FBE AutoCAD Page
Stephen Peter, S.Peter@unsw.edu.au
oCAD
n the AutoCAD icon in the "icon tray" at the
5/98/NT) screen. Note that these instructions
are specific to the FBE.
terfaces being considered totally archaic the
CAD is absolutely vital! One of the key things
o" in these tutorials is to watch the command
ke a conversation and AutoCAD's half of the
n comes from the text in the command area...
This tutorial has been prepared for architecture students at the Faculty of
the Built Environment studying AutoCAD. It has been placed on the Web to
facilitate access by those students and because I believe others may find the
In this first tutorial you will learn how to start AutoCAD, save a drawing, and a range of
commands.
Start AutoCAD by clicking on the Windows Start button (bottom left), then move the mo
then CAD and Modelling then "AutoCAD Architectural Desktop 2" and click on AutoC
Desktop 2. A dialog giving various startup options will be displayed. Select the second o
Scratch" and click OK.
Once AutoCAD has loaded, move the mouse around until you see a crosshair cursor. The
has a number of important features:
1. The standard Windows drop-down menus.
2. The standard Windows toolbar below the menus, it includes: File-New, File-Open
"Find and Replace"(!!).
3. In addition to the standard toolbar there will be a number of AutoCAD specific to
Properties, Draw and Modify (there may be others...?).
4. The graphics area - that's the area where you draw - note the scroll bars and the ax
5. View Tabs - these 'tabs' give access to different view of the current drawing. The "
selected at present.
6. The command area - this small window (by default) has space for three lines of te
type commands.
7. The status area, at the bottom of the AutoCAD window, this includes the current c
FBE AutoCAD Page
Stephen Peter, S.Peter@unsw.edu.au
 material of use!

Note that throughout this document I am using the character " " to
symbolise the [Enter] and [spacebar] keys.

Stephen Peter, 17 July 2000 (8 October 1998).

Introduction

The drawing used for this tutorial
comes from Clark R. and M.Pause,
"Precedents in Architecture", VNR
1985, page 135.
In this tutorial you will learn how to edit graphics(!) and
about setting model space limits. You will draw a simple plan
based on Frank Lloyd Wright's 1956 (New York)
Guggenheim Museum.
Please note that the dimensions used in this tutorial are
neither accurate nor correct! I don't have access to an
accurately dimensioned drawing of the building so I've
guessed the dimensions...

Starting AutoCAD

Start AutoCAD, and then move the cursor to the bottom left
On my computer, the bottom-left of the screen, you will note the coordinates (on the status
coordinate was 0,0,0 and the top- line) go down to near 0,0. In the version I am using the
right coordinate was 514,296,0. drawing limits are set to the size (in millimetres) of an A3
sheet of paper (420,297).

Setting the Limits and Units

It is normal when using AutoCAD to draw objects full size,

so it's usually necessary to reset the drawing limits to (about)
the size of the object being drawn (or in the case of a
building the building's site). Type:
Alternatively, select Format - limits
Drawing Limits and then type the 0,0 This sets the drawing "size" to 50x50
numbers shown. 50000,50000 metres.

Next we need to get rid of the 4 decimal points! Select

"Format - Units...", AutoCAD will display the "Drawing
Units" dialog. Make sure Decimal is selected in the Units
If the coordinates in the status area section and Decimal Degrees in the Angles section, then in
didn't change to no decimal places, Unit's Precision, click on the down arrow beside "0.0000"
move the mouse! and select "0", and finally select "OK".
 Zoom All
Zoom Window
Z is the alias (shortcut) for ZOOM.
Remember that [space] is the
same as .
Let the Drawing Begin!!
This shows us the "drawing area".
Circle
"C" is the alias for CIRCLE.
Centre snap Next you will draw another circle, with the same centre, but
with a 9500 radius. Press: to "recall" the last command.
To get AutoCAD to display the
Object Snap Modes toolbar, select
Select the centre snap mode (or type: CEN ), then pick the
"Toolbars" from the "View" menu first circle (NOT the centre of the circle), then type:
and then select "Object Snap".
Draw the Building "Wing"
Hopefully you remember how!!
Hint: use a relative coordinate
@1500,9500.
You might find the following section
easier if you turn object snapping
ON (make sure "OSNAP" is IN in
the status area).
Endpoint Snap
Midpoint Snap
This sets the "model space" dimensions. To reset the drawing
view to the whole of the (empty) drawing, select the zoom-all
icon, which is hiding under the zoom-window icon (on the
standard toolbar) - hold the button down and then rest of the
zoom toolbar is displayed (or type: Z [space] A [space] ).
Move the cursor around now and note that the coordinates
are now bigger numbers!
Firstly draw a rectangle from 0,0 to 50000,50000, you should
remember how to do that from the first tutorial!
Then draw a circle, centred at 30000,24000 with a 6000
radius. Select circle (or type: C ), then type:
30000,24000 the circle centre
6000 the circle
radius
9500 the circle
radius
Next draw a rectangle from the centre of the circles to
39500,33500.
Once you have done that draw another rectangle to the right
of the last, start at 39500,24000 and make the rectangle
1500x9500.
Now you will draw an arc on the end of the last rectangle
(see figure 1). Select Draw - Arc - Start-Center-End, then
select the Endpoint snap mode (or type: END ) and select the
bottom-right of the last rectangle. For the centre point of the
Arc, select the Midpoint Snap Mode (or type: MID ) and
select the middle of the right edge of the last rectangle. For
the end of the Arc, select the Endpoint Snap Mode and select
the top-right of the rectangle.
Figure 1 Showing the location of the ARC.
Save the drawing
Save
Copy & Rotate the Building Wing
Now we want to copy & rotate the two rectangles and the arc
(3 times), AutoCAD provides the array command to achieve
The array command is used to copy this.
one or more objects in either a
rectangular or circular pattern and
when a circular pattern is used the
objects can be rotated; it can be an
incredibly powerful command.
Centre snap
After selecting the Centre snap
mode, pick the circle NOT the
centre!
Exploding Objects!
For convenience, in the following
section, I'll talk of the "top-right
wing" and the "bottom- right wing".
By the "top-right wing" I mean the
first rectangles and arc that you
drew, and the "bottom-right wing"
is the rectangles and arc in the
bottom-right corner!!
Explode
Be aware that explode does not
appear to do anything! It doesn't
say - "yes, I've done that" and the
display doesn't change, but
Save the drawing: select the save icon (or type: QSAVE ), if
you are prompted for a drawing name, select the appropriate
Drive and Directory and type a drawing name (for example:
TUT2) and select "OK".
Select Modify - Array, AutoCAD will prompt for the objects
to be selected: click below and to the left of the bottom-left
corner of the left rectangle and then move the mouse until
the selection rectangle encloses the two rectangles and the
arc - then click the mouse button (3 objects should be
selected). Then press to end the selection process.
AutoCAD will then prompt for the type of Arrary -
rectangular or polar, type: P for polar. Then use the Centre
snap mode to select the centre of the circles. Then type:
4 the number of items (including the exisiting
item)
accept 360 degrees
accept "rotate as copied"
Figure 2 Drawing with all four building "wings" in
place.
Now we need to erase some of the lines we've drawn. When
the rectangle command is used the rectangle that is drawn is
a "polyline" which means that all the lines that make up the
object are joined together, the lines must be "exploded"
before any parts of the rectangle can be erased.
Select explode from the modify toolbar (or type X which is
the alias for "explode") select both the rectangles in the "top-
right corner" and then press . If AutoCAD doesn't display
any error messages then the explode command worked!
 AutoCAD will dispaly an error
message if it failed to explode the
objects.

