CAD - COMPUTER AIDED DRAFTING AutoCAD

Chapter One
STARTING AUTOCAD & ITS USER INTERFACE
2D DRAWING IN AUTOCAD
Ref:
*M. Hamad, (2018). AutoCAD 2018 Beginning and Intermediate. Mercury Learning and Information, 22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles.
*https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/getting-started/caas/simplecontent/content/layout-and-model-tabs-autocad.html
*https://demoscad.net/gettingstarted/4-documentation

Starting AutoCAD
Users can use AutoCAD for both 2D and 3D drafting and designing. AutoCAD can be used for architectural,
structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental, and manufacturing drawings and for road and highway
designs.

Double-click the shortcut on your desktop that was created in the installation process to start or open you
AutoCAD. Then, the welcome window as shown below will appear on your screen.

While you are in this part you can:

 Start a new drawing  See the recent files you opened
 Open an existing file  Check if AutoCAD has a notification for you
 Open a Sheet Set concerning your software/hardware
 Download more templates accessed online  Connect to Autodesk 360 (Autodesk Cloud)
 Explore the sample files that come with the  Send your feedback to Autodesk.
software

AutoCAD Interface
Being fully aware with AutoCAD user interface elements as well as commands can give you the ease and
convenience to improve your workflow.

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1. Application Menu 6. Info Center 11. Status Bar

2. Start tab 7. Autodesk 360 12. Command window
3. File tab 8. View Cube 13. Layout tab
4. Ribbon 9. Navigation Bar 14. Model tab
5. Workspace (Switching) 10. Cross Hairs 15. Graphical Area

Application Menu
Located in the top left most corner of the screen, it is symbolized by a red “A” black arrow button signifying that
this is reveal a drop down menu.
Included are commands such as creating a new file, opening an
existing file, saving the current file, saving the current file under a
new name and in a different folder, exporting the current file to a
different file format, printing and publishing the current file, etc. By
default, you will see the recent files.
Using this option, you can select how to display the recent files in the
Application Menu.

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In addition, you can also select how to sort the recent files using this control:

Another feature of the Application Menu is the Search Commands part. Here you may type the full name or
partial name of AutoCAD commands you are not sure of, and AutoCAD will carry out a search for related
commands in the menu. The figure below shows the results you get when you type ‘poly’ in the Search
Commands part.

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Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)

The QAT is located beside the Application Menu as boxed in the figure below.
This toolbar by default contains icons for a number of commands mentioned in the Application Menu along
with Workspace and Undo/Redo. Included commands were New, Open, Save, Save As, Undo, Plot and Redo.

To customize the included commands on the quick access toolbar, click the arrow at the right end of this
toolbar, as shown below:

Ribbon

Ribbons consist of two parts: tabs and panels, as shown below:

The ribbon is a user interface element that contains various AutoCAD commands arranged in panels and tabs.
The tabs are quite powerful. They have panels of commands as well as options that relate to any task at hand.

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By default, you will see the following Tabs below the title bar; Home, Insert, Annotate, Parametric, View,
Manage, Output, Add-ins A360, Express Tools, Featured Apps, and an Arrow Icon that shows display options for
the Ribbon Tabs.

On the other hand, the default Panels located below the Tabs areas shown below;

Most of the panels have more available tools or command but by default, are hidden to maximize the size of
the working space or the graphical area. However, these other tools/commands can be easily accessed.

Let us use the Draw panel for example. If you noticed, beside the Name of every panel, there is a downward
arrow as shown.

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Click the small arrow near the title and you will see the revealing extension board of the panel containing
more set tools.

If you move away the pointer from the panel, these buttons will disappear. To make them steadily visible, click
the push pin icon. The new view will be as shown below:

To restore the original view of the panel, simply click again the push pin icon at the bottom left.

For some commands, there are many options. To make the user’s life easier, AutoCAD put all the options in the
same panel section. Check the following illustration:

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he ribbons have a very simple help feature. If you hover the mouse over a button, a small help screen comes
up:

If the user leaves the mouse over the button for a longer period of time, AutoCAD will show more detailed help:

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InfoCenter

InfoCenter is the place to access help topics online and offline, along with some other tools:

For instance, if you type a word or phrase in the field shown below, AutoCAD opens the Autodesk Exchange
window and finds all the related topics online and offline. Online means all Autodesk websites along with some
popular blogs. Use Sign In to access Autodesk Online Services. The X at the right will activate the Autodesk
Exchange Apps website.

Command Window

By default the command window is floating, but you can dock it at the bottom or the top of the screen.
Reading the command window all the time will save lots of wasted time trying to figure out what AutoCAD
wants. AutoCAD will show two things at the command window: your commands and AutoCAD prompts asking
you to perform a particular action (e.g., specify a point, input an angle, etc.). Check the following illustration:

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Graphical Area

The graphical area is your drafting area. This is where you will draw all your lines, arcs, and circles. It is a precise
environment with an XYZ space for 3D and an XY plane for 2D. You can monitor coordinates in the left part of
the status bar.

Status Bar

The status bar in AutoCAD contains coordinates along with important functions; some of them are for precise
drafting in 2D, and some of them are for 3D.

The buttons you will see on the status bar are not necessarily all that are available. To customize this, click on
the last button at the right (the one with three horizontal lines) and you will see the following list (showing some
of the options):

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Start Bar

When you click the Start tab at any moment, you will get the welcome screen again. Hence you can start a
new drawing, open an existing drawing, etc.

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File Tab

File tab indicates the drawing file you are currently working with. Since multiple dwg file can be simultaneously
opened, the file tab is helpful when switching to these different AutoCAD files. This can be done just by simply
clicking into the desired file along the file tabs.

Model& Layout Tab

Model Tab is the default tab that can be seen upon starting the AutoCAD, where you are allowed to create
and manipulate your drawings. This is the main modelling window and working area, whereas the layout tab is
specialized for plotting and printing phase.

Model Tab

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Layout Tab

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