autocad 2006 - the-eye.euthe-eye.eu/public/books/for dummies/autocad 2006 for dummies (isbn... ·...

by Mark Middlebrook and David Byrnes

AutoCAD® 2006FOR

DUMmIES‰

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by Mark Middlebrook and David Byrnes

AutoCAD® 2006FOR

DUMmIES‰

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AutoCAD® 2006 For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the AuthorsMark Middlebrook used to be an engineer but gave it up when he discoveredthat he couldn’t handle a real job. He is now principal of Daedalus Consulting,an independent CAD and computer consulting company in Oakland, California.(In case you wondered, Daedalus was the guy in ancient Greek legend who builtthe labyrinth on Crete. Mark named his company after Daedalus before he real-ized that few of his clients would be able to pronounce it and even fewer spellit.) Mark is also a contributing editor for Cadalyst magazine and Webmaster ofmarkcad.com. When he’s not busy being a cad, Mark sells and writes aboutwine for Paul Marcus Wines in Oakland. He also teaches literature and philoso-phy classes at St. Mary’s College of California — hence “Daedalus.” AutoCAD2006 For Dummies is his eighth book on AutoCAD.

David Byrnes is one of those grizzled old-timers you’ll find mentioned everyso often in AutoCAD 2006 For Dummies. He began his drafting career on theboards in 1979 and discovered computer-assisted doodling shortly thereafter.He first learned AutoCAD with version 1.4, around the time when personalcomputers switched from steam to diesel power. Dave is based in Vancouver,British Columbia, and has been an AutoCAD consultant and trainer for fifteenyears. Dave is a contributing editor for Cadalyst magazine and has been a con-tributing author to ten books on AutoCAD. He teaches AutoCAD and othercomputer graphics applications at Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design andBritish Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver. Dave has tech editedsix AutoCAD For Dummies titles. AutoCAD 2006 For Dummies is his firstchance to make his own errors.

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DedicationFrom Mark: To Puck and Pretzel, two absolute AutoCAD dummies who nevercease to inspire and amuse. It was during walks in the woods with them that Ioriginally worked out some of the details of these chapters. I’m pretty surethat Puck could learn AutoCAD, if only he could figure out how to manipulatea mouse. Pretzel, on the other hand, is too interested in squirrels to botherwith mice.

From Dave: To Anna and Delia, the two women in my life, who remind methere are other things besides keyboards and mice (and sometimes they haveto try REALLY hard).

Authors’ AcknowledgmentsMark thanks Bud Smith, who initiated this book seven editions ago, broughthim in on it along the way, and eventually handed it over to him in toto. Davein turn thanks Mark for bringing him on board as co-author, and for askinghim to tech edit the book for the last five editions.

Thanks too to two colleagues and friends at Autodesk, Shaan Hurley and BudSchroeder, who never seem to mind being asked even the dumbest questions.

We both thank Terri Varveris, who again shepherded the project through thedevelopment process; her enthusiasm and infectious energy have helpedmake each new edition more than just an obligatory update. It was also agreat pleasure to work with our frequent project editor Nicole Sholly andcopy editor Jean Rogers. And by no means least, but someone has to bringup the rear, thanks to Lee Ambrosius for taking over the tech editing job.Lee’s expertise is well known and respected in the AutoCAD community, andwe’re delighted to have him with us.

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Publisher’s AcknowledgmentsWe’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration formlocated at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and MediaDevelopment

Project Editor: Nicole Sholly

Acquisitions Editor: Terri Varveris

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Technical Editor: Lee Ambrosius

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Contents at a GlanceIntroduction .................................................................1

Part I: AutoCAD 101 ...................................................7Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT .......................................................9Chapter 2: Le Tour de AutoCAD 2006 ...........................................................................17Chapter 3: A Lap around the CAD Track ......................................................................45Chapter 4: Setup for Success .........................................................................................69

Part II: Let There Be Lines ........................................101Chapter 5: Get Ready to Draw .....................................................................................103Chapter 6: Where to Draw the Line .............................................................................131Chapter 7: Edit for Credit .............................................................................................159Chapter 8: A Zoom with a View ...................................................................................199

Part III: If Drawings Could Talk ................................211Chapter 9: Text with Character ...................................................................................213Chapter 10: Entering New Dimensions .......................................................................239Chapter 11: Down the Hatch ........................................................................................265Chapter 12: The Plot Thickens ....................................................................................275

Part IV: Share and Share Alike .................................301Chapter 13: Playing Blocks and Rasteroids ...............................................................303Chapter 14: Sheet Sets without Regrets .....................................................................335Chapter 15: CAD Standards Rule .................................................................................351Chapter 16: Drawing on the Internet ...........................................................................361

Part V: The Part of Tens ...........................................379Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Do No Harm ........................................................................381Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Swap Drawing Data with Other

People and Programs .................................................................................................385

Index .......................................................................395

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Table of ContentsIntroduction..................................................................1

What’s Not in This Book .................................................................................1Who Are — and Aren’t — You? ......................................................................2How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................3

Part I: AutoCAD 101 ...............................................................................3Part II: Let There Be Lines ....................................................................4Part III: If Drawings Could Talk ............................................................4Part IV: Share and Share Alike .............................................................4Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................................................5

Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................5A Few Conventions — Just in Case ...............................................................6

Part I: AutoCAD 101 ....................................................7

Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Why AutoCAD? ..............................................................................................10The Importance of Being DWG ....................................................................11Seeing the LT ..................................................................................................13Getting Your Kicks with 2006 .......................................................................14

Chapter 2: Le Tour de AutoCAD 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17AutoCAD Does Windows ..............................................................................18And They’re Off: AutoCAD’s Opening Screen ............................................19

Those well-washed Windows ............................................................20Looking for Mr. Status Bar ..................................................................24A smoother ride: Dynamic input .......................................................27Let your fingers do the talking: The command line area ...............28The key(board) to AutoCAD success ...............................................29Down the main stretch: The drawing area .......................................34

Keeping Tabs on Palettes .............................................................................36Driving Miss AutoCAD ..................................................................................38

Under the hood: System variables ....................................................38Chrome and gloss: Dialog boxes .......................................................41

Fun with F1 .....................................................................................................41

Chapter 3: A Lap around the CAD Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45A Simple Setup ...............................................................................................46Drawing a (Base) Plate .................................................................................49

Rectangles on the right layers ...........................................................50Circling your plate ...............................................................................53Place your polygon .............................................................................54

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Get a Closer Look with Zoom and Pan .......................................................56Modify to Make It Merrier ............................................................................58

Hooray for array ..................................................................................58Stretch out ............................................................................................60Cross your hatches .............................................................................63

Follow the Plot ...............................................................................................64

Chapter 4: Setup for Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69A Setup Roadmap ..........................................................................................70

Choosing your units ............................................................................72Weighing your scales ..........................................................................74Thinking about paper .........................................................................76Defending your border .......................................................................79All system variables go .......................................................................80

A Template for Success ................................................................................80Making the Most of Model Space ................................................................83

Setting your units ................................................................................83Telling your drawing its limits ...........................................................85Making the drawing area snap-py (and grid-dy) .............................87Setting linetype and dimension scales .............................................89Entering drawing properties ..............................................................91