Erasing Objects

We need to delete some extraneous lines from the drawing...

Erase Select erase from the modify toolbar (or type: E ). Click on
the right edge of the inner rectangle (from the "top-right"
corner), and press . AutoCAD should automatically redraw
the area around the erased line.
An alternate way to delete is to click on the object to be
Now we erase the other line there! deleted and then press the keyboard's "Delete" key. Click on
the line in the same place and press "Delete".
To test your understanding: explode the two rectangles in the
"bottom-right wing" and the erase all the "inner" lines (see
figure 3).

Figure 3 Lines to be erased.

Stretching Your Wings

Now you need to stretch the "bottom-left wing" and then

remove the inner lines.
Stretch Select stretch (or type: S which is the alias for stretch). Type
The "C" tells AutoCAD that you C and then draw a selection window around the arc and
want a "crossing" window. The
normal selection window selects
through the small rectangle (see figure 4), press to terminate
only those objects wholly within the the selection process, click with left mouse button near the
section window. A crossing selected objects, and type: @-10000,0 (this is the "stretch
selection window selects objects distance"). If that worked the building wing should stretch 10
that are wholly or partly within the metres (to the left).
selection window.

A useful short-cut to know is that if

you draw a selection rectangle left-
to-right (in the positive X direction)
AutoCAD interprets it as a
"window" selection; but if you draw Figure 4 Stretch selection rectangle.
the selection rectangle right-to-left
AutoCAD interprets it as a
"crossing" selection.
[Tip thanks to Jack Barton]

Explode both the rectangles in the "bottom-left wing" and

erase the vertical lines, except the line from the centre of the

One Last Circle...
Circle
Centre snap
It's always worth saving your work
regularly!
More Explosions and Deletions....
Explode
AutoCAD should display a message
saying that some objects could not
be exploded - ignore the message -
it's simply saying that some of the
rectangles have already been
exploded.
Erase
Changing Line Types
circles.
The last object to add is a circle inside the arc of the "bottom-
left wing". Select circle (or type: C ). Select the Center snap
mode (or type: CEN ) and click on the arc; then type 3600
(the circle's radius).
Select save (or press Ctrl-S).
The drawing is basically complete, all that needs to be done
is to change some of the line-types!
Select: explode from the modify toolbar (or type X ), select
all the rectangles at the centre of the original circles (use a
crossing selection window), and then press .
There are 8 lines going to the centre (4 are "covered" by the
others). You need to erase 4 of them, select erase from the
modify toolbar (or type: E ), then click on each of the four
lines and finally press .
You should now be able to see the lines that were under the
lines you erased!
Before changing some of the lines to dashed lines, we need
to load the linetype(!). Select Format - Linetype..., then
select "Load...". AutoCAD will display a list of linetypes,
select "Hidden" (you will need to scroll through the list!),
then select "OK", then select "OK" again to dismiss the
"Select Linetype" dialog box.
Select the 4 lines going to the circle centre and the arcs in the
"top- left" and "top-right" wings (see figure 5), then select
Modify - Properties..., A dialog with the properties of the
selected objects is displayed. Change the Linetype to
HIDDEN and the Linetype Scale to 75 and dismiss the
dialog.
The objects should be redrawn using dashed lines (see figure
5).
The End!
FBE AutoCAD Page
Last Update : 17 July 2000
Major Revision : 17 July 2000
SEARCH . FBE SITEMAP
Figure 1
Command Entry
Not all commands are on the Menus
and/or toolbars!
This means : type the text (qsave)
and then press the Enter key (or the
space-bar).
This means : click on the 'File'
menu and then 'Save' (which should
be one of the items on the 'File'
menu).
AutoCAD also supports common
shortcuts like Ctrl-S for Save!!
Here I'm trying to cover all the
bases by giving you the command to
type, the menu options and showing
you what the toolbar icon looks
like!
That's all for tutorial two!
Save your drawing and then exit AutoCAD.
Remember to log off before leaving.
Tutorial 3
Disclaimer . Webmasters
Page Contact : Stephen Peter
Email : s.peter@unsw.edu.au
AutoCAD R14 screen.
Typically there are three ways of giving a command!
1. Type the command using the keyboard - the
command is displayed in the command area.
2. Select the command from a menu.
3. Select the command's icon from a toolbar.
When I want you to type a command in the command area
the AutoCAD command will be written like:
type: QSAVE
When I want you to select a command from a menu, it will
look like:
select File - Save
When I want you to pick a command from a toolbar, I'll
write:
select Save
Despite all of the above, I'll probably use a combination of
the above like:
select File - Save (or type QSAVE )
Draw a Rectangle

Select Rectangle (or type rectang ), then type:

The text typed is displayed in the 15,15
command area at the bottom of
AutoCAD's window. 415,315 these are absolute cartesian coordinates

Hopefully AutoCAD drew a rectangle, which fits

comfortably in the AutoCAD graphics area!? If you can't see
the rectanlge, type z [space] a [space] (zoom all) - this
instructs AutoCAD to redraw the view, "zooming out" to
show all the graphics on the drawing.

Saving a Drawing

Select the Save icon from the standard toolbar. The drawing
Note that if you type SAVE , you has not been saved before, so AutoCAD will display the
actually get "Save As"!! SAVE AS dialog box, select the appropriate Drive and
The quickest way to save is to press Directory (for example: S:\arch\u1234567), type the
Ctrl-S - this is the same as "qsave". drawing name (for example TUT1), and then select "OK".

Draw some Lines

Instead of LINE, you can also type:
L this is an "alias" - which is a
short-cut.
The exact positions of these lines is
not important.
Remember this! If you press after
you finish a command, the
command is re-issued.
We will now draw some more graphics and then save and
exit AutoCAD.
Type LINE
Move the crosshair to near the bottom-left of the rectangle
and click the left mouse button, then move the crosshair to
the top-right of the rectangle and again click the left mouse
button.
Press to terminate the command, and then press again to re-
start the command!

Draw a line from the top-left to the bottom-right of the

rectangle, and then press to end the command.
This will save the drawing and exit Now type:
AutoCAD - don't PANIC! QUIT

You will be prompted to save the changes you've made -

click OK.

