94	Part I AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Basics

Finally, AutoCAD prompts you to set the drawing limits with the following two prompts:

Enter the paper width:

Enter the paper height:

After each prompt, enter a number based on the size of the paper you plan to plot on. AutoCAD draws a rectangle of the size you indicated for the drawing limits.

Using the Setup Wizards

There are two wizards to help you set up a drawing. You need to activate the Startup dialog box to find them:

1.Choose Tools Options and click the System tab. In the General Options section, choose Show Startup Dialog Box from the Startup drop-down list. Click OK.

2.Choose File New. You see the Startup dialog box.

3.Click the Use a Wizard button. Choose Quick Setup for fewer options or Advanced Setup for more options.

4.Click OK and follow the prompts of the wizard.

Summary

This chapter explained setting up a drawing so that it behaves the way you want it to. You read about:

Setting the unit type

Setting the angle type, measure, and direction

Drawing limits

Using scales and calculating a scale factor

Setting drawing aids and creating a template that includes the settings that you want

Using MVSETUP (AutoCAD only) or the setup wizards to set up your drawing

This chapter ends Part I, “AutoCAD Basics.” Now that you know the basics, you can go on to Part II, “Drawing in Two Dimensions.” The next chapter covers drawing simple lines, polygons, rectangles, and infinite construction lines.

Drawing in Two

Dimensions

Now that you have the basics under your belt, it’s time to draw! In Part II, you learn the techniques for basic drawing and edit-

ing in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. After chapters on drawing simple lines and curves, I explain how to control the display of your drawings. You can also find chapters on creating text, drawing dimensions, and creating dimension styles. Separate chapters cover getting information from your drawing and drawing complex objects. Part II winds down with a chapter on plotting and printing. This part contains all the basic information you need for two-dimensional drawing and design.

P A R T

II

In This Part

Chapter 6

Drawing Simple Lines

Chapter 7

Drawing Curves and Points

Chapter 8

Viewing Your Drawing

Chapter 9

Editing Your Drawing:

Basic Tools

Chapter 10

Editing Your Drawing:

Advanced Tools

Chapter 11

Organizing Drawings with Layers, Colors, Linetypes, and Lineweights

Chapter 12

Getting Information from Your Drawing

Chapter 13

Creating Text

Chapter 14

Drawing Dimensions

Chapter 15

Creating Dimension Styles

and Tolerances

Chapter 16

Drawing Complex Objects

Chapter 17

Plotting and Printing Your

Drawing

Drawing

Simple Lines

Lines are the most commonly drawn object — you’ll use the LINE command a lot! Related commands for drawing rectangles, polygons, and construction lines are also important, so you should have

all these commands in your arsenal. This chapter explains how to draw all these types of objects.

Using the LINE Command

Part I included several exercises in which you drew lines. However, the LINE command has several options, and you can still learn a few tricks of the trade by focusing on the LINE command itself.

To draw a line, choose Line from the Draw toolbar. At the Specify first point: prompt, specify any point. Continue

to specify points until you’re finished. Press Enter to end the command. You can also right-click and choose Enter from the shortcut menu. The LINE command assumes you will continue to use it over and over. For this reason, the command continues to prompt you until you press Enter.

If you continue to draw line segments, the subsequent prompts are different. Here’s how to use them:

The command displays the Specify next point or [Undo]:

prompt for the next two segments. Right-click and choose Undo (or type u ) to undo only the last line segment you created — without exiting the LINE command.

After creating at least two line segments, the command displays

the Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: prompt. Rightclick and choose Close (or type c ) to automatically draw a line from the endpoint of the last segment to the original start point, thereby creating a closed figure. You can continue to use the Undo option as well.

If you previously drew a line, press Enter at the Specify first point: prompt to start the line at the endpoint of the last line. If you most recently drew an arc, press Enter to start the line at the endpoint of the arc and draw it tangent to the arc.

C 6H A P T E R

In This Chapter

Using the LINE command

Drawing rectangles

Drawing polygons

Creating construction lines

Creating rays