Plotting a Layout in Paper Space ................................................................92Creating a layout ..................................................................................92Copying and changing layouts ...........................................................95Lost in paper space .............................................................................97

Making Templates Your Own .......................................................................98

Part II: Let There Be Lines ........................................101

Chapter 5: Get Ready to Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103Drawing and Editing with AutoCAD ..........................................................103Managing Your Properties ..........................................................................104

Putting it on a layer ...........................................................................105Accumulating properties ..................................................................107Creating new layers ...........................................................................110

Using AutoCAD DesignCenter ....................................................................116Named objects ...................................................................................116Getting (Design)Centered .................................................................117Copying layers between drawings ..................................................118

Precise-liness Is Next to CAD-liness ..........................................................120Keyboard capers: Coordinate entry ................................................122Grab an object and make it snappy ................................................124Other precision practices ................................................................128

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Chapter 6: Where to Draw the Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131Introducing the AutoCAD Drawing Commands .......................................132The Straight and Narrow: Lines, Polylines, and Polygons .....................134

Toe the line .........................................................................................135Connect the lines with polyline .......................................................136Square off with rectangle ..................................................................142Choose your sides with polygon .....................................................143

(Throwing) Curves ......................................................................................145Going full circle ..................................................................................145Arc-y-ology .........................................................................................147Ellipses (S. Grant?) ............................................................................149Splines: The sketchy, sinuous curves .............................................150Donuts: The circles with a difference .............................................152Revision clouds on the horizon .......................................................153

Scoring Points ..............................................................................................155

Chapter 7: Edit for Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159Commanding and Selecting .......................................................................159

Command-first editing ......................................................................160Selection-first editing ........................................................................160Choosing an editing style .................................................................160

Grab It ...........................................................................................................161One-by-one selection ........................................................................161Selection boxes left and right ..........................................................162

Perfecting Selecting ....................................................................................164Ready, Get Set, Edit! ....................................................................................167

The big three: Move, Copy, and Stretch .........................................169More manipulations ..........................................................................177Slicing, dicing, and splicing ..............................................................182

Get a Grip .....................................................................................................188About grips .........................................................................................188A gripping example ...........................................................................189Move it! ...............................................................................................192Copy, or a kinder, gentler Move .......................................................193A warm-up Stretch .............................................................................194

Chapter 8: A Zoom with a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199Zoom and Pan with Glass and Hand .........................................................199

Out of the frying pan . . . ...................................................................201Time to zoom .....................................................................................202

A View by Any Other Name . . . ..................................................................203Looking Around in Layout Land ................................................................205Degenerating and Regenerating ................................................................208

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Part III: If Drawings Could Talk ................................211

Chapter 9: Text with Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213Getting Ready to Write ...............................................................................214

Simply stylish text .............................................................................214Taking your text to new heights ......................................................217One line or two? .................................................................................220Your text will be justified ..................................................................221

Using the Same Old Line ............................................................................221Saying More in Multiline Text ....................................................................224

Making it with mText .........................................................................224It slices, it dices . . . ...........................................................................227Doing a number on your mText Lists ..............................................229Modifying mText ................................................................................232

Gather ‘Round the Tables ..........................................................................232Tables have style, too .......................................................................233Creating and editing tables ..............................................................234

Checking Out Your Spelling .......................................................................236

Chapter 10: Entering New Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239Discovering New Dimensions ....................................................................241

Anatomy of a dimension ...................................................................241A field guide to dimensions ..............................................................243Dimension associativity ...................................................................244Pulling out your dimension tools ....................................................244

Doing Dimensions with Style(s) ................................................................245Borrowing existing dimension styles ..............................................245Creating and managing dimension styles .......................................246Adjusting style settings ....................................................................249

Drawing Dimensions ...................................................................................253Lining up some linear dimensions ..................................................254Drawing other kinds of dimensions ................................................256Trans-spatial dimensioning ..............................................................257

Editing Dimensions .....................................................................................258Editing dimension geometry ............................................................258Editing dimension text ......................................................................259Controlling and editing dimension associativity ...........................259

Pointy-Headed Leaders ..............................................................................260

Chapter 11: Down the Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265Hatch . . . Hatch . . . Hatchoo .....................................................................266Pushing the Boundary (of) Hatch .............................................................268

Hatch from scratch ...........................................................................269Getting it right: Hatch angle and scale ...........................................270

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Do fence me in: Defining hatch boundaries ...................................272Hatching that knows its place .........................................................273Have palette, will hatch ....................................................................274

Editing Hatch Objects .................................................................................274

Chapter 12: The Plot Thickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275You Say Printing, I Say Plotting .................................................................275

Get with the system ..........................................................................276Configure it out ..................................................................................277

A Simple Plot ................................................................................................278Plotting success in 16 steps .............................................................278Preview one, two ...............................................................................282Instead of fit, scale it .........................................................................283

Plotting the Layout of the Land .................................................................284About paper space layouts and plotting ........................................284The path to paper space layout plotting success .........................285

Plotting Lineweights and Colors ...............................................................287Plotting with style .............................................................................287Plotting through thick and thin .......................................................291Plotting in color .................................................................................294

It’s a (Page) Setup! .......................................................................................295Continuing the Plot Dialog .........................................................................297Troubles with Plotting ................................................................................299

Part IV: Share and Share Alike ..................................301

Chapter 13: Playing Blocks and Rasteroids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303Rocking with Blocks ....................................................................................304

Creating block definitions ................................................................306Inserting blocks .................................................................................310Attributes: Fill-in-the-blank blocks ..................................................312Exploding blocks ...............................................................................317Theme and variations: Dynamic blocks .........................................318

Going External .............................................................................................325Becoming attached to your xrefs ....................................................326Layer-palooza .....................................................................................328Creating and editing an external reference file ..............................328Forging an xref path ..........................................................................328Managing xrefs ...................................................................................330

Blocks, Xrefs, and Drawing Organization .................................................331Mastering the Raster ..................................................................................332

Attaching an image ............................................................................333Managing your image ........................................................................334

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Chapter 14: Sheet Sets without Regrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335Taming Sheet Sets .......................................................................................336Using an Existing Sheet Set ........................................................................338The Sheet Set Setup ....................................................................................339Getting Your Sheets Together ....................................................................341

Adding existing sheets to a set ........................................................341Sheet subsets .....................................................................................342Creating new sheets for a set ...........................................................343Assembling sheet views from resource drawings .........................344

Making an Automatic Sheet List ................................................................347

Chapter 15: CAD Standards Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351Why CAD Standards? ..................................................................................352Which CAD Standards? ...............................................................................353What Needs to Be Standardized? ..............................................................355

Plotting ................................................................................................355Layers ..................................................................................................356Other stuff ..........................................................................................357

Cool Standards Tools ..................................................................................358

Chapter 16: Drawing on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .361The Internet and AutoCAD: An Overview ................................................362Sending Strategies .......................................................................................364

Send it with ETRANSMIT ..................................................................365Rapid eTransmit ................................................................................366Transmitting multiple drawings ......................................................368FTP for you and me ...........................................................................368Bad reception? ...................................................................................369Help from the Reference Manager ...................................................370

