Auto CAD Notes

Function Keys

 F1 – Help
 F2 – Text Window
 F3 – Object Snap Toggle
 F4 – Tablet On/Off
 F5 – Toggles through ISO planes
 F6 – Toggles through coordinates On/Off
 F7 – Grid On/Off
 F8 – Ortho On/Off
 F9 – Snap On/Off
 F10 – Polar On/Off
 F11 – Object Snap Tracking
 F12 – Dynamic Input

HOME – DRAW

Construction Line – ‘XLINE’

 A line that goes in both directions endlessly

Ray – ‘RAY’

 Line that goes in one direction endlessly

Rectangle – ‘RECTANG’

 Is a polyline
 Specify first corner or Chamfer / Elevation / Fillet / Thickness / Width
 Select ‘tab’ to go to dimensions

Chamfer – ‘CHAMFER’

 Slanted corners

Fillet – ‘F’

 Rounded corners

Rotation – ‘RO’

 Use degrees to rotate

Polygon – ‘POLYGON’
  Select number of sides
 Select center of polygon or two edge ‘E’ points
 Select inscribed in circle or circumscribed about circle

Circle – ‘C’

 Select center point or [3 points / 2 points / Tangent Tanget Radius / Tangent Tangent Tangent]

Ellipse – ‘EL’

 Create an ellipse (elongated circle)

 Specify long axis end points or [Arc/Center]
 Specify second axis

Donut – ‘DO’

 Specify inside of diameter

 Specify outside of diameter

Arc – ‘A’

 Select start point or [Center]

o CE is center
 Automatically goes to 3 points
 Must go counterclockwise

Polyline – ‘PLINE’ or ‘PL’

 Allows you to draw as one object

 Options to [Arc / Halfwidth / Length / Undo / Width]
o Halfwidth – to make arrows – select first and then second width

Polyline Edit – ‘PEDIT’

 For polyline edit

 Join / Close / Width / Edit Vertex / Fit / Spline / Decurve / Ltype Gen / Reverse / Undo
o Fit – to make contour lines
o Edit Vertex – to move vertex
o Join – ‘J’ – joins two polylines into one

Spline – ‘SPL’

 Makes a squiggly line

 ‘C’ close
 ‘F’ fit tolerance – set units that it can be mathematically close to
Spline Edit – ‘SPLINEDIT’

 Edit spline
 You can see your fit points and add, remove, edit points

Hatch – ‘H’

 Fills in a pattern
 Select pattern
 Determine angle and scale
 Select object to hatch – pick point or select object
 Right click and click edit hatch if needed
 If using a few different objects select ‘separate hatches’
 Hatch lines at .15 or less
 You can match a hatch
 Can also select gradient
o Select color
o Select angle

Fill – ‘FILL’
 Fill donuts

HOME – MODIFY

Explode – ‘EXPLODE’ or ‘X’

 Disconnects a PLINE or RECTANGLE – allows you to remove a segment

Break – ‘BR’

 Another way to break or remove an object

 Make sure to select ‘F’ to select first point and then second

Erase – ‘E’

 Deletes object
 Select object, right click

Move – ‘M’

 Moves object
 Select object, right click
 Specify base point (the point on the object you plan to move) or [Displacement]
o Displacement allows you to use coordinates
Copy – ‘CO’

 To make copies in same page (can make multiple copies)

 Select object, right click
 Specify base point or [Displacement / mOde]

Control + C

 To copy to a new page

 Control +V to paste

Array – ‘AR’

 Creates multiple copies of an object in a pattern

 Select object, right click
 Dialog box opens, click select objects, right click
 Dialog box opens, select rectangular or polar, select rows and columns
 You can also pick offset points based on existing drawing
 Preview, right click to accept

Distance – ‘DIST’

 Measures distance

Scale – ‘SC’

 Changes the dimensions without redrawing

 Select object, right click
 Select base point
 Specify scale factor or [Copy / Reference]
o Copy – you can keep your original object and scale a new version
o Reference – make a new scale by picking an object as a reference length

Mirror – ‘MI’

 Makes a mirror of object

 Select object, right click
 Can make a line and mirror on a slant

Offsets – ‘OFFSET’

 Create same object but smaller/larger inside itself

 Specify distance, select object, specify point to offset
 Can select [Multiple]

