AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies (2006)

2Foolish Assumptions

read; more information is crammed between the two covers, and the content is more in-depth. This book is laid out to focus on individual topics and allows you the freedom of moving around between its minibooks. We recommend that if you are not familiar (or somewhat familiar) with AutoCAD that you read through Books I and II before moving on to the other minibooks.

After you read this book, don’t let it run too far from your desk — you will find it helpful as a reference whenever you might need it.

Foolish Assumptions

We expect that you know how to use the Windows operating system and understand the basics of navigating folders and starting applications. To take advantage of everything that AutoCAD offers and what is contained in this book, we assume that you have at least an Internet connection — dial-up at least, but a high-speed cable or DSL connection would be best. As long as you have AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT installed on the computer in front of you and a connection to the Internet, you are ready to get started.

Conventions Used in This Book

Text that you would type at the command line or dynamic input tooltip, in a text box, or any other place you enter text appears in bold typeface. Examples of AutoCAD prompts appear in a special typeface.

At times, you may see something like the phrase “choose File Save As.” The small arrow ( ) in this example indicates that you are to choose the File menu and then choose the Save As command.

How This Book Is Organized

The following sections describe the minibooks that this book is broken into.

Book I: AutoCAD Basics

Book I familiarizes you with the AutoCAD interface and the basics of working with drawing files. It provides some background on AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and lists which versions are compatible with each other. It explains how to start the application and sends you on a guided tour of the interface. You also see how to interact with commands using dialog boxes and the command line, and how to get help when you need it from the application. You

How This Book Is Organized

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also get a brief rundown on creating and modifying some of the basic 2D objects, and using a few of the viewing commands. The last two chapters of the minibook show how to use some of the general object and drawing format properties and settings, as well as the different drafting aids that help you create accurate 2D and 3D drawings.

Book II: 2D Drafting

Book II covers many of the commands that are used for creating and working with 2D designs. The first part of the minibook focuses on creating 2D objects that range from lines, circles, and arcs to more complex objects, such as ellipses. Then you see how to select and modify objects that have been created in a drawing. Modifying objects is one of the main tasks that you perform in AutoCAD, next to viewing and creating new objects in a drawing.

Book III: Annotating Drawings

Book III covers how to create an annotation in a drawing that explains a feature or shows the measurement of an object. Annotation in AutoCAD includes text, dimensions, leaders, and hatch. For example, you see how to create single and multiline text objects and tables. The chapter also includes formatting specific characteristics of text and tables, performing spell checking, and doing a find-and-replace on text strings.

Book IV: LT Differences

Book IV focuses on AutoCAD LT and how it is different from AutoCAD, along with using it in the same environment as AutoCAD and expanding AutoCAD LT through customization and other means. This minibook also explains what to watch out for when you use both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT in the same office.

Book V: 3D Modeling

Book V covers how to create, edit, view, and visualize 3D objects. You get the basics of working in 3D, and see how to specify coordinates and adjust the coordinate system to make it easier for you to create and modify objects above the x,y plane. This minibook also tells you how to navigate and view

a 3D model in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.

Book VI: Advanced Drafting

Book VI covers the advanced drafting features that go beyond 2D drafting, which include working with blocks, external references, and raster images.

4Icons Used in This Book

Book VII: Publishing Drawings

Book VII covers generating a hard copy (paper copy) or an electronic version of a drawing that can be viewed without AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT. You see how to use page setups to define how part of a drawing should be printed, and how to create floating viewports and layouts to help output a drawing. You also discover sheet sets, and how you can use them to manage and organize sets of drawings. Sheet sets provide ways to open drawings, keep data in sync through the use of fields and views, and output a number of drawings. This minibook also shows how to create plot configurations and plot styles, and how to plot and publish a drawing layout or layouts to create hard copies or electronic versions of drawings.

Book VIII: Collaboration

Book VIII covers some advanced topics that include CAD standards and file sharing, as well as how to use electronic files for project collaboration. You gain an understanding of the concepts behind CAD standards, as well as how to use the available CAD standards tools to help maintain and enforce CAD standards.

