Computer Aided Drafting using AutoCAD

1.1 CAD and AutoCAD

Commonly, CAD stands for computer Aided Drafting which is used to produce technical
drawings using a computer. Today with the development of computer industry, there are
many types of software developed for computer Aided Drafting. AutoCAD is one of the
leading and most popular software used in the industry.

1.2 Special Features of AutoCAD

• Gives greater accuracy compared to the traditional hand drafting methods

• Automatic Dimensioning with customized tools
• Layer Properties
• Zooming of the Drawing or Part of the Drawing
• Ability to attach textural information

1.3 Recommended Hardware

List below are the hardware requirements for running AutoCAD 2007 on any system.

• Pentium IV (800 MHZ) or higher

• 512 MB RAM
• 1024 X 768 VGA with true color
• Installation 550 MB hard-disk space
• Pointing device (Mouse)
• CD-ROM Drive
• Windows XP Professional / Windows 2000 with SP3 or SP4

1.4 The first look at AutoCAD

Launching AutoCAD is very simple. Double- click the shortcut icon or start the
application by clicking

Start » Programs » Autodesk » AutoCAD 2007 » AutoCAD 2007

After a few moments, you could see the AutoCAD 2007 interface as shown in the
following figure.
 Properties Toolbar

Title Bar Standard Toolbar

Menu Bar

Draw Toolbar

Cross Hair

Drawing Area

UCS Icon
Command Prompt Window Scroll bars
Layout Tabs

Coordinate Display Status Bar

Figure 01: Graphical user Interface (GUI) of AutoCAD 2007

1.5 The Pull-down Menus

The Pull-down menus available on the menu bar offer a quicker way to access the
commands and functions are the heart of AutoCAD 2007.

Figure 02: Pull-down menu

1.6 Creating a New Drawing

When you start a new drawing, follow the following steps.

File » New from the Pull-down menu or click on the icon on the Standard toolbar.

Then following Select Template dialogue box will appear

Figure 03: Select Template Dialogue Box

A drawing template file contains standard settings. You can select one of the template files
supplied, or create your own template files. Drawing template files have a .dwt file
extension. By default, drawing template files are stored in the template folder.

For the starting, select “acad.dwt” template

The behavior of the NEW command is determined by the Startup setting on the system tab
of the options dialog box.
 By default, Do not show a startup dialog options is selected in the system tab of the
options dialog box. When show Startup dialog box options is selected, AutoCAD
displays the Startup dialog box as shown below.

Figure 04: Startup dialogue box

Imperial
Starts a new drawing based on the Imperial measurement system. The default drawing
boundary (the drawing limits) is 12× 9 inches.

Metric
Starts a new drawing based on the Metric measurement system. The default drawing
boundary (the drawing limits) is 420× 297 millimeters.

1.7 Opening a Drawing

File » Open from the Pull-down menu or icon from Standard tool bar.
Then following Select file dialogue box will appear. There you can select the location of
the file and open it.

Figure 05: Select file dialogue box

1.8 Saving a Drawing

File » Save/Save As…

AutoCAD displays the save Drawing As standard file selection dialog box. Then you can
select the exact file saving folder and enter the file name and save the drawing.

1.9 Closing a Drawing

File » Close

AutoCAD closes the current drawing, if there have been no changes since the drawing
was last saved. If you have modified the drawing, AutoCAD prompts you to save or
discard the changes.

You can close a file that has been opened in Read-Only mode when you have not made
any changes or willing to discard changes. To save changes to a read-only file, you must
use the SAVEAS command.

Close all
Window » Close All

When you invoke this command, a message box is displayed for each unsaved drawing, in
which you can save any changes to the drawing before closing it.

Quit/exit
File » Quit/Exit

Quits AutoCAD if there have been no changes in all opened drawing since the drawings
were last saved. If the drawing has been modified, AutoCAD displays the Drawing
modification dialog box to prompt you to save or discard the changes before quiting.

1.10Giving Commands

You can give commands in AutoCAD several ways. Following methods are the most
frequently used methods.

1. By typing the commands on the Command prompt. This is located below the drawing
area.

2. Through Pull-down Menu: you can select the command on Pull-down menu and just
click on it to activate the command.

3. Through the Tool bars