Drawing Web Format — Not Just for the Web .........................................371All about DWF ....................................................................................372ePlot, not replot .................................................................................372Making DWFs with ePlot ...................................................................373Making DWFs (or Plots) with PUBLISH ...........................................375Hand-y objects ...................................................................................376Autodesk DWF Viewer ......................................................................377

The Drawing Protection Racket ................................................................377

Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................379

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Do No Harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381Be Precise .....................................................................................................381Control Properties by Layer ......................................................................381Know Your Drawing Scale Factor ..............................................................382

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Know Your Space ........................................................................................382Explode with Care .......................................................................................382Don’t Cram Your Geometry .......................................................................382Freeze Instead of Erase ...............................................................................383Use CAD Standards .....................................................................................383Save Drawings Regularly ............................................................................383Back Up Drawings Regularly ......................................................................384

Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Swap Drawing Data with Other People and Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .385

DWG ..............................................................................................................386DXF ................................................................................................................388DWF ...............................................................................................................388PDF ................................................................................................................388WMF ..............................................................................................................389BMP, JPEG, TIFF, and Other Raster Formats ............................................390Windows Clipboard .....................................................................................391OLE ................................................................................................................391Screen Capture ............................................................................................393TXT and RTF ................................................................................................394

Index........................................................................395

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Introduction

It’s amazing to think that AutoCAD came into being over two decades ago,at a time when most people thought that personal computers weren’tcapable of industrial-strength tasks like CAD. (The acronym stands forComputer-Aided Drafting, Computer-Aided Design, or both, depending onwhom you talk to.) It’s almost as amazing that, more than 20 years after itsbirth, AutoCAD remains the king of the microcomputer CAD hill by a tallmargin. Many competing CAD programs have come to challenge AutoCAD,many have fallen, and a few are still around. One hears rumblings that thelong-term future of CAD may belong to special-purpose, 3D-based softwaresuch as the Autodesk Inventor and Revit programs. Whether or not thoserumblings amplify into a roar remains to be seen, but for the present and thenear future anyway, AutoCAD is where the CAD action is.

In its evolution, AutoCAD has grown more complex, in part to keep up withthe increasing complexity of the design and drafting processes that AutoCADis intended to serve. It’s not enough just to draw nice-looking lines anymore.If you want to play CAD with the big boys and girls, you need to organize theobjects you draw, their properties, and the files in which they reside inappropriate ways. You need to coordinate your CAD work with other peoplein your office who will be working on or making use of the same drawings.You need to be savvy about shipping drawings around via the Internet.

AutoCAD 2006 provides the tools for doing all these things, but it’s not alwayseasy to figure out which hammer to pick up or which nail to bang on first.With this book, you have an excellent chance of creating a presentable,usable, printable, and sharable drawing on your first or second try withoutputting a T square through your computer screen in frustration.

What’s Not in This BookUnlike many other For Dummies books, this one does tell you to consult theofficial software documentation sometimes. AutoCAD is just too big and com-plicated for a single book to attempt to describe it completely.

AutoCAD is also too big and complicated for us to cover every feature. Wedon’t address advanced topics like database connectivity, customization, andprogramming in the interest of bringing you a book of a reasonable size —one that you’ll read rather than stick on your shelf with those other thousand-page tomes! For this edition, we removed the chapter on 3D that was in previous editions in order to make room for a new “A Lap around the CAD

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Track” chapter. This new Chapter 3 guides you through the standard sequenceof creating, drawing, editing, and plotting a CAD drawing. Our experience isthat the great majority of AutoCAD users (and virtually all AutoCAD LT usersbecause AutoCAD LT does not support the creation of 3D objects) use thesoftware for 2D drafting. But fear not — we’ve posted an updated version ofthe 3D chapter on Mark’s Web site. If you’d like to get started with 3D CAD,just point your browser to www.markcad.com/books/acad2006fd. The Website also features other AutoCAD information, sample drawing templates,add-on utility programs, and articles.

This book focuses on AutoCAD 2006 and addresses its slightly less-capable,much lower-cost sibling, AutoCAD LT 2006. We do occasionally mention dif-ferences with previous versions, going back to the highly popular AutoCADRelease 14, so that everyone has some context and upgraders can more read-ily understand the differences. We also mention the important differencesbetween full AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, so that you’ll know what you — or yourLT-using colleagues — are missing. This book does not cover the discipline-specific features in AutoCAD-based products such as Autodesk ArchitecturalDesktop, except for some general discussion in Chapter 1, but most of theinformation in this book applies to the general-purpose AutoCAD features inthe AutoCAD 2006–based versions of those programs as well.

Who Are — and Aren’t — You?AutoCAD has a large, loyal, and dedicated group of long-time users. Thisbook is not for the sort of people who have been using AutoCAD for a decade,who plan their vacation time around Autodesk University, or who consider1,000-page-plus technical tomes about AutoCAD as pleasure reading. This bookis for people who want to get going quickly with AutoCAD, but who also knowthe importance of developing proper CAD techniques from the beginning.

However, you do need to have some idea of how to use your computersystem before tackling AutoCAD — and this book. You need to have a com-puter system with AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT (preferably the 2006 version). Aprinter or plotter and a connection to the Internet will be big helps, too.

You also need to know how to use Windows to copy and delete files, create afolder, and find a file. You need to know how to use a mouse to select (high-light) or to choose (activate) commands, how to close a window, and how tominimize and maximize windows. Make sure that you’re familiar with thebasics of your operating system before you start with AutoCAD.

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How This Book Is OrganizedAppearances can be deceptive. For example, if you saw the apparentlyrandom piles of stuff that covered the authors’ desks while they were writingthis book, you might wonder how they could possibly organize a paragraph,let alone an entire book. But each of us (given some concerted thought)knows exactly where to put our hands on that list of new dimension vari-ables, or that bag of 1⁄2" binder clips, or the rest of that bagel and creamcheese we started at coffee break.

We hope you’ll find that the book also reflects some concerted thought abouthow to present AutoCAD in a way that’s both easy-to-dip-into and smoothly-flowing-from-beginning-to-end.

The organization of this book into parts — collections of related chapters —is one of the most important, uh, parts of this book. You really can get toknow AutoCAD one piece at a time, and each part represents a group ofclosely related topics. The order of parts also says something about priority;yes, you have our permission to ignore the stuff in later parts until you’vemastered most of the stuff in the early ones. This kind of building-blockapproach can be especially valuable in a program as powerful as AutoCAD.

The following sections describe the parts that the book breaks down into.

Part I: AutoCAD 101Need to know your way around the AutoCAD screen? Why does AutoCADeven exist, anyway? What are all the different AutoCAD-based products that Autodesk sells, and should you be using one of them — for example,AutoCAD LT — instead of AutoCAD? Is everything so slooow because it’s supposed to be slow, or do you have too wimpy a machine to use thiswonder of modern-day computing? And why do you have to do this stuff inthe first place?

Part I answers all these questions — and more. This part also includes whatmay seem like a great deal of excruciating detail about setting up a new draw-ing in AutoCAD. But what’s even more excruciating is to do your setup workincorrectly and then feel as though AutoCAD is fighting you every step of theway. With a little drawing setup work done in advance, it won’t.