Book IX: Customizing AutoCAD

Book IX covers techniques that are used to customize AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, which allows you to reduce the number of repetitive tasks and steps that you might have to do to complete a design.

Book X: Programming AutoCAD

Book X covers extending AutoCAD through some of the different programming languages that it supports. Programming AutoCAD is different from customizing it, but the goal of reducing repetitive tasks and steps that you have to do to complete a design are the same.

Icons Used in This Book

This book uses the following icons to denote paragraphs that may be of special interest:

This icon indicates information that may save some time or help you not to fall too far from the path to success. For the most part, Tip paragraphs are designed to help guide you through some of the overwhelming parts of AutoCAD and to give you at times what might not always be the most obvious way to get to the desired end result faster.

Icons Used in This Book

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These paragraphs give insight into the inner workings of AutoCAD or something that you won’t typically need to know to use the program, but may find interesting. As you read through the book the first time, you might want to think of the Technical Stuff paragraphs as bonus material and not as required reading, so feel free to skip over them.

This icon helps you to stay away from the deep-end of AutoCAD and helps you to keep out of trouble. Failure to adhere to the message may result in an undesired side effect to your design.

This icon helps to give the gray matter an extra nudge here and there for things that we talked about earlier in the book. AutoCAD is a large program, and it takes a bit of time to put all the pieces together, so we give you some friendly reminders along the way.

This icon helps those who are using AutoCAD LT to know what features are missing from AutoCAD LT that are in AutoCAD. At times, you may not know the differences between the two programs, and these paragraphs can help you determine whether you should be using AutoCAD instead of AutoCAD LT.

This icon highlights what’s new in AutoCAD 2007.

6AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies

Book I

AutoCAD Basics

Contents at a Glance
Chapter 1: Drawing on (and in) AutoCAD ............................................................................	9
Chapter 2: Navigating the AutoCAD Interface....................................................................	15
Chapter 3: All about Files ....................................................................................................	35
Chapter 4: Basic Tools ..........................................................................................................	55
Chapter 5: Setting Up Drawings ..........................................................................................	67
Chapter 6: Precision Tools ..................................................................................................	93

Chapter 1: Drawing on (and in) AutoCAD

In This Chapter

Using CAD in the drawing office

Understanding the origins of AutoCAD

Getting to know AutoCAD file formats

Familiarizing yourself with AutoCAD LT

Getting the lowdown on the newest of the new features

Welcome to AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, your one-stop shop for AutoCAD users of every skill level.

If you’ve read this far, we assume you know a thing or two about the world’s most popular computer-aided drafting program — enough, at least, to know that computer-aided drafting usually goes by the much friendlier acronym of CAD. (And if you’re a brand-new user, you might also cast an eye at this book’s companion volume, AutoCAD 2007 For Dummies.)

The AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies is aimed at AutoCAD users in every discipline — architecture, mechanical design, mapping and GIS, product design, survey and civil engineering, diagramming . . . whatever your field, you’ll find useful information here. We cover the entire CAD workflow process, not forgetting that 90 percent of the time, what you need to produce at the far end of the workflow is a clear and well laid-out paper drawing.

Using CAD in the Drawing Office

Personal computers revolutionized the drafting trade in the 1980s. Before that, some drafting was computerized, but the computers were mainframes or minicomputers (equivalent to the Stanley Steamers and Baker Electrics of the early days of motoring), well beyond the price range of most small architectural or engineering firms.

As a result, even as recently as 30 years ago, virtually all drafting was done by grizzled veterans wearing green eye-shades in smoke-filled back rooms. And not on computers!

10 Understanding AutoCAD Files and Formats

In the old days, apprentice drafters (who were called draftsmen — or even draughtsmen — for it was a male profession) started their careers on the boards as tracers. Hard to believe, but there was a time before mechanical reproduction when every copy of an engineering drawing had to be traced, by hand, from an original. If you’re being forced to learn AutoCAD, you may grumble, but you should be thankful you don’t have to go through a procedure like that!

