ENGR 111Class 5.2a
AutoCAD Basics
Thursday, September 30th, 2004
Why CAD? Computer Aided Drafting. Tool engineers use to create
designs. Easier and more efficient than
drafting by hand. Consistency between users.
Today’s AutoCAD commands
Drawing setup– SNAP– GRID
Display control– ZOOM– PAN
Drawing– LINE– MTEXT– CIRCLE– ARC
Editing and inquiry– ERASE– DDEDIT– UNDO– Modify properties– Grips
General Concepts– Layers– Ortho Mode
Entering AutoCAD Log on to the
network Double click on
AutoCAD 2004 icon
Select Use a Template– Find drawing
template A-blank.dwt
– Select OK
Immediately……. File
– SaveAs Your
Drawing to your login File or USB Drive with a unique file name.
Save as a .dwg file
Grid and Snap Grid is just a visual aid for your
drawing Snap allows you to specify precise
coordinates when using the mouse They are modified with the GRID
and SNAP commands Neither affect anything already
drawn They can be changed on-the-fly
Function Keys Function keys turn GRID and SNAP
“modes” on and off– F7 - Sets GRID mode on/off– F9 - Sets SNAP mode on/off
DO NOT DRAW ANYTHING WITH SNAP TURNED OFF!!!!
Status line at the bottom The status line at the bottom of the display
tells you whether any of the modes are on or off.
The “pressed” modes are on. (SNAP, GRID, ORTHO and MODEL in the picture below)
Drawing Objects Drawing commands are found
on the toolbar located at the left of the screen
The four of interest today are Line, Arc, Circle, and Mtext
These may be abbreviated from the keyboard using the first letter(s) (e.g.)– Line - L– Arc - A– Circle - C– Mtext - MT
Line
CircleArc
Mtext
The Line Command The line command requires two or more points and will
connect them with straight lines Points are selected by pressing the left mouse button Pressing Enter or Escape will terminate the command
The Circle Command The Circle command has several options
which change the required input– Center, Radius - This is the default and
requires a point and either a second point (which will be on the circumference) or a radius type via the keyboard.
– Center, Diameter - as above, but the second point will not lie on the circumference, it will define the diameter. To use this option, you must type “D” prior to selecting the second point or entering the diameter.
– Other options will be discussed as needed
The Arc Command While the Arc command
can be accessed via the toolbar, the pulldown menu offers easy access to the various options within the Arc command
For most applications the Start, Center, End option is most useful
The Mtext Command The Mtext command has the most options
of any of the commands we have yet seen. Most will be obvious in their use.
Mtext is a full multiline text editor. It supports word wrap, bold and italic, and
multiple fonts. As inputs it needs a starting point and the
width of the text. Given these, a dialog box is displayed as
shown on the next slide.
The Mtext Dialog Box
Working with Layers Layers are used to
control the type of line that will be drawn
They are pre-defined on the templates used for this class
They are accessed from a dropdown list as shown to the right
Layer Control Consider two possible states for a
layer– ON/OFF
ON/OFF controls whether the layer can be seen on screen
Nothing on an OFF layer can be selected using the mouse
Display Control ZOOM -- scales the screen view to an
area of the drawing surface– “Window” will zoom down to a window– “All” will zoom out to show the larger of the
drawn entities or limits– Realtime allows you to shrink or enlarge the
display in real time. PAN -- moves around on the drawing
surface
Paired Exercise Start a new drawing. Use template B05c.dwt You have 15 minutes to practice
drawing lines and arcs using different linetypes and layers. Draw the various objects. Be creative, have fun.
Save your solutions to your login file, or USB drive.
Completing the Title Strip Rather than using the MTEXT command to
compete the title block, it is simpler to edit the existing text.
The command to do this is DDEDIT, or find “Text…” under the Modify pulldown menu.
Or you can double click on the text to be edited.
Title Strip For FILE enter your two digit file number. For TEAM enter your Team number Complete Drawn by with Last, First Name Date in Day/Month/Year format using the DUE
DATE (30 Sep 04) Make sure you include your section number
30 Sep 04
HUGHES, S. W. 14
Before Printing in AutoCAD Z Z .. .. (ENTER)(ENTER) A A .... (ENTER)(ENTER)
Why ?Why ?
And Always And Always perform a Print perform a Print Preview !Preview !
Plot Device Settings Make sure the
correct printer is selected,
\\FRED\315-4050-L
\\FRED\315-4050-R and the Plot Style
Table is set to “monochrome.ctb”.
Printing in AutoCAD Printing is done via the
PLOT command Always plot limits Always plot at a scale
appropriate to the drawing (normally 1:1)
Set origin to “Center the Plot” ALWAYS GET A FULL
PREVIEW BEFORE PRINTING
Homework Individually complete drawings:
– 5C: A Skateboard & Wheelbarrow.– 6C: Clincher Jumbo Stapler.
»Note the “C” means Computer drawing
Due: End of class ?