374 MWS

Introduction to AutoCAD 2010 for Windows

This document provides an introduction to the AutoCAD drafting and modelling program

Mary Thorp June 2010 Document 374 Computing Services Department

Contents
CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION What Is AutoCAD? Purpose of this Document 2 THE DRAWING EDITOR Drawing Editor Facilities Creation of Geometry Modification of Geometry ReUse of Geometry Viewing of Geometry 3 BASICS OF USING AUTOCAD Starting AutoCAD The Mouse and its Buttons The Display Screen The User Interface Correcting Mistakes 4 EXAMPLES Example 1 Drawing Triangles Snap and GRID Using Function Keys Dimensioning Saving a Drawing and leaving AutoCAD Specifying Points and Using Object Snap Example 2 Using Object Snap Object Selection Methods Example 3 Trimming and Extending Elements Example 4 Using the ARRAY Command Setting the Scales Example 5 Using Polylines and Corners Methods of Specifying AutoCAD Commands Example 6 A Simple Engineering Component Example 7 A Simple Engineering Component Using Blocks Preliminary Example of Using Blocks Example 8 More Usage of Blocks Example 9 Using Layers Example 10 Design of a Digitising Tablet Example 11 Design of an Office, Before and After 5 PLOTTING How to Plot a Drawing Specifying the Area to Plot Previewing the Plot 6 AUTOCAD COMMAND SUMMARY Object Selection 7 FURTHER INFORMATION 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 7 8 9 10 12 13 15 16 17 19 20 23 24 25 26 26 27 28 28 30 32 35 37 38 38 39 39 40 54 55

Introduction

What Is AutoCAD?
AutoCAD is a generalpurpose computeraided drafting (CAD) program which can be used to create all kinds of line drawings. It is one of the most widely used CAD packages and is used for all types of drawing in a variety of different disciplines. Here are just a few of the applications for which AutoCAD is being used: Architectural drawings of all kinds Interior design and facility Workflow charts and organisational diagrams Proposals and presentations Drawings for electronic, chemical, civil, mechanical, automotive, and aerospace engineering applications Topographic maps and nautical charts Yacht design Plots and other representations of mathematical and scientific functions Theatre set lighting designs Musical scores Technical illustrations and assembly diagrams Company logos Greetings cards Line drawings for the fine arts

AutoCAD is run in an interactive, menudriven way and is designed to be reasonably easy to learn and use. It provides help to the user when requested which is very useful for self-teaching.

Purpose of this Document

This document provides an introduction to AutoCAD. The document contains a number of examples which will enable you to use the 2D facilities of AutoCAD and gain experience of the basic features of the software. This document covers Version 2010 of AutoCAD. The material is valid for running the Managed Windows Service version of AutoCAD 2010 on PCs. There is another workbook Document 376 AutoCAD 3D for Windows (Version 2010) but you need to learn how to use 2D facilities before obtaining a copy of this workbook.

The Drawing Editor

Most of the time in an AutoCAD session is spent using the Drawing Editor, which appears as soon as AutoCAD is invoked. The Drawing Editor is used to create, modify or display your drawings. This section gives an overview of the facilities of the Drawing Editor.

Drawing Editor Facilities

The Drawing Editor of AutoCAD, in common with other drawing or draughting packages, provides facilities for: Creation and modification of geometry Reuse of geometry Viewing of geometry

There are various benefits of using a computer for these operations. For instance, geometry can be created much more quickly; an accurate circle can be drawn by just providing its centre and radius; geometry can be erased by just pointing at an object; geometry can be reused by making copies of existing objects in different orientations; geometry can be viewed in different ways in 2D and 3D without the need to redraw manually. These aspects are summarised below and illustrated in the examples given later. Many other features are not covered here but are described in the AutoCAD User Guide which can be found via the online help pages.

Creation of Geometry
AutoCAD provides facilities for drawing: Lines (in 2D or 3D, in dotdash types), arcs and circles (in dotdash types), and points (in 2D or 3D) 3D objects such as solids and 3D polygon meshes and surfaces Text (in a variety of fonts and sizes) Traces (2D solid filled lines) Solidfilled regions (2D triangular or quadrilateral sections) Blocks (compound entities) Shapes (small objects defined outside AutoCAD which can be placed on a drawing at various scales or angles)

2D Geometry in AutoCAD is created using a fixed Cartesian coordinate system with the X axis horizontal and the Y axis vertical. Points are expressed as coordinate pairs (X,Y).

Modification of Geometry
It is often necessary to modify geometry as it is created, and new drawings can very often be obtained by modifying old ones. AutoCAD provides several facilities for doing this, for example: Changing properties of elements such as their colour or linetype Breaking lines, arcs etc. Chamfering corners (taking an angular line) Dividing elements into parts Erasing elements Extending lines, arcs, etc. Filleting corners Trimming lines, arcs etc.

ReUse of Geometry
Drawings often contain a high degree of duplication. Very often one part of a drawing can be obtained by performing some sort of transformation on existing geometry. For example, a drawing which has symmetry about a line can be created by drawing half of it and the rest obtained by mirroring about the line of symmetry. AutoCAD supports several facilities for this sort of transformation: Creating rectangular or circular arrays of objects Copying objects at different positions on the drawing Mirroring geometry Moving geometry from one place to another Offsetting geometry Rotating, stretching, scaling geometry

Another powerful feature of AutoCAD is the ability to create compound entities (called BLOCKS in AutoCAD) of any complexity and to duplicate them at several places on a drawing. For example, in a drawing of the front elevation of a house it is convenient to draw the shape and detail of a window once and then place the window at several positions in the wall.

Viewing of Geometry
The ability to view drawings in different ways is especially important when using a computeraided draughting system, since the screen is invariably quite small compared with the actual drawing size. AutoCAD provides good facilities for viewing drawings, such as the ability to zoom in on a part of a drawing so that the detail can be seen clearly. Various methods are provided which are convenient in different situations.

Basics of Using AutoCAD

This section describes the display screen, the mouse, the toolbars, and the methods of correcting mistakes

Starting AutoCAD
It is assumed that you have installed AutoCAD as a Windows application and that you have already logged on the Managed Windows Service. If you do not know how to install AutoCAD 2010 then please see the local web page. On your Windows desktop, find the AutoCAD application icon and double click it.

The Mouse and its Buttons

A pointing device called a mouse is usually attached to your computer. While using the Drawing Editor, as you move the mouse, a crosshair cursor tracks the mouse movements. There are several types of pointing devices; one is a standard 2 button mouse and the other is a wheel mouse, which has the two buttons plus a wheel in between the buttons. Left button Specify locations Select objects for editing Choose menu options and dialog box buttons and fields End a command in progress Display a shortcut menu Display the Object Snap menu Display the Toolbars dialog box Zoom in or out Zoom to drawing extents Pan Pan Joystick Display the Object Snap menu

Right button (depending on context)

Wheel button

You should check the functions of the mouse buttons since they can be configured differently to what is stated here.

The Display Screen

The first time you ever use AutoCAD 2010, you will see the following screen. 5

Please click the last option, Other (General Design and Documentation), for the purpose of these exercises. Then click Next. On the next screen, we do not want any of the options so just click Next . You will be shown later how to switch on these options. Quick Access Menu On the last panel, accept the use of the default drawing template and click Finish. You are invited to look at the New Features Workshop click Maybe Later then click OK. Help Menu

Ribbon Area

Drawing Area

Information Area Command Line

Application Status Bar

Resetting Initial Options

If you have not obtained this screen then you need to return to the panel to setup the initial options. To do this, click the big red A on the Quick Access menu and then click Options. On the Options panel, choose the User Preferences tab. Find the Initial Setup bar at the bottom and go through the instructions described above on the previous page of this document. Click OK on the Options panel.

The User Interface

The drawing area is where a previously created drawing, being edited currently, is displayed or where a new drawing containing newly created entities or objects is viewed. Dialog boxes which allow you to change various settings will appear in this area. When OK / Cancel has been selected, the box is removed and the drawing reappears The command window is where you can enter commands and see messages and prompts. This window is only wide enough to hold about three lines of text. To see a recent history of commands, press the F2 key. A new window appears this is similar to the Command window except that it is about 24 lines long. Press F2 again to return to the AutoCAD main window.

The Ribbon.

This shows the Ribbon menu items and the choices for each item.(NB for clarity, the windows size was reduced to show just the main choices). If you click, for example, the View item, a different set of choices (Navigate, Views, Coordinates, Viewports, Palettes, Windows) appears.

Of interest is the Palettes submenu. Click the Tools Palette and click on the tabs at the side on the new dialog box. Do not select any items and close it down by clicking the small cross at the top right. Another one of interest in the palettes submenu is the Design Centre. Find this by moving over the icons and watching the tooltips for Design Center appear. When this is opened, a folder list is on the left. Open the folder for Basics Electronics dwg and then the one for Blocks. You will see some standard objects already constructed that can be used in your drawings. Close down the Design Center by clicking the small cross on top left. 7

Correcting Mistakes
If you make a mistake while using AutoCAD there are a number of ways in which you can recover. The following table gives a brief summary. Problem Typing error seen before pressing Enter. Typing mistake during command Incorrect command currently being processed. Incorrect command has finished processing. Comments and Solutions Press Backspace key. Press Escape to stop processing and then press Enter to repeat the command Press Escape to stop and then select correct command. Use UNDO (U) command. Note not all commands work with UNDO.

Examples
The examples in this section are designed to give you a feel for how AutoCAD works and to show you some basic drawing techniques. There are instructions to be followed for each example, and in the first few examples every single step is described. In the later examples, only the steps that involve new menu items or commands are fully detailed. For each example, there is a construction summary which gives a brief overall description of the main phases involved in creating the drawing. This is followed by stepbystep specific instructions.

Conventions
The precise meanings of the instructions used in the examples are shown below. Press Enter Means press the Enter key on the keyboard. There is often a button on the mouse which provides the same function. This instruction usually signals either that you want to close a list of selected objects or that you want to accept the current value for some variable. For example, AutoCAD might produce the message, LlNETYPE(CENTER). If you press Enter, then the current value for LlNETYPE (which happens to be CENTER) continues to be the current value. Means type the specified string of characters on the command line and then press Enter to submit the string to AutoCAD for processing. Means move the cursor to the specified item on the Ribbon and press the left button on the mouse..Sometimes the instruction will look like this Select Item1 | Item2 | Item3. This means that you are to select the Item1 tab on the top row of the ribbon then from the Item2 set, select Item3. Means move the cursor to the specified item on the big red A or Quick Access or the icons in the Application Status area on the bottom and press the left button on the mouse. You will be informed in these cases where the item is. Sometimes the instruction will look like this Click Item1 | Item2 | Item3. This means that you are to select Item1 then click item 2 then click Item3. Means move the cursor in the drawing area until it meets the specified object or a desired position and then press the left button on the mouse. Is used when a toolbar or dialogue box is on the screen. It means move the cursor to the icon representing the item or to the little box beside the specified item. Then press the left button of the mouse. Means type the specified string of characters to appear on a line in a dialogue box. You would probably not press Enter in this case.

