1.

3 - MODIFYING
COMMANDS AND OBJECT
SNAPS
LESSON 1-1 INTRODUCTION TO AUTOCAD BASICS
INTRODUCTION TO DRAWING &
LESSON 1-2
MODIFYING
LESSON 1-3 TRIM / EXTEND / OFFSET / OSNAPS
LESSON 1-4 ACCURATE INPUT EXERCISE
LESSON 1-5 SELECTING OBJECTS IN AUTOCAD
LESSON 1-6 MOVE / COPY / STRETCH / MIRROR
LESSON 1-7 ROTATE / FILLET / CHAMFER / ARRAY
LAYERS / DIMENSIONING / TEXT /
LESSON 1-8
SCALE
LESSON 1-9 DDE AND OBJECT TRACKING
LESSON 1- CHANGING THE PROPERTIES OF
10 OBJECTS
LESSON 1-
ZOOMING AND PANNING
11
LESSON 1-
ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION
12
LESSON 1-
SECTION VIEWS
13

Topics covered in this Lesson:

 Rectangle | Extend | Offset | Trim | Introduction to Object Snaps

The previous lesson dealt with drawing commands. This lesson will
introduce some common modifying commands. In AutoCAD, you may
actually use modifying commands more often than drawing commands.
Now that you know the basics, here's some more commands to add to
your collection. Three commands, Trim, Extend and Offset are used
often in 2D AutoCAD work.

ke Icon Location Result

E /
Home > Draw >
Draws a rectangle after you enter one corner a
Rectangle
Home > Modify >
TR Trims objects to a selected cutting edge.
Trim
EX Home > Modify > Extend Extends objects to a selected boundary edge.
O Home > Modify > Offset Offsets an object (parallel) by
CLICK
Tools > Object
/ F3 Brings up the OSNAP d
Snap Settings

Assignment #2 - Modifying
Commands
The purpose of this assignment is to use the commands learned in the
previous lesson and learn some new ones.

Duplicate the drawing called Assign_2.

Click HERE to download the DWG file.

Once again, do not worry about title blocks, text or dimensions, draw
only the geometry (in green).

Start AutoCAD and begin the the drawing by opening up the template file
like you did in Lesson 1-2.

Draw a LINE from 1,2 to 3,2 to 3,4 to 1,4 (*Remember to watch the
command line as you do this.) For the last line's endpoint , you can
either type in 1,2 or C to close the line back to the first point you entered.
These are absolute coordinates. Make sure you understand what the
points your just entered represent.

Draw the next square using the RECTANGLE command. A rectangle is

created by specifying 2 points to represent the opposite corners. Enter
the first point as 4.5,2 and then make the opposite corner 2 inches over
and 2 inches up @2,2 using relative coordinates. This is much faster
and also makes the square one object and not 4 separate lines.

ERASEthe rectangle. You will see that all of it is gone with one pick.
Redraw it and continue.

For the 3rd square, draw a 1.5 x 1.5 unit square using any of the
methods you know. The bottom left corner must be at 8,2.
Draw a line from 2,5 to 2,6.5 Draw another line from 1,6 to 3,6 You
should now have two perpendicular lines. What you want to do is trim off
the top of the vertical line and create a T.

Start the TRIM command. It will first ask for a cutting edge. Select the
horizontal line and press <ENTER>. It will now ask for the object to be
trimmed. Select the vertical line anywhere above the horizontal (cutting)
line and press <ENTER> to finish the command.

This is what you saw on the command line:

Command: TR <enter> TRIM
Current settings: Projection=UCS, Edge=None
Select cutting edges ...
Select objects: <Select the Horizontal line> 1 found
Select objects: <enter>
Select object to trim or shift-select to extend or
[Fence/Crossing/Project/Edge/eRase/Undo]: <Select the vertical
line>
Select object to trim or shift-select to extend or
[Project/Edge/Undo]: <enter>

Once again, it is important to keep your eye on the command line as it

will guide you through most commands.

Draw a LINE from 4,6.5 to 6,6.5 Draw another line from 5,5 to 5,6 What
you want to do now is extend the vertical line up to the meet horizontal
line. Start the EXTEND command. AutoCAD asks for a boundary edge;
select the horizontal line press <ENTER>. It then asks for an object to
extend; select somewhere in the top half of the vertical line.
Press <ENTER> to end the command. Your command line history should
match what is shown below.
Command: EX <enter> EXTEND
Current settings: Projection=UCS, Edge=None
Select boundary edges ...
Select objects: <Select the horizontal line> 1 found
Select objects: <enter>
Select object to extend or shift-select to trim or
[Fence/Crossing/Project/Edge/Undo]: <Select the top half of the
vertical line>
Select object to extend or shift-select to trim or
[Project/Edge/Undo]: <enter>
 Draw a CIRCLE with a center point of 7.5,5.5 with a radius of .5 Now you
will use to offset command to make another circle 1/4" larger. Start
the OFFSETcommand (watch the command line) and enter .125 as the
offset distance (1/2 of 1/4"). Now select the circle and pick
anywhere outside the circle. Press <ENTER> to end the command.

e me now, but I use the Offset A LOT when I am drafting. As you watch the videos in the next le
You will be too, so learn how to use it and be quick with it. You'll get more practice.