Starting AutoCAD with an Existing Drawing

 Please note that this To load a drawing, either click on the "Your Account" icon or
icon is specific to the start Windows Explorer and select the appropriate Drive and
FBE's Labs at UNSW.
Directory. Once Explorer is showing the correct directory
then double-click on your drawing.
If you can't find your drawing (in Windows Explorer) then
press F5 (function key 5), this tells Explorer to update the
directory display; if you still can't find your drawing then
perhaps you saved the drawing in some other directory - load
AutoCAD and then select the File menu, at the bottom of the
File menu is a list of recently opened drawings, select your
drawing from the list.

Coordinate Systems

When specifying positions you can use Cartesian or Polar

Coordinates. Cartesian coordinates are simply a X value, a
AutoCAD is a three dimensional comma, and a Y value, for example: 100,100. Polar
CAD system, so you can enter XYZ
values instead of the XY values coordinates are a Distance followed by a < symbol and an
shown here. angle, for example: 10<25. Angles are measured in degrees,
with 0 = East and 90 = North. Any of these numbers can have
decimal values.
The positions specified above are "absolute coordinates",
because they specify a particular position. AutoCAD can also
Consider relative coordinates
simply as distances!
use "relative coordinates" to specify a position relative to
the current position, for example: @5.6,-3.4 and
@16.32<62.

Draw a "Diamond"

The "polyline" used below is used to create a sequence of

joined line segments, which become one object. Using the
This should draw a "diamond" (a "line" command each line segment is a separate object.
rotated rectangle) shape.
Select Polyline (or type: pline ) and then type:
215,15
absolute cartesian
If you make a mistake, you can coordinate
undo the last line segment by
typing: u .
relative polar coordinate
@212<45 @212<135
"c" means "close" the shape. @212<225 c

Snap Modes
 A simple way to turn Object Snap
ON or OFF, is to click on "OSNAP"
in the status Area. To see the
various snap options "right-click"
on "OSNAP" (in the status area)
and select "Settings...".
To get AutoCAD to display the
Object Snap Modes toolbar, select
"Toolbars" from the "View" menu
and then select "Object Snap".
It is often useful to be able to draw something from (for
example) the end of another shape. AutoCAD has a large
selection of "snap modes" for this purpose. The most
commonly used snap modes are "Endpoint" (which snaps to
the end of the selected graphics entity) and "Intersection"
(which snaps to the intersection of two graphics entities).
The object snap modes can either be typed or they can be
selected from the standard toolbar or from the snap toolbar:

To display the "Drafting

Settings" dialog, click
on the "horse-shoe"
shaped icon on the end
of the Object Snap
Toolbar.

Draw an Arc

Select Arc (or type ARC ), then select the midpoint snap
mode (or type: MID ) and select the left side of the bottom of
the "diamond" polyline you drew before. Then use the
midpoint snap to enter points on the right side at the bottom
and then the top of the polyline (see figure 2).

Figure 2 Arc construction.

Finally...
Draw the rectangle by selecting Lastly, I want you to draw a rectangle in the diamond shape,
from the draw toolbar (or type another diamond inside that rectangle, a circle inside that
rectang )
diamond and a horizontal and vertical line also inside the last
diamond (see figure 3)! Each shape should touch the
Midpoints of the previous shape...
Alternatively select the circle icon HINT: To draw the circle, select Draw - Circle - 2 Points and
and then type 2p then pick the then (using midpoint snap) pick opposite sides of the inner
points. diamond.

If you use the MIDpoint Snap Mode

for each point(!), you should be Figure 3 Finished Tutorial 1 drawing.
able to draw the shapes without
much trouble.

If you make a mistake, press "Esc"

(the "escape" key, located at the
 top-left of the keyboard). Then type
U (the undo comand).

Finishing up

That's all for tutorial one! Save your drawing (press Ctrl-S)
and then exit AutoCAD (select File - Exit).

Remember to log off before leaving.

FBE AutoCAD Page Tutorial 2

ate : 17 July 2000 Disclaimer . We

vision : 17 July 2000 Page Contact : Step
. FBE SITEMAP Email : s.peter@uns

FBE AutoCAD Page

Stephen Peter, S.Peter@unsw.edu.au

This tutorial has been prepared for students at the Faculty of the Built
Environment learning AutoCAD. It has been placed on the Web to facilitate
access by those students and because I believe others may find the material
of use!

Note that throughout this document I am using the character " " to
symbolise the [Enter] and [spacebar] keys.

Stephen Peter, 22 July 2000 (12 March 1999).

Introduction

In this tutorial you will draw a plan of Brunelleschi's Church

This church has been selected
because it is very symmetrical.
Whenever you are drawing
anything, look carefully for
symmetry and repetition, because
CAD systems excel at those things.
Please note that the dimensions
used in this tutorial are neither
of San Maria Degli Angeli (Florence, Italy, 1434-1436), from
Clark and Pause's "Precedents in Architecture", page 28;
have a look at figure 20 at the end of the tutorial. You will
note that the church has eight "bays" and that each bay is
itself symmetrical. You will draw half of one bay and then
mirror that half to create a whole bay and then copy that to
complete the plan...
This tutorial introduces a number of AutoCAD construction

accurate nor correct! I don't have
access to an accurately
dimensioned drawing of the
building so I've guessed the
dimensions...
Setting Limits and Units
The coordinates used make the
centre of the drawing 0,0 which
makes it easy to copy the church
"bay" around.
Zoom All
Don't forget to do this . . .
Layers
commands:
 offset, and
 mirror,
and a number of AutoCAD editing commands:
 fillet,
 trim,
 break, and
 extend.
In case all that isn't enough for you, you will also learn about
layers, hatching, and grip editing.
You will draw the building in a 50x50m space, but this time,
the limits will centre on 0,0! If these seem like particularly
perverse drawing limits, it's because they ARE! I'm making
sure that you are aware that the limits do not need to start at
0,0. Type:
limits
-25000,-25000
25000,25000
Like in the previous tutorial, we need to get rid of the 4
decimal points: select Format - Units, AutoCAD will
display the "Drawing Units" dialog. Make sure Decimal is
selected in the Units section and Decimal Degrees in the
Angles section, then in Unit's Precision, click on the down
arrow beside "0.0000" and select "0", and finally select
"OK". Alternatively, type UNITS and then follow the
prompts.
To reset the drawing view to the whole of the drawing, select
zoom-all from the standard toolbar (or type: Z [space] A
[space])
Now that you've "zoomed out", draw a rectangle using the
coordinates from the drawing limits (this will provide a
border for the drawing)!
If the Axis label (which is called the "UCS icon") is
distracting - I certainly find it so - you can hide it by
selecting View - Display - UCS Icon - On.