3Introduction

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Part II: Let There Be LinesIn this part, it’s time for some essential concepts, including object propertiesand CAD precision techniques. We know that you’re raring to make some draw-ings, but if you don’t get a handle on this stuff early on, you’ll be terminally —or is that monitor-ally? — confused when you try to draw and edit objects. If you want to make drawings that look good, plot good, and are good, readthis stuff!

After the concepts preamble, the bulk of this part covers the trio of activitiesthat you’ll probably spend most of your time in AutoCAD doing: drawingobjects, editing them, and zooming and panning to see them better on thescreen. These are the things that you do in order to create the geometry —that is, the CAD representations of the objects in the real world that you’redesigning. By the end of Part II, you should be pretty good at geometry, evenif your ninth-grade math teacher told you otherwise.

Part III: If Drawings Could TalkCAD drawings do not live on lines alone — most of them require quite a bit oftext, dimensioning, and hatching in order to make the design intent clear tothe poor chump who has to build your amazing creation. (Whoever said “apicture is worth a thousand words” must not have counted up the number ofwords on the average architectural drawing!) This part shows you how toadd these essential features to your drawings.

After you’ve gussied up your drawing with text, dimensions, and hatching,you’ll probably want to create a snapshot of it to show off to your client, con-tractor, or grandma. Normal people call this process printing, but CAD peoplecall it plotting. Whatever you decide to call it, we show you how to do it.

Part IV: Share and Share AlikeA good CAD user, like a good kindergartner, plays well with others. AutoCADencourages this behavior with a host of drawing- and data-sharing features.Blocks, external reference files, and raster images encourage reuse of parts of drawings, entire drawings, and bitmap image files. AutoCAD 2006’s newdynamic blocks feature offers unlimited possibilities for creating shareableblocks that can have actions associated with them, or that can take on differ-ent appearances. CAD standards serve as the table manners of the CAD pro-duction process — they define and regulate how people create drawings sothat sharing can be more productive and predictable. AutoCAD’s Internet fea-tures enable sharing of drawings well beyond your hard disk and local network.


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The drawing and data-sharing features in AutoCAD take you way beyond old-style, pencil-and-paper design and drafting. After you’ve discovered howto apply the techniques in this part, you’ll be well on your way to full CAD-nerdhood (you may want to warn your family beforehand).

Part V: The Part of TensThis part contains guidelines that minimize your chances of really messingup drawings (your own or others’) and techniques for swapping drawingswith other people and accessing them from other computer programs.There’s a lot of meat packed into these two chapters — juicy tidbits fromyears of drafting, experimentation, and fist-shaking at things that don’t workright — not to mention years of compulsive list-making. We hope that youfind that these lists help you get on the right track quickly and stay there.

Icons Used in This BookThis icon tells you that herein lies a pointed insight that can save you timeand trouble as you use AutoCAD. In many cases, tip paragraphs act as afunnel on AutoCAD’s impressive but sometimes overwhelming flexibility:After telling you all the ways that you can do something, we tell you the waythat you should do it in most cases.

The Technical Stuff icon points out places where we delve a little more deeplyinto AutoCAD’s inner workings or point out something that most people don’tneed to know about most of the time. These paragraphs definitely are notrequired reading the first time through, so if you come to one of them at a timewhen you’ve reached your techie detail threshold, feel free to skip over them.

This icon tells you how to stay out of trouble when living a little close to theedge. Failure to heed its message may have unpleasant consequences for youand your drawing — or maybe for both of you.

There’s a lot to remember when you’re using AutoCAD, so we’ve rememberedto remind you about some of those things that you should be remembering.These paragraphs usually refer to a crucial point earlier in the chapter or in aprevious chapter. So if you’re reading sequentially, a remember paragraphserves as a friendly reminder. If you’re not reading sequentially, this kind ofparagraph may help you realize that you need to review a central concept ortechnique before proceeding.

This icon points to new stuff in AutoCAD 2006. It’s mostly designed for thoseof you who are somewhat familiar with a previous version of AutoCAD andwant to be alerted to what’s new in this version. New AutoCAD users starting

5Introduction

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out their CAD working lives with AutoCAD 2006 will find this stuff interesting,too — especially when they can show off their new book-learnin’ to the griz-zled AutoCAD veterans in the office who don’t yet know about all the cool,new features.

This icon highlights differences between AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD. If you’reusing AutoCAD LT, you’ll find out what you’re missing compared to “full”AutoCAD. If your friend is using LT, you’ll know where to look to find stuff inAutoCAD to brag about.

A Few Conventions — Just in CaseYou probably can figure out for yourself all the information in this section,but here are the details just in case.

Text you type into the program at the command line, in a dialog box, in a textbox, and so on appears in boldface type. Examples of AutoCAD promptsappear in a special typeface, as does any other text in the book thatechoes a message, a word, or one or more lines of text that actually appearon-screen. Sequences of prompts that appear in the AutoCAD command linearea have a shaded background, like so:

Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] :

(Many of the figures — especially in Chapters 6 and 7 — also show AutoCADcommand line sequences that demonstrate AutoCAD’s prompts and exampleresponses.)

Often in this book, you see phrases such as “choose File➪Save As from themenu bar.” The funny little arrow (➪) separates the main menu name fromthe specific command on that menu. In this example, you open the File menuand choose the Save As command. If you know another way to start the samecommand (in this example, type SAVEAS and press Enter), you’re welcome todo it that way instead.

Many AutoCAD commands have shortcut (fewer letter) versions for the bene-fit of those who like to type commands at the AutoCAD command prompt. Inthis book, we format command names with the shortcut letters in uppercaseand the other letters in lowercase, so that you become familiar with theshortcuts and can use them if you want to. So when you see an instructionlike “run the DimLInear command to draw a linear dimension,” it means “for alinear dimension, type DIMLINEAR, or DLI for short, at the command line,and then press the Enter key.”


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Part IAutoCAD 101

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In this part . . .

AutoCAD is more than just another application pro-gram; it’s a complete environment for drafting anddesign. So if you’re new to AutoCAD, you need to knowseveral things to get off to a good start — especially howto use the command line area and set up your drawingproperly. These key techniques are described in this partof the book.

If you’ve used earlier versions of AutoCAD, you’ll be mostinterested in the high points of the new release, includingsome newer interface components. The lowdown onwhat’s new is here, too.

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Chapter 1

Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT

In This Chapter� Getting the AutoCAD advantage

� Using AutoCAD and DWG files

� Meeting the AutoCAD product family

� Using AutoCAD LT instead of AutoCAD

� Upgrading from a previous version

Welcome to the fraternity whose members are the users of one of theweirdest, wackiest, and most wonderful computer programs in theworld: AutoCAD. Maybe you’re one of the few remaining holdouts who con-tinues to practice the ancient art of manual drafting with pencil and vellum.Or maybe you’re completely new to drafting and yearn for the wealth andfame of the drafter’s life. Maybe you’re an engineer or architect who needs tocatch up with the young CAD hotshots in your office. Or maybe you’re a full-time drafter whose fingers haven’t yet been pried away from your beloveddrafting board. Maybe you tried to use AutoCAD a long time ago but gave upin frustration or just got rusty. Or maybe you currently use an older version,such as AutoCAD 2000 or even (if you like antiques) Release 14.