Object Snaps
Suppose you want to draw a line from the center of the circle to the
middle of the vertical line you extended earlier. AutoCAD has a feature
that makes this very easy. These are the Object Snaps (or Osnaps "Oh-
Snaps"). Type OS <ENTER> . You will see this dialog box appear.
 TTING ICON SETTIN
ndpoint Insertion P
dpoint Perpendic
Center Tangen
Node Neares
uadrant Apparent Inte
rsection Paralle
tension M2P Midpoint betwee
You may select whichever points you want to 'snap' on an object. Here is
a list of your options. Followed by the command entry to invoke the
needed Osnap.

Endpoint - snaps to either the beginning or the end of an object such as

a line - END

Midpoint - snaps to the exact middle of a line or an arc - MID

Center - snaps to the center-point of a circle or arc - CEN

Node - snaps to 'nodes' (not covered in this course) - NOD

Quadrant - snaps to any of the four quadrants of a circle - QUA

Intersection - snaps to the point where two object cross - INT

Extension - Snaps to the phantom extension of an arc or line - EXT

Insertion - snaps to the insertion point of an object (such as a block or

text) - INS

Perpendicular - will snap so that the result is perpendicular to line

selected - PER

Tangent - snaps to create a line tangent to a circle or arc - TAN

Nearest - will find the closest point an object and snap to that point - NEA

Parallel -Snaps parallel to a specified line - PAR

M2P - This isn't technically an 'Object Snap' as you are not snapping to
specific point on an object, but it allows you to select 2 points and it will
calculate the midpoint between those 2 points. This is a very handy
option to have.
Note: Beside each checkbox is a symbol. That symbol will show up on
the screen when you have found a valid snap point. (An endpoint will
show a small square). If you select the "Options" button, you can change
the aperture size and the color of the Osnaps. Depending upon the
background you are drawing on, this may be needed. Osnaps are
explained in more depth in tutorial 4-2, but this will be enough for you
now.

Check off the boxes as shown in the dialog box above (Object Snaps
On, Endpoint, Midpoint, Center) and press OK.

Begin the LINE command. Move your cursor around the screen and you'll
see that as you get close to an object, it will 'snap' to one of the points
that you had checked off in the dialog box. Place your cursor on the
circle (not the middle of the circle) until you see a small purple circle
appear at its center. Left-click to make this the start point of the line.
Move the cursor towards the middle of the vertical line until you see a
small triangle appear. (Remember this is the symbol for
'midpoint'). When you see it left-click to accept this as your endpoint.
Press <ENTER> to end the line command.

Save your drawing.

Print your drawing with the same settings as in Assignment #1. Don't
forget to use the preview.
Video: Assignment 2

TIP: Before you select the Osnap you want, you can press the TAB key
on your keyboard to cycle through the available Osnaps in the area of
your cursor.

CAUTION: Although it may seem tempting to turn 'all' the Osnaps on

when drawing, you can have too much of a good thing. For example, in
shorter lines, Midpoint, Nearest and Perpendicular could all be very
close to each other, and you could select the wrong point.

When you have finished the assignment, continue practicing with these
commands until they are mastered. These are common commands that
you will use in everyday drafting.

Extra Practice: Copy this drawing, using lines, offset, osnaps - click to
view extra_003.gif

Video: Exercise 3

Extra Practice: Copy this drawing, it could a little to figure out, but still
uses the commands you have learned so far. - click to view
extra_004.gif

Video: Exercise 4
Extra Practice: Have a look at this drawing of a simple reflected ceiling
plan (RCF) and see how the offset, trim and extend commands might be
used. If you know how to change units to Architectural, try drawing it.
(Here's how to change units)

Video: Bonus 1

Take the Lesson 1-3 Quiz

For Further Thought:

Now you have learned how to modify something that you have already
drawn. This is GREAT! You might remember that I mentioned how CAD
was faster than hand-drawing (pencil), so this is the first advantage you
will see. You don't have to erase something and start over.
These are all tools to make you more productive. It's up to you to decide
when to use these tools. As you start drawing more complex designs,
you'll have to use these tools to make the quickest and most accurate
drawing of that design. That's what AutoCAD is for.
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