Type string Select Item

Click Item

Pick Object Choose Item

Key string

Local Differences
When you work through these examples, you may find that you will have to give a slightly different form of the command than that given. In particular, there may be some differences in the way you specify file names. If you encounter any difficulties please contact your supervisor or CSD Helpdesk..

Example 1 Drawing Triangles

This example draws two equilateral triangles. One of the triangles in the drawing is to be dimensioned. You should be in the Drawing Editor of AutoCAD. Remember that the meanings of such words such as key, pick and select are defined in the subsection Conventions at the start of Section 4.

Preview of Example 1
In order to draw triangles using the menu system, you will be doing the following tasks, outlined later: Start a new drawing Draw one triangle Do a quick save of the drawing Set SNAP parameters Set GRID parameters Draw the next triangle Dimension one line Dimension one angle Change the view Add some text to the drawing Use the ERASE function Save the drawing and leave AutoCAD

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below: 10

 Start a New Drawing

You should be in the drawing editor of AutoCAD. Check that the screen looks like the one on P6. If it is not, then return to the instructions on that page. Click the big red A at top left and then New to start a new drawing Check that the default template is called acadiso.dwt in the list of templates and then choose Open on the dialogue box Select View | Navigate and then select the little arrow by the Zoom tool and choose All. Notice that each tooltip gives some information about the choice that you make. Normally the default zoom operation is Zoom Extents notice that All becomes the new default for the Zoom operation.

Draw One Triangle

You are going to draw three lines by specifying the coordinates of three points. Notice that if you move the mouse around, the coordinates in the status bar give the current position of the cursor. You should be able to see that the origin is at the bottom left of the screen and that the top right position is roughly (500,300), depending on the size of the window. You will be shown in a later example how to change the drawing size and how to move around the drawing. Select Home | Draw | Line. This icon is on the left. Type 50,50 for the start point of one line. Notice that a line is drawn from the start point to the current cursor position. Type @200,0 and a line is drawn to the point (250,50). The @ character means a relative displacement. Type @200<120 and a new line is drawn starting at point (250,50) with length 200 at an angle of 1200. Note that angles are measured anticlockwise from the positive X direction. Type CL this means close the line; i.e. join up the last point with the start point.

Do a Quick Save of the Drawing

Click the Big Red A and then Save. Since you have not already given a name for your drawing, you are asked where you want to store your drawing. Navigate to the directory M:\ACAD2010 and give a name of EXAMPLE1.DWG

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Snap and GRID Using Function Keys

(If you want to omit this section on a first reading, move to the next task) Some of the function keys have special meanings in AutoCAD. They are used as toggle keys and are very useful. In the following descriptions of toggle keys, there are references to the Application Status bar this is to be found at the bottom of the AutoCAD window. TOGGLE SNAP Sets snap mode on or off. If snap mode is on, then all input coordinates are snapped to nearest point on the snap grid. Use the SNAP command to specify the snap spacing of the snap grid. Press F9 or click the SNAP icon on the status bar to toggle the snap mode. Switches between a visible or invisible grid of points. The GRID command is used to set a desired grid spacing. It is common to set the grid to be the snap spacing. Press F7 or click GRID on the status bar to toggle the grid mode. Sets ortho mode on or off. If ortho mode is on and the cursor is used to pick points in the work area, then lines are drawn parallel to the horizontal or vertical axes only. Press F8 or click ORTHO on the status bar to toggle the ortho mode.

TOGGLE GRID

TOGGLE ORTHO

Some of the other items on the status bar are not discussed further in this User Guide. You will meet Object Snap or OSNAP in the next exercise.

Set Snap Parameters

If SNAP is on, AutoCAD will only allow points on a snap grid to be picked. Normally, when you enter the Drawing Editor, snap is set off and the snap spacing is 10. SNAPping can be switched on or off using the TOGGLE SNAP key (by either pressing F9 or clicking the SNAP box near the bottom) Right-click the Snap icon choose Settings from menu. at bottom in the Application Status bar and

The Drafting Settings dialog box appears. Notice that the Snap and Grid tab is current. This allows the snap and grid increments to be set. Choose Snap On for the Snap and key 20.0 in the box by Snap X spacing Click the box by Snap Y spacing and this sets the snap spacing to be 20 in both X and Y directions. Do not choose OK yet.

Set Grid Parameters

It is possible to have a visible grid of dots in the drawing area which may help you in your drawing. Also, the grid spacing can be adjusted. Choose Grid On this allows a grid to be made visible Key 20.0 to set the values for Grid X spacing and Grid Y spacing. It is common to make the grid spacing identical to the snap spacing. Choose OK and notice there is a grid of dots on the screen. 12

Try the TOGGLE GRID ( by pressing F7 or clicking the GRID button near the bottom) a couple of times. Try the TOGGLE SNAP ( by pressing F9 or clicking the SNAP button near the bottom) a couple of times. Make sure that SNAP is ON before moving onto the next task.

Draw the Next Triangle

Select Home | Draw | Line (look on left near the top). Pick the point (200,200) by moving the mouse to that point and press the left button. The mouse coordinates appear on the bottom left of the status bar. If you have SNAP set to 20.0, this point should be easy to find and it is the starting point of the next line which is to the right of the other triangle. Type @200<60 and this line is drawn at 600 to the horizontal. Type @200<60 and another line is drawn at 600 to the horizontal. Type CL to close the line.

Dimensioning
Dimensioning of an object usually involves four or five stages: Select the type of dimensioning Select the object Choose a position for the dimension Decide on the dimension text.(optional) Choose a position for the text

You are now going to be shown how to dimension the top line and one of the angles of the second triangle.

Dimension One Line

Select Annotate | Dimensions and choose Linear from the list under Dimension. You are about to add a dimension to the top line of the second triangle. AutoCAD allows you either to specify two points for the ends of the extension lines or to pick a line for dimensioning. You want to do the latter so press Enter first Then pick the top line of the second triangle. Notice that when you move the mouse in the work area, a little square appears. You can move the mouse so that the little square is anywhere along the line and press the left button. Pick a point above the line. The dimension text will be centered on the midpoint of the line and placed at the chosen level.

Dimension One Angle

Select Annotate | Dimensions | Dimension and choose Angular. An angle of 60 is to be dimensioned. Pick the top line of the triangle. The order in which the two lines are picked is unimportant. 13

Pick line at 60 degrees. If SNAP has been set on, you may still be able to pick the line, near one of the grid points but it is probably safer to press F9 to toggle snap off. Pick a point between the two lines. This is where the dimension arc is to go.

Change the View

Select View | Navigate | Window. This allows you to zoom in or out of a drawing on the screen. The geometry and dimensions are not changed, just the view is altered. . If you cannot find Window on the Navigate panel, click the Down arrow and choose Window.

Down arrow

Look at the drawing and decide on a window containing a part of the drawing which will fill the screen when this command is finished. Pick one point which is to be one of the window corners. Notice when you move the mouse, a box appears and the shape depends on the cursor position. Pick another point. This is the opposite corner of the window. If there is nothing in the drawing area, this means you picked two points where there was no geometry. Select View | Navigate | Window and choose All. This scales the drawing so that the drawing limits or its current extent (whichever is greater) fill the screen, i.e. you will see all the drawing on the screen. The drawing limits can be changed with the LIMITS command, which you will meet in later examples Select View Navigate | All and choose Previous This returns to the previous view, i.e. the one you created in ZOOM WINDOW above. Repeat so that all the drawing is on the screen.

Add some Text to the Drawing

Select Annotate | Text | Multiline Text. This allows one or more lines of text to be added to the drawing. Pick a point above first triangle for the text starting point and drag to a point above the second triangle. Text is justified on the left unless one of the other options is chosen first. Type Two triangles and choose OK to leave the TEXT command. The text is too small. We could change the character height using a command but instead we are going to practise erasing objects

Use the ERASE Function

The ERASE command allows you to delete one or more objects at a time. You pick the objects which are then stored in a selection set. It reports each time on whether you have picked any objects. When you have finished deciding what is in your set, you then press Enter and the objects in the set are deleted. Select Home | Modify | Erase. Pick the text and you should receive the message Select objects : 1 found. 14

Press Enter. This ends the selection of objects and erases all those found in the selection set. In this case just the text disappears. Select Annotate | Text | Multi Line Text. Repeat the operation of adding text to the drawing, but on the Text Formatting box, key 6.0 for the character height. Notice that text input is one of the few occasions when lowercase letters are significant

Saving a Drawing and leaving AutoCAD

When you are in the drawing editor and you want to finish, AutoCAD prompts you to save the drawing if you have altered the drawing since the last save. If you exit the Drawing Editor without saving the drawing (perhaps by accidentally turning off your computer), you will lose all the work that you have done in the current drawing session. It is often desirable to save your changes periodically in case of machine malfunctions, power failures etc., so we encourage you to save often by clicking the big red A then choosing Save (you can also type the command QSAVE) which writes the current drawing, if it has already been named, to the named disk file. If the drawing has no name, then a dialogue box appears, prompting you to give a name to the drawing. If the drawing has already been named, you can save it in another file by selecting the Save As command on the big red A menu. This produces a dialogue box in which you can type a new name for the current drawing file and then the drawing is saved under the new name. Note that after either of these commands has been used, you still remain in the Drawing Editor.

Save the Drawing and Leave AutoCAD

Click Quick Access | Save As (or on the big red A menu) so it can be saved in a new file and key NEWEX1 as name for new drawing. Check that the directory is still M:\ACAD2010 Choose OK to accept NEWEX1 for the name of the new drawing. Click Exit from the Big Red A menu to leave AutoCAD.

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Specifying Points and Using Object Snap

(If you want to omit this section on a first reading, move to the next example) As you have already learnt, there are a number of ways of specifying points to the Drawing Editor: Using absolute Cartesian co ordinates. Type the absolute Cartesian coordinates. For example, type 50,60 and press Enter. Using relative co ordinates Type coordinates relative to another point by prefixing the displacement with @. For example, if the last point was at (20.29,36.14) and you typed @3,2 then the new point is at (23.29,38.14). Using polar co ordinates Type the relative displacement in polar coordinates. The < sign is used to indicate the angle. For example, if the last point was at (20,30) and you typed @100<45 this would mean that the new point would be 100 units away from (20,30) along a line 45o to the positive X direction. Using the mouse Move the mouse. As you do this, the crosshair cursor moves around the screen. When you press the left button on the mouse, the current coordinates of the crosshairs are transmitted to AutoCAD. Lock or snap points to a userdefined grid. Lock on to various entity features such as the midpoint of a line or the centre of a circle or to the point of intersection between two objects..

Using grids Using entities

The last way of specifying points is very important and is called Object Snap. This is a quick way of locating exact positions on an object without having to know the co ordinates or draw construction lines. You can specify a single object snap or you can turn on one or more Running Object Snaps which stay active until you turn them off again.

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Example 2 Using Object Snap

This example shows how to retrieve a drawing, how to erase more than one element, how to add some circles and lines, using Object Snap, and how to ask for help in AutoCAD.