Layers icon
The current layer is the layer to
which new graphics is added. The
properties command (which was
introduced in the previous tutorial)
cann be used to change a graphics
object's layer (or linetype or
colour).
Draw "Construction" Lines
Line icon
Zoom Window
Offset
The offset command makes it easy
to set up a series of grid line or
(drawing) construction lines.
Most CAD systems have some kind of overlay concept.
AutoCAD uses layers. Layers are used to separate and
structure drawings; layers can be turned on and off (for
example to vary the amount of detail in a drawing), and can
have linetypes associated with them....
Figure 1 The Layer status area (Object Properties toolbar).
When using AutoCAD, the graphics appears on the current
layer, so be careful that the current layer is correct. Look near
the top-left of the screen: the current layer and it's colour is
displayed there (see figure 1).
Select the Layers icon or select Format - Layers...,
AutoCAD will display the "Layer Properties Manager"
dialog. Click on the "New" button and then type CONST (to
change the default "layer1" name to something more
meaningful), then click on the "Current" button to make this
the current layer.
Change the colour and then "OK" the dialog box.
Draw a line from the centre of the building: select then line
icon (or type L ), and then type:
0,0
0,-17500
@3000,0
terminate the
command
Before continuing, you should "zoom in" to the lines, select
zoom-window (or type Z W ), enclose the lines in the
selection rectangle.
Select offset from the Modify toolbar (or type [the letter 'o']
O ), and then type:
250 the offset distance
select the short horizontal line
pick a spot anywhere above the line
select the new line
pick a spot anywhere above it
terminate the

Revisiting Polar Array
Array AR ), then select the lines just drawn by picking
(under the offset icon) a spot below and to the right of the "corner"
Editing
Fillet icon
(be careful because it looks like
chamfer).
The Fillet command is
exceptionally useful. It basically
extends two lines until they meet,
and optionally, inserts a curve
where the lines join.
Trim icon
When picking lines to be trimmed,
the part of the line that you select is
command
This should produce one vertical and three horizontal lines.
Now you will use polar array to copy and rotate some lines.
Select array from the modify toolbar (or type
and then another spot above and to the left or
the "corner" - make sure the selection rectangle Figure 2
crosses the three horizontal lines (and the The lines after
vertical line). Press to end the selection using Array.
process, type P (to specify a polar array), type
0,0 (for the centre of the rotation), 2 (number
of items), 22.5 (angle), Y (rotate the objects).
The lines at the bottom represent the outside of the building.
To connect these lines select the fillet icon (or type F ), look
at the command line area - if the current fillet radius is NOT
0 (zero) - then type R 0 (that's a zero).
If you had to change the
radius, press type to restart
the command.
Select the outer of the three
sloping lines, and then select Figure 3 Fillet.
the bottom horizontal line.
AutoCAD will extend the
two lines until they connect
to each other.
Next, you will trim the sloping line back to the line from the
centre.
The trim command is another command that you use very
often. The first point you specify selects the "cutting edge",
that is, the line to which you are trimming back to. While
succeeding selections identify lines to be trimmed.
Select the trim icon from the
Modify toolbar (or type TR ), for Figure 4 Points to be
selected for the
 important. In the example in figure
3, if you pick to the left of the first
line selected (rather than to the
right of it), then the line will be
trimmed from the fillet point to the
boundary line. In other words,
you'll undo the fillet you just did!
Draw the Floor Pattern
Layers
This line uses absolute & relative
coords. (Figure 6 shows the
finished floor pattern.)
Offset icon
Remember that you can restart the Offset this line 625 down! If that worked, you should have
last command by pressing two pairs of lines. These lines will form the octagonal pattern
This is basically trying to teach you in the centre of the building. Continue offsetting the "last"
to watch (and interract with) the line, using the following offsets:
prompts that AutoCAD displays in
the command area.
Trim icon
I'm introducing the "fence" option
because it makes it very easy to trim
a whole series of lines by simply
drawing a line that crosses them.
The fence line works like the
"crossing window" selection in that
the objects that the line crosses are
selected.
the "cutting edge" select a spot near
"first point" on Figure 4, press (to
end the selection process), select
Trim
the line to be trimmed ("second
point"); and press (to end the
command).
Repeat the fillet and trim process for the other two inner
lines!
Before you draw the floor pattern, you'll create a new layer,
select the layers icon (or type LA ), create a new layer called
FLOOR, and make it the current layer.
To draw the horizontal lines of the floor pattern, select line
(or type L ), and type 0,-6500 @5000,0 and press again
(to end the command). This line will be trimmed later....
Select offset (or type OFFSET or just o ), type 625 (the
offset distance), select the line just drawn, click below the
line to indicate the direction of offset, and press again. Press
(to start another offset), type 1375 (offset distance), select
the last line created by the offset, click below the line to
offset down, and press again to end the command.
500, 750, 500, 4625, 500
That's most of the horizontal lines in the plan! Next, you will
now draw the rest of the floor pattern. Have a look at figure
16 which shows the completed bay.
Firstly, offset the vertical (centre) line
2000 to the right, and then select : trim Figure 5 Trim fence
line.
(or type TR ), pick the vertical line just
created press (end the selection process),
type F (this tells AutoCAD that you will
draw a fence line - see figure 5), draw a
fence line like that shown in the figure (it
must cross the four lines shown), after
you pick the second point of the fence

Alternatively, display the Object
Snap Toolbar. Select View -
Toolbars... check Object Snap (the
toolbar will be displayed) and then
click on close.
Erase icon
Save icon
Line icon
Endpoint snap mode icon
Midpoint snap mode icon
The arc should start and end just
"inside" the ends of the vertical
line.
Break icon
Break is an extremely useful
command that is used often in
editing operations.
An alternative way to choose a snap
mode is to hold the Ctrl key and
click the right mouse button(!) -
AutoCAD will display a pop-up
menu with the snap modes.
While we're talking about the
mouse ;-), right-clicking in
AutoCAD generally causes a
context sensitive popup menu to be
displayed (showing a selection of
the options available "at the
moment").
line, press twice (firstly to end the fence
line and secondly to end the command)!
The following section uses a number of snap modes. The
easiest way to work with snaps is to pre-set them and then let
AutoCAD dynamically show which snap it can use...
Right-click on "OSNAP" (in the status area at the bottom of
AutoCAD's window) and select "Settings...", then turn
"Endpoint" and "Midpoint" ON (by clicking on them). It
would probably be a good idea to turn OFF any of the other
snaps that are ON. Finally, make sure the "OSNAP" button is
IN.
Select erase from the Modify toolbar (or type E ), select the
vertical line used as the "trim guide", press (end the
command). Now is a good time to save the drawing, select
save (or press Ctrl-S), enter a drawing name if prompted (and
don't forget to change the drive & directory if necessary).
Now you will draw the line and arc for the floor pattern,
select line (or type L ) then, using the Endpoint snap mode
(which should automatically be set by moving the cross-hair
near the endpoint), select the right edge of the "bottom"
trimmed line and (again using the Endpoint snap mode)
select the right edge of the line above it, then press (end the
command).
Select Draw - Arc - Center-Start-End (do NOT pick the arc
icon) then, using the Midpoint snap mode select the middle
of the line just drawn, then type @0,-1800 @0,3600 . That
should have drawn an arc to the right of the vertical line.
Now you will use "break" to remove the part
of the line between the arc's endpoints. Select
break (or type BR ), select the vertical line,
type F (to specify that the next point will be
the "first" point of the break), then using the
Endpoint snap mode, select the bottom end of
Figure 6
the arc, and finally using the Endpoint snap
Lines trimmed
mode again, select the top end of the arc. and broken!
Now draw a line (using the Endpoint snap)
joining the two other trimmed lines (see figure
6). Then trim the remaining four horizontal
lines towards the top of the bay, back to the
right-hand edge.