Whatever your current situation and motivation, we hope that you enjoy theprocess of becoming proficient with AutoCAD. Drawing with AutoCAD is chal-lenging at first, but it’s a challenge worth meeting. CAD rewards those whothink creatively about their work and look for ways to do it better. You canalways find out more, discover a new trick, or improve the efficiency andquality of your drawing production.

AutoCAD first hit the bricks in the early 1980s, around the same time as thefirst IBM PCs. It was offered for a bewildering variety of operating systems,including CP/M (ask your granddad about that one!), various flavors of UNIX,and even Apple’s Macintosh. By far, the most popular of those early versions

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was for MS-DOS (your dad can tell you about that one). Eventually, Autodesksettled on Microsoft Windows as the sole operating system for AutoCAD.AutoCAD 2006 works with Windows XP — Professional, Home, and Tablet PCeditions — and Windows 2000.

Because of AutoCAD’s MS-DOS heritage and its emphasis on efficiency forproduction drafters, it’s not the easiest program to master, but it has gotteneasier and more consistent. AutoCAD is pretty well integrated into theWindows environment now, but you still bump into some vestiges of its MS-DOS legacy — especially the command line (that text area lurking at thebottom of the AutoCAD screen — see Chapter 2 for details). But even thecommand line has gotten kinder and gentler in AutoCAD 2006. This bookguides you around the bumps and minimizes the bruises.

Why AutoCAD?AutoCAD has been around a long time — since 1982. AutoCAD ushered in thetransition from really expensive mainframe and minicomputer CAD systemscosting tens of thousands of dollars to merely expensive microcomputer CADprograms costing a few thousand dollars.

AutoCAD is, first and foremost, a program to create technical drawings; draw-ings in which measurements and precision are important, because these kindsof drawings often get used to build something. The drawings you create withAutoCAD must adhere to standards established long ago for hand-drafteddrawings. The up-front investment to use AutoCAD is certainly more expen-sive than the investment needed to use pencil and paper, and the learningcurve is much steeper, too. Why bother? The key reasons for using AutoCADrather than pencil and paper are

� Precision: Creating lines, circles, and other shapes of the exactly correctdimensions is easier with AutoCAD than with pencils.

� Modifiability: Drawings are much easier to modify on the computerscreen than on paper. CAD modifications are a lot cleaner, too.

� Efficiency: Creating many kinds of drawings is faster with a CAD program — especially drawings that involve repetition, such as floorplans in a multistory building. But that efficiency takes skill and prac-tice. If you’re an accomplished pencil-and-paper drafter, don’t expectCAD to be faster at first!

Figure 1-1 shows several kinds of drawings in AutoCAD 2006.

10 Part I: AutoCAD 101

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Why choose AutoCAD? AutoCAD is just the starting point of a whole industryof software products designed to work with AutoCAD. Autodesk has helpedthis process along immensely by designing a series of programming inter-faces to AutoCAD that other companies — and Autodesk itself — have usedto extend the application. Some of the add-on products have become suchwinners that Autodesk acquired them and incorporated them into its ownproducts. When you compare all the resources — including the add-ons,extensions, training courses, books, and so on — AutoCAD doesn’t havemuch PC CAD competition.

The Importance of Being DWGTo take full advantage of AutoCAD in your work environment, you need to beaware of the DWG file format, the format in which AutoCAD saves drawings.In some cases, an older version of AutoCAD can’t open a DWG file that’s beensaved by a newer version of AutoCAD.

Figure 1-1:Cities,

houses, little toy

trains —what do you

want todraw today?

11Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT

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� A newer version of AutoCAD always can open files saved by an older version.

� Some previous versions of AutoCAD can open files saved by the subse-quent one or two versions. For example, AutoCAD 2004 can open DWGfiles saved by AutoCAD 2006. That’s because Autodesk didn’t change theDWG file format between AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD 2006.

� You can use the Save As option in newer versions to save the file tosome older DWG formats.

Table 1-1 shows which versions (described later in this chapter) use whichDWG file formats.

Table 1-1 AutoCAD Versions and DWG File FormatsAutoCAD AutoCAD Release DWG File Version LT Version Year Format

AutoCAD 2006 AutoCAD LT 2006 2005 Acad 2004




AutoCAD 2000i AutoCAD LT 2000i 2000 Acad 2000


AutoCAD Release 14 AutoCAD LT 98 & 97 1997 Acad R14

AutoCAD Release 13 AutoCAD LT 95 1994 Acad R13

AutoCAD Release 12 AutoCAD LT Release 2 1992 Acad R12

Working with AutoCAD is easier when your co-workers and colleagues inother companies all use the same version of AutoCAD and AutoCAD-relatedtools. That way, your DWG files, add-on tools, and even the details of your CADknowledge can be mixed and matched among your workgroup and partners.In the real world, you may work with people — at least in other companies —who use AutoCAD versions as old as Release 14.

Many programs claim to be DWG-compatible — that is, capable of convertingdata to and from AutoCAD’s DWG format. But achieving this compatibility is adifficult thing to do well. Even a small error in file conversion can have resultsranging in severity from annoying to appalling. If you exchange DWG fileswith people who use other CAD programs, be prepared to spend time findingand fixing translation problems.


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AutoCAD 2006 can save files as far back as AutoCAD 2000 format. If you needto go back farther than that (say, for a die-hard client still using Release 14),you can save to the R12 DXF format, which AutoCAD Release 14 will open —see Chapter 18 for instructions. An alternative is to download a copy ofAutodesk’s Batch File Converter, which will save your files back to Release 14DWG. See Chapter 18 for more information.

Seeing the LTAutoCAD LT is one of the best deals around, a shining example of the old80/20 rule: roughly 80 percent of the capabilities of AutoCAD for roughly 20percent of the money. Like AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT runs on mainstreamWindows computers and doesn’t require any additional hardware devices.With AutoCAD LT, you can be a player in the world of AutoCAD, the world’sleading CAD program, for a comparatively low starting cost.

AutoCAD LT is a very close cousin to AutoCAD. Autodesk creates AutoCAD LTby starting with the AutoCAD program, taking out a few features to justifycharging a lower price, adding a couple of features to enhance ease of useversus full AutoCAD, and testing the result.


AutoCAD-based applicationsAutodesk has expanded AutoCAD into a wholeproduct line of programs with AutoCAD as abase and specialized, discipline-specific add-ons built on top and included as one completeproduct. As an AutoCAD 2006 user, you’ll belooking for the 2006-compatible versions ofthese tools, which should appear a few monthsafter AutoCAD 2006 ships. These discipline-specific flavors of AutoCAD include AutodeskArchitectural Desktop and Autodesk BuildingSystems (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing),Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, Autodesk Map,AutoCAD Land Desktop, Autodesk Survey, andAutodesk Civil Design.