Preview of Example 2
To draw the objects shown in the above figure, you will be doing the following tasks: Retrieve an old drawing Erase text and dimensions Use HELP to obtain information on Object Snap. Add circles touching the sides of the two triangles (using TAN Object Snap). Add the line joining the circle centres (using CENTER Object Snap) Add the other four circles Add the two lines joining vertices of triangles (using INTERSECT Object Snap) Save as a new drawing

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Retrieve an Old Drawing

Load AutoCAD again and click Open | Drawing on the Big Red A menu. Choose NEWEX1.DWG for the name of the drawing. then choose OK

Erase Text and Dimensions

Select Home | Modify | Erase and pick the text and both dimensions. These three objects are now all in a selection set. When you have received a message that the total is 3, then press Enter. All three objects disappear from the drawing.

Use HELP to Obtain Information on Object Snap

Details are provided for each command (eg Osnap) via Help. There is also an online introduction to concepts and features in AutoCAD, plus an online tutorial. Here is how to find the Help pages describing how to snap to various points on objects.

17

Choose the Help icon (last on the right of the Help menu at the very top right) and choose the Contents tab to get help on a particular concept. Then choose Open Users Guide then Create and Modify Objects then Use Precision Tools then choose Snap to Locations on Objects. Read the information about the OSNAP command. If you want help on another command, you can open more books in the Users Guide or you can choose the Index tab to find a specific command. Close the AutoCAD Help window and return to the Drawing Editor.

Add Circles Touching the Sides of the Two Triangles (using TAN Object Snap)
Right-click the Object Snap icon on the bottom left and choose Settings. This is equivalent to using the OSNAP command Choose Clear All first then choose Tangent.

Make sure that the box for Object Snap On has a tick and choose OK on the dialog box. This means you have established a tangential relationship between the objects you pick and the objects you want to create. For example, if you want to create a line and you pick a circle in response to the From point or the To point prompt, then the line will be tangential to that circle. Select the down arrow by Home | Draw | Circle and choose 3-Point. This means to draw a circle through 3 points. You may need to press F9 to set Snap off before picking the lines. Notice how the cursor changes as you approach a line to show the OSNAP setting that will be applied if you pick the line. Pick the three lines of the left triangle. A circle appears this is touching the three sides of the triangle. Create a circle touching the three sides of the other triangle. Note that you do not have to reset the Object Snap mode since it should still be set to Tangent.

Add the Line Joining the Circle Centres (using CENTER Object Snap)
Right-click the Object Snap icon again and choose Settings Choose Tangent first to remove that setting (there should be no tick now) then choose Center. Then choose OK on the dialog box. Select Home | Draw | Line and then pick one of the two circles somewhere along its circumference. The line starts from the centre of that circle. Pick the other circle and a line is drawn to the centre of that circle. Press Enter to finish the line. 18

 Add the Other Four Circles

Right-click the Object Snap icon, choose Settings and check that Center is still the Object Snap mode Select Home | Draw | Circle and first pick the circle inside the left triangle. The centre of that circle is to be the centre of a new circle. Type 20 for the radius. A new circle is drawn. Press Enter to repeat the Circle command. Pick the circle inside the other triangle and then press Enter for the radius. Notice that AutoCAD provides a default value for the radius which is the same as the radius of the last circle you have drawn and you can accept that value by pressing the Enter key. Right-click the Object Snap icon, choose Settings and switch off Center for the Object Snap mode. There should be no Object Snap modes available now. Select the arrow by Home | Draw | Circle and choose Tan Tan Radius since you are about to create a circle which is tangent to two lines, having a radius of 15. Pick the baseline and leftmost line of the left triangle. Then type 15 for the radius. Draw the last circle yourself.

Add Two Lines Joining Vertices of Triangles (using INTERSECT Object Snap)
Select Home Draw | Line and then right-click a point near the top vertex of the left triangle. You do not have to try and hit the vertex exactly only make sure that there is a yellow cross on the vertex. Choose Intersect. The line starts from that vertex. Use the same procedure for the top left vertex on the other triangle. A line is drawn joining the two points. Press Enter to finish the line. Note that the Osnap is set temporarily for that operation, only. Press Enter to repeat the Line command and draw the last line.

Save as a New Drawing

Add any necessary dimensioning, including the radii of two circles, which have values of 20 and 15. Annotate the drawing. Click Quick Access | Save and save the drawing with the file name EXAMPLE2, to create a new file, so you are able to retrieve NEWEX1 again.

Object Selection Methods

Before you can edit objects, you need to create a selection set of the objects you want to edit. A selection set can consist of a single object or it can be a group of objects. When you use an editing command such as ERASE or TRIM, AutoCAD prompts you to pick the objects to form part of the selection set. You can choose to add more or remove objects from the selection set. It is only when the Enter key is pressed that the selection set is complete and AutoCAD then proceeds with the rest of the command. Normally, to add more than one object to the selection set, you can pick the objects using the mouse. As an alternative, you can use the Window option and then define a 19

rectangular area in which the objects are entirely contained. The window is defined by picking two points for the diagonal of the rectangle. You can also use the Wpolygon option and this allows you to select objects which lie entirely in a polygon-shaped area. To remove objects from a selection set, you have to use the Remove option. This sets up Remove mode and any subsequent objects picked are removed from the selection set. To switch off the Remove mode, use the Add option. There are many options associated with the selection of objects. The AutoCAD Users Guide via the online help pages gives full details on methods of selecting objects. There is also a list of options at the end of this document.

Example 3 Trimming and Extending Elements

The first part of this example shows you how to trim lines and extend elements.

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Preview of Example 3
To draw the objects shown in the above figure, you will be doing the following tasks: Start new drawing and set the drawing extents. Construct the triangle and the vertical line and the circle. Extend the angled lines to meet the circle. Trim the circle. Dimension the drawing.

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Start New Drawing and Set the Drawing Extents

Click Quick Access | New to begin a new drawing. Choose Acadiso.dwt from the list of templates and then choose Open Set the SNAP spacing to 2.5 (see Example 1 for details of using the SNAP command). Type Limits in the Command Area. Then type 40,30 for the bottom left of the drawing area and type 40,30 for the top right of the drawing area. To view this area, select View | Navigate | Zoom All If the UCS icon is not in the centre, then select View | Coordinates | Show UCS Icon at Origin and the UCS icon moves to the centre of the drawing area.

Construct the Triangle and the Vertical Line and the Circle
Select Home | Draw | Line. Construct a triangle through the points (0,0), (7.5, 17.5), (7.5,17.5). Picking the points should be easy if you have set SNAP to be 2.5 since you can see on the status bar what your current position is. Press Enter to repeat the LINE command and pick the points (0,0), (0,17.5). Select Home | Draw | Circle and construct circle, centre (0,0), radius 25.

Extend the Angled Lines to Meet the Circle

Select Home | Modify | Extend. (Extend can be found by clicking on arrow by Trim). This command allows you to lengthen existing objects so that they end precisely at a boundary. Pick the circle since this is the boundary for the angled lines. If you get into difficulties with SNAP set to ON, press the TOGGLE SNAP key. When done, you should have the message, 1 found Press Enter to end the selection of boundaries. Next you have to pick objects to be extended. Pick the angled lines near their bottom ends and press Enter to finish off the EXTEND command. The two lines have been extended to meet the circle.

Trim the Circle

Select Home | Modify | Trim. The TRIM command first asks you to pick a set of cutting lines. Pick the 2 angled lines. When done, you should have had a message, 2 total. 21

Press Enter to end the selection of cutting elements. Next you have to pick objects that are to be trimmed. Pick the circle. Notice that TRIM deletes the part that you picked! If necessary, key UNDO and pick circle again. Press Enter to end the TRIM command.

Dimension the Drawing

If you have switched snap off, you may need to set it back on again. Select Annotate | Dimensions | Linear and dimension the vertical line yourself. You should have a text of 17.5. Notice that the text and arrow sizes are far too big. Click the small arrow in bottom right of Annotate | Dimensions and a dialog box appears Little arrow Choose Modify | Fit. Notice there are lots of options that could be altered and we are interested in the Scale for Dimension Features section first. Key 0.4 for the Use overall scale feature Then finish off the dimensioning yourself.

Note that the radius dimension is not ideally placed but there are more advanced dimensioning facilities in AutoCAD which do allow you to place dimensions in better positions. To obtain the pictures in future examples, the more advanced facilities were used but we do NOT give the instructions in this workbook on how to produce the dimensioning in these pictures. You need to see the online help pages for more details if you are interested. You may like to save this example as a drawing file (call it EXAMPLE3) but dont leave AutoCAD and dont start a new drawing since you are going to use the last drawing in the next example.

22

Example 4 Using the ARRAY Command

Preview of Example 4
To draw the objects shown in the above figure, you will be doing the following task: Use Polar Array to do a copy

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Use Polar Array to do a Copy

Remove the three dimensions and then select Home | Modify | Array. Choose the Select Objects icon so you can pick what you want to be copied and type W. Create a box to include all the elements, by picking two points as opposite corners. Press Enter to end the selection set of objects. The Array dialog box returns. Choose Polar array and then make sure that the centre point of the polar array is 0,0. The method you require is Total number of items and angle to fill. Type 3 for the number of items. Make sure that the total angle to fill is 360 degrees. There should be a tick by Rotate items as copied. Choose OK to finish. Click Quick Access | Save As to save the drawing. If you saved the dimensioned drawing for the last example, you will need to give this drawing a different name, say EXAMPLE4.

23

Setting the Scales

(If you want to omit this section on a first reading, move to the next example) We met the LIMITS command in the last example and you may be wondering now about how to set a scale for a particular drawing. In common with many other CAD packages, AutoCAD is flexible about the specification of the drawing units or scale. In many cases, it is only at the plotting stage that care has to be taken to determine a suitable scaling. Suppose you have a drawing A units x B units; for example, 400 metres x 290 metres or 6ft x 3ft. The drawing is to fit in an area of C units x D units. The units of the paper are not necessarily the same as the units in the drawing; for example, the paper size could be 200mm x 150mm or 10inches x 6inches. The procedure to follow is: Set the size of the drawing area in the drawing editor to be A x B by using the LIMITS command. However, remember that several AutoCAD settings, such as text size, linetype scale, hatching scale are fixed by default and these will need to be changed if you set the limits to be very different from the default positions. For example, if you set the limits to be (0,0) and (5,3), any dimensions are drawn at a scale nearly 100 times more than is pleasing to the eye. To change the dimension scales, see the previous example. In the TEXT command (used to add text or symbols), AutoCAD, in requesting the text height, offers a default size. This can be easily altered to a more suitable value. Similarly, the HATCH command offers default scaling values which can be changed. For linetype scaling, use the LTSCALE command. Use the UNITS command to change the format of the coordinates if necessary. The default units are decimal but it may be preferred to work in scientific units or other units. (See the AutoCAD Users Guide via the online help pages for details). When you plot your drawing, you can specify the size of the plotting area in either millimetres or inches. You can then ask for your drawing to fit the plotting area. AutoCAD automatically scales your drawing up or down uniformly in both the vertical and horizontal directions to cover the maximum possible area of the paper size given.