Zoom Window icon
Polyine icon
Intersect snap mode icon
Zoom Dynamic
If you don't like the dynamic zoom
command, there's always the scroll
bars...
Move the zoom window (the cursor!) over the lower half of
"REGEN" can be abbreviated to the "bay" and press . If the arc has turned into a series of
"RE"... straight lines then type REGEN to re-generate the view.
The last floor pattern is at the top of the "bay". You will need
to enlarge the view of the centre to be able to see it clearly.
Select zoom-window (or type Z W ), enter the selection
window (so you can see at least the area shown in Firgure 7).
Select polyline (or type PL ), and then
type 0,-600 @1000,0 ), then using the
Endpoint snap mode, pick the right-
hand end of the top horizontal line
below, finally press to end the
command.
Now you will use a technique in
AutoCAD called "grip-editing". Click
on the lines just drawn (they'll become
Figure 7 Grip editing
"dashed"), then click on the "joint" positions.
point of the lines ("First Pick" in Figure
7), select then Intersect snap mode,
click on the position where the
horizontal line crosses the bay's right-
hand edge line ("Second Pick" in
Figure 7). AutoCAD should move the
selected vertex to the intersection
point!
Press the Escape key (ESC) twice to de-select the lines.
One of the most powerful of the zoom
options is zoom-dynamic, it allows for
zooming and panning at the same time.
Type Z D or select the command
from the zoom flyout (flydown?)
shown in figure 8.
AutoCAD should draw the whole Figure 8 Zoom Dynamic
drawing, a green (or purple) rectangle
showing the current view and the
cursor will turn into a rectangle with a
X cross at the centre. If you click with
the left mouse button you can resize the
zoom window's size (click again to fix
the new size).
Draw the Walls
Don't forget to offset the line at the
"top" of the arc (see figure 9)
Fillet icon
In selecting both these points, it's
important where you click on the
line! The first point should be in the
bottom-half of the line, while the
second point should be to the left of
the (projected) first line.
Save icon
Before drawing the walls, create a new layer called
"WALLS", and set the layer's colour to be something other
than white, and make it the current layer.
The wall is 700 outside the arc
floor pattern, so we will offset
that pattern. Offset the arc and
the vertical lines on either end (to
the right) by 700. Notice that the
new lines are in the floor layer,
you will need to change the lines
into the walls layer.
Figure 9 Change properties
selections.
Select the lines and arc just
created as well as the lines at the
bottom (see figure 9) - do this by
click first at about the bottom-
right of the selection rectangle in
figure 9 and then the top-left
point.
This should select everything except the line at the top, pick
it now. Having selected the objects, now they'll be changed to
the new layer. Go to the layers drop-down list and select
"WALLS" (the layer you just created). All the selected
objects will change to that layer! Press "Esc" (escape) twice
to de-select the objects.
Now you will join up the sections of
the wall line. Select fillet (or type F ),
select the bottom of the short vertical
line and then select the horizontal line Figure 10 Fillet points.
to the left of the vertical line (see
figure 10).
Now, use fillet on the lines shown in
figure 11. Note that the extact position
that you pick is not important, but, it is
important that you pick to the right (1st
point) and below (2nd point) the Figure 11 Second Fillet.
intersection, the part you pick (at this
stage of the fillet command) is the part
that AutoCAD will not remove!
That completes the bottom end of the bay. Have you saved

Offset icon
Fillet icon
Extend icon
It's necessary to pick to the right of
the middle of the line because
AutoCAD extends the nearest
endpoint to the "boundary edge".
Draw the Passage Between the Bays
Line icon
Center snap mode icon
Offset icon
your drawing recently?
Now use the scroll bars to move the view so that you can see
more of the lines at the "top" - you need to be able to see the
top of the arc you drew earlier (see figure 12).
Select offset (or type o [the letter 'o']), and then type 250 ,
pick the bottom (of the four lines that extend to the right
edge-line), pick a position below the line to indicate the
offset direction, press to end then command.
Now you will use fillet to clean up the
rest of the wall lines. Select fillet (or
type F ), pick the short vertical line
(see figure 12), and then pick the right-
hand end of the line just created. Figure 12 Third Fillet.
Restart the fillet command, pick the
outer arc to the right of the vertical,
and pick the vertical (at a point above
the arc).
Change the horizontal line ("2nd pick" in figure 12) into the
WALLS layer.
Lastly, you will extend the horizontal line to the right edge-
line. Select extend (or type EX ), pick the right edge-line (this
is the line you will extend to), press (end the selection
process), pick to the right of the middle on the horizontal
line, and finally press .
Use the scroll bars to bring the bottom into view.
To draw the passage-way we will firstly draw its centre line,
and then use offset to get the location of the walls.
Select line (or type L ), select the Center snap mode, pick one
of the arcs, type @3000,0 (to show the direction of the line),
press (to end the command).
Offset this line 500 above and below the line - so that you
end up with 3 lines, with the original in the middle.
Extend the bottom line the the right
edge-line! Figure 13 Bay Bottom!

Intersection snap mode icon
Perpendicular snap mode icon
Trim the bottom line to remove the
section to the left of the arc.
Break icon
Finishing the Walls!
These lines are needed because you
must close off areas before hatching
them.
Hatching
Save icon
Hatch icon
Select line (or type L ), select the
Intersection snap mode, pick the
intersection of the outer arc and the top-
most of the 3 lines; select the
Perpendicular snap mode, pick the right
edge-line (see Figure 13).
Erase the top two horizontal lines, and trim the bottom line
back to the outer arc.
Finally, use Break, to remove the arc between the remaing
two lines.
Before hatching the wall
areas(!) you will need to
close off the walls. Firstly,
Figure 14 Layers Drop-down list
you'll turn off the CONST
layer.
Click on the layer status area,
AutoCAD will display a list of the
layers and their status. The first
icon controls whether the layer is
"on" or "off". Click on this icon
beside CONST, the 'light' will go
Figure 15 Lines to close of
out! Then click on WALLS to hatch areas.
close the drop-list.
Now draw the lines identified in
Figure 15, you may need to use
zoom or the scroll bars to get all
the lines in the view.
Before hatching it's often a good idea to save your drawing
(select save or press Ctrl-S).
Create a new layer, called hatch, and make it current, and
then select hatch from the Draw toolbar, make sure the
pattern type is "Predefined", and set the patern to AR-SAND,
set the scale to 2, select "Pick Points", pick inside the two
areas, press to end the selection process, pick "OK".
AutoCAD should draw lots of dots, almost filling-in the wall
area.

