Summary: AutoCAD 2004 Bible by Ellen Finkelstein

AutoCAD places an underscore (_) before each command. This mark allows translation to foreign languages and can be ignored. To repeat a command you have ust used is to press !nter at the Command: prompt. "ou can also press the #pacebar at the Command: prompt to repeat a command you ust used. This techni$ue works well if you want to keep one hand on the mouse and use the other hand to press the #pacebar Type multiple . At the Enter command name to repeat: prompt% type the command name on the command line. The command automatically reappears on the command line until you press the !sc key. &f you undo a command% you might reali'e that you want to undo the undo. This is called redoing a command. The OOPS command restores the most recently erased ob ect or set of ob ects% even if you have used other commands in the meantime. (any commands can be used transparently i.e.% they can be entered on the command line while you use another command. These are called ransparent Commands. After a transparent command is completed% the original command continues its regular operation. )hen you start transparent commands from toolbars or menus% they are automatically transparent. &f you want to type a transparent command on the command line% you need to type an apostrophe before the command name. The prompt for the transparent command is preceded by **. zoom is a transparent command. "ou must type in coordinates without any spaces because AutoCAD interprets a space as e$uivalent to pressing !nter and ends your input. +se a hyphen between whole and partial inches , for e-ample% ./012304. ("ou can omit the 4 after the inches because AutoCAD assumes inches in engineering and architectural units if no symbol follows a number.) 5owever% this appears on the status bar as ./10 2304. This can be confusing because AutoCAD places the hyphen in a different place and uses a space between the whole and partial inches. "ou can specify feet by using an apostrophe (also called a prime) after any number. Absolute Coordinates: These coordinates specify the distance from origin. !elati"e Coordinates: This system of typing coordinates allows us to enter points in relation to the first point we have already entered. 6elative coordinates specify the 7 and " distance from a previous point. Polar Coordinates: This system of typing coordinates allows you to draw a line a certain distance at a particular angle. 8olar coordinates take the form distance<angle. "ou can also type 9 at the first prompt of any drawing command to indicate the most recent coordinate specified.

Dire#t Distan#e Entry: Direct Distance !ntry is a shortcut for entering coordinates. Direct Distance entry enables you to draw an ob ect% such as a line% by pointing in a particular direction with the cursor and entering a distance at the command line. F$ Ort%ogonal &ode: &n orthogonal mode or :6T5: mode in short you can only draw orthogonal lines with the mouse. "ou cannot have polar tracking on at the same time that ortho mode is on. F'0 Polar ra#king: 8olar Tracking guides you% using a tooltip and vector line% to draw at an angle other than the four orthogonal angles. 8olar tracking restricts the cursor. Polar O"erride over1rides the current polar angles in effect. )e use this feature by typing the angle preceded by the angle symbol (;). AutoCAD then locks the ne-t segment to that angle while we type its length. A polar angle specified in this way is called a polar override angle. AutoCAD has three coordinate display modes< '( Dynami# Absolute Coordinates )absolute*: Absolute coordinates that change as you move the mouse. 2( Stati# absolute #oordinates )o++*: Absolute coordinates that change only when you specify a point. The coordinate display is dimmed. ,( Dynami# polar #oordinates )relati"e*: 8olar coordinates that change continuously as you move the mouse. They appear after you have already specified a point and are ready to specify a new point. "ou can change the coordinate display in three ways< 8ress the F- key% Cli#k the coordinates area on the status bar% or 8ress Ctrl.D. F/ S0AP Command restricts the cursor to an incremental distance that you choose% such as =.> units. AutoCAD 0==? provides two types of snap settings , grid snap and polar snap. 1 1 @rid #nap< )hen you snap to a grid% the mouse cursor can only move to the snap grid points. 8olar #nap< )hen you snap at polar angles% the polar tooltip only shows distances in increments of the snap setting.

F1 2rid is an invisible grid of dots. @rid helps you visuali'e the snap points. Ob3e#t Snaps: The ob ect snaps feature enables you to specify a point by snapping to a geometrically defined point on an e-isting ob ect. :b ect #nap shortcut menu< #hiftA6ight Click -(arker< An ob ect snap shape appears. !ach ob ect snap has a differently shaped marker. -Auto#nap tooltip< A label that displays the name of the ob ect snap. -(agnet< A pull that gently moves the cursor toward the geometric point. F, Ob3e#t Snap &ode: :b ect #nap (ode allows you to keep running one or more ob ect snaps until you turn them off. &f you canBt find the ob ect snap you want because you have several ob ect snaps near each other% press the Tab key to cycle through the ob ect snaps% one by one% until you find the one that you want. !ven if you have running ob ect snaps% if you specify an ob ect snap during a command% it overrides the running ob ect snap. Cor e-ample% having a running end1point

ob ect snap does not mean you cannot use a midpoint ob ect snap for any specific drawing command. AutoCAD offers three techni$ues that enable you to locate points that are not on ob ects< :b ect #nap Tracking% 8oint Cilters% and the Crom feature. F'' Ob3e#t Snap ra#king: This feature allows you to specify a point based on the ob ect snaps of e-isting ob ects. Temporary tracking lines are drawn from points you specify% and you can use polar snap or direct distance entry to easily specify new points. To start using ob ect snap tracking% at least one ob ect snap must be active. Point Filters: 8oint filters enable you to specify a coordinate using the 7 coordinate of one e-isting ob ect snap and the " coordinate of another. "ou construct an 7%" coordinate based on coordinates of e-isting ob ects. 8oint filters are often used in .D drawings where ob ect snap tracking doesnBt work. From Feature: The Crom feature enables you to create a new ob ect starting at a known distance and direction from an e-isting ob ect. +se Crom when no ob ect snaps are available to help you determine a new point. 4nits: The coordinates you use in AutoCAD are measured in units that can represent any real1world measurement% such as inches or millimeters. AutoCAD offers five types of units< Decimal% !ngineering% Architectural% Cractional and #cientific. Dra5ing 6imits: The drawing limits are the outer edges of the drawing% specified in 7%" units. "ou need to set only the width and length of the drawing. Together% these two measurements create an invisible bounding rectangle for your drawing. The +pper right corner defines the drawing si'e. The D::( command with the All option also uses the drawing limits to resi'e the display. CormatDrawing Eimits

!e#tangle: 6!CTAF@ command creates a rectangle by specifying the two diagonal corners. After you specify the first corner% you can specify the length and the width of the rectangle instead of the second corner using Dimensions option after selecting first corner point. After you set the dimensions% they remain as defaults for future rectangles that you draw. Polygon: 8:E"@:F command enables you to draw multisided closed figures with e$ual side lengths. Three methods of defining the polygon are< Edge: #pecify the two endpoints of any edge of the polygon% Inscribed in circle: #pecify the radius from the center to a verte-% Circumscribed about circle: #pecify the radius from the center to the midpoint of a side. The 8:E"@:F and 6!CTAF@ commands create polylines% meaning that the entire polygon or a rectangle is one ob ect% rather than a series of line segments. 7lines also known as construction lines e-tend infinitely in both directions. !ays are similar to construction lines% e-cept that they start at a specific point and e-tend to infinity in one direction only. Cir#le: AutoCAD provides five ways to draw a circle.