1. Introduction to A+CAD

2. Objectives Understand fundamental CAD concepts Start A+CAD Tour the A+CAD interface Explore the different A+CAD data input methods

3. What is CAD? Computer-aided drafting is better known as CAD Benefits of CAD include: – Increased productivity – Improved precision – Better collaboration – 3D visualization and analysis

4. Fundamental CAD Concepts Drawing actual size – Unlike drawing on the board, in CAD-based drafting, the scaling occurs when the drawing is set up to be printed or plotted

5. Fundamental CAD Concepts The Cartesian Coordinate System – This is a grid-based system where points are represented by their X and Y coordinate values separated by a comma

6. Fundamental CAD Concepts

7. Right-Hand Rule – Using the right-hand rule, your fingers point in the positive direction of the X, Y and Z axis

8. Fundamental CAD Concepts Grid Units – In A+CAD, one unit on the Cartesian coordinate system can represent whatever you want it to represent – Most of the drawings in this book will rely on: 1 unit = 1 inch for Imperial drawings 1 unit = 1 millimeter for Metric drawings

9. Fundamental CAD Concepts Angle Measurement – By default, angles in A+CAD are measured counterclockwise from 0  which is due east, or right, on the positive X-axis

10. Fundamental CAD Concepts Object Properties – In A+CAD, all drawing objects have properties associated with them that control their appearance and behavior, these properties include: Layers Colors Linetypes Lineweights Transparency

11. The A+CAD User Interface

12. A+CAD Options The Options dialog box allows the user to control and maintain most AutoCAD features and settings including options such as: – Color of window elements – Size of cursor crosshairs – Default print settings – And many other options

13. Configuring A+CAD Let us use A+CAD Type options on Command Line or Tools/options or right click Drawing windows You can display – colors of screen Change cross hair etc.

14. Line Weight Settings Command line: Lineweight Settings: Drawing settings – displays Dimension settings

15. Status Bar Snap : F9 Grid: F7 Ortho: F8 – Horizontal or Vertical Esnap: F3 LWT: Line Weight

16. Toolbars

17. The Web-Based Help System AutoCAD provides substantial online help via a web–based help system You can also set help to work from your local computer drive Help can be accessed via: – The function key – The Help menu – Clicking on the Question Mark on the top right of the AutoCAD window – Or by entering a question mark at the keyboard

18. Saving Your Work The QSAVE command is short for “Quick Save” – The first time QSAVE is used, the standard Windows “Save Drawing As” dialog box is displayed – Subsequent use of QSAVE updates the file in its specified location and also creates a backup of the previous saved version as a.BAK file

19. Saving Your Work

20. Communicating with AutoCAD The Command Line window is, by default, docked at the bottom of the drawing area Use Function F2

21. Object Snaps Object Snaps/ESNAP are geometric points on objects such as the endpoints or midpoints of a line or the center or an arc or circle – You can right click on the ESNAPin the status bar and choose Settings to change the defaults

22. Ortho Ortho Mode, when turned on, restricts the crosshair movement to either horizontal or vertical

23. Undo/Redo AutoCAD keeps a running history of all the commands used in a drawing session which allows you to back up to any point in the drawing – UNDO takes you back one command at a time – REDO moves you forward one command at a time if you go back too far with the UNDO

24. Grid and Snap Crosshair movement can be tracked by turning on Snap mode which locks crosshair movement to a predefined increment The Grid Display button toggles the display of a grid – The grid does not print or control cursor movement

25. Navigating Around the Drawing In order to work effectively, you must be able to navigate around the drawing and control what is displayed on the screen Commands used for these functions include: – Pan – Zoom

26. Layers Layers give you a way to group objects together logically Each layer consists of: – Name – Color – Linetype – Lineweight – Transparency level – Several on/off settings

27. Dimension Styles A dimension style is a collection of dimension settings that control how dimension objects act and are displayed

28. Dimensioning Insert - Dimensions AutoCAD’s dimensioning tools measure distances and place dimensions on your drawing – Dimension tools can be accessed from the Dimensions panel on the Annotate tab

29. Dimensioning

30. Modifying Drawing Objects The general process for modifying objects is to:

31. Plotting and Page Setups When plotting, A+CAD needs to know a number of different settings including: – Printer – Paper size – Orientation – Margins – Color settings – Plot scale – And many other settings

32. Plotting and Page Setups A Page Setup is a collection of plot settings that are applied to a drawing layout

33. Zooming In and Out of a Drawing The A+CAD drawing display is like a camera lens allowing you to zoon in and out The Zoom tools are located on the navigation bar located on the right side of the drawing window

34. Zooming In and Out of a Drawing

35. Panning Around a Drawing Panning is the process of moving your drawing from side to side in the display window so the location of the view changes without affecting the zoom scale – When using the Pan tool, your mouse pointer changes to a hand icon

36. Splitting the Screen into Tiled Viewports View: Viewport

37. Splitting the Screen into Tiled Viewports Both model space and paper space viewports are created using the same tool

38. Drawing Setup Setting Units is typically the first step in setting up your drawing – Setting – Drawing Setting Units can represent any measurement in A+CAD including: – Inches – Feet – Millimeters – Meters – Nautical leagues, etc.

39. Drawing Setup AutoCAD can provide unlimited space for drawing – In model space, drawing area is not critical and can be changed any time – In paper space, the drawing area determines paper size and is set up using the LIMITS command while in model space

40. Drawing Lines Lines are one of the fundamental drawing objects in AutoCAD The LINE command prompts you for the first point, then for the next point and will continue to prompt you for points until you press or

41. Coordinate Entry Methods Using Cartesian Coordinates, it is possible to describe any position on a two-dimensional plane

42. Coordinate Entry Methods A+CAD has different ways of specifying coordinates – Absolute coordinates – measures from the absolute origin of the drawing (0,0) – Relative coordinates – measures from the last specified point by using the @ character in front of the coordinate, for example @4,2

43. Coordinate Entry Methods

44. Drawing Circles There are six different options for creating a circle in AutoCAD including: – Center Radius (default option) – Center Diameter – 2 Point – 3 Point – Tangent Tangent Radius – Tangent Tangent Tangent

45. Drawing Arcs Like circles, arcs are defined by a center point and a radius – Arcs also include a starting angle and an ending angle

46. Drawing Ellipses An ellipse, or oval, is similar in definition to a circle except that is has both a major and minor radius