Rotate – ‘RO’
  Rotates object
 Select object, right click
 Select base point, rotate or [Copy / Reference]

Trim – ‘TR’

 Trim or extend an object

 Select object, right click
 Select object to trim OR shift-select to extend
 Select object you want to trim or extend to
 Then select object to trim or extend

Stretch – ‘S’

 Stretches object
 Always select object by using green box (right to left)
 Expands objects – but only portion of object that you highlight
 Select object, right click
 Select base point or [Displacement]
 Select second point

Fillet – ‘F’

 Curves a polyline
 Must enter a radius

Chamfer – ‘CHAMFER’

 Slanted corners
 Select distance
 Select lines

Align – ‘ALIGN’

 Aligns objects with other objects

 Select object, then select two or more points to align with

HOME - LAYERS TOOL BAR

Layers – ‘LA’

 Make new layer

 Name layers
 Turn On/Off layers
 Freeze layers
  Lock layers
 Select color for layer
 Select On/Off for printing of layer

Layer Isolate – ‘LAYISO’

 Hides or freezes layers except those with selected objects

Layer Walk – ‘LAYWALK’

 Hides layers except current layer

 Will list all layers

Layer Line Type

 Need to load layers

 Can select multiple new layers to load
 Then select new line type
 The more line types the more memory
 May need to adjust scale to see different line types (global or current)

Layer Line Weight

 Can change to inches

 Need to click Show Line Weight icon at bottom left of screen to see different line weights

List Command – ‘LIST’

 Displays information about selected object

HOME – PROPERTIES

Properties – ‘PROPS’

 Allows you to change properties of an object (line weight, color, line type, plot style, etc.)

Regions – ‘REG’

 2-D surfaces, precursor to 3-D

 Drawing can calculate more information

HOME – CLIPBOARD

Match Properties – ‘MA’

 Similar to word paint brush where it copies the properties of one object to another
INSERT – BLOCKS

Blocks – ‘BLOCK’

 Regular block – only for one drawing

 Things are created as separate objects (hatches, dimensions) but act like one object.
 Dynamic block – “smart block” - can be used as a block to easily change dimensions
 Name new block
 Pick a point or select objects
 Right click
 Pick retain, convert to block or delete
 Select “allow exploding” unless you don’t want others to edit block later

Write Block – ‘WBLOCK’

 A block for other drawings

 Saved at specific location on computer to easily load into other files
 Can select existing Block, entire drawing, or single object
 Pick point
 Select object, right click
 Retain, convert to block, or delete
 Any updates made (if select retain) will be changed automatically
 Save file somewhere

Block Insert – ‘INSERT’

 Can scale it, rotate it, etc.

Delete Block

 Click purge and pick block

INSERT – ATTRIBUTES

Attributes – ‘ATT’

 Text (used for title blocks)

 You can create attributes so they are exportable
 Attributes need to be created first, then make a block of the attributes

Define Attribute – ‘ATTDEF’

 Dialogue box pops up

 Enter Tag (a description – your name), Prompt (enter your name here), Default (Shannon)
 Set Text Settings, edit height, justification, etc.
  Mode:
o Constant – makes it unchangeable
o Verify – prompts you when changing it

Block Editor – ‘BEDIT’

 Will open up a new space to edit block

 Save changes and then close block editor

INSERT – REFERENCE

External Reference – ‘XREF’

 Insert external reference

 Can be previously created DWG file
 External Reference File will tell you everything about file
 You can reload, unload, detach external reference
o If it is unloaded it is still there but doesn’t show up
o Detach actually removes file
 Will show up as separate layer
 Cannot be exploded
 Do not create circular references
 External Reference Manager
o Tells you about image

Email with External References – Etransmit (under file menu)

 Package DWG into zip folder with all references and attached files

Insert Image – ‘IMAGE’

 Raster or Vector files

o Raster is dots and squares
o Vector is lines
 Insert image with path type:
o Full path – will lose image if email – least amount of memory
o No path – image will email with document
 Can scale image – ‘SC’
o Select image, right click
o Select base point
o Select ‘R’ for a reference point
o Select length and enter a new length
o Measure object to be sure your accurate
ANNOTATE - DIMENSIONS

Linear / Align / Angular /Arc Length / Radius

 Specify first extension line and then second

 Linear – ‘DIMLINