of 7 GB.
Display 1 GB basic with 4 GB recommended.
For a detailed list of hardware, specification check this page on Autodesk knowledge network https://autode.sk/3cFj7d3
What this book covers
Chapter 1, An Introduction to AutoCAD, teaches you about units, the user interface, and the basic navigation tools of AutoCAD.
Chapter 2, Basic Drawing Tools, is where you will do your first set of drawings with basic drawing commands, such as Line, Circle, and Arc.
Chapter 3, Learning about Modify Commands, is where you will learn how to modify basic geometries using tools such as fillet, trim, scale, and mirror.
Chapter 4, Working with Arrays and Reusable Objects, goes into how to make patterns with arrays and symbols using blocks and attributes.
Chapter 5, Managing Drawings with Layers and Properties, explores managing objects in your drawings using layers and changing properties such as color, linetype, and lineweight.
Chapter 6, Working with Hatches, Text, and Dimensions, is all about adding annotations such as dimensions, text, and multileaders to your drawings.
Chapter 7, Tables, Isometric and Parametric Drawings, delves into making your own tables in AutoCAD or using tables from Excel. Also, you will learn how to do parametric and isometric drawings.
Chapter 8, Customization Tools, looks at making custom linetypes and hatches, as well as customizing the user interface of AutoCAD.
Chapter 9, External References and Dynamic Blocks, details the use of external references in your drawing, as well as how to make and modify dynamic blocks.
Chapter 10, Introduction to 3D Modeling, covers how to optimize the working environment in AutoCAD for 3D modeling.
Chapter 11, Creating Primitive 3D Shapes, will teach you how to create simple primitive 3D shapes.
Chapter 12, Conversion between 2D and 3D, aims to show you how to convert 2D shapes to 3D objects, and how to create shots and sections from 3D models.
Chapter 13, Modifying 3D Objects, focuses on how to use conventional modification tools with 3D bodies as well as specialized 3D modification tools.
Chapter 14, Surfaces and Mesh Modeling, dives into surface modeling and mesh modeling in AutoCAD.
Chapter 15, Paper Space Layouts and Printing, shows how to prepare your drawings and print them in a professional way.
Chapter 16, Rendering and Presentation, gives you an overview of how to set up a scene and produce high-quality renders for your 3D models.
To get the most out of this book
You need to have AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT installed in order to follow the book. This book is made with the Windows operating system version of AutoCAD in mind. If you are using AutoCAD on Mac, then you will find a different user interface.
Software/hardware covered in the book
Operating system requirements
AutoCAD 2021
Windows 7 or 10
You can get the free 30-day trial version of AutoCAD from the Autodesk website and, if eligible, you can also get the free student version of AutoCAD from the Autodesk student portal.
Download the color images
We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://static.packt-cdn.com/downloads/9781789809152_ColorImages.pdf
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "To use this tool, click on its icon or use its command alias, LAYISO."
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Open a blank drawing and start the Line command by clicking on the Line tool in the Draw panel."
Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.
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An Introduction to AutoCAD
Welcome to this book about Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021. This book covers the essential tools, commands, and features that you need to know to get up and running with Autodesk AutoCAD software.
Autodesk—the parent company that makes AutoCAD releases a new version of AutoCAD every year, and with the new release, comes an improved feature set, bug fixes, and new commands. AutoCAD is also the flagship product of Autodesk; it's been the core drafting software for years and it still has a dominant position in the CAD industry as a design and drafting tool.
With AutoCAD, you can make 2D drawings and 3D models and create photorealistic renderings for a presentation. Though popular in the industry as a drafting tool, AutoCAD is much more than that. It is feature-packed with 2D drafting, 3D modeling, drawing management tools, drawing collaboration tools, 3D rendering features, and most recently, cloud-based features have been added to the core AutoCAD package.
The most recent One AutoCAD update now allows you to access other AutoCAD verticals, such as AutoCAD Electrical, Civil, and Architecture with your subscription, and with that, you now have access to a big library of blocks and tools that were only available in the respective vertical product.
In this book, we will use AutoCAD 2021 to explain the tools and commands, but you can use this book even if you are using older or newer versions of AutoCAD. Along with the usual commands and toolsets, this book also covers the new features of AutoCAD 2021.
We will cover the following topics in this chapter:
AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD for Mac
Understanding the AutoCAD user interface
Navigating in AutoCAD
Units and limits
So, let's get started with the technical requirements and the PC specification you need for the smooth functioning of Autodesk AutoCAD software.
AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD for Macintosh
Autodesk AutoCAD is primarily made for the Windows operating system, but it has a Macintosh (Mac) version as well. The Mac version has a different user interface and is somewhat limited in features compared to AutoCAD for Windows.
So, if you are a Mac user, you will find the user interface a little different but still, it's the same software and functionally, the commands will work the same. The major differences between the Mac version and the Windows version of AutoCAD are the following:
Mac has a classical AutoCAD-type user interface whereas the Windows interface is modern and ribbon-based.
Some tools will work on the command bar instead of the palette in the Mac version.
Many Windows AutoCAD tools are either reworked or completely missing in the Mac version.
So, in a nutshell, it is recommended to use the Windows version of AutoCAD and this book has also been written for the Windows version of AutoCAD, so Mac users may find it difficult to follow along due to the previously listed differences. However, it is still workable and, with a little bit of trial and error, you will be able to use this book with the Mac version of AutoCAD, too.
Another type of AutoCAD that is currently available is AutoCAD LT and it is a sort of lighter version of AutoCAD. The LT version, though cheaper, does not support most of the 3D tools and LISP.net customizations. Despite these missing features, AutoCAD LT still supports AutoCAD files and you can seamlessly transfer files between AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.
This book is fully compatible with AutoCAD LT for Windows and you can use this book if you are an AutoCAD LT user. You will, however, find the AutoCAD-only tools missing.
Now that we have looked at the differences between AutoCAD for Windows and Mac and AutoCAD LT, let's explore the user interface of the program.
Understanding the user interface
AutoCAD 2021, just like its predecessors, has a ribbon view with panels and tabs. You can launch the AutoCAD software using its icon on the desktop or from the AutoCAD 2021 – English folder in the start menu. When the software starts up, you will see an interface like this:
Here, we have three columns: Get Started, Recent Documents, and Notifications. Get Started has all the options you will need to start a new drawing or open an existing one. The Recent Documents column shows a list of all the recently opened drawings and you can use this tab to directly open any drawing. The Notifications column has information related to your account, such as an update notification and A360 account notifications. A360 is the cloud-based storage provided by Autodesk with an AutoCAD subscription and apart from cloud storage, you also get many other features, such as collaboration, markups, and rendering, on the A360 cloud account.
To start a blank drawing template, click on the Start Drawing box in the Start tab. Clicking on this box launches the default template listed under the Templates list. By default, a acad.dwt or acadiso.dwt template will be used to open the drawing. These templates contain settings such as units, limits, and precision and at this point, selecting any of these templates won't make a difference as we will learn about making templates and using them in drawings later in this book:
So, when the blank drawing loads up, your interface will look similar to the start screen, but this time with an active ribbon and blank drawing area. Let's talk about all the components in this workspace:
The user interface parts are labeled in figure 1.3, and here is a short description of each of the parts mentioned in this screenshot.
The application button
Clicking on this big A icon will open a menu with options to open an existing drawing; open a new template; save, print, or export drawings; and other common options.
The quick access toolbar
This toolbar contains most of the frequently used tools from the application button. To add or remove an option from the quick access toolbar, simply click on the arrow pointing downward at the end of the toolbar and check or uncheck the option you want to keep or hide:
The quick access toolbar contains tools such as open, save, plot, layer, workspace, sheet set manager, properties, and the menu bar. Some of these tools are also available in the application menu of AutoCAD.
The info bar
In the input field of the info bar, which reads Type a keyword or phrase, you can type the name of any command or tool to get more information about it. Simply type the name of the command and hit the Enter key to get the help file related to the command. You need to be connected to the internet in order to use this feature. This bar also contains other features, such as your sign-in account, access to the Autodesk app store, and more help options.
The ribbon area
The ribbon area contains all the tools and commands properly arranged into different tabs and panels. Home, Insert, Annotate, Parametric, and so on are the tabs in which different panels are placed in a meaningful order. For example, theHometab contains the DrawandModifypanels, which in turn contain most of the frequently used commands:
Similarly, other less frequently used panels and subsequently, the commands, are in other tabs, such as the Parametric or Express Tools tabs, which are other tabs found in the ribbon area.
