AutoCAD

AutoCAD 2012
2012
and
and
AutoCAD
AutoCAD LT
LT 2012
2012
Essentials
Essentials
By Scott Onstott
Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Grid and Snap

Gris is a spatial rectangular array that

looks like graph paper
Snap constrains drawn objects so that
their start and endpoints lie in a spatial
rectangular array
Snap and Grid can be used together
Grid spacing is usually an increment of
the snap interval
Setup grid and snap spacing in the
Drafting Settings dialog box
Access Drafting Settings by right clicking
Grid or Snap status bar toggles
Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Status Bar Toggles

Access many drawing aids as modes that can be toggled on or off on the
status bar
Right click any status bar toggle to access its unique shortcut menu
Some shortcut menus have Settings, which accesses the Drafting Settings
dialog box (tabbed interface)

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Lineweight

The thickness of lines, circles, arcs, and so on

are controlled by lineweight
Lineweight can be assigned by layer (see Ch 6)
The default lineweight affects all drawn entities if
lineweight has not yet been assigned by layer
The Show/Hide Lineweight status bar toggle
must be on to see thick lines on screen
Right click the Show/Hide lineweight toggle to
access the Lineweight Settings dialog box
Change default lineweight or finely adjust
display scale in Lineweight Settings dialog

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Ortho and Direct Distance Entry

Ortho mode constrains objects to the

horizontal or vertical directions
Measured lines can be drawn using Ortho
mode and direct distance entry
Click the first point, and with ortho mode on,
move the cursor in the intended direction
Type a distance and the line is drawn to your
entered measurements
Direct distance entry obviates the need for
explicit Cartesian or polar coordinate system
entry

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Polar Tracking

Polar tracking works much like ortho mode with additional angles
The polar tracking angle works full circle, so a 45 degree angle has 8
vectors around 360 degrees.
Direct distance entry can be used with polar tracking for more efficient
drawing

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

The Need for Object Snaps

No matter how accurate you are by eye you will never be

able to snap object together precisely
Zooming in reveals the mismatch
Object snaps always precisely connect objects
Precise snapping is essential

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Running Object Snaps

Running object snaps save you time

Access running modes by right clicking the
object snap toggle on the status bar
Running snap modes can be added
individually in the shortcut menu, or multiple
object snaps turned on or off in the Drafting
Settings dialog box

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

From Points

By choosing From in the object snap shortcut

menu (accessible by holding Shift and right clicking
in the drawing canvas) you can snap to points that
are not on objects
Use From snap with relative Cartesian or Polar
coordinates to indicate a displacement from an
objects snap point to some point in space

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids

Object Snap Tracking

Object snap tracking is a toggle on the status bar

When on, hover the cursor over object snap points (running object
snap is useful in conjunction with object snap tracking) and move
horizontally or vertically to create temporary tracking lines
Click the intersection of two temporary tracking lines to snap a point

Ch 3: Using Drawing Aids