So if a drawing area of 360km x 320km is to be plotted at a scale of l mm =2km, this means a plotting area of 180mm x 160mm. You would set the limits to be (0,0) to (360,320) in the drawing editor. When plotting, you would specify the plotting units to be millimetres and the plotting area to be 180 x 160. Then you could specify that the limits of the drawing are to fit on the plotting sheet.

24

Example 5 Using Polylines and Corners

This example introduces polylines and corners. Polylines are combinations of straight lines and arcs. Each polyline is treated as one object, unlike line segments formed by the LINE command. The POLYLlNE command allows width variations. As usual, you should start from the Drawing Editor of AutoCAD for this example.

Preview of Example 5
To draw the objects shown in the above figure, you will be doing the following tasks: Start a new drawing, set the drawing limits and resize drawing. Construct a square as a POLYLlNE. Create circular corners and finish off.

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Start a New Drawing, Set the Drawing Limits and Resize Drawing
Create a new drawing. Use acadiso.dwt again and use the LIMITS command to change the limits to (80,60), (80,60). Select View | Navigate | Zoom | All so that the drawing area fills the screen.

Construct a Square as a POLYLlNE

Set snap and grid spacing on (default is 10 units) so you can pick points easily. Select Home | Draw | Polyline. Either type 50,50 or pick the point if you have set snap on. Type W to change the width of the polyline. Type 4 for both the starting and ending width of the polyline. Continue creating a square, 100 x 100, using CL to close.

Create Circular Corners and Finish Off

Select Home | Modify | Fillet. 25

Type R for a curved corner instead of a straight corner and type 12.5 for the radius. Type P for polyline and type L for the last polyline. If only three filleted corners appear, you did not use CL to join the 4th point to the 1st point of the polyline. Dimension the drawing and save it.

Methods of Specifying AutoCAD Commands

As you have probably realised, there are several ways of telling AutoCAD what to do next. The following list shows the ways in which commands or options can be given: Using Toolbars At Command Line Using the Cursor menu By selecting items from icon menus on toolbars. By typing the command name on the prompt line and pressing the Enter key. This appears when you press the Shift and Right mouse button together (or middle mouse button on a 3 button mouse) and contains Object snap modes and various filters. It may be customised.

Example 6 A Simple Engineering Component

The techniques covered in Examples 1 to 5 can be used to produce the drawing shown below.

Preview
Draw four little circles (radius 5) Draw 4 bigger circles (radius 10) Draw lines tangential to the bigger circles Trim circles Dimension drawing

No further instructions are given it is left as an exercise for the user.

26

Example 7 A Simple Engineering Component

The techniques covered in Examples 1 to 5 can be used to produce the drawing shown. No preview or further instructions are given it is left as an exercise for the user.

27

Using Blocks
A block is a collection of individual objects that belong together (another name for block would be symbol). Often, it is required to create libraries of frequently used symbols or blocks which can be used in different drawings. To create a block, a set of objects are drawn first. A block is given a name, an insertion point and the set of objects. This set is removed from the display but are still part of the drawing, stored now as a block.

Preliminary Example of Using Blocks

Preview
In order to draw the objects shown in the above figure using the menu system, you will be doing the following tasks, outlined later: Draw a shape Create a block from the shape Insert several blocks on the drawing area Edit the block

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Draw a Shape
Create a new drawing with limits of -20,-20 to 340,220 and do a Zoom All Draw a triangle through (0,0), (50,90), (80,40) Right-click the Object Snap icon and choose Settings. Choose Tangent. Select Home | Draw | Circle | 3 Point and draw a circle touching all three sides of triangle 28

 Create a Block from the Shape

Select Home | Block | Create Block. The Block set of commands handles blocks, their creation and manipulation. Type TRICIR for the name of the block. The pick point is to be left as 0, 0. Some people may prefer to call this the pivot point. Choose the Select objects icon and add the three lines and circle to the selection set for the block. Alternatively, use the WINDOW option. Choose Delete and then choose OK to end the block creation. The block disappears from the screen but is still part of the drawing.

Insert Several Blocks on the Drawing Area

Select Home | Block | Insert Block and a dialogue box appears. You are ready to insert the shape which is stored as a block. Choose TRICIR for the block. The position is at 60,100. Keep the X scale of 1.0, Y scale of 1.0 and rotation angle 0.0 and make sure that the box by Explode is not checked so that the inserted block is treated as one entity and choose OK Insert another block at the insertion point of 300,30 but scale it by a factor of 2.0 for both X and Y and rotate it by 80 degrees. Select Home | Block | Insert Block and choose TRICIR again. Accept a scale of 1.0 and rotation angle 0.0. This time, choose Explode and type 100,25 for the insertion point - this will explode the block into its constituent parts. You can check this by picking the various objects.

Edit the Block

To edit a block, you can use the Block Editor. This process is much easier now - in previous versions, to edit a block, the block had to be put back on the drawing area, any necessary alterations were done and then the block was redefined. Select Home | Block | Block Editor and retrieve TRICIR for the block name. Draw a line from (0,0) to the centre of the circle Select Close from the top right to recreate the block. Notice that the unexploded blocks show the extra line.

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Example 8 More Usage of Blocks

This example is to consolidate what you have already learnt about the use of blocks and introduces the use of colours and line types. In this particular example, there are 12 shapes which are the same and one shape is created as a block. The block is then inserted into the main drawing and it is realised it is incomplete. So the block is edited and saved again. Since the shape is not needed in other drawings, it remains part of this drawing as a block, but is not written to external storage to be used in other drawings.

Preview
To draw the objects shown in the above figure, you will be doing the following tasks: Start new drawing, set the drawing limits etc. Construct one shape. Create a block from the shape and then add 12 shapes. Add four circles to the drawing. Edit the block.

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

30

 Start New Drawing, Set the Drawing Limits etc.

Create new drawing. Change the limits to (50,50) and (100,100). Zoom in so that the drawing limits fill the window. Make sure that snap is off.

Construct One Shape

Draw two circles. The first one has centre at 50,0 and radius 8 and the second one has centre at 90,0 and radius 15 Change the OSNAP mode to TANGENT Draw two lines tangential to both circles. Select Home | Modify | Trim and trim the two circles. Remember that TRIM deletes the part of the object where you pick it. Click on the small arrow on bottom right of Home | Properties. You are about to change the colour of the shape. On the new docked Properties panel, choose the Select Objects icon and then type W. Create a window large enough to include the whole shape. Then press Enter to finish the selectionset. (4 objects found) Back on the Properties panel, choose Colour then click on the down arrow and choose Red. Close the Properties box and press Enter again..

Create a Block from the Shape and then Add Twelve Shapes
Select Home | Block | Create Block and create a block called SLOT with insertion point at 0,0. Choose the Select Objects icon. Add two arcs and two lines to the selection set for the block. Alternatively, use the WINDOW option. Press Enter to return to the dialog box. Keep Delete selected and choose OK to end the creation of the block. The block disappears from the screen but is still part of the drawing. Change the limits to (150,150) and (150,150).Then do a Zoom | All Select Home | Block | Insert Block and insert an unexploded copy of the block SLOT at the insertion point of 0,0 Select Home | Modify | Array and choose the Select Objects icon. Pick the shape and notice that the whole shape is highlighted immediately since it is treated as one item. Press Enter to end the selectionset. Choose Polar and then type 0,0 for the centre of the polar array. Type 12 for the number of items and to accept 360 degrees as the angle to fill and to rotate the shapes as they are copied.

Add Four Circles to the Drawing

Create four circles centred at (0,0) with radii 15, 90, 50, 120. Change their colour to Blue.

Edit the Block

It has been decided that the shape needs a centre line so the block has to be edited. Select Home | Block | Block Editor and choose SLOT for the block to be redefined. 31

Create a line from 0,0 to 150,0. Type LTYPE (this enables you to load linetypes into the drawing), choose Load and choose the CENTER linetype. See if you can make the linetype of this line CENTER, by using Home | Properties. Then choose Close Block Editor. Make sure that your picture is similar to the one at the start of this example. Save the drawing when finished.

Example 9 Using Layers

This example shows the use of layers in AutoCAD. Layers are used to group elements of a certain type together, usually for colouring and for making elements visible or invisible. For example, architects and designers using AutoCAD might put furnishings on one layer, water pipes on one layer, electrical wiring on another layer and so on.

Preview of Example 9
In order to learn about layers, you will be doing the following tasks, outlined later: Create a new drawing Create a new layer, colour it and make it current Draw objects on that layer Create another layer, colour it and make it current Draw objects on that layer Transfer some objects to other layers Learn what freezing and thawing mean

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below:

Create a New Drawing

Select Quick Access | New to create a new drawing, using acadiso.dwt. Use limits of 0,0 and 250,250 and do a Zoom All 32

 Create a New Layer, Colour it and make it Current

Select Home | Layers. Notice the line showing the properties of the current layer. There is only one layer so far.

For more details on the different layer properties, select Home | Layers | Layer Properties. The current layer where any new objects are added has a Name of 0. Notice you can turn layers on and off, freeze or thaw them, set colours to a layer so that any new objects on that layer will be drawn in that colour. Choose the New Layer icon and key LCIRC for the name of the layer. Choose LCIRC in list of layers and choose the Set Current icon. Make sure that the layer is not locked. (Look at the lock symbol) Choose the Color icon for layer LCIRC and then choose Red | OK to change the layer colour to red. Use the standard palette at the bottom of the dialog box. Close the Layer Properties dialog box. Notice that the line showing the current layer has changed. The current layer is now LCIRC and there is a small red box to show that any subsequent drawn objects will be red.

Draw Objects on that Layer

All the objects drawn in this task should be red! Switch off all OSNAP modes (via Settings on Object Snap icon at bottom). Construct the first inner circle which is centred at (80,80) and has radius 40. Draw a line from the centre of the circle at an angle of 45 to the horizontal with length of 80. Construct another circle with the same radius but with the centre at other end of line just drawn. (Hint use ENDPOINT for a temporary Object Snap mode) Construct the third circle, touching other two on their top side with a radius of 40 (using Tan Tan Radius) Construct the 3-Point outer circle which is tangent to all three inner circles. Do NOT remove the construction line.

Create another Layer, Colour it and make it Current

Select Home | Layers | Layer properties so we can use the Layer Dialogue box Choose the New Layer icon and key LSQUA for name of new layer. See if you can make this layer current and set its colour to Blue. Make sure that the layer is not locked. (Look at the lock symbol)

Draw Objects on that Layer

Select Home | Draw | Polygon. To find the polygon icon, you have to click the down arrow by Draw. As an exercise add square boxes touching the outer circle and inside one of the inner circles as shown in the picture at the start of the example. You should use the CENTRE and QUADRANT object snap modes to do this. Notice the boxes are blue. Create the small circle between the large outer circle and two of the inner circles. This is blue. 33

 Transfer some Objects to other Layers

Pick the blue circle which has been just created in layer LSQUA. The Properties window appears. Choose Layer from the list of properties. This is to change the layer of the circle. Choose LCIRC and close the Properties window. The object just picked is now drawn in red since it has been transferred to LCIRC where objects are drawn in red. Create a new layer called LLINE, make it green and transfer the construction line (the one at 45 to horizontal) to that layer.

