Lecture
Instructor: Engr. Syed Ashraf Ali
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer
Aided Drafting) software application for 2D and 3D design
and drafting
Tools of CAD
Computer
Software
These components together make up a system referred to
as CAD
Users of CAD
CAD is used by;
Drafters
Designers
Engineers
Architects
They develop designs, drawings and plot them on paper
CAD Power
CAD is extremely powerful
Because of its speed, power, accuracy and flexibility, it has
surpassed manual drafting
CAD Limitations
CAD does have limitations;
CAD files are only electrical impulses
Computers cause repetitive strain injury
Applications of AutoCAD
X,Y,Z Coordinate System;
Drawings are constructed using the Cartesian coordinate
system X-Y-Z
Origin = (0,0)
Rectangular coordinates
• X = horizontal
• Y = vertical
• Z = third dimension
• Distance measure horizontally is an X value
• Distance measured vertically is a Y value
• Add the Z, creates 3D drawing
Starting AutoCAD
AutoCAD environment;
Drop-down menus
Standard toolbar
Specific toolbars
The graphic area
View tabs
The command area
The status area
Drawing Area
The large area in the center of the screen
This is where you draw
The size can be changed at any time
Screen Layout
Items are floating, they can be freely moved about on the
screen
When an item is floating, it has the standard Windows
border and title bar
Floating windows can be moved and adjusted for size like
other windows
Screen Layout
Menu bars;
Appears just below the title bar and displays a number of
menu names.
Scroll bars;
Allow you to adjust your view of the drawing area
Horizontal scroll bars
Vertical scroll bars
Screen Layout
Status bar;
Contains several display fields that reflect the current state
of specific drawing control features.
When a menu item is highlighted, a brief explanation of the
item is shown on status bar.
Coordinate display;
Shows the x, y, z cursor location according to the current
setting.
Screen Layout
Standard toolbar;
When you move the pointing device to the toolbar, the
crosshairs change to the Windows arrow pointer.
Holding the pointer over a button for a moment displays
ToolTips which show the function of the buttons.
Special Function Keys
ESC;
Cancels the current command, menu, or dialog box
ENTER;
Ends a command; or will repeat the previous command
if the command line is blank
SPACE BAR;
Same as the end key except when entering text
Select Template Dialog-Box
Appears After
the New File
Command
A Template is a
Standard format
For Now
Suggest Using
the acad.dwt
Template
Click Open to
Start the New
Drawing
Start a NEW Drawing
Start a New Drawing by One of; Using the “QNew”
Menus: File (QuickNew) Tool
Type “new” in the
Command Line
CrossHairs/ Cursor
The movement is controlled by the movement of the pointing
device (mouse)
Use to locate points, make selections and draw objects
Name & Save Drawing
Opening a NEW Drawing Naming AutoCAD Files
Results in a Default Name NOT Case Sensitive
of DrawingN.dwg
Any Combination of
Letters and Numbers
• Also Allowed = $, -, _
Not Allowed = \, /, %, *
Use File → Save or The
Save-Tool to Give the
Dwg a new Name
AutoCAD Drawing Units
ACAD Has Five Unit-
Systems
Each has Five
Formatting Parameters
To Adjust the Unit System
Use the PullDown Menu
Format → Units...
Format Units
The Drawing Units Dialog Box;
Command Line
The three lines at the bottom of the screen
This is where you enter commands and AutoCAD will
prompt you to input information
Status Bar
Displays your content settings
The settings can be turned on/off by clicking on the word
(OSNAP, polar, ORTHO, etc) or by pressing the function
keys associated with each
AutoCAD
Lines are drawn from point to point
We must have a method for determining the location of the
points
There are three main methods for determining the location of
line endpoints;
Absolute Coordinates
Relative Coordinates
Polar Coordinates
Absolute Coordinates
Absolute coordinates are based on the origin (0,0)
expressed as an ordered pair x,y
All other points are also expressed in the form x,y and the
values of x and y are based on the distance from the origin
If we desire to draw a line, we must give the location of
both points, expressed as an ordered pair x,y where the
origin is used as a reference point.
Relative Coordinates
Relative coordinates are not based on the origin (0,0)
Instead, we use the @ symbol followed by an ordered pair x,y.
