What is AutoCAD? A software drafting tool Particularly useful for Mechanical drawings Architectural drawings

AutoCAD Where to find help? AutoCAD Help Topics - Contents/Index/Find Quick Tour - Introduction/drawing Learning Assistance - multimedia training

User Interface Toolbars - press buttons - Standard toolbar - Object Properties toolbar - Draw toolbar - Modify toolbar Menus- click on menu Command- type in commands

Line Types Center lines - for circles Solid lines - for lines that are visible Hidden lines (dashed lines) - for lines that are not visible

Grid & Snap A simple grid of points is displayed in the drawing window. The grid is for visual reference only. To lock the points you select in the drawing window to a specific location, you use snap.

Drawing Aids Change the grid & snap spacing in the drawing aids menu Typically, select the snap spacing which is half the grid spacing

Draw Menu Polyline Polygon Arc Spline

Draw Submenus Arc Menu Select the input order of parameters Circle Menu Text Menu

Coordinate Entry - Cartesian Absolute Cartesian Coordinate Input –Input the X and Y values of the point you want to place in the drawing window –All points are measured form the origin 0,0 At the command prompt, enter X,Y Relative Cartesian Coordinate Input –A relative coordinate is entered as the X and Y distance from the last point you specified At the command prompt,

Coordinate Entry - Polar Absolute Polar Coordinate Input –Enter the distance and the angle of the point from the origin 0,0 At the command prompt, enter Distance<Angle e.g. 6.5<45 Relative Polar Coordinate Input –A relative distance and angle from the last point specified At the command prompt,

Using Object Snaps Object snaps are used to locate an exact position on an object without the need to know its absolute coordinates. You can access object snaps from –Object Snap toolbar / Object Snap button –Cursor menu (SHIFT + right-click)

Endpoint & Midpoint Osnaps Endpoint snaps to the closest endpoint of a line, arc, polyline segment, closest corner of a solid, etc. Midpoint snaps to the midpoint of a line, arc, polyline segment, spline, solid, etc.

Center and Quadrant Osnaps Center snaps to the center of an arc, circle, ellipse, etc. Quadrant snaps to quadrant point of an arc, circle, ellipse, etc. The quadrant points are the absolute 0,90 180, 270 degree locations.

Object Snap Settings Single and multiple running osnaps are set by checking the checkboxes next to the appropriate object snaps

Using Layers Layers provides a rather convenient way to manage objects in the drawing e.g. use a layer for internal walls, another layer for furniture.

Layer Properties Attributes that can be set to each layers: On/Off Freeze/Thaw Lock/Unlock A color & a linetype can be assigned to each layer as default.

Line Type Properties Get more line types by pressing the Load button