AutoCAD Basics

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AutoCAD Basics
The AutoCAD Interface

Draw Tool Palette
Pull-down Menus
Zoom Tool Palette
Edit Tool Palette
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AutoCAD Basics
The Drawing and Editing Interface
A thorough understanding of absolute, relative
and polar coordinates is suggested for utilizing
AutoCADs drawing engine. Absolute exact x,y
position on the screen. Relative going from a
known position _at_x,y to the new position. Polar
moving from a known position _at_distance lt theta
(q). Use the command line to assist you in the
what to do next process of drawing. It is
located at the bottom of the screen and acts as
the message line in Graphite. All of the creation
tools are on the drawing tool palette. The
Line tool allows you to draw continuous lines
starting with the first point. Each subsequent
point will generate a segment between them. The
line is terminated by hitting Enter, the Space
bar or right mouse clicking and selecting
Enter. Circles are started with the default
value for the Radius. Be sure to double the
value or change the default to Diameter by
typing D and Enter before clicking the
circles center
Line
Circle
Trim
Erase
The Erase tool show a pencil eraser icon and is
used to delete the entire entity. Make sure that
you select the icon, then select the object, and
hit Enter to delete the entity or entities. The
Trim works similar to Graphite. First select
the tool, then select the boundary, hit Enter
and select the part of the entity you wish to
remove.
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AutoCAD Basics
The A-size Prototype
Procedure 1.Open the AutoCAD program. 2. Select
the Line tool. 3. Type the following coordinate
positions 0,0 Enter,10,0 Enter,
10,7.5 Enter, 0,7.5 Enter, C or
0,0 Enter. This will draw our border 10
inches wide by 7.5 inches high. Type the letter
Z E Enter 4. Select the Offset Tool (
looks like a race track on the Modify tool
palette. 5. Click the bottom line with the little
square pick box. Type the value of .38
Enter. Select the side or direction you want
to copy the new line. Click any where above the
bottom line on the screen. 6. Select the Offset
tool again and offset the horizontal spaces for
the title block moving left to right with the
spaces of 3.25, 3.25, reselect tool and offset 1,
reselect and offset 1.25, reselect tool and
offset .75.
Figure 1
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AutoCAD Basics
The A-size Prototype
Procedure 7. Select the Trim tool. 8. Select
the .38 offset line. 9. Hit Enter and click all
the lines above the .38 inch offset line 10.
Select the Format menu. 11. Select the Text
Style option and set the Font to Arial and
the Height to .125. Select Apply and
Close. 12. Select the Text tool. Click the
Osnap button at the bottom of the screen. 13.
Make a text box across the first box in the title
block. Look for the yellow box to mark the
endpoint of the lines for the width and height.
Select the Font to Arial and clink the
Properties tab and select Middle Center and
click the Character tab and type the generic
name for your drawing title. 14. Complete the
rest of the title block using the same procedure.
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AutoCAD Basics
The A-size Prototype
Procedure 15. Select the Format menu. 16.
Select the Layer option. 17. Select the New
button. 18. Create all of the following layers
Visible, Hidden, Center, Phantom, Construction,
Dimension and Hatch. 19. Click on the color tab
next to each layer and assign the appropriate
colors for each layer. 20. Click on the line tab
next to each layer and load the hidden2, center2
and the phantom2 linetypes.
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AutoCAD Basics
The A-size Prototype
Procedure The completed layer settings will like
the figure to the right..
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AutoCAD Basics
The A-size Prototype