Learn what Freezing and Thawing mean

In this task, we are going to freeze and then thaw the layer LLINE. This means that layer will disappear from the drawing and then reappear. The ability to freeze layers is very useful since it enables us to view various layers separately and also to plot them separately. Select Home | Layers | Layer Properties and make any layer current except LLINE. Choose LLINE. Note that current layers cannot be frozen. Choose Freeze and close the Properties dialog box. The line which was in layer LLINE now disappears from the drawing it has become invisible. It is still present in the drawing. Try thawing the layer LLINE and the green line should reappear.

34

Example 10 Design of a Digitising Tablet

This example shows how AutoCAD can be used to draw a picture of a digitising tablet, which is often used in conjunction with CAD software.

Preview of Example 10
In order to produce the drawing shown, you will be doing the following tasks: Draw the outline. Draw the tablet menus. Construct the puck. Draw the cord. Create the text. Hatch the tablet menus.

A full set of instructions for completing the tasks is given below: Notice that the text and the hatching have been left to the end of the drawing. Both of these, if present on a drawing, increase the regeneration time of the drawing. Also, it would be difficult in this particular case to place the text unless most of the other details had been filled in. In other designs, for example a flow chart, you would input the text first. It is important to sit down before starting any design to work out a construction plan you will save a lot of time and effort.

35

 Draw the Outline

Set the limits of new drawing to (0,0) and (150,100). Notice the window is larger than the limits so do a Zoom | All to use the maximum extent of the window. Set Snap on and with a spacing of 5. Select Home | Draw | Polyline and construct the outline of the tablet. Fillet the corners. Since this is a design, you are left to choose your own dimensions, except to remember that the total size is 150 x 100 including all text.

Draw the Tablet Menus

For each tablet menu, construct one long line and a short line at the end. Then select Home | Modify | Array and use the Rectangular option to create the other lines. You may need to vary the SNAP increment during the construction.

Construct the Puck

Select View | Navigate | Zoom | Realtime. This is quite a useful tool for zooming and panning to the area where the puck is to be drawn. Pan can be found on the Right Hand menu for this tool Select Home | Draw | Line. It might be easier if you construct the puck parallel to the xy axes initially. Draw puck outline and draw one button initially, then goto Modify | Array to create the other three buttons. When the puck is complete then rotate it (Modify | Rotate).

Draw the Cord

Select Home | Draw | Spline and construct a spline to represent the cord

Create the Text

Select Home | Annotation | Multi-line Text. Users of older versions of AutoCAD will be pleased to see that it is easier to draw text now. You do not have to create new text styles now. Just pick tow points for your text box and type the text. You can change fonts, sizes etc. Choose Close or Close Text Editor

Hatch the Tablet Menus

Select Home | Draw | Hatch and choose the ZigZag swatch. Select the objects that make the boundary and then apply. You may need to reduce considerably the scale of the hatch pattern.

36

Example 11 Design of an Office, Before and After

In this example an office plan is produced, and then objects are moved.

In order to produce the drawing (about 150mm x 100mm) shown above, you should think in terms of the following tasks: Construct the drawing Before on left. Make a copy for After and shift to right. Move the furniture round on After. Reverse the door on After (use Modify | Mirror). Move the door on After (use Modify | Stretch).

This has been left as an exercise for the user. Although it is not difficult to construct, it is by no means as trivial as it looks.

37

Plotting
In this document, it is assumed that you wish to plot one view of a model or drawing on a sheet of paper and that you want to use one of the Windows printers. In classrooms, the central printers are already set up but users on other MWS Pcs have to set up the printers. See http://www.liv.ac.uk/csd/printing/staffprint.htm for more details on setting up printers. It is assumed that in the rest of this section you have installed several Windows printers. In AutoCAD 2010, you can choose to create layouts where each layout has a different view of a model. These layouts can be arranged on the same sheet of paper and then plotted. For more details and for a worked example on how to create layouts and plot them, please see Document 376 AutoCAD 3D Workbook We describe in this section how to plot a single view. On the Big Red A menu, you will see the Print command if you click the little arrow by the side, another menu appears. On this, the items of interest are Page Setup, the function for setting the printer, page size and orientation for layouts and PLOT, the command to send the output to a Print queue. Ignore the other commands mostly in our environment. Normally, whenever you enter the PLOT command (either by typing it or by selecting it from the Print | Plot icon on the Big Red A menu or by selecting Quick Access | PLOT), a dialogue box called PLOT appears on the screen. AutoCAD assumes that the currently loaded drawing is to be plotted. Before plotting a drawing, make sure your printer is set up with the correct paper size. For all drawings, printed directly from AutoCAD, whether they are portrait or landscape, the orientation within the printer driver must be set to PORTRAIT. This is unusual behaviour for a Windows package! In the Page Setup Manager, you should determine the paper size and how the drawing will be positioned on the paper. The paper sizes that are available are determined by the printer or plotter that you select on the Plot Device tab of the Plot dialog box. The list of available plotters includes all those that are currently configured for use with Windows and (for more advanced users) those for which you have installed nonsystem AutoCAD drivers.

How to Plot a Drawing

First click Print | Page Setup on the Big Red A menu. Choose Modify on the first dialog box. In the Printer / Plotter section of the dialog box, choose Name and then choose one of the Windows printers that you have installed. Do not try to change anything by clicking Properties. Instead, if you need to check your printer setup, click Start | Settings | Printers & Faxes and then check the Paper size and Orientation (this must be Portrait see above) for the chosen printer in the usual way. 38

Under Drawing Orientation, select an orientation (Landscape or Portrait). This refers to the orientation of your drawing and not that of the printer. Under What to Plot, specify the portion of your drawing that you want to plot. See Specifying the Area to Plot for more details Under Paper Size, specify what size of paper you need. Under Plot Scale, specify a scale from the Scale box or choose Scale to Fit. Check the results by choosing Preview then choose OK. Next select File | Plot and choose OK to send off the plot.

Specifying the Area to Plot

When plotting a drawing in AutoCAD, you must specify the area of the drawing to plot. The Plot Settings tab in the Plot dialog box provides several options under Plot Area and the relevant ones (for basic uses) are: Limits: Plots the entire drawing area defined by the drawing limits. Extents: Plots the portion of the current space of the drawing that contains objects. All geometry in the current space is plotted. AutoCAD may regenerate the drawing to recalculate the extents before plotting. Display: Plots the view in the current viewport or drawing area. Window: Plots any portion of the drawing you specify. Choose the Window button to use a pointing device to specify opposite corners of the area to be plotted, or enter co ordinate values.

Previewing the Plot

This is where you can check where on the paper the plot should appear! It is good practice to generate a preview of the plotted drawing before sending the drawing to the printer or plotter. Generating a preview saves time and material. For more details on plotting, see the online Help pages.

39

AutoCAD Command Summary

This section comes in two parts. The first part gives an alphabetical list of AutoCAD commands, with a brief description of each. Note that commands preceded by a ' symbol can be used transparently. The second part explains where to find each command in the menu hierarchy

Command
3D 3DALIGN 3DARRAY 3DCLIP 3DCONFIG 3DCORBIT 3DDISTANCE 3DDWF 3DFACE 3DFLY 3DFORBIT 3DMESH 3DMOVE 3DORBIT 3DORBITCTR 3DPAN 3DPOLY 3DPRINT 3DROTATE 3DSCALE 3DSIN 3DSWIVEL 3DWALK 3DZOOM 'ABOUT ACISIN ACISOUT ACTBASEPOINT ACTMANAGER ACTRECORD ACTSTOP

Description
Creates three-dimensional polygon mesh objects in common geometric shapes that can be hidden, shaded, or rendered Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and 3D Creates a three dimensional array Starts the interactive 3D view and opens the Adjust Clipping Planes window Provides 3D graphics system configuration settings Starts the interactive 3D view and enables you to set the objects in the 3D view into continuous motion Starts the interactive 3D view and makes objects appear closer or farther away Creates a 3D DWF file of your three-dimensional model and displays it in the DWF Viewer Creates a three-sided or four-sided surface anywhere in 3D space Interactively changes your view of a 3D drawings so that you appear to be flying through the model Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D, using an unconstrained orbit Creates a free form polygon mesh Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D, using an unconstrained orbit Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D Sets the center of rotation in 3D Orbit view When a drawing is in a Perspective view, starts the interactive 3D view and enables you to drag the view horizontally and vertically Creates a polyline of line segments in 3D space Sends a 3D model to a 3D printing service. Displays the rotate grip tool in a 3D view and revolves objects around a base point In a 3D view, displays the 3D Scale gizmo to aid in resizing 3D objects. Imports a 3D Studio file Changes the target of the view in the direction that you drag Interactively changes the view of a 3D drawing so that you appear to be walking through the model Zooms in and out in a perspective view Displays information about AutoCAD Imports an ACIS file and creates a body object, solid, or region in the drawing Exports a body object, solid, or region to an ACIS file Inserts a base point in an action macro. Manages action macro files. Starts the Action Recorder Stops the Action Recorder and provides the option of saving the recorded actions to an action macro file 40

ACTUSERINPUT ADCCLOSE ADCENTER ADCNAVIGATE ADJUST ALIGN AMECONVERT ANIPATH ANNORESET ANNOUPDATE 'APERTURE APPLOAD ARC ARCHIVE AREA ARRAY ARX ATTACH ATTACHURL ATTDEF 'ATTDISP ATTEDIT ATTEXT ATTIPEDIT ATTREDEF ATTSYNC AUDIT AUTOCONSTRAIN AUTOPUBLISH BACKGROUND BACTION BACTIONBAR BACTIONSET BACTIONTOOL 'BASE BASSOCIATE BATTMAN BATTORDER BAUTHORPALETTE BAUTHORPALETTECLOSE

Pauses for user input in an action macro Closes DesignCenter Manages and inserts content such as blocks, xrefs, and hatch patterns Loads a specified DesignCenter drawing file, folder, or network path Adjusts the fade, contrast and monochrome settings of the selected image or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN) Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and 3D Converts AME solid models to AutoCAD solid objects Saves an animation along a path in a 3D model Resets the locations of all alternate scale representations of the selected annotative objects Resets the locations of all alternate scale representations of the selected annotative objects Controls the size of the object snap target box. Loads and unloads applications and defines which applications to load at startup Creates an arc Packages the current sheet set files to be archived Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern Loads, unloads, and provides information about ObjectARX applications Inserts an external reference, image, or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN files) in the current drawing Attaches hyperlinks to objects or areas in a drawing Creates an attribute definition Globally controls visibility of block attributes in a drawing Changes attribute information Extracts attribute data, informational text associated with a block, into a file Changes the textual content of an attribute within a block. Redefines a block and updates associated attributes Updates all instances of a specified block with the current attributes defined for the block Evaluates the integrity of a drawing and corrects some errors Applies geometric constraints to a selection set of objects based on orientation of the objects relative to one another Publishes drawings to DWF, DWFx, or PDF files automatically to a specified location Obsolete Adds an action to a dynamic block definition Displays or hides action bars for a selection set of parameter objects Specifies the selection set of objects associated with an action in a dynamic block definition Adds an action to a dynamic block definition Sets the insertion base point for the current drawing Associates an action with a parameter in a dynamic block definition Edits attribute properties of a block definition Associates an action with a parameter in a dynamic block definition Closes the Block Authoring Palettes window in the Block Editor Opens the Block Authoring Palettes window in the Block Editor 41