The panels and tabs are not permanent and you can hide or reveal them by simply right-clicking on any panel. To hide or show any tab, just right-click on any panel and go to the Show Tabs option. Then, check the tab that you want to show; or similarly, to hide any tab, repeat the same process and uncheck the tab from the right-hand side context menu:
To hide or show any panel of a tab, just go to the tab and right-click on any of its panels, then right-click and go to the Show Panels option and check or uncheck the panels that you want to show or hide.
The file tabs
The file tabs show the drawing files that are open in the current session of AutoCAD. You can open as many file tabs as you want and to open any new blank drawing, you can click on the + icon right next to the last file tab:
The padlock icon in a file tab indicates that the file is read-only and you can only view that kind of file and not modify it. Hovering the cursor over any open tab also shows the thumbnail preview of the drawing. To open the drawing of the selected tab, simply click on the thumbnail that shows up on the cursor.
The ViewCube and navigation bar
The ViewCube is an AutoCAD-only tool and is not available in AutoCAD LT, whereas the navigation bar is available in both AutoCAD and LT, but in LT, it is somewhat limited in features. If you don’t see the ViewCube, simply go to the top left of the display area and click on the – sign and select ViewCube and Navigation Bar:
This — sign won’t show up on AutoCAD LT, but you can use the NAVBAR command to turn it on or off.
The selection cursor
This is the cursor that shows up on the AutoCAD screen it is basically two perpendicular lines with a small cube at the center of the intersection of the lines. This is the default state of the cursor and depending on the selection, your cursor might look different and sometimes additional icons will also show next to the cursor. These are the three most basic cursor modes; we will discuss the other cursor modes in this book as and when needed:
The Default cursor type appears when none of the commands are active, so essentially, the first cursor type is visible in the default state of AutoCAD. When you activate a command where you need to select a precise point, the second cursor—Point Selection—appears, which is just two mutually perpendicular lines intersecting at the midpoints. The Object Selection cursor will be visible when a command where object selection is required is active.
No matter which of the cursors shown in the preceding figure is active, if you want to return to the default state of the cursor, then simply press the Esc key on your keyboard. You can press the Esc key multiple times and it won't affect the default state of your cursor.
The command line/palette
Just at the bottom of the drawing area, you will see the command line or command palette. In this book, I will refer to it as the command line. All your typed commands will show up in this command line; you don't need to click on the command line to start typing any AutoCAD command, just start typing without selecting anything and the input will be added to the command line directly.
In its default state, the command line will show the Type a command message and when you select any command, it will show the name of the command and, next, a set of instructions in the command line, as in the following screenshot:
If for some reason you don't see the command line, then press the Ctrl + 9 keys to turn it on; you can press the Ctrl + 9 keys again to hide the command line. This command line is like a floating palette and you can even resize it or move it around in the drawing area. You can see a list of previously entered commands in the command line by pressing the F2 function key.
The user coordinate system
The user coordinate system (UCS) shows the X, Y, and Z directions of the Cartesian coordinate system in the drawing area. Usually, the UCS will be visible at the bottom-left corner of the drawing area:
In the default state of the 2D workspace, the UCS will only show the X and Y axis; the Z axis, which points outward from the AutoCAD screen, will not be visible. The point of intersection of the X and Y coordinates in this UCS is the origin, or 0,0, point. We will discuss more about using the Cartesian coordinate system later in this chapter.
The layout tabs
The layout tabs are like the sheets of your drawing on which you can arrange different views of the drawing and finally plot multiple sheets. For example, if you have a house plan in a model space where the floor plan, elevations, section, and detail drawings are all made in the model space, then you can use the layout tabs to place them separately on different sheets, such as a layout for plan view, another for all elevations, and another for all detail drawings. By default, the Model tab will be active and for the most part of this book, we will work inside the Model tab. We will learn about layouts in Chapter 15, Paper Space Layouts and Printing, of this book.
The status bar toggles
The options in the status bar help in making precise drawings. The tools in the status bar, such as Object Snap, help you to select precise points, such as the midpoint and endpoints of any geometry, and tools such as polar and ortho mode help you to make lines that are inclined at any angle or horizontal and vertical lines. The toggles on the status bar can be turned on by clicking on them once, and similarly, clicking on them again turns them off. Most of the status bar tools have their function key shortcuts as well and you can see the function key shortcut of any status bar option by hovering your cursor over it:
Not all of the status bar options are visible in the status bar and to make the options visible or hide them, use the customization option, which looks like three lines at the end of the status bar. Just click on the three lines, shown in the red circle highlighted in figure 1.12, and check the options you want to show on the status bar and uncheck the ones you want to hide. We will learn more about the status bar options later in this book.
So, now that you are familiar with the user interface and the way the ribbon area works, let's move on to the navigation tools. In the next section, we will talk about the navigation tools and how these tools can be accessed using the mouse or from the AutoCAD interface.
Navigating in AutoCAD
To navigate in AutoCAD, a three-button mouse with left-click, right-click, and the middle scroll wheel is recommended. The laptop touchpad can be used but with a few limitations.
If you have access to lesson files, then open drawing 1.1 in AutoCAD. If you don't have lesson files, you can open any drawing file to follow along. This is a sample drawing by Autodesk AutoCAD that is available as a read-only file when you launch the software for the first time.
Selecting and panning
To select any object in the drawing, hover your cursor over it and left-click. The object will be selected and blue rectangular dots, called multi-function grip, will show up. The selected object will also get highlighted:
To remove the object from your selection, simply press the Esc key on your keyboard. If the selection is active even after pressing the Esc key once, you can press the Esc key multiple times as well.
To select multiple objects, you can click on them one by one; you don't need to press and hold the Shift key to make multiple selections. If you want to remove all the objects from your selection, you can press the Esc key, but if you only want to remove selected objects from your selection, then press and hold the Shift key and then click on the objects you want to remove from the selection. Using this method, you will be able to keep the complete selection and only selected objects will be removed from the selected group.
To pan the complete drawing in the drawing area, press and hold your middle mouse wheel so that the cursor changes into a hand icon, and then move your mouse. The complete drawing will pan in the drawing area and it will follow the movement of the mouse:
You can also select the pan tool from the navigation bar and then use left-click to pan the drawing.
Just like selecting and panning, zooming is also pretty easy and there are many ways we can zoom our drawing area. We will discuss this in the next section.
Zooming in and out
To zoom in and out, you can rotate the mouse wheel. Take your mouse pointer to the part of the drawing that you want to zoom in or out of and then rotate the wheel. Rotating it in one direction will zoom in and in the other direction will zoom out. The point where you place your cursor will become the center of zoom.
If your drawing is very large or very small and even off-screen, then simply zooming in or out may take time and a lot of zooming and panning will be required to fit the drawing to the visible space. To overcome this issue, you can use the zoom extents option, which fits all the objects in the drawing to the visible space. To use zoom extents, double-click the mouse wheel and everything in your drawing will fit into the available space.
The zoom tool does not affect the actual size of the drawing; it only affects the scale. A line of a 1 mm length will remain equal to 1 mm, no matter how big or small you make it using the zoom tool.
You can also use the navigation bar to use the zoom tools. To use the zoom tools from the navigation bar, click on the arrow underneath the zoom icon in the navigation bar and you will see a list of zoom options, as shown here:
Here is an explanation of some of the options available in the zoom menu:
Zoom Extents
:
This option fits all the available objects in the visible drawing area. It can be used by double-clicking the scroll wheel.
Zoom Window
:
This option lets you zoom a part of a drawing by making a window. To use this feature, click at a point in the drawing area then let go of your cursor. Then, click again at another point to complete the window. The drawing will be zoomed to fit the selected window.
Zoom Previous
:
This option will take you to the previous zoomed state of your drawing. It's like an undo option for the zoom command.
Zoom Realtime
:
This option lets you zoom your entire drawing by moving your cursor. When you select the option, your cursor will look like a magnifying glass. Now, click anywhere in the drawing area and hold your cursor, then move up to zoom in and move down to zoom out.
Zoom All
:
This option fits the drawing as per the limits set in the drawing. We will discuss more about limits later in this book.
Zoom Object
:
This option allows you to select the object(s) from the drawing and then only your selected object(s) is zoomed to fit the screen.
So, these are the zoom options available in AutoCAD. Although we have discussed lots of zoom tools here, you will primarily require the mouse wheel zoom in and out and the Zoom Extents tool, which is available by double-clicking the mouse wheel. Other zoom tools are not very frequently required but whenever you need them, you now know where to find them. In the next section, we will start learning about making selections using different selection sets available in AutoCAD.
Making selections
There are many ways of making selections in an AutoCAD drawing and in this section, we will discuss most of these selection features. A drawing may contain lots of objects and making a precise selection will be key to quickly adding properties to the correct set of objects and making modifications to them. So, the selection tools are essential to quickly and efficiently designing and drafting a workflow in AutoCAD.