This means “starting where we are at, go over x and up y
If we desire to draw a line using relative coordinates, we must
give the location of the first point (usually using Absolute
coordinates), followed by @x,y for the second point
Polar Coordinates
Polar coordinates are not based on the origin (0,0)
Instead, we use the @ symbol followed by an ordered pair
r<Q. This means “starting where we are AT, go a distance r at
an angle of Q degrees. The ‘less than’ sign (<) is used to
represent the word ‘angle’
If we desire to draw a line using polar coordinates, we must
give the location of the first point (usually using Absolute
coordinates), followed by @r<Q for the second point
Command ALIASES
A command alias is an abbreviation that you enter on the
command line instead of entire command name.
For example ,you can enter L instead of line to start the LINE
command. An alias is not the same as a keyboard shortcut,
which is a combination of keystrokes, such as CTRL+S for
SAVE.
TEXT WINDOW
The text window shows the history of the commands used
CROSS & BOX WINDOW
You can select objects by specifying opposite corners to define
a rectangular area
After specifying the first corner point, you can Drag your
cursor from left to right to create an enclosing window(Box
window) selection. Only objects that the rectangular window
entirely encloses are selected
Drag your cursor from right to left to create a crossing
selection. Objects that the rectangular window encloses or
crosses are selected
DRAW TOOLBAR
Line creates single straight line segments;
Choose Draw, Line
or
Click the Line icon
or
Command area: LINE or L
Press ENTER
Polyline
A polyline is a connected sequence of line segments created as
a single object
You can create straight line segments, arc segments or a
combination of the two
DRAW TOOLBAR
Rectangle
Circle
Arc Command
Modify Draw Toolbar
The modify tools (from left to right);
Erase Rotate Break at
Scale point
Copy Stretch Break
Mirror Lengthen Chamfer
Offset Trim Fillet
Array Extend Explode
Move
Erase
Select this button then a drawing element to erase it
permanently from the drawing
Copy
The copy command will copy any selected drawing elements
and reposition where specified by the user, without affecting the
original elements.
Mirror
The mirror command will create a mirror image of any selected
drawing elements along any line of symmetry specified by the
user
Offset
Offset will make a copy of a line or series of selected lines by
a specified distance in the direction specified
Array
The array command quickly creates copies of a selected
object(s) to a specified spacing
Rectangular Array
Rectangular Array
Polar Array
Polar Array
Move
The move command works exactly the same as the copy
command described above, except instead of creating a copy
of the selected objects, the second objects are moved
Rotate
The rotate command rotates any selected objects about a
defined point by the angle specified
Scale
The scale command scales the size of a selected object(s) by a
defined scale factor from a selected base point. The selected
objects can be scaled up to increase size or down to reduce the
size
Trim
The trim command is an extremely useful tool which will
erase all parts of an object beyond or within its intersection
with another object
Extend
The extend command is similar to the trim command in how
it functions, except it extends a selected line to a point of
intersection of another selected object
Break at Point
The break at point command enables the user to break an
object at a specific point, creating two separate objects
Break
The break command is identical to the break at point
command, except the break line isn't as neat as break at point
The break command is identical to the
break at point command, except the
break line isn't as neat as break at point
command is identical to the break at point
command, except the break line isn't as neat as
break at point.
Chamfer
The chamfer command will chamfer the intersection of two
lines to a specified distance
Fillet
The fillet command is very similar to the chamfer command
above, except instead of creating a straight line chamfer,
AutoCAD creates a radius between the two points
Explode
The explode command is very straight forward. It simply
breaks down an object down to its basic line entities
Transparent Commands
The commands which can be used while other commands are
activated are known as Transparent commands e.g. pan, zoom
etc…
ZOOM
AutoCAD's zoom command toolbar;
ZOOM
Zoom changes the apparent size of the drawing so you can see
the entire drawing more easily or very fine details with ease.
The key word here is apparent size. Much like a magnifying
glass makes objects appear larger, it doesn't actually change
the size of the object. The same is true of the Zoom command.