BCLOSE BCONSTRUCTION BCPARAMETER BCYCLEORDER BEDIT BESETTINGS BGRIPSET BHATCH 'BLIPMODE BLOCK BLOCKICON BLOOKUPTABLE BMPOUT BOUNDARY BOX BPARAMETER BREAK BREP BROWSER BSAVE BSAVEAS BTABLE BTESTBLOCK BVHIDE BVSHOW BVSTATE CAL CAMERA CHAMFER CHANGE CHECKSTANDARDS CHPROP CHSPACE CIRCLE CLASSICIMAGE CLASSICLAYER CLASSICXREF CLEANSCREENOFF CLEANSCREENON CLIP CLOSE CLOSEALL 'COLOR

Closes the Block Editor Converts geometry into construction geometry Applies constraint parameters to selected objects, or converts dimensional constraints to parameter constraints Changes the cycling order of grips for a dynamic block reference Opens the Edit Block Definition dialog box and then the Block Editor Displays the Block Editor Settings dialog box Creates, deletes, or resets grips associated with a parameter Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern or gradient fill Controls the display of marker blips Creates a block definition from objects you select Generates preview images for blocks displayed in DesignCenter Displays or creates a lookup table for a dynamic block definition Saves selected objects to a file in deviceindependent bitmap format Creates a region or polyline from an enclosed area Creates a threedimensional solid box Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition Breaks the selected object between two points Removes the history from 3D solid primitives and composite solids Launches the default Web browser defined in your systems registry Saves the current block definition Saves a copy of the current block definition under a new name Displays a dialog box to define variations of a block Displays a window within the Block Editor to test a dynamic block Makes objects invisible in the current visibility state or all visibility states in a dynamic block definition Makes objects visible in the current visibility state or all visibility states in a dynamic block definition Creates, sets, or deletes a visibility state in a dynamic block Evaluates mathematical and geometric expressions Sets a camera and target location to create and save a 3D perspective view of objects Bevels the edges of objects Changes the properties of existing objects Checks the current drawing for standards violations Changes the properties of an object Moves objects from model space to paper space, or vice versa Creates a circle Manages referenced image files in the current drawing Opens the modal Layer Properties Manager Manages referenced drawing files in the current drawing Restores display of toolbars and dockable windows (excluding the command line) Clears the screen of toolbars and dockable windows (excluding the command line) Crops a selected external reference, image, viewport, or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN) to a specified boundary Closes the current drawing Closes all currently open drawings Sets the colour for new objects. 42

COMMANDLINE COMMANDLINEHIDE COMPILE CONE CONSTRAINTBAR CONSTRAINTSETTINGS CONVERT CONVERTCTB CONVERTOLDLIGHTS CONVERTOLDMATERIALS CONVERTPSTYLES CONVTOSOLID CONVTOSURFACE COPY COPYBASE COPYCLIP COPYHIST COPYLINK COPYTOLAYER CUI CUIEXPORT CUIIMPORT CUILOAD CUIUNLOAD CUSTOMIZE CUTCLIP CYLINDER DATAEXTRACTION DATALINK DATALINKUPDATE DBCONNECT DBLIST DDEDIT DDPTYPE DDVPOINT 'DELAY DELCONSTRAINT DETACHURL DGNADJUST DGNATTACH DGNCLIP

Displays the command line Hides the command line Compiles shape files and PostScript font files into SHX files Creates a 3D solid with a circular or elliptical base tapering symmetrically to a point or a circular or elliptical planar face A toolbar-like UI element that displays the available geometric constraints on an object Controls the display of geometric constraints on constraint bars Optimizes 2D polylines and associative hatches created in AutoCAD Release 13 or earlier Converts a color-dependent plot style table (CTB) to a named plot style table (STB Converts lights created in previous releases to lights in AutoCAD 2007 format Converts materials created in previous releases to materials in AutoCAD 2007 format Converts the current drawing to either named or color-dependent plot styles Converts polylines and circles with thickness to 3D solids Converts objects to surfaces Copies objects a specified distance in a specified direction Copies objects with a specified base point Copies objects or command line text to the Clipboard Copies the text in the command line history to the Clipboard Copies the current view to the Clipboard for linking to other OLE applications Copies one or more objects to another layer Manages customized user interface elements such as workspaces, toolbars, menus, shortcut menus and keyboard shortcuts Exports customized settings from acad.cui to an enterprise or partial CUI file Imports customized settings from an enterprise or partial CUI file to acad.cui Loads a CUI file Unloads a CUI file Customizes tool palettes Copies objects to the Clipboard and erases the objects from the drawing Creates a threedimensional solid cylinder Extracts drawing data and merges data from an external source to a data extraction table or external file The Data Link dialog box is displayed Updates data to or from an established external data link Provides an interface to external database tables Lists database information for each object in the drawing. Edits single-line text, dimension text, attribute definitions, and feature control frames Specifies the display mode and size of point objects Sets the threedimensional viewing direction Provides a timed pause within a script Removes all geometric and dimensional constraints from a selection set of objects Removes hyperlinks in a drawing Adjust the fade, contrast, and monochrome settings of a DGN underlay Insert a DGN file as an underlay into the current drawing Crops the display of a selected DGN underlay to a specified boundary 43

DGNEXPORT DGNIMPORT DGNLAYERS DGNMAPPING DIM and DIM1 DIMALIGNED DIMANGULAR DIMARC DIMBASELINE DIMBREAK DIMCENTER DIMCONSTRAINT DIMCONTINUE DIMDIAMETER DIMDISASSOCIATE DIMEDIT DIMINSPECT DIMJOGGED DIMJOGLINE DIMLINEAR DIMORDINATE DIMOVERRIDE DIMRADIUS DIMREASSOCIATE DIMREGEN DIMSPACE DIMSTYLE DIMTEDIT 'DIST DISTANTLIGHT DIVIDE DONUT 'DRAGMODE DRAWINGRECOVERY DRAWINGRECOVERYHIDE DRAWORDER DSETTINGS DSVIEWER DVIEW DWFADJUST DWFATTACH DWFCLIP DWFFORMAT

Creates one or more DGN files from the current drawing Imports the data from a DGN file into a new DWG file Controls the display of layers in a DGN underlay Allows users to create and edit user-defined DGN mapping setups Accesses Dimensioning mode Creates an aligned linear dimension Creates an angular dimension Creates an arc length dimension Continues a linear, angular or ordinate dimension from the baseline of the previous dimension or a selected dimension Breaks or restores dimension and extension lines where they cross other objects Creates the centre mark or centre lines of circles and arcs Applies dimensional constraints to selected objects or points on objects Creates a linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the second extension line of the previous dimension or a selected dimension Creates diameter dimension for circles and arcs Removes associativity from selected dimensions Edits dimension text and extension lines on dimension objects Adds or removes inspection information for a selected dimension Creates jogged radius dimensions Adds or removes a jog line on a linear or aligned dimension Creates linear dimensions Creates ordinate point dimensions Overrides dimension system variables Creates radial dimensions for circles and arcs Associates selected dimensions to geometric objects Updates the locations of all associative dimensions Adjusts the spacing between linear dimensions or angular dimensions Creates and modifies dimension styles Moves and rotates dimension text Measures distance and angle between two points. Creates a distant light Places evenly spaced objects or blocks along the length or perimeter of an object. Draws filled circles and rings Controls the way dragged objects are displayed Displays a list of drawing files that can be recovered after a program or system failure Closes the Drawing Recovery Manager Changes the draw order of images and other objects Sets grid and snap, polar and object snap tracking, object snap modes, and Dynamic Input Opens the Aerial View window Defines parallel projection or perspective views by using a camera and target Allows adjustment of a DWF underlay from the command line Attaches a DWF underlay to the current drawing Uses clipping boundaries to define a subregion of a DWF underlay Sets the default format to DFW or DWFx for the PUBLISH, 3DDWF, EXPORT, 44

DWFLAYERS DWGPROPS DXBIN EATTEDIT EATTEXT EDGE EDGESURF ELEV ELLIPSE ERASE ETRANSMIT EXPLODE EXPORT EXPORTDWF EXPORTDWFX EXPORTLAYOUT EXPORTPDF EXPORTSETTINGS EXPORTTOAUTOCAD EXTEND EXTERNALREFERENCES EXTERNALREFERENCESCL OSE EXTRUDE FIELD 'FILL FILLET FILTER FIND FLATSHOT FOG FREESPOT FREEWEB GEOGRAPHICLOCATION GEOMCONSTRAINT GOTOURL GRADIENT 'GRAPHSCR 'GRID

EXPORTDWF, AND EXPORTDWFX commands Controls the display of layers in a DWF or DWFx underlay Sets and displays the properties of the current drawing Imports speciallycoded binary files Edits attributes in a block reference Exports block attribute information to a table or to an external file Changes the visibility of threedimensional face edges Creates a three dimensional polygon mesh Sets elevation and extrusion thickness of new objects Creates an ellipse or an elliptical arc Removes objects from the drawing. Packages a set of files for Internet transmission Breaks a compound object into its component objects Saves objects to other file formats Creates a DWF file and allows you to set individual page setup overrides on a sheet by sheet basis Creates a DWFx file where you can set individual page setup overrides on a sheet-bysheet basis Creates a visual representation of the current layout in the model space of a new drawing Creates a PDF file where you can set individual page setup overrides on a sheet-bysheet basis Sets the export setting for a file Creates a new DWG file with all AEC objects exploded Extends an object to meet another object. Displays the External References palette Closes the External References palette Creates a 3D solid or surface by extruding an object or planar face a specified distance and direction Creates a multiline text object with a field that can be updated automatically as the field value changes Controls the filling of objects such as hatches, two-dimensional solids, and wide polylines Rounds and fillets the edges of objects Creates a list of requirements that an object must meet to be included in a selection set Finds, replaces, selects, or zooms to specified text Creates a 2D representation of all 3D objects in the current view Obsolete Creates a free spotlight, which is similar to a spotlight but without a specified target Creates a free weblight which is similar to a weblight but without a specified target Specifies the latitude and longitude of a location Applies or persists geometric relationships between objects or points on objects Opens the file or web page associated with the hyperlink attached to an object Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a gradient fill Switches from the text window to the drawing area Displays a grid in the current viewport that is not plotted 45

