Chapter One
Exploring the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface Before you can start to use AutoCAD 2010''s new capabilities, you''ll need to become familiar with the basics. If you''re completely new to AutoCAD, you''ll want to read this first chapter carefully. It introduces you to many of AutoCAD''s basic operations, such as opening and closing files, getting a close-up look at part of a drawing, and changing a drawing. If you''re familiar with earlier versions of AutoCAD, you should review this chapter anyway to get acquainted with the features you haven''t already used.
Autodesk releases new versions of AutoCAD every year. Part of this strategy is to introduce improvements that focus on a particular category of features. This latest version, AutoCAD 2010, includes several new features that have been on wish lists for quite some time. Three of the major new features are parametric drawing (Chapter 17), free-form design in 3D with mesh modeling (Chapter 25), and enhanced PDF support including snap-to-geometry PDF backgrounds (Chapter 14).
You''ll get a chance to explore these new features and many more as you work through this book. Before you begin the exercise later in this chapter, make sure that you have loaded the sample files from this book''s companion DVD. See the introduction for details.
In this chapter, you''ll learn about the following topics:
* Use the AutoCAD window. * Get a closer look with the Zoom command. * Save a file as you work. * Make changes and open multiple files.
Taking a Guided Tour
In this section, you''ll get a chance to familiarize yourself with the AutoCAD screen and how you communicate with AutoCAD. As you do the exercises in this chapter, you''ll also get a feel for how to work with this book. Don''t worry about understanding or remembering everything you see in this chapter. You''ll get plenty of opportunities to probe the finer details of the program as you work through the later chapters. To help you remember the material, you''ll find a brief set of questions at the end of each chapter. For now, just enjoy your first excursion into AutoCAD.
If you already installed AutoCAD and are ready to jump in and take a look, proceed with the following steps to launch the program:
1. Choose Start * All Programs * Autodesk * AutoCAD 2010 * AutoCAD 2010. You can also double-click the AutoCAD 2010 icon on your Windows Desktop. LT users will use AutoCAD LT 2010 in place of AutoCAD 2010. 2. In fresh installations of AutoCAD, you''ll see the Initial Setup dialog box. For now, click the Skip button since I''ll be discussing the basic AutoCAD functions. 3. At the Skip Initial Setup page, click the Remind Me the Next Time AutoCAD 2010 Starts option to turn it off. You can always get to the Initial Setup dialog box later if you need to use it. 4. Click the Start AutoCAD button in the next dialog box to start AutoCAD. 5. The opening greeting, called a splash screen, tells you which version of AutoCAD you''re using, to whom the program is registered, and the AutoCAD dealer''s name and phone number, should you need help. If this is the first time you''ve started AutoCAD after installing it, you''ll also see a dialog box asking you to register the product. 6. You may also see the New Features Workshop window, which offers a set of tutorials showing you the new features of AutoCAD 2010. Click the No, Don''t Show Me This Again or Maybe Later radio button, and click OK. You can always get to the New Features Workshop screen from the AutoCAD Help window by pressing the F1 function key. 7. The AutoCAD window displays a blank default document named Drawing1.dwg, as shown in Figure 1.1. Although it doesn''t appear in Figure 1.1 because I wanted to show more of the drawing area, AutoCAD users may see the Sheet Set Manager palette to the left of the AutoCAD window. LT users may see the Info palette to the left of the AutoCAD window. If this is the first time you''ve started AutoCAD since you installed it, you''re asked to register and authorize AutoCAD in step 2. If you''re using the trial version, you can use the default serial number 000-00000000 for the one-month trial. After you''ve entered the registration information, you see the New Features Workshop window described in step 6.
Now let''s look at the AutoCAD window in detail. Don''t worry if it seems like a lot of information. You don''t have to memorize it, but by looking at all the parts, you''ll be aware of what is available in a general way.
The AutoCAD Window
The AutoCAD program window is divided into six parts:
* Application menu.
* Quick Access toolbar.
* InfoCenter.
* Ribbon.
* Drawing area.
* UCS.
* Command window.
* Status bar.
Figure 1.1, shown earlier in this chapter, shows a typical layout of the AutoCAD program window. You can organize the AutoCAD window into any arrangement you want and save it as a workspace. You can save and recall a workspace at any time using the Workspace Switching tool in the status bar (you''ll learn more about this tool in the next chapter). The default workspace in Figure 1.1 is called the 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace, which is one of two workspaces built into AutoCAD.
Figure 1.2 shows AutoCAD''s 3D Modeling workspace, which has a different set of screen elements. Figure 1.2 also shows a standard AutoCAD drawing file with a few setting changes to give it a 3D appearance. Beneath these external changes, the underlying program is the same.