Note that the hatch style we are
using may appear solid, but it is
not! Zooming in will show that
hatch is a "sand" pattern. To have
the hatch "solid" simply select the
SOLID style instead of "AR-
SAND"...
If your mouse has a scroll wheel
roll it and see what happens...
Mirror the Half Bay.
Mirror icon
Duplicate the Bay
Zoom All icon
Array icon
AutoCAD will copy the single bay
through 360 degrees, giving 8 bays!
Last Gasps....
Save the drawing
Remember that there is one hatch
object for each half bay...
Finally, you need to erase the three lines you added to close
the wall areas so you could hatch them (see figure 15). Use
the Layer Controls to turn the "HATCH" layer OFF first. If
you accidentally pick the wrong thing, type: R (remove) to
remove selections, and then type: A to restart adding
selections. Once you've erased the three lines, turn the
"HATCH" layer back ON.
That completes the basic half bay! Use zoom dynamic to
view the whole of the bay and then save your drawing!
To mirror the section completed,
select mirror from the modify
toolbar (or type MI ), enclose all the
graphics inside the selection
rectangle, press (to end the selection
process), type 0,0 (the centre of the
building will be the start of the Figure 16 Completed Bay.
mirror line), type @0,-1 (this
creates a vertical line as the mirror
line, this causes the graphics to be
mirrored to the left), type N (don't
delete the old objects).
Before continuing, select zoom-all (or type Z A ), so you
can see the whole drawing. Then select array (or type AR ),
use a selection rectangle to select the whole bay, press (end
selection process), type P (polar array), type 0,0 (rotation
centre), 8 (we want 8 bays!), (go all the way), Y (rotate as
you go).
That's basically it, except for the doors! There are a few other
details (such as a spiral stair) that we won't draw, but we will
draw the entry - this will give you some experience erasing
hatching...
Zoom in on the "eastern" bay (see
figure 17). If AutoCAD didn't Figure 17 Zoom Window.
draw the hatching type REGEN
 (regenerate is similar to redraw,
except that it forces AutoCAD to
carefully recalculate the screen
view, this means that curves
which might to drawn "roughly"
after a zoom are redrawn as
smooth curves). Erase the 4
hatching objects!
Line icon You will now draw the centreline of the doorway, select line
(or type L ), select the Endpoint snap mode and pick the
middle of the inner vertical wall line, then select the
Perpendicular snap mode and pick the outer vertical line of
the wall (the line to the right of the one just picked).
Next, offset the line 1250 "up" and "down" to make a 2500
wide doorway; and erase the centre-line.
You will now use trim to take the vertical
two lines back to the doorway line. This
is done because we want to hatch the
wall area again, so can't have any lines
"sticking out". Figure 18 Lines to be
Select trim (or type TR ), pick the trimmed.
Trim icon
doorway lines, press (end selections),
pick the vertical lines (see figure 18); and
press (end the command).
Draw the lines back(!), but as two
lines, instead of the four. We could
draw the door, but let's not bother!
Now you need to draw two lines to
It may be necessary to zoom out (or
close off the two hatch regions. If the
pan) before the hatching becomes
visible. hatching is not visible type REGEN . Figure 19 Lines to join.
Draw lines (using the Endpoint snap
mode) to close off the two hatch
sections (figure 19 shows one pair of
line ends).
Remember to change the current
layer to "HATCH"... Now hatch the four areas!

Figure 20 the completed drawing.

The entry has number of stairs and there is another entry on

the "western" side but we'll leave that off!
Zoom All icon Select Zoom-all (or type Z A ), so you can see the whole
Save icon
 drawing (see figure 20). Save your drawing (select Save or
press Ctrl-S). Exit AutoCAD and logoff!

FBE AutoCAD Page Tutorial 4

Last Update : 29 July 2000 Disclaimer . Webmasters

Major Revision : 22 July 2000 Page Contact : Stephen Peter
SEARCH . FBE SITEMAP Email : s.peter@unsw.edu.au

FBE AutoCAD Page

Stephen Peter, S.Peter@unsw.edu.au

This tutorial has been prepared for students at the Faculty of the Built
Environment learning AutoCAD. It has been placed on the Web to facilitate
access by those students and because I believe others may find the material
of use!

Note that throughout this document I am using the character " " to
symbolise the [Enter] and [spacebar] keys and the Right mouse button.

Stephen Peter, 12 March 1999.

Introduction

In this fourth (and final) AutoCAD tutorial you will learn

The drawing is quite simple, to
allow time at the end to cover the
issues relating to plotting.
how to plot drawings. In doing this you will learn about
paper space and viewports. Let me comment before you
begin, that in this tutorial I will be telling you to draw things
(as much as possible), rather than explaining how to go about
drawing them... read through the text carefully!
You will draw a form study of Robert Venturi's "Fire Station
- Number 4" in Columbus Indiana (1966), from Clark and
Pause's "Precedents in Architecture", page 122. The drawing
is quite simple, to allow time at the end to cover the issues

Draw the "Construction" Lines
Before you continue, I'd suggest
that you display the Object Snap
Toolbar.
Alternatively, you can get a "pop-
up" menu of the snap modes by
Shift-right clicking!
The point filters that I'm
introducing here are really useful -
they often provide a way to "find"
positions without having to type in
numbers.
Now you will use grip-editing to
move the end of the lower line up
1800:
FROM snap mode icon
The FROM snap mode is really
useful for specifying objects that
are positioned relative to other pick the bottom-left corner of the square, then type:
relating to plotting.
Please note that the dimensions used in this tutorial are
neither accurate nor correct! I don't have access to an
accurately dimensioned drawing of the building so I've
guessed the dimensions...
Set the drawing limits from 0,0 to 50000,35000; then set the
units (set the number of decimal points to 0) and finally do a
zoom-all.
Create a CONST layer, set its colour and make it current.
Draw a 18800 x 18800 rectangle (starting somewhere near
the bottom-left corner of the screen).
Draw a Circle, using the MIDpoint snap mode, pick the
bottom edge of the square, and then using the ENDpoint snap
mode, pick the top-right of the square.
Next you will draw a rectangle to complete the golden
rectangle. To do this we can use the bottom-right corner of
the square for one corner, but the other corner is more
difficult: you will use AutoCAD's point filters to take the x
value from the circle and the y value from the original
square!
Start the rectangle command, then using the ENDpoint snap
mode, pick the bottom-right of the square, then type: .X ,
using the PERpendicular snap mode, pick the circle to the
right of the bottom of the square, then type: .Y , using the
ENDpoint snap mode, pick the top-right corner of the square.
This technique for drawing objects is very useful!
Start the line command, then using the ENDpoint snap mode,
pick the top-left corner of the square, using the MIDpoint
snap mode, pick the right edge of the rectangle, using the
ENDpoint snap mode, pick the bottom-left of the square,
press to end the command.
Pick the last line drawn (near the bottom-left corner), then
pick the grip-box on the bottom-left corner (to move that
endpoint), and type: @0,1800 .
The entry will be shown as a circle about mid-way along the
bottom of the square. Start the circle command, then select
the FROM snap mode, then using the ENDpoint snap mode,