To make matters even more confusing,Autodesk now offers Autodesk Revit andAutodesk Inventor, software applications thatcompete with Architectural Desktop and

Mechanical Desktop, respectively. Revit andInventor are not based on AutoCAD; they sacrifice AutoCAD compatibility in favor of amore fundamentally design- and 3D-orientedapproach to CAD. Whether they ultimately willreplace the traditional AutoCAD-based applica-tions remains to be seen. Thus far, most com-panies seem to be sticking with AutoCAD andthe AutoCAD-based Desktop applications.

In addition to the products from Autodesk, thou-sands of AutoCAD add-on products — both dis-cipline-specific and general-purpose — areavailable from other software developers.These companion products are sometimescalled third-party applications. Visit partnerproducts.autodesk.com for more infor-mation about what’s available.

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As a result, AutoCAD LT looks and works much like AutoCAD. The openingscreen and menus of the two programs are nearly identical. (LT is missing afew commands from the AutoCAD menus.)

In fact, the major difference between the programs has nothing to do with theprograms themselves. The major difference is that AutoCAD LT lacks supportfor several customization and programming languages that are used to developAutoCAD add-ons. So almost none of the add-on programs or utilities offeredby Autodesk and others are available to LT users.

AutoCAD LT also has only limited 3D support. You can view and edit 3Dobjects in AutoCAD LT, so you can work with drawings created in AutoCADthat contain 3D objects. However, you cannot create true 3D objects in LT.

The lack of 3D object creation in LT is not as big a negative for many users asyou may think. Despite a lot of hype from the computer press and CAD ven-dors (including Autodesk), 3D CAD remains a relatively specialized activity.The majority of people use CAD programs to create 2D drawings.

Although you may hear claims that AutoCAD LT is easier to master and usethan AutoCAD, the truth is that they’re about equally difficult (or easy, depend-ing on your nerd IQ). The LT learning curve doesn’t differ significantly fromthat of AutoCAD. AutoCAD was originally designed for maximum power andthen modified somewhat to improve ease of use. AutoCAD LT shares thissame heritage.

Fortunately, the minimal differences between LT and AutoCAD mean thatafter you have climbed that learning curve, you’ll have the same great view.You’ll have almost the full range of AutoCAD’s 2D drafting tools, and you’ll beable to exchange DWG files with AutoCAD users without data loss.

This book covers AutoCAD 2006, but almost all the information in it appliesto AutoCAD LT 2006 as well. The icon that you see at the left of this paragraphhighlights significant differences.

Getting Your Kicks with 2006You should know the following before you upgrade from a previous AutoCADrelease:

� Wash those old Windows: AutoCAD 2006 does not support older ver-sions of Windows, such as Windows NT, 98, and Me. You must useWindows XP (Professional, Home, or Tablet PC) or Windows 2000.


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� DWG file compatibility: AutoCAD 2006 uses the AutoCAD 2004 DWG fileformat, so you’ll be able to exchange files easily with users of AutoCAD2004 and 2005. You can use File➪Save As to create DWG files for users ofAutoCAD 2000, 2000i, and 2002, but not for AutoCAD Release 14 and ear-lier versions. (To get around this limitation, you can save to the Release12 DXF format — see Chapter 18 for instructions.)

� Application compatibility: If you use third-party applications with a pre-vious version of AutoCAD, they may not work with AutoCAD 2006. ManyAutoCAD 2004 and 2005 applications, including those developed withthe ARX (AutoCAD Runtime eXtension) and VBA (Visual Basic forApplications) programming interfaces will work with AutoCAD 2006, but older ARX and VBA applications won’t work.

Many LSP (AutoLISP) programs written for the last several versions ofAutoCAD work with AutoCAD 2006.

� Increased computer system requirements: For AutoCAD 2006, Autodeskrecommends an 800 MHz Pentium III or better processor, at least 256MBof RAM, 1024 x 768 or higher display resolution with True Color graphics,300MB of available hard disk space, an Internet connection, and MicrosoftInternet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 1 or later.

AutoCAD 2006 comes out a mere year after AutoCAD 2005 and thus doesn’tsport quite as many new features as did some earlier upgrades, many ofwhich came out at two-year intervals. The new features and feature improve-ments in AutoCAD 2006, however, are well conceived and worthwhile. Threeespecially great new features are

� Dynamic input: You can almost forget about the command prompt.AutoCAD 2006 features a heads-up interface that displays commandnames, options, prompts, and values right next to the crosshairs. (SeeChapter 2.)

� Improved object selection: AutoCAD provides more positive feedbackthan ever before with its new rollover highlighting feature. (See Chapter 7.)

� Dynamic blocks: You no longer need separate blocks for every door orwindow size in your drawings. Now you can insert a single block defini-tion and choose its configuration as you insert it. (See Chapter 13.)

If you’re using any version prior to AutoCAD 2004, the new version definitelyis worth upgrading to. You’ll enjoy a slew of improvements, including acleaner, more functional interface (Chapter 2), smoother transitions betweenview changes (Chapter 8), and many command enhancements (Chapter 7).

AutoCAD 2006 is a worthy new version. If you’ve been putting off upgrading,and especially if you’ve been hanging out with an old version such asAutoCAD 2000 or Release 14, this probably is a good time to take the plunge.


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No Express service?If your menu bar doesn’t include the Expressmenu (see Figure 1-1), you should considerinstalling the Express Tools from your AutoCADCD (AutoCAD LT does not include or support theExpress Tools).

When you first install AutoCAD 2006, youchoose between a Typical or a Custom instal-lation. If you choose Typical, the Express Tools(and the 3D DWF Publish tool) are automati-cally selected, and will be installed as long asyou don’t uncheck the options during setup.

If you choose a Custom installation, the ExpressTools are not selected, but you can include them later in the installation by checking theappropriate box. If you do not install the ExpressTools during initial setup, you will have to re-run AutoCAD 2006’s installation routine. If youhaven’t installed AutoCAD yet, we strongly recommend that you choose the Typical instal-lation option — or at least make sure theExpress Tools box is checked during a Custominstallation.

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Chapter 2

Le Tour de AutoCAD 2006In This Chapter� Touring the AutoCAD 2006 screen

� Going bar-hopping: title bars, the menu bar, toolbars, and the status bar

� Dynamically inputting and commanding the command line

� Discovering the drawing area

� Making the most of Model and Layout tabs

� Practicing with palettes

� Setting system variables and dealing with dialog boxes

� Using online help

AutoCAD 2006 is a full-fledged citizen of the Windows world, with tool-bars, dialog boxes, right-click menus, a multiple-document interface,and all the other trappings of a real Windows program. And it’s becomingmore and more Windows-like with each release. One of the last weird butessential holdovers from the DOS days is the AutoCAD command line area.The command line is still there, but in AutoCAD 2006, you’ll be much lessreliant on this “look down here — now look up here” method of interactingwith the program.

AutoCAD 2006, like the fanciest Detroit iron, bristles with heads-up displayfeatures. The new version’s dynamic input system puts much of the commandline information right under your nose (or at least under your crosshairs).And recently entered data is just a right-click away.

Like the rest of the book, this chapter is written for someone who has usedother Windows programs but has little or no experience with AutoCAD. Ifyou’re experienced with recent versions of AutoCAD, some of this chapter isold hat for you. You’ll have a head start with palettes and some of the newstatus bar features. If you have used AutoCAD 2004 or 2005, this chapter willhelp you when it comes to dynamic input, which is a new and strange feature.