You''ll learn more about workspaces later in this chapter and in Chapter 28.
In the upper-left corner of the AutoCAD program window, the red AutoCAD icon features the Application menu, which offers a set of options not directly related to drawing; I''ll elaborate on this new menu in the next section, "Using the Application Menu." The Quick Access toolbar at the top of the drawing area (as shown in Figure 1.3) includes the basic file-handling functions that you find in nearly all Windows programs. The InfoCenter is AutoCAD''s online help facility; you''ll learn more about it in Chapter 2. The Ribbon provides nearly all the commands you''ll need using icon tools; you''ll learn more about the Ribbon in the section "Using the Ribbon" later in this chapter.
The drawing area occupies most of the screen. Everything you draw appears in this area. As you move your mouse around, crosshairs appear to move within the drawing area. This is the drawing cursor that lets you point to locations in the drawing area. You''ll get your first chance to work with the drawing area later in the section "Picking Points in the Drawing Area." You''ll learn more about the UCS icon in a moment (see the section "Using the UCS Icon").
Just below the drawing area in the lower-right corner are the Model and Layout tabs. These tabs enable you to quickly switch between different types of views called the model and layout views. You''ll get to see firsthand how these work in a section called "Working with AutoCAD" later in this chapter.
The Command window, located just below the drawing area, gives you feedback about AutoCAD''s commands as you use them. You can move and resize this window just as you move and resize other display components. By default, the Command window is in its docked position, as shown in Figure 1.4. I''ll elaborate on the Command window in the section "Working in the Command Window" later in this chapter.
Below the Command window is the status bar (also shown in Figure 1.4). The status bar gives you information at a glance about the state of the drawing. For example, the coordinate readout at the far left of the status bar tells you the location of your cursor. The tools in the status bar offer aids to the drafting process.
Using the Application Menu
The Application menu offers tools to help you manage your AutoCAD files. It is basically the File pull-down menu from previous versions of AutoCAD. Try it out to see how it works firsthand:
1. Click the Application menu icon. A list of options appears. 2. Move the highlight cursor slowly down the list of options in the left column. As you highlight the options, additional options appear in a column to the right. 3. Highlight the Export option to see the different formats available for export (see Figure 1.5).
The Application menu also gives you a convenient way to find recently used files or to get to a file you already have open. If you move your cursor away from the list of options to the left in the Application menu, you''ll see Recent Documents in the upper right of the menu. You''ll also see two icon tools named Open Documents and Recent Documents (see Figure 1.6).
The Open Documents option lets you quickly change from one open file to another when you are viewing your files full-screen. The Recent Documents option displays a list of documents you''ve recently worked on.
You can use the View tool in the upper-right portion of the Application menu to select the way the list of files is displayed in a manner similar to the way you would use the Windows Explorer View option. You can click this icon and select Medium Images to have the list display the files with thumbnail images of their content. Hover over a filename, and you will see a tool tip that displays a larger thumbnail of the drawing.
Using the Ribbon
The most prominent feature in the AutoCAD window, besides the drawing area, is the Ribbon (see Figure 1.7). This is where you''ll be selecting tools to draw, edit, or perform other functions. The Ribbon contains a set of panels representing groups of tools and features. The name of each Ribbon panel is found in its title bar at the bottom of the panel. Ribbon panels are further organized by the tabs that appear above them. All of the tools in the Ribbon offer tool tips that provide a short description to help you understand what each tool icon represents.
If you see only the Ribbon tabs, right-click one of the tabs and choose Minimize * Show Full Ribbon. If you don''t even see the tabs, press the Esc key twice and type Ribbon.
Move the arrow cursor onto one of the Ribbon panel tools and leave it there for a moment; you''ll see a tool tip appear just below the cursor. Hold the cursor there a bit longer and the tool tip changes to give you even more information about the tool.
In most cases, you''ll be able to guess what each tool does by looking at its icon. The icon with an arc in the Draw Ribbon panel, for instance, indicates that the tool draws arcs; the one with the circle shows that the tool draws circles; and so on. For further clarification, the tool tip gives you the name of the tool.
As a new user, you''ll find these tool tips helpful because they show you the name of the tool and a brief description of how to use it. Typically, when I ask you to select a tool, I''ll use the name shown in the tool tip to help you identify the tool. In the case of a tool with flyouts, the tool name changes under different conditions. For those tools, I''ll describe the tool using a general description. You''ll learn more about flyouts a bit later in this chapter (see the section "Understanding Flyouts").