objects.
These are the major construction
lines that will be used to set-out the
plan.
Your drawing should look like
figure 1.
If you haven't saved your drawing
yet, then save it now!
Draw the Walls
Running-snap icon Select running-snap from the Object Snap toolbar (or type:
OSNAP ), then select "Intersection" from the dialog box and
Be careful not to pick "insertion". select "OK" to dismiss the dialog box.
Polyline icon
Note that the arc should be part of
the polyline.
NEArest snap mode icon
@9800,1400 1400 . Here you are saying that the circle's
centre is to be 9800,1400 from the bottom-left corner!
Now, explode the original square and then offset the bottom
of the square up 600, and then offset that line 1500 up. Then
offset the left of the square 10000 to the right.
Figure 1 The construction lines.
Create a new layer called WALLS, set it's colour and make it
current. Use Zoom Window to enlarge view of the plan.
The walls will be drawn using the polyline command so that
you can set the thickness of the lines after drawing them. But
before drawing the walls, you will set a running-snap! The
reason for drawing construction lines in the first place is to
make it easier to draw the walls. To make it even easier, you
will tell AutoCAD to automatically snap to line intersections,
this saves you from having to specify the snap mode for
every point (though you still need to set the snap mode when
you want to use another snap mode or none).
Figure 2 Path of exterior walls.
Start the polyline command and pick the first five points
shown in figure 2, then type: ARC (the next segment of the
polyline will be an arc), type: SECOND this specifies you will
enter a "second" (& third) point, using the NEArest snap
mode, pick the 6th point, then pick the 7th point to end the
arc. Now type: LINE (to go back to drawing straight-lines),
pick the 8th point, and finally press to end the command.
Having demonstrated the running snap, let's now turn it OFF!
Select running-snap again (or type: OSNAP ), select the "Clear
All" button (below the various snap options), and then select

Many AutoCAD commands have 1
or 2 letter abbrieviatons! PE is
short for PEDIT.
Paper Space
Venturi's building is quite
interesting, but we don't have time
to draw the whole plan -- and cover
plotting....
During this step your drawing will
disappear, don't panic...
"Tile" on the status area:
Note that instead of typing
"tilemode" you can type "ti".
Set the Paper Space Limits
"OK".
Turn the CONST layer OFF.
Now you will change the width of the external wall to make
it a thick line - the wall was drawn using polyline to
demonstrate polyline editing! Did you turn the CONST layer
OFF?
Select Modify - Object - Polyline (or type: PE ), pick the
external wall polyline. Spend a moment having a look at the
various editing options - you can even fit a curved (spline)
line to the polyline. Type: WIDTH (or simply: W ), then type:
250 , this is the new line-width. Press to end the command.
Turn the CONST layer ON.
In these tutorials, you have been drawing in what's called
MODEL SPACE. The significance of this is that you use
real-world sizes. When plotting, you can either specify a
scale factor to plot the drawing at a particular scale or you
can use PAPER SPACE.
During the following step your drawing will disappear, don’t
panic...
Double-click on "TILE" (on the status area at the bottom of
the screen), the "TILE" should become greyed-out.
Alternatively, type: TILEMODE 0 . When this setting is ON,
AutoCAD displays multiple viewports beside each other, this
allows you to have two views (of different parts) of the same
drawing on the screen. When the setting is OFF, AutoCAD
displays multiple viewports, but the viewports are allowed to
overlap each other; also viewports can be moved, erased or
resized like "normal" graphics! Turning tilemode OFF, also
changes the "MODEL" space setting (next to "TILE) to
"PAPER", indicating that you are now in "PAPER SPACE"!
The advantage of paper space is that you can have numerous
drawings (or views of the one drawing), each at a different
scale; and you can draw text using "paper heights" rather
than world heights.

Now we set the limits again! This
time for the paper.
If you aren't sure of a printer's
margins do a test plot with diagonal
lines that would go to the paper's
edge and then measure the margins!
Don't forget to do a zoom-all after
setting the limits.
If you can't see the
rectangle, select
zoom-all.
Create a Viewport
If you want to change to size of the
viewport to make it cover more of
the "paper", use grip-editing to
resize the viewport. You could use
snap modes to "snap" the viewport
to the drawing border.
Return to Model Space
Notice that if you move the mouse
cursor outside the viewport it
changes back to an arrow!
The plotter being used (at the Built Environment’s CADLab
at UNSW) is a "HP DesignJet 200 Ink Jet Printer", this
plotter has 17mm left and right margins and 5mm top and
bottom margins, this is critical! When you lay-out your
drawing you must remember that you can’t draw on this part
of the page! My solution is to set the drawing limits to the
area of the page that can be drawn on (the "plotable area"),
and then draw a border equidistant from each of the paper
edges.
A landscape oriented A3 sheet is 420x297mm, this leaves a
plotable area of 386x287mm. Set the limits to 0,0 to 386,287.
Create a layer called FRAME, set it's colour and make it
current.
Draw a rectangle 20mm in from the edges of the A3 sheet;
because of the plotter’s 17 & 5mm margins, draw the
rectangle from 3,15 to 383,272, see figure 3. The rectangle is
used to position "viewports" and then its layer can be turned
OFF before plotting (if desired).
Figure 3 A3 sheet with limits and 20mm border shown.
Once in paper space you can create a number of views of
your drawing, with each a different scale! But for this
tutorial, you will create just one viewport; select View -
Floating Viewports - 1 Viewport (or type: MVIEW ), pick a
point towards the bottom-left of the drawing (the exact
position doesn’t matter at the moment), and then pick a point
towards the top-right of the drawing. AutoCAD should show
a view of your drawing! This view is at no particular scale.
Double-click on "PAPER" on the status area or select View -
Model Space (Floating) (or type: MSPACE ), the "PAPER" on
the status area will change to "MODEL". Move the cursor
around inside the viewport and you will see the normal cross-
hair cursor appear. Usually, you want to have the view at a
particular scale but sometimes you simply want a particular
part of the drawing to plot and you don't care what it's scale
 is.
Select zoom-window (or type: Z ), enclose the entry circle in
a selection rectangle, type: REGEN - this should force
AutoCAD to recalculate the circle (and therefore display it
better). If your drawing is like mine you will see that
AutoCAD has made a mess of the line widths of the polyline
around the arc...
Zoom-previous icon Select zoom-previous (or type: Z P ), this is a particularly
useful zoom option, because it's very common to zoom in on
a detail and then want to zoom back out. Of course, you
could use zoom-in and zoom-out, or zoom-dynamic if you’re
panning as well as zooming.

Setting the View Scale

To set the viewport to a particular scale, you need to express

the scale, relative to the paper. If you want the view at 1:100
Zoom-scale icon you use a scale factor of 1/100 (or 0.01). Select zoom-scale
from the zoom flyout (or type : Z S ), then type: 1/100xp ),
You could also type 0.01xp.
this will produce a view at 1:100, the "xp" means "multiplied
Pan icon by the paper". Select pan (or type: P ), and drag the view
until the "golden rectangle" is centred within the viewport,
then press .

Paper Space Revisited

You may need to re-size the
viewport to get the building fitting
comfortably on the page - if you
haven't already snapped the
viewport to the border.
Return to paper space by double-click on "MODEL" on the
status area or select View - Paper Space (or type: PS this is
short for "PSPACE").