GROUP HATCH HATCHEDIT HELIX 'HELP HIDE HIDEPALETTES HLSETTINGS HYPERLINK HYPERLINKOPTIONS 'ID IMAGE IMAGEADJUST IMAGEATTACH IMAGECLIP IMAGEQUALITY IMPORT IMPRESSION IMPRINT INSERT INSERTOBJ INTERFERE INTERSECT 'ISOPLANE JOGSECTION JOIN JPGOUT JUSTIFYTEXT LAYCUR LAYDEL 'LAYER LAYERCLOSE LAYERP LAYERPALETTE LAYERPMODE LAYERSTATE LAYFRZ LAYISO LAYLCK LAYMCH LAYMCUR LAYMRG LAYOFF

Creates and manages saved sets of objects called groups Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient fill Modifies an existing hatch or fill Creates a 2D or 3D spiral Displays help Regenerates a three dimensional wireframe model with hidden lines suppressed Hides currently displayed palettes (including the command line Changes the display properties of lines in 2D wireframes Attaches a hyperlink to an object or modifies an existing hyperlink Controls the display of the hyperlink cursor, tooltips, and shortcut menu Displays the coordinates of a location Displays the External References palette Controls the image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade values of images Attaches a new image to the current drawing Uses clipping boundaries to define a subregion of an image object Controls the display quality of images Imports files in various formats Gives a CAD drawing a hand-drawn look by exporting it for rendering in Autodesk Impression Imprints an edge on a 3D solid Places a named block or drawing into the current drawing. Inserts a linked or embedded object Highlights 3D solids that overlap Creates composite solids or regions from the intersection of two or more solids or regions and removes the areas outside of the intersection Specifies the current isometric plane Adds a jogged segment to a section object Joins objects to form a single, unbroken object Saves selected objects to a file in JPEG file format Changes the justification point of selected text objects without changing their locations Changes the layer of selected objects to the current layer Deletes the layer of a selected object and all objects on the layer, and purges the layer from the drawing Manages layers and layer properties Closes the Layer Properties Manager Undoes the last change or set of changes made to layer settings Opens the modeless Layer Properties Manager Turns the tracking of changes made to layer settings on and off Saves, restores, and manages named layer states Freezes the layer of selected objects Isolates the layer of selected objects so that all other layers are turned off Locks the layers of selected objects Changes the layer of a selected object to match the destination layer Makes the layer of a selected object current Merges selected layers onto a destination layer Turns off the layer of the selected object 46

LAYON LAYOUT LAYOUTWIZARD LAYTHW LAYTRANS LAYULK LAYUNISO LAYVPI LAYWALK LEADER LENGTHEN LIGHT LIGHTLIST LIGHTLISTCLOSE 'LIMITS LINE 'LINETYPE LIST LIVESECTION LOAD LOFT LOGFILEOFF LOGFILEON 'LTSCALE LWEIGHT MARKUP MARKUPCLOSE MASSPROP MATCHCELL MATCHPROP MATERIALATTACH MATERIALMAP MATERIALS MATERIALSCLOSE MEASURE MEASUEGEOM MENU MENULOAD MENUUNLOAD MESH MESHCREASE MESHOPTIONS MESHPRIMITIVEOPTIONS

Turns on all layers Creates and modifies drawing layout tabs Creates a new layout tab and specifies page and plot settings Thaws all layers Changes a drawing's layers to layer standards you specify Unlocks the layer of a selected object Turns on layers that were turned off with the last LAYISO command Isolates an object's layer to the current viewport Dynamically displays layers in a drawing Creates a line that connects annotation to a feature Changes the length of objects and the included angle of arcs Creates a light Opens the Lights in Model window to add and modify lights Closes the Lights in Model window Sets and controls the limits of the grid display in the current Model or layout tab Creates straight line segments Loads, sets and modifies linetypes Displays database information for selected objects. Turns on live sectioning for a selected section object. Makes shapes available for use by the SHAPE command. Creates a 3D solid or surface by lofting through a set of two or more curves Closes the log file opened by LOGFILEON Writes the text window contents to a file Sets the global linetype scale factor Sets the current lineweight, lineweight display options, and lineweight units Displays the details of markups and allows you to change their status Closes the Markup Set Manager Calculates the mass properties of regions or solids Applies the properties of a selected table cell to other table cells Applies the properties of a selected object to other objects Attaches materials to objects by layer Displays a material mapper grip tool to adjust the mapping on a face or an object Manages, applies, and modifies materials Closes the Materials window Places point objects or blocks at measured intervals on an object. Measures the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected objects or sequence of points Loads a customization file Obsolete Obsolete Creates a 3D mesh primitive object such as a box, cone, cylinder, pyramid, sphere, wedge, or torus Sharpens the edges of selected mesh subobjects Displays the Mesh Tessellation Options dialog box, which controls default settings for converting existing objects to mesh objects Displays the Mesh Primitive Options dialog box, which sets the tessellation defaults for 47

MESHREFINE MESHSMOOTH MESHSMOOTHLESS MESHSMOOTHMORE MESHSPLIT MESHUNCREASE MINSERT MIRROR MIRROR3D MLEADER MLEADERALIGN MLEADERCOLLECT MLEADEREDIT MLEADERSTYLE MLEDIT MLINE MLSTYLE MODEL MOVE MREDO MSLIDE MSPACE MTEDIT MTEXT MULTIPLE MVIEW MVSETUP NAVSMOTION NAVSMOTIONCLOSE NAVSWHEEL NAVYCUBE NETLOAD NEW NEWSHEETSET NEWSHOT NEWVIEW OBJECTSCALE OFFSET OLELINKS OLESCALE OOPS OPEN OPENDWFMARKUP OPENSHEETSET

primitive mesh objects Multiplies the number of faces in selected mesh objects or faces Converts 3D objects such as polygon meshes, surfaces, and solids to mesh objects Decreases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level Increases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level Splits a mesh face into two faces Removes the crease from selected mesh faces, edges, or vertices Inserts multiple instances of a block in a rectangular array Creates a mirror image copy of objects Creates a mirror image copy of objects about a plane Creates a multileader object Aligns and spaces selected multileader objects Organizes selected multileaders that contain blocks into rows or columns, and displays the result with a single leader Adds leader lines to, or removes leader lines from, a multileader object Creates and modifies multileader styles Edits multiline intersections, breaks, and vertices Creates multiple, parallel lines Creates, modifies, and manages multiline styles Switches from a layout tab to the Model tab and makes it current Moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction Reverses the effects of several previous UNDO or U commands Creates a slide file of the current model viewport or the current layout Switches from paper space to a model space viewport. Edits multiline text Creates multiline text Repeats the next command until cancelled. Creates and controls layout viewports Sets up the specification of a drawing Displays the ShowMotion interface Closes the ShowMotion interface Displays a wheel that contains a collection of view navigation tools Controls the visibility and display properties of the ViewCube tool Loads a .NET application Creates a new drawing Creates a new sheet set Creates a named view with motion that is played back when viewed with ShowMotion Creates a named view with no motion Adds or deletes supported scales for annotative objects Creates concentric circles, parallel lines and parallel curves Updates, changes and cancels existing OLE links Displays the OLE Properties dialog box Restores erased objects Opens an existing drawing file Opens a DWF file that contains markups Opens a selected sheet set 48

OPTIONS 'ORTHO 'OSNAP PAGESETUP 'PAN PARAMETERS PARAMETERSCLOSE PARTIALLOAD PARTIALOPEN PASTEASHYPERLINK PASTEBLOCK PASTECLIP PASTEORIG PASTESPEC PCINWIZARD PDFADJUST PDFATTACH PDFCLIP PDFLAYERS PEDIT PFACE PLAN PLANESURF PLINE PLOT PLOTSTAMP PLOTSTYLE PLOTTERMANAGER PNGOUT POINT POINTLIGHT POLYGON POLYSOLID PRESSPULL PREVIEW PROPERTIES PROPERTIESCLOSE PSETUPIN PSPACE PUBLISH PUBLISHTOWEB PURGE PYRAMID

Customizes the AutoCAD settings Constrains cursor movement Sets object snap modes Controls the page layout, plotting device, paper size, and other settings for each new layout Moves the view in the current viewport Controls the associative parameters used in the drawing Closes the Parameters Manager palette Loads additional geometry into a partially opened drawing Loads geometry and named objects from a selected view or layer into a drawing Inserts data from the Clipboard as a hyperlink Pastes copied objects as a block Inserts data from the Clipboard Pastes a copied object in a new drawing using the coordinates from the original drawing Inserts data from the Clipboard and controls the format of the data Displays a wizard to import PCP and PC2 configuration file plot settings into the Model tab or current layout Adjust the fade, contrast, and monochrome settings of a PDF underlay Insert a PDF file as an underlay into the current drawing Insert a PDF file as an underlay into the current drawing Crops the display of a selected PDF underlay to a specified boundary Controls the display of layers in a PDF underlay Edits polylines and threedimensional polygon meshes: Creates a three dimensional polyface mesh vertex by vertex Displays the plan view of a specified user coordinate system Creates a planar surface Creates twodimensional polylines Plots a drawing to a plotter, printer, or file Places a plot stamp on a specified corner of each drawing and logs it to a file Sets the current plot style for new objects, or assigns a plot style for selected objects Displays the Plotter Manager, where you can add or edit a plotter configuration Saves selected objects to a file in a Portable Network Graphics format Creates a point object Creates a point light Creates an equilateral closed polygon Creates a 3D polysolid Presses or pulls bounded areas Shows how the drawing will look when it is plotted Controls properties of existing objects Closes the Properties palette Imports a user-defined page setup into a new drawing layout Switches from a model space viewport to paper space Publishes drawings to DWF files or plotters Creates HTML pages that include images of selected drawings Removes unused named items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing Creates a 3D solid pyramid 49

QCCLOSE QDIM QLEADER QNEW QSAVE QSELECT QTEXT QUICKCALC QUICKCUI QUIT QVDRAWING QVDRAWINGCLOSE QVLAYOUT QVLAYOUTCLOSE RAY RECOVER RECOVERALL RECTANG REDEFINE REDO 'REDRAW 'REDRAWALL REFCLOSE REFEDIT REFSET REGEN REGENALL 'REGENAUTO REGION REINIT RENAME RENDER RENDERCROP RENDERENVIRONMENT RENDEREXPOSURE RENDERPRESETS RENDERWIN RENDSCR RESETBLOCK 'RESUME REVCLOUD REVERSE