A simple selection
To make a simple selection, click on any object in a drawing and it will be highlighted, indicating that it is selected. To include multiple objects in this selection set, simply click on more objects and they will be added to your selection set.
If you want to disable the multiple selection feature, you can use the PICKADD system variable. Type PICKADD then press Enter and then type 0 and press Enter again.
Now, AutoCAD will allow you to make only one selection at a time. If you select another object, the previously selected one will be removed from the selection. To add multiple objects to the selection in this condition, you need to press and hold the Shift key and then click on the objects to add them to the selection set.
If you have added multiple objects to your selection and you want to remove some of them, press and hold the Shift key and click on the selected object again and it will be removed from the selection set.
For this book, we will keep the PICKADD system variable value to 2, so type PICKADD and press Enter. Type 2 and press Enter again to change the settings to the default.
The selection window
Click anywhere in the drawing area then let go of your cursor and move your mouse to the right. You will see a window with a solid boundary that is, by default, blue in color. This window is the selection window and all the objects that are completely inside this window will be added to the selection set. To finish making the selection, simply click again and the objects will be selected:
In figure 1.16, all objects that are completely inside the selection window are highlighted and will be selected, whereas objects that are partially inside and partially outside will not be included in the selection set.
The crossing window
Click anywhere in the drawing area then let go of your cursor and move it to the left. A window with a dotted boundary will be made, which is called the crossing window.
All the objects that are inside this window, as well as objects that even touch the boundary of the window, will be included in the selection set. In figure 1.17, the same drawing and the same window have made a different selection. As you can see, the chair, desk, and so on of the 6052 and 6051 cabins are also selected, along with all the objects that are completely inside the crossing window, even though they are partially outside the window:
To make the selection, click again and the objects will be included in the section set.
The "window lasso" selection
This one is a relatively new selection set. To make a lasso selection, click anywhere in the drawing area then hold down your cursor and move to the right. You will get a freehand selection area with a solid boundary and all the objects completely inside this selection area will be selected:
This selection set is like the selection window but in this case, instead of a rectangular window, you have the option of making a freehand selection, giving you more control.
The "crossing lasso" selection
To make this selection, click anywhere in the drawing area and hold down your cursor, then move your mouse to the left. You will get a freehand selection area with a dotted boundary. This section set is called the crossing lasso selection and, in this selection, all objects that are completely inside the selected area, as well as objects on the boundary, will be selected:
So, this was all about making selections in AutoCAD. In the next section, we will learn about setting the units and limits, which is essential to any drawing.
Setting units and limits
When you start a new drawing, its template has settings for units and limits that are used by default. You can use the settings used in the template or make your own settings for units and limits. In this example, we will open a blank drawing then set the units and limits in it and then we will save the drawing as a template file. To start a new drawing in AutoCAD, you can click on the start panel of the Start tab or select one of the readymade templates under the start panel.
The list of ready made templates will show up underneath the Start Drawing panel when you click the arrow pointing downward in the panel:
Figure 1.20 shows the Start tab with the start panel and the list of readymade templates. Templates are just a collection of settings and predefined objects that you can save to reuse with a new drawing. Here, we will start by setting some settings, such as units and limits, and then we will convert the settings into a template file.
Setting units
When you start a drawing with any template shown in figure 1.20, you will have some predefined unit settings, which we will modify now.
For this example, select the acad.dwt template from the start panel and a blank drawing will open up.
Type UN and press Enter to open the unit window. Alternatively, you can also click on the application button and select the Drawing Utilities option and then Units from the next menu:
The Drawing Units window is divided into several panels, such as Length, Angle, Insertion scale, Sample Output, and Lighting. Let's talk about these options in the Drawing Units window:
In the Length panel, the drop-down window has many different length types, such as Architectural, Decimal, Engineering, Fractional, and Scientific. You can select Decimal from these options if you want a simple decimal type output, such as 12.2345 or 245.01289.
The Architectural length type will show output in the form of feet and inches, such as 12’ 6”, where 12 is in feet (shown with the single apostrophe sign) and 6 is in inches (shown with the double apostrophe sign). The Architectural format can be used when you want to enter the length in terms of feet and inches, and it's mostly useful for civil and architectural drawings.
Other formats will have their respective representation types and you can select any from the list, as per your drawing and project requirements.