Text

Select Format - Text Style, in the top section of the dialog

Text icon
The Text command can also be used
to add text in MODEL SPACE, but
select "New", click on OK (to accept the default name) then
choose a font from the Font Name drop-down list - choose a
true-type font (look for the TT icon), for example Arial, set
the Height to 10, select "Apply" then select "Close".
Create a TEXT layer, set it's colour and make it current.
Make sure you're in Paper Space, then select text (or type: MT
which is short for MTEXT), you will now enter two points
that will define the "boundary" of the text area. When you to
 the height of the text must be the
text height x the plot scale, for
example if you want the text 5mm
high and the drawing at scale
1:100, the height must be 500.
Depending on the way AutoCAD is
configured, you may enter the text
into a dialog box or the word
processor. This section assumes you
are using the "Multiline Text
Editor" dialog box.
Properties icon
You can also use Grip Editing to
change the text area!
If necessary, move the text so that it
is better centred under the "Golden
Rectangle".
Creating the Plot File
Print icon
type a paragraph of text, AutoCAD will wrap the text to fit
inside the boundary! Pick a position below the bottom-left
corner of the building, and a second point near the right edge
of the 20mm border try to make sure there's enough height
for the text...
Type: Robert Venturi’s Mother’s Fire Station #4!
You can change the properties of the text (within the dialog
box) by selecting the property that you want to alter: select
"Mother's" then select the colour drop-down list (it should
show "ByLayer" at present), select a colour, then click on
"OK" to dismiss the dialog box.
This text is obviously wrong.
Select properties, pick the text and press , AutoCAD will
display the Modify MText dialog, take a moment to look at
the various options available...
Click on the "Full Editor..." button (beside the text), highlight
"Mother's" (include the space after the word), press the
"Delete" key, select "OK" twice - to dismiss the Editor and
then the Modify dialog.
If the text has wrapped onto 2 lines, select properties and
then the text again, then increase the Width (try adding 10 for
each letter on the second line), then dismiss the dialog.
Figure 4 The Completed Drawing.
Before plotting, turn OFF the FRAME layer - this is optional,
but if your viewport and your 20mm border are not the same,
then you’ll have a mess!
Select print or select File - Print (or type: PLOT ), the Plot
Configuration dialogue box will be displayed. This
complicated dialog box has six areas:
 Device and Default Information
 Pen Parameters
 Additional Parameters
 Paper Size and Orientation
 Scale, Rotation, and Origin

The plotting instructions here are
specific to UNSW - if you're plotting
elsewhere you will need to ask your
"local expert" (and if that's you
then read throught the AutoCAD
and printer manuals and make
some test plots)!
Note that the "paper" in the preview
is in fact the drawing's limits, which
were set to the area of the paper
that the plotter can draw on!
If something looks wrong with the
preview, check that all the settings
are correct and if they are, then
cancel the plot and check that your
limits are correct. If you still can't
work out what's wrong call the
tutor!
Plotting
 Plot Preview
The "Device and Default Information" section will show the
currently selected output device, if it doesn't list the DJ200
then click on the button and select "HPGL2 - DJ200" from
the list of devices.
In the "Additional Parameters" section, make sure "Limits"
and "Plot to File" are selected. Then click on "Filename",
change the Drive to Q: (the print queue), if your drawing
name is not distinct the you should change the plot filename
to something unique (and short), finally click on "Save" - this
saves the filename it doesn't do the plot!
In the "Paper Size and Orientation" section make sure "MM"
is selected, if the plot area is not equal to your limits (386 x
287) then select "Size..." and choose the correct paper size or
type the dimensions as a USER size.
In the Scale section, set the scale to 1 = 1 and make sure
"Scaled to fit" is not selected.
It’s usually a good idea to do a preview! In the "Plot
Preview" section, select "Full" and then click on "Preview".
The preview should show the drawing! When you are ready,
press to return to the plot dialog.
Click on the "OK" button near the bottom of the Plot
Configuration dialog box. AutoCAD will then create the plot
file (which should only take a moment because your drawing
is very simple). The plot file will be "tut4.plt" or whatever
your drawing is called, with the ".plt" extension.
Figure 5 Plot Preview.
That's all folks! Save the drawing and exit AutoCAD!
In addition to this text, refer to Jim
Plume's "Notes on using the HP
Designjet 200 iInk Jet Ploter".
Conclusion
Plotting this tutorial is strictly optional. But, hopefully at
least one drawing will be plotted from each group. This will
allow you the opportunity to see it done!
Each plot costs $1.00, using your UNICARD photocopy
card.
The dj200 plotter is located in Lab 3 (Rm 3034), the
ON/OFF switch is on the bottom-left of the front. If the lights
on the right are dark then turn the plotter ON.
Go to the computer beside the plotter and follow the
instructions there!
Take the paper from the cupboard to the left of the plotter and
carefully load the paper into the plotter: hold the sheet with
its short edge facing the front of the plotter, the right edge of
the paper must be between the dotted lines and exactly
straight. Carefully push the paper up into the plotter until the
plotter grabs the sheet. If the paper is not straight the Error
and Load Media lights will blink, press Form Feed, remove
the sheet and try again. If the paper is loaded correctly the
Ready light will come on.
When the plot is complete, carefully remove the paper from
the plotter and leave for one minute to dry.
These tutorials have given you the basics of (2 dimensional)
drawing using AutoCAD, I sincerely hope that this
knowledge serves you well and that you continue to increase
your knowledge and understanding of AutoCAD (and CAD
in general).
The first tutorial introduced AutoCAD and got you to focus
on the interaction on the command line between you and the
program. In addition, you used toolbars to select drawing
commands and learnt a bit about snap modes.
The second tutorial introducing "real" coordinates; and then
focused on editing, using the array command to copy and
rotate graphics objects, using explode and erase to modify,
and then changing linetypes.
Tutorial three is the longest and most difficult. It (like the
second tutorial) focused on editing, using offset, array and
 mirror, in addition to fillet, trim, break and extend. It also
introduced the concept of layers which is vital to a proper
understanding of CAD.
Finally, this tutorial introduced the concepts of model &
paper space, viewports, plotting and text.
These tutorials cover most of the basics of architectural
drawing in AutoCAD, but there is much that is not covered:
dimensioning and 3D, for starters(!), and while I have tried to
show you how you might approach drawing a building, I
haven’t directly discussed this at all!
If you’re asking where do I go from here? - that's great -
read up on the concepts of CAD and AutoCAD. There are
numerous books available on the topic and more appearing
all the time. In my opinion, keep away from books that seem
to be thousands of pages long, you hopefully have access to
the AutoCAD manuals, use them as reference materials, if
necessary. Look instead for books that give you things not
covered in the manuals! By reading books that cover how
CAD can or should be implemented or managed in an office,
I think you'll learn more about CAD related issues than you'll
learn from a thousand pages of reference manual.

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Last Update : 26 April 2000 Disclaimer . Webmasters

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