Closes QuickCalc Quickly creates a dimension Quickly creates a leader and leader annotation Starts a new drawing with the option of using a default drawing template file Saves the current drawing using the file format specified in the Options dialog box Creates a selection sets based on filtering criteria Controls the display and plotting of text and attribute objects Opens the QuickCalc calculator Displays the Customize User Interface Editor in a collapsed state Exits the program. Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing in preview images Closes preview images of open drawings and layouts in a drawing Displays preview images of model space and layouts in a drawing Closes preview images of model space and layouts in a drawing Creates a semiinfinite line Repairs a damaged drawing Repairs a damaged drawing file along with all attached xrefs Draws a rectangular polyline Restores AutoCAD internal commands overridden by UNDEFINE. Reverses the effects of the previous UNDO or U command Refreshes the display of the current viewport. Refreshes the display of all viewports. Saves back or discards changes made during in-place editing of a reference (an xref or a block) Selects an external reference or block reference for editing Adds or removes objects from a working set during in-place editing of a reference (an xref or a block) Regenerates the entire drawing from the current viewport Regenerates the drawing and refreshes all viewports. Controls automatic regeneration of a drawing Converts an object that encloses an area into a region object Reinitializes the digitizer, digitizer input/output port, and program parameters file Changes the names of named objects Creates a photorealistic or realistically shaded image of a three-dimensional wireframe or solid model Selects a specific region (crop window) in an image for rendering Provides visual cues for the apparent distance of objects Provides settings to adjust the global lighting for the most recently rendered output Specifies render presets, reusable rendering parameters, for rendering an image Displays the Render Window without invoking a render task Obsolete Resets one or more dynamic block references to the default values of the block definition Continues an interrupted script. Creates a polyline of sequential arcs to form a cloud shape Reverses the order of vertices of the selected lines, polylines, splines, and helixes 50

REVOLVE REVSURF RIBBON RIBBONCLOSE RMAT ROTATE ROTATE3D RPREF RPREFCLOSE RSCRIPT RULESURF SAVE SAVEAS SAVEIMG SCALE SCALELISTEDIT SCALETEXT 'SCRIPT SECTION SECTIONPLANE SECTIONPLANEJOG SECTIONPLANESETTINGS SECTIONPLANETOBLOCK SECURITYOPTIONS SEEK SELECT SETBYLAYER SETIDROPHANDLER SETUV 'SETVAR SHADEMODE SHAPE SHAREWITHSEEK SHEETSET SHEETSETHIDE SHELL SHOWMAT SHOWPALETTES SIGVALIDATE SKETCH SLICE 'SNAP SOLDRAW SOLID

Creates a 3D solid or surface by revolving a twodimensional object about an axis Creates a rotated mesh about a selected axis. Opens the ribbon window Closes the ribbon window Obsolete Moves objects around a base point Moves objects about a threedimensional axis Displays the Advanced Render Settings palette for access to advanced rendering settings Closes the Render Settings palette if it is displayed Repeats a script file Creates a ruled mesh between two curves. Saves the drawing under the current file name or a specified name Saves a copy of the current drawing under a new file name Saves a rendered image to a file Enlarges or reduces selected objects proportionally in the X, Y, and Z directions Controls the list of scales available for layout viewports, page layouts, and plotting Enlarges or reduces selected text objects without changing their locations Executes a sequence of commands from a script. Uses the intersection of a plane and solids to create a region Creates a section object that acts as a cutting plane through a 3D object Adds a jogged segment to a section object Sets display options for the selected section plane Saves selected section planes as 2D or 3D blocks Controls security settings using the Security Options dialog box Opens a web browser and displays the Autodesk Seek home page Places selected objects in the previous selection-set Changes the property overrides of selected objects to ByLayer Specifies the default type of i-drop content for the current Autodesk application Obsolete Lists or changes the value of system variables. Starts the VSCURRENT command Inserts a shape from a shape file that has been loaded using LOAD Uploads blocks or drawings to the Autodesk Seek website Opens the Sheet Set Manager Closes the Sheet Set Manager Accesses operating system commands Obsolete Restores the display of hidden palettes Displays information about the digital signature attached to a file Creates a series of freehand line segments Slices a solid with a plane or surface Restricts cursor movements to specified intervals Generate profiles and sections in viewports created with SOLVIEW Creates solid-filled triangles and quadrilaterals 51

SOLIDEDIT SOLPROF SOLVIEW SPACETRANS SPELL SPHERE SPLINE SPLINEDIT SPOTLIGHT STANDARDS 'STATUS STLOUT STRETCH 'STYLE STYLESMANAGER SUBTRACT SUNPROPERTIES SUNPROPERTIESCLOSE SWEEP SYSWINDOWS TABLE TABLEDIT TABLEEXPORT TABLESTYLE TABLET TABSURF TARGETPOINT TASKBAR TEXT TEXTEDIT 'TEXTSCR TEXTTOFRONT THICKEN TIFOUT 'TIME TINSERT TOLERANCE TOOLBAR TOOLPALETTES TOOLPALETTESCLOSE TORUS TPNAVIGATE TRACE TRANSPARENCY

Edits faces and edges of 3D solid objects Creates profile images of three-dimensional solids in paper space Creates layout viewports using orthographic projection to lay out multi- and sectional view drawings of 3D solids and body objects Converts length values between model space and paper space Checks spelling in a drawing Creates a threedimensional solid sphere Fits a smooth curve to a sequence of points within a specified tolerance Edits a spline or spline-fit polyline Creates a spotlight Manages the association of standards files with AutoCAD drawings Displays drawing statistics, modes and extents Stores a solid in an ASCII or binary file Moves or stretches objects Creates, modifies, or sets named text styles Displays the Plot Style Manager Combines selected regions or solids by subtraction Opens the Sun Properties window and sets the properties of the sun Closes the Sun Properties window Creates a 3D solid or surface by sweeping a 2D curve along a path Arranges windows and icons when the application window is shared with external applications Creates an empty table object in a drawing Edits text in a table cell Exports data from a table object in CSV file format Defines a new table style Calibrates, configures and turns on | off an attached digitizing tablet Creates a tabulated surface from a path curve and a direction vector. Creates a target point light Controls how drawings are displayed on the Windows taskbar Creates a single-line text object Edits a dimensional constraint, dimension, or text object Opens the text window Brings text and dimensions in front of all other objects in the drawing Creates a 3D solid by thickening a surface Saves selected objects to a file in TIFF file format Displays the date and time statistics of a drawing Inserts a block in a table cell Creates geometric tolerances Displays, hides and customizes toolbars Opens the Tool Palettes window Closes the Tool Palettes window Creates a 3D donut-shaped solid Displays a specified tool palette or palette group Creates solid lines Controls whether background pixels in an image are transparent or opaque 52

TRAYSETTINGS TREESTAT TRIM U UCS UCSICON UCSMAN ULAYERS UNDEFINE UNDO UNION 'UNITS UPDATEFIELD UPDATETHUMBSNOW VBAIDE VBALOAD VBAMAN VBARUN VBASTMT VBAUNLOAD 'VIEW VIEWGO VIEWPLAY VIEWPLOTDETAILS VIEWRES VISUALSTYLES VISUALSTYLESCLOSE VLISP VPCLIP VPLAYER VPMAX VPMIN VPOINT VPORTS VSCURRENT VSLIDE VSSAVE VTOPTIONS WALKFLYSETTINGS WBLOCK WEBLIGHT WEDGE WHOHAS WIPEOUT WMFIN

Controls the display of icons and notifications in the status bar tray Displays information about the drawing's current spatial index Trims objects at a cutting edge defined by other objects Reverses the most recent operation Manages user coordinate system Controls the visibility and placement of the UCS icon Manages defined user coordinate systems Controls the display of layers in a DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN underlay Allows an applicationdefined command to override an internal command. Reverses the effect of commands Combines selected regions or solids by addition Controls coordinate and angle display formats and determines precision Manually updates fields in selected objects in the drawing Manually updates thumbnail previews for sheets, sheet views, and model space views in the Sheet Set Manager Displays the Visual Basic Editor Loads a global VBA project into the current AutoCAD session Loads, unloads, saves, creates, embeds, and extracts VBA projects Runs a VBA macro Executes a VBA statement on the AutoCAD command line Unloads a global VBA project Saves and restores named views, camera views, layout views, and preset views Restores a named view Plays the animation associated to a named view Displays information about completed plot and publish jobs Sets the resolution for objects in the current viewport Creates and modifies visual styles and applies a visual style to a viewport Closes the Visual Styles Manager Displays the Visual LISP interactive development environment (IDE) Clips viewport objects and reshapes the viewport border Sets layer visibility within viewports Expands the current layout viewport for editing Restores the current layout viewport Sets the viewing direction for a threedimensional visualisation of the drawing Creates multiple viewports in model space or paper space Sets the visual style in the current viewport Displays an image slide file in the current viewport Saves a visual style Displays a change in view as a smooth transition Specifies walk and fly settings Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file. Creates a web light Creates a five-sided 3D solid with a sloped face tapering along the X axis Displays ownership information for opened drawing files Covers existing objects with a blank area Imports a Windows Metafile 53

WMFOPTS WMFOUT WORKSPACE WSSAVE WSSETTINGS XATTACH XBIND XCLIP XEDGES XLINE XOPEN XPLODE XREF 'ZOOM

Sets options for WMFIN Saves objects to a Windows Metafile Creates, modifies, and saves workspaces and makes a workspace current Saves a workspace Sets options for workspaces Attaches an external reference to the current drawing Binds one or more definitions of named objects in an xref to the current drawing Defines an xref or block clipping boundary and sets the back and front clipping planes Creates wireframe geometry by extracting edges from a 3D solid or surface Creates an infinite line Opens a selected drawing reference (xref) in a new window Breaks a compound object into its component objects Starts the EXTERNALREFERENCES command Increases or decreases the apparent size of objects in the current viewport

Object Selection
Option
Group Multiple Single

Meaning
Selects all objects within a specified group. Allows selection of multiple objects using a single search of the drawing. The search is not performed until you give a null response to the Select objects: prompt. Sets single selection mode. As soon as one object (or one group of objects via Window | Crossing box) is selected, the selectionset is considered complete and the editing command uses it without further user interaction. Selects all objects that lie entirely within a window. Selects objects that lie entirely within a polygonshaped selection area Selects all objects that lie within or cross a window. Selects all objects that lie within and crossing a polygonshaped selection area Selects all objects that cross a selection fence line. Prompts for two points. If the second point is to the right of the first point, selects all objects inside box (like Window). Otherwise, selects all objects within or crossing the box (like Crossing). Accepts a point, which can select an object using the small pick box. If the point you pick is in an empty area, it is taken as the first corner of a Box (see above). Selects all entities in the drawing except entities on frozen or locked layers Selects the most recently drawn object that is currently visible. Selects the previous selectionset. Allows you to select original individual forms that are part of composite solids or vertices, edges, and faces on 3D solids. You can select one of these subobjects, or create a selection set of more than one subobject. Your selection set can include more than one type of subobject. Ends the ability to select subobjects. Allows you to use object selection methods Establishes Add mode to add following objects to the selectionset. Sets Remove mode to remove following objects from the selectionset. 54

Window WPolygon Crossing CPolygon Fence BOX Auto ALL Last Previous Subobject

Object Add Remove

Undo

Undoes (removes objects last added)

Further Information
The User Guide and Command references are both available online. There may be old Reference Manuals available from the main University Libraries but, since these will be for a much older version of AutoCAD, there may be some differences in the way commands operate from the description in the manuals. For local information on AutoCAD 2010, please see: http://csd.liv.ac.uk/software/SoftwareDetails.aspx?ID=65 The following training manual is available from the CSD Documentation pages at http://dbwebtest.liv.ac.uk/faqs/documents/default.asp Document 376 AutoCAD 3D for Windows Please see the CSD web pages for help on printing.

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