It will draw objects larger or smaller on the screen so you can
see various parts and aspects of your drawing more clearly, but
does not change the size of any objects
ZOOM
You will need to zoom in and out while drawing with AutoCAD
This doesnt change your objects or UCS, only the way you see your
working space
This can be done in many ways;
Scroll bars
Typing z or zoom in your command window
• All
• Center
• Dynamic
• Extents
• Previous
• Scale
• Window
ZOOM All
This option causes AutoCAD to display the full drawing in the
present viewport
ZOOM Center
This is used to show a window defined by a center point and a
magnification value or height
A lesser value for the height enlarges the magnification
A bigger value reduces the magnification.
ZOOM Dynamic
It is used to show the generated portion of the drawing with a
view box
The view box represents our viewport which can be reduce in
size or enlarge and move around the drawing
Positioning and sizing the view box pans or zooms to fill the
viewport with the image inside the view box
ZOOM Extents
It is used to show the drawing extents and results in the largest
possible display of all the objects
Zoom Previous
This option restores the displayed view prior to the current one
For the purpose of this option, up to 10 views are saved so that
the last ten views can be recalled
Zoom Scale
Zooms the display at a specified scale factor
Enter a value followed be X to a specify the scale relative to the current
view
For example, entering 0.5X causes each object to be displayed at half
of its current size on the screen
Enter a value followed by XP to specify the scale relative to paper
space units
For example, entering 0.5XP displays model space at half the scale of
paper space units
You can create a layout with each viewport displaying objects at a
different scale
Enter a value to specify the scale relative to the limits of the drawing
For example, entering 2 display objects at twice the size they would
appear if you were zoomed to the limits of the drawing
Zoom Window
Zooms to display an area specified by two opposite corners of
a rectangular window
Zoom Real-time
Using the pointing device, zooms interactively to a logical
extent
The cursor changes to a magnifying glass with plus(+) and
minus(-) signs
Hold your mouse left button and move vertically to zoom in
and move downward to zoom out
Aerial View
Aerial View is a zooming tool that displays a view of the
drawing in a separate window so that you can quickly move to
that area
If you keep the Aerial View window open as you work, you can
zoom and pan without choosing a menu option or entering a
command
You can change the view by creating a new view box in the
Aerial View window
Aerial View
To zoom in to the drawing, make the view box smaller by left
clicking a rectangle
To zoom out of the drawing, make the view box larger
As you zoom in or out of the drawing, a real-time view of the
current zoom location is displayed in the graphics area
The screenshot shows how the view box looks
Right click in the box and you can move the box to where you
want to zoom to
Pan
Pan Button;
Pan allows you to quickly move around the drawing
area at the same magnification you currently have set
Type PAN (or P) <ENTER> and a hand will appear
on the screen
Click and hold to move around your drawing
Zoom real time and Pan
While holding the mouse button, pull the mouse to the left,
right, up or down
Notice how the pan tool reflects these mouse movements on
screen so we can move around the screen effortlessly
Function Keys
[F1] - Help
[F2] - Flip screen from graphics to text toggle
[F3] - displays Osnap Settings dialog box
[F4] - Tablet mode toggle
[F5] - Isoplane left, right, top
[F6] - Coordinate display
[F7] - Grid mode toggle
[F8] - Ortho mode toggle
[F9] - Snap mode toggle
[F10] - Polar mode toggle
Keys
Ctrl B - Snap mode (toggle)
Ctrl C - Copy
Ctrl D - coordinate display on/off toggle
Ctrl E - crosshairs in isoplane toggle (left/right/top)
Ctrl G - Grid on/off toggle
Ctrl H - same as backspace
Ctrl L - Ortho mode toggle
Ctrl O - Open
Ctrl P - Print (Plot)
Keys
Ctrl R - toggle viewport
Ctrl S - Save
Ctrl T - Tablet mode toggle
Ctrl V - Paste
Ctrl X - Cut
Ctrl Y - Redo
Ctrl Z - Undo
Provides detailed information on using Windows help
system
To open a topic, simply double-click on the topic name
or the book icon that precedes it
OSNAP
Osnap (Object Snap) settings make it easier to select a 2d
object’s points;
Endpoint
Midpoint
Perpendicular
Center
İntersection
Osnap will be active when
AutoCAD is expecting you to
pick a point on the working area
Type osnap on your command area
Hatching
Hatching is used to add shaded patterns to objects and shapes
within an Autocad drawing
Hatch patterns can be used to indicate a material to be used,
such as a concrete hatch
Alternatively it could be used to make an area of a drawing
stand out