As you work through this book, I will ask you to select tools from the Ribbon panels. You''ll often be asked to switch between different tabs to select tools from other sets of panels. To make the process simpler to read, I''ll use a somewhat abbreviated description of a tools location. For example, to use the Line tool, I''ll say, "Click the Line tool from the Home tab''s Draw panel." To use the Move tool, I''ll say, "Click the Move tool in the Home tab''s Modify panel."
Expanding Panels
In addition to the visible tools, a few tools are hidden from view. You can expand many of the Ribbon panels to select more tools. If you see an arrowhead to the right of a panel''s title bar, you can click the title bar to expand the panel (see Figure 1.8). The set of tools expands to reveal some additional tools. If you click in the drawing area, the expanded panel shrinks to its original size. As an alternative, you can click the pushpin icon in the expanded panel title bar to lock the panel in its open position.
From now on, I''ll refer to the location of additional tools as the "expanded panel." For example, I''ll say, "Click the Ray tool in the expanded Draw panel" when I want you to select the Ray tool.
Understanding Flyouts
One more feature you''ll want to know about are the flyouts. Flyouts are similar to the expanded panels because you can click an arrowhead to gain access to additional tools. Instead of a whole panel, however, flyouts give you access to different methods for using a particular tool. For example, AutoCAD lets you draw circles in several different ways, so it offers a flyout for the Circle tool in the Home tab''s Draw panel. If you click the arrowhead next to the circle icon in the Draw panel, you''ll see additional tools for drawing circles (see Figure 1.9).
If you select a tool option from a flyout, that option becomes the default tool for that icon. For example, if you hover your cursor over the circle icon in the Draw panel, you''ll see that the tool tip shows "Center, Radius" for the tool''s name. If you click the arrowhead next to the Center, Radius tool and select 2-Point, then 2-Point becomes the default tool and you''ll see "2-Point" for the name of the tool in the tool tip (see Figure 1.10).
Picking Points in the Drawing Area
Now that you''ve seen the general layout of AutoCAD, take a look at the coordinate readout and the drawing cursor to get a sense of how the parts of the AutoCAD screen work together:
1. Move the cursor around in the drawing area. As you move it, notice how the coordinate readout changes to tell you the cursor''s location. It shows the coordinates in an X, Y, Z format. 2. Place the cursor in the middle of the drawing area, and click the left mouse button. Move the cursor, and a rectangle follows. This is a window selection; you''ll learn more about this window in Chapter 2. You also see a coordinate readout following the cursor and a message asking you to Specify opposite corner:. This display at the cursor is called the dynamic input. You''ll learn more about it a little later in this chapter. If you don''t see the Dynamic Input display, click the Dynamic Input tool in the status bar to turn it on. 3. Move the cursor a bit in any direction; then, click the left mouse button again. Notice that the window selection disappears, as does the Dynamic Input display. 4. Try picking several more points in the drawing area. Notice that as you click the mouse, you alternately start and end a window selection. If you happen to click the right mouse button, a shortcut menu appears. A right-click frequently opens a menu containing options that are context sensitive. This means the contents of the shortcut menu depend on the location where you right-click as well as the command that is active at the time. If there are no appropriate options at the time of the right-click, AutoCAD treats the right-click as an . You''ll learn more about these options as you progress through the book. For now, if you happen to open this menu by accident, press the Esc key to close it.
Using the Ucs Icon
In the lower-left corner of the drawing area, you see an L-shaped arrow. This is the User Coordinate System (UCS) icon, which tells you your orientation in the drawing. This icon becomes helpful as you start to work with complex 2D drawings and 3D models. The X and Y arrows indicate the X-and Y-axes of your drawing. The little square at the base of the arrows tells you that you''re in what is called the World Coordinate System (WCS). Chapter 22 discusses this icon in detail. For now, you can use it as a reference to tell you the direction of the axes.
Working in the Command Window
As mentioned, at the bottom of the screen, just above the status bar, is a small horizontal window called the Command window. Here, AutoCAD displays responses to your input. By default, it shows two lines of text. The bottom line shows the current messages, and the top line shows messages that have scrolled by or, in some cases, components of the current message that don''t fit in a single line. Right now, the bottom line displays the message Command (see Figure 1.4, earlier in this chapter). This prompt tells you that AutoCAD is waiting for your instructions. When you click a point in the drawing area, you see the message Specify opposite corner:. At the same time, the cursor starts to draw a window selection that disappears when you click another point. The same message appears in the Dynamic Input display at the cursor.
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Excerpted from Mastering AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010by George Omura Copyright © 2009 by George Omura. Excerpted by permission.
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