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AutoCAD Does WindowsFinding your way around AutoCAD 2006 can be an odd experience. You recog-nize from other Windows applications much of the appearance and workingsof the program, such as its toolbars and pull-down menus, which you use forentering commands or changing system settings. But other aspects of theprogram’s appearance — and some of the ways in which you work with it —are quite different from other Windows programs. You can, in many cases, tell the program what to do in at least four ways — pick a toolbar icon, pickfrom the pull-down menus, type at the keyboard, or pick from the right-clickmenus — none of which is necessarily the best method to use for every task.The experience is much like that of having to act as several different charac-ters in a play; you’re likely to forget your lines (whichever “you” you are atthe time!) every now and then.

As with other Windows programs, the menus at the top of the AutoCAD screenenable you to access most of the program’s functions and are the easiest-to-remember method of issuing commands. When you want to get real work


Screen test yields high profileThe screen shots and descriptions in this chapter reflect the default configuration ofAutoCAD — that is, the way the screen looks ifyou use the standard version of AutoCAD (not aflavored version such as Architectural Desktop)and haven’t messed with the display settings.You can change the appearance of the screenwith settings on the Display tab of the Optionsdialog box (choose Tools➪Options➪Display)and by dragging toolbars and other screen com-ponents.

The main change we’ve made is to configurethe drawing area background to be whiteinstead of black, because the figures in the bookshow up better that way. On your system, you’ll probably want to leave your drawing areabackground black because the normal range ofcolors that appears in most drawings is easierto see against a black background.

If you’re using a flavored version of AutoCAD, orif someone has already changed your configu-ration or added a third-party program to your

setup, your screen may look different than thefigures in this book. You can restore the defaultconfiguration — including display settings —with the Reset button on the Options dialogbox’s Profiles tab. (AutoCAD LT doesn’t includethe Profiles feature, so LT users are out of luckhere.) But before you click the Reset button,consider whether the modified configurationmay be useful to someone in the future — like you! If so, first click the Add to List button to create a new profile. Enter a pithy name for the new profile, such as AutoCAD default.Then select the new profile that you created,click the Set Current button to make it the cur-rent profile, and finally click the Reset button. In the future, you can switch between yourmodified and default configurations with the SetCurrent button.

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done, you’ll need to combine the pull-down menus with other methods —especially entering options at the keyboard or choosing them from the right-click menus. We show you how throughout this book.

And They’re Off: AutoCAD’s Opening Screen

When you launch AutoCAD after first installing it, the opening screen, shownin Figure 2-1, displays an arrangement of menus, toolbars, palettes, and anew, blank drawing. You can close the Sheet Set Manager and Tool Palettesfor now — we describe how to turn them back on and how to use them laterin this chapter. (If you installed the Express Tools, as we describe at the endof Chapter 1, you’ll also see a flock of small toolbars labeled ET. You cansafely close all these and use the Express pull-down menu to access all theExpress Tools.)

Sheet Set Manager Dynamic input cursor Tool palette

Figure 2-1:Heads

up! TheAutoCAD

2006 screen.

19Chapter 2: Le Tour de AutoCAD 2006

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If you have a previous version of AutoCAD on your computer, AutoCAD 2006will display a Migrate Settings dialog box the first time you run the program.Unless you’re a competent AutoCAD user who is reading this book to find outabout the new features, we recommend that you uncheck all the MigrateSettings options and start fresh.

Those well-washed Windows As shown in Figure 2-1, much of the AutoCAD screen is standard Windowsfare — title bars, a menu bar, toolbars, and a status bar.

A hierarchy of title barsLike most Windows programs, AutoCAD has a title bar at the top of its programwindow that reminds you which program you’re in (not that you’d ever mis-take the AutoCAD window for, say, Microsoft Word!).

� At the right side of the title bar is the standard set of three Windowscontrol buttons: Minimize, Maximize/Restore, and Close.

� Each drawing window within the AutoCAD program window has its owntitle bar. You use the control buttons on a drawing window’s title bar tominimize, maximize/un-maximize, or close that drawing, not the entireAutoCAD program.

As in other Windows programs, if you maximize a drawing’s window, it expandsto fill the entire drawing area. (AutoCAD 2006 starts with the drawing maxi-mized in this way.) As shown in Figure 2-1, the drawing’s control buttonsmove onto the menu bar, below the control buttons for the AutoCAD programwindow; the drawing’s name appears in the AutoCAD title bar. To un-maximizethe drawing so that you can see any other drawings that you have open, clickthe lower un-maximize button. The result is as shown in Figure 2-2: a separatetitle bar for each drawing with the name and controls for that drawing.


Hot-wiring the menu barSome standard tips and tricks for Windows areespecially useful in AutoCAD. Control-key short-cuts for the most popular functions — Ctrl+S tosave, Ctrl+O to open a file, and Ctrl+P to print —work the same way in AutoCAD as in most otherWindows programs. Use them!

Also worth exploring are the Alt-key shortcuts,which are available for all menu choices, not

just the most popular ones. To fly around themenus, just press and hold the Alt key and thenpress the letters on your keyboard that corre-spond to the underlined letters on the menu barand in the menu choices. To bring up theSAVEAS command, for example, just press andhold the Alt key, press F for File, and then pressA for Save As.

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Making choices from the menu barThe menu bar contains the names of all the primary menus in your version ofAutoCAD. As with any program that’s new to you, it’s worth spending a fewminutes perusing the menus in order to familiarize yourself with the com-mands and their arrangement. (If your menu bar doesn’t include the Expressmenu, see the end of Chapter 1 for installation instructions.)

Cruising the toolbarsAs in other Windows programs, the toolbars in AutoCAD provide rapidaccess to the most commonly used AutoCAD commands. AutoCAD 2006ships with toolbars in this default arrangement (as shown in Figure 2-3):

� Standard toolbar: Located on top, just below the menu bar; file manage-ment and other common Windows functions, plus some specializedAutoCAD stuff such as zooming and panning.

� Styles toolbar: To the right of the Standard toolbar; analogous to the leftpart of the Formatting toolbar in Microsoft programs, but formatting ofAutoCAD’s text, dimension, and table styles. Chapters 9 and 10 coverthese features.

� Layers toolbar: Beneath the Standard toolbar; commands and a drop-down list for manipulating layers, which are AutoCAD’s fundamentaltools for organizing and formatting objects. Chapter 5 contains the layerlowdown.

Figure 2-2:The

AutoCADscreen

with thedrawing un-maximized.


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� Properties toolbar: To the right of the Layers toolbar; analogous to theright part of the Formatting toolbar in Microsoft programs, but formattingof AutoCAD’s properties, such as colors, linetypes, and lineweights. SeeChapter 5 when you’re ready to play with AutoCAD’s object properties.

� Draw toolbar: Vertically down the far-left edge of the screen; the mostcommonly used commands from the Draw menu. Chapter 6 covers mostof the items on this toolbar.