The next option of Precision controls the number of decimal places that will show in the drawing. This precision is not the precision with which AutoCAD calculates the dimensions. Instead, it’s the precision that is displayed on the drawing. AutoCAD will always measure your drawing with maximum possible precision, no matter what precision you select in the Drawing Units window.
Just like the length type, the settings for the angle can be managed from the Angle panel. Here, you can select between Decimal Degrees, Degree/Minute/Second, Grads, Radians, and Surveyor’s Unit. The precision is again the number of decimal places for the angle that will be displayed on the drawing.
In AutoCAD, the angle is measured in an anticlockwise direction and hence, anticlockwise is the positive angle. If, however, you want to make a clockwise direction the positive angle, click on the checkbox that says Clockwise in the Angle panel:
From the Insertion scale panel, you can change the unit type of the current drawing. All the drawings inserted from external files will be scaled to this selected unit no matter what the unit of the original drawing is.
There are lots of units in this list and you can even select the Unitless option from the list if you don't want to use any unit in the drawing.
Finally, the Lighting panel has two options: American and International. You can select one of the options from this list. The Lighting option will be used in the rendering section of chapter 16 and it has no application in the 2D drawing environment.
So, after setting the settings, click OK and the settings will be applied to the current drawing.
In this case, I am selecting the Decimal Lengthtype with a 0.00 length precision and the Decimal Degrees angle type with a 0.00 precision. I will leave the Clockwise checkbox unchecked. In the Insertion scale panel, I will select Millimeters and International in the Lighting section. These settings are also shown in figure 1.22.
So, now we are done setting the unit settings, let's move on to setting the limits of our drawing area. We will discuss this in the next section.
Setting limits
In AutoCAD, we make our drawing on a scale of 1:1, which means we are drawing to the actual scale of the project. For example, a square plate of 10 mm by 10 mm will be exactly the size in AutoCAD as well. But the drawing area can make the 10mm by 10mm square very big or small, depending on the zoomed state of the screen. If your drawing is zoomed in, the square may appear bigger and if it's zoomed out, the drawing may appear tiny.
So, depending on the size of the drawing that you want to make in your AutoCAD file, you can set the limits and then these settings can be used wherever needed. In the following example, we will add a drawing limit of 60, 40 units in our drawing:
To set the limits, type the
LIMITS
command
and press
E
nter
.
The command line will now prompt you to specify the lower-left corner of the screen from where you want the limit to start. By default,
0,0
, or the origin, is selected. You can specify any other point as well if you want, then press
Enter
.
Now, the command line will prompt you to specify the upper-right corner of the screen for the limit. Type the coordinates of the point in the form of
x
,
y
and press
Enter
:
Select
0,0
as the lower-left corner and
60,40
as the upper-right corner. After setting the limits, type
Z
and press
Enter
, then type
A
and press
Enter
again in the command line.
The screen will reset to adjust according to the newly specified limits.
In our example, the height of the screen will be 40 and the length of the screen will be 60, or any other that will be proportional as per the screen size. For example, in a square screen, the length will now be 40 as well, but for a rectangular screen, the length will depend on the aspect ratio of the monitor.
Setting the limit will just let you adjust a reference for working on the drawing. This property will not affect your drawings in any way, and you can freely zoom in and out to the change the drawing area and make your drawing even go outside this limit.
Saving settings as a template
So by now, we have set the unit settings and made changes to the drawing limits. It is not always practical to make these changes whenever we want to start with the same set of settings in a blank drawing. You can save these settings as a template file and then these templates can be loaded to start a new drawing with the same set of settings.
In the previous examples, we set the unit and template related settings, and now we will learn how to save these settings as a template file in the following example:
Click on the application button in the top left of the AutoCAD window and select
Save
as the option from the menu. Then, go to the
Drawing Template
option.
The default folder location for the templates will open up. You can save your template here or choose another location from this window.
Select the location, give your template file a name, and hit the
Save
button:
Your file will be saved with a
DWT
file extension, which is the extension for AutoCAD template files.
To load the template settings, simply double-click the next time you want to open a new drawing with the same settings as defined in the template.
After opening a template once, if you open a new drawing from the
Start
tab or by clicking the
+
icon in the file tabs, AutoCAD will load the last-used template, which in this case is the template saved by you.
To change the template to some other ready-made template, you need to once again open another template from the
Template
drop-down menu in the
Start
tab or click on the
+