Today, your job is much easier because of AutoCAD. Maybe your boss is making you use AutoCAD, or you have to pass a course. But there are other reasons to use it — some of which may help you pass that course or get home from the office a little earlier. Here are some CAD advantages:

Precision. AutoCAD is capable of precision to 14 significant digits (ask your math prof or your counselor why one digit should be more significant than another). That’s way more precise than the best manual drafter could ever be.

Appearance. AutoCAD-produced drawings are cleaner, easier to read when reduced, and more consistent than manually drafted drawings.

Reuse. It’s easy to copy and paste parts of drawings into other drawings for use in new projects.

Scalability. You draw things full-size in AutoCAD on an infinitely large drawing sheet. This not only eliminates the possibility of scaling errors as you draw, it also lets you print your drawings at any scale.

Sharing work. Drawing files can be shared with consultants and contractors who can add their own information without having to redraft the whole drawing.

Distributing work. No more running dozens of prints and having them couriered to clients — using AutoCAD you can electronically transmit drawings via e-mail or upload them to shared Web space.

3D benefits. You’re not limited to 2D space; AutoCAD’s drawing space is three-dimensional so you can create models of your projects and generate drawings from them.

Understanding AutoCAD Files and Formats

Like every other computer program under the sun, AutoCAD has its own digital file format. Unlike a Paint program, where the image is created by series of dots, CAD programs store the locations of objects in a database format. Every object in a drawing file — every line, arc, circle, dimension, and so on — is located in the 2D or 3D drawing space using a Cartesian coordinate system. For more on coordinate systems in AutoCAD, see Book VI.

Understanding AutoCAD Files and Formats

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AutoCAD is a backward-compatible program. This doesn’t mean you can open drawings backward or upside-down. It simply means that files created in any version of AutoCAD can be opened in a same or newer version of AutoCAD.

For example, if you have AutoCAD 2007, you can open a file created in any version of AutoCAD since the very first one. If you are working with an older version — say, AutoCAD 2002 — you can open files created in that version and older, but you can’t open files created in AutoCAD 2004 or newer.

Unless we indicate otherwise (for example, with an AutoCAD LT icon), when we say AutoCAD 2007, we include AutoCAD LT 2007 as well. There are some differences — but more similarities — between the two programs. In the next section, “Seeing the LT,” we take a closer look at LT differences.

Table 1-1 lists AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT versions together with their file formats.

Table 1-1	AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT Versions & File Formats
AutoCAD Version	AutoCAD LT Version	Release Year	DWG File Format
AutoCAD 2007	AutoCAD LT 2007	2006	AutoCAD 2007
AutoCAD 2006	AutoCAD LT 2006	2005	AutoCAD 2004
AutoCAD 2005	AutoCAD LT 2005	2004	AutoCAD 2004
AutoCAD 2004	AutoCAD LT 2004	2003	AutoCAD 2004
AutoCAD 2002	AutoCAD LT 2002	2001	AutoCAD 2000
AutoCAD 2000i	AutoCAD LT 2000i	2000	AutoCAD 2000
AutoCAD 2000	AutoCAD LT 2000	1999	AutoCAD 2000
AutoCAD Release 14	AutoCAD LT 98 & LT 97	1997	AutoCAD R14
AutoCAD Release 13	AutoCAD LT 95	1994	AutoCAD R13
AutoCAD Release 12	AutoCAD LT Release 2	1992	AutoCAD R12

Remember, newer versions can open older files, but older versions generally can’t open newer files. However, all recent versions of AutoCAD give you the option of saving back two versions. For example, in AutoCAD 2007’s File menu, you can use the Save Drawing As command to save the drawing file back to AutoCAD 2004 format (which is also used by AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD 2006) so that anyone with that version can open your drawing.

AutoCAD 2007 saves all the way back to the AutoCAD R14 file format used by AutoCAD Release 14 as well as AutoCAD LT 97 and LT 98.

Book I

Chapter 1

DrawingAutoCAD (and on

in)