� Modify toolbar: Vertically down the far-right edge of the screen; themost commonly used commands from the Modify menu. Chapter 7shows you how to use almost everything on this toolbar.

� Draw Order toolbar: Beneath the Modify toolbar; commands for con-trolling which objects appear on top of which other objects. Chapter 13mentions these features.

You can rearrange, open, and close toolbars as in other Windows programs:

� To move a toolbar, point to its border (the double-line control handle atthe leading edge of the toolbar is the easiest part to grab), click, and drag.

� To open or close toolbars, right-click on any toolbar button and choosefrom the list of available toolbars, as shown in Figure 2-3.

The AutoCAD screen in Figure 2-3 shows the default toolbar arrangement,which works fine for most people. Feel free to close the Draw Order toolbar;you aren’t likely to use its features frequently. You may want to turn on acouple of additional toolbars, such as Object Snap and Dimension, as you dis-cover and make use of additional features. Throughout this book, we pointout when a particular toolbar may be useful.


The toolbars that ET AutoCADIf you’ve installed the Express Tools, you’ll alsosee a flock of Express Tools toolbars, whoselabels begin with “ET:” floating over the draw-ing area. These four small toolbars collect someof the most popular Express Tools. You’ll proba-bly want to close most of these or at least dockany favorites along the margin of the AutoCADwindow.

The Express Tools are extensions to AutoCAD,not part of the core program, so turning the toolbars on again after you’ve turned them off

requires one additional step. Right-click in anempty part of one of the toolbar areas. A right-click menu displays the names of the twoloaded menu files, ACAD and EXPRESS. TheACAD list displays the names of all the regulartoolbars: Draw, Standard, and so forth. TheEXPRESS list displays the names of the fourExpress Tools toolbars; click the check boxesnext to the names in order to toggle each tool-bar on or off.

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Toolbars and palettes can become hard to manage with a half-dozen or moreopen. AutoCAD 2006 lets you lock toolbars and palettes in place — just clickthe padlock on the far right of the status bar (see Figure 2-4) to keep yourtoolbars and palettes parked.

If you’re not satisfied with just rearranging the stock AutoCAD toolbars, youcan customize their contents or even create new ones. The procedures arebeyond the scope of this book; they involve bouncing among the Interfaces,Commands, Toolbars, and Properties areas in the Customize User Interfacedialog box in not entirely intuitive ways. Resist slicing and dicing the stockAutoCAD toolbars until you’re at least somewhat familiar with them. If youwant to get creative thereafter, go to the Contents tab of the AutoCAD 2006online help and choose Customization Guide➪Basic Customization➪Customizethe User Interface➪Customize Toolbars.

AutoCAD toolbar buttons provide tooltips, those short text descriptions thatappear in little yellow boxes when you pause the cursor over a toolbarbutton. A longer description of the icon’s function appears in the status barat the bottom of the screen.

Draw toolbar

Standard toolbar

Layers toolbar

Styles toolbar Modify toolbarProperties toolbar

Draw Order toolbar

Figure 2-3:A toolbar

tasting.


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Looking for Mr. Status BarThe status bar appears at the bottom of the AutoCAD screen, as shown inFigure 2-4. The status bar displays and allows you to change several impor-tant settings that affect how you draw and edit in the current drawing. Someof these settings won’t make complete sense until you’ve used the AutoCADcommands that they influence, but here’s a brief description, with pointers todetailed descriptions of how to use each setting elsewhere in this book:

� Coordinates of the cursor: The cursor coordinates readout displays thecurrent X,Y,Z location of the cursor in the drawing area, with respect tothe origin point (whose coordinates are 0,0,0). It’s a bit like having a GPS(Global Positioning System) device in your drawing. Chapter 5 describesAutoCAD’s coordinate conventions and how to use this area of thestatus bar.

If the coordinates in the lower-left corner of the screen are grayed out,then coordinate tracking is turned off. Click the coordinates so that theyappear in dark lettering that changes when you move the cursor in thedrawing area.

If dynamic input is enabled, the tooltip at the cursor also displays thecurrent X,Y,Z location of the cursor. This constantly active display is notaffected by changes to coordinate tracking in the status bar.

� SNAP, GRID, and ORTHO mode buttons: These three buttons controlthree of AutoCAD’s tools for ensuring precision drawing and editing:

• Snap constrains the cursor to regularly spaced hot spots, enablingyou to draw objects a fixed distance apart more easily.

• Grid displays a series of regularly spaced dots, which serve as adistance reference.

• Ortho constrains the cursor to horizontal and vertical relativemovement, which makes drawing orthogonal (straight horizontaland vertical) lines easy.

Cursor coordinates Polar tracking on/off

Object snap tracking on/off

Lineweight display on/off

Lock/unlock toolbar palettes

Status bar menu

Snap on/off

Ortho off

Dynamic input on/off

Cursor in model space or paper space

Communication center

Check standards

Figure 2-4:Status (bar)

check.


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See Chapter 4 for instructions on how to configure these modes andChapter 5 for information about why, when, and how to use them inactual drawing operations.

� POLAR tracking mode button: Polar tracking causes the cursor toprefer certain angles when you draw and edit objects. By default, thepreferred angles are multiples of 90 degrees, but you can specify otherangle increments, such as 45 or 30 degrees. See Chapter 5 for instruc-tions to specify the polar tracking angles that you prefer. Clicking thePOLAR button toggles polar tracking on or off. Ortho and polar trackingare mutually exclusive — turning on one mode disables the other.

� Running Object Snap (OSNAP) and Object Snap Tracking (OTRACK)buttons: Object snap is another AutoCAD tool for ensuring precisiondrawing and editing. You use object snaps to grab points on existingobjects — for example, the endpoint of a line or the center of a circle.

• When you turn on running object snap, AutoCAD continues to huntfor object snap points. Chapter 5 contains detailed instructions onhow to use this feature.

• When you turn on object snap tracking, AutoCAD hunts in a moresophisticated way for points that are derived from object snappoints. Chapter 5 briefly describes this advanced feature.

AutoCAD LT doesn’t include the object snap tracking feature, so youwon’t see an OTRACK button on its status bar.

� Dynamic Input (DYN) button: Dynamic input displays commands,options, prompts, and user input adjacent to the crosshairs in the draw-ing area and enables you to keep focused on what you’re drawing. Inaddition, the dynamic input area displays what you type in response toprompts. (If you get frustrated with this system, mind you don’t becomea dynamic curser yourself!)

� Lineweight (LWT) display mode button: One of the properties that youcan assign to objects in AutoCAD is lineweight — the thickness that linesappear when you plot the drawing. This button controls whether yousee the lineweights on the screen. (This button doesn’t control whetherlineweights appear on plots; that’s a separate setting in the Plot dialogbox.) Chapter 5 gives you the skinny (and the wide) on lineweights.

� MODEL/PAPER space button: As we describe in the section, “Down themain stretch: The drawing area,” later in this chapter, the drawing areais composed of overlapping tabbed areas labeled Model, Layout1, andLayout2 by default. The Model tab displays a part of the drawing calledmodel space, where you create most of your drawing. Each of the remain-ing tabs displays a paper space layout, where you can compose a plotableview with a title block. A completed layout will include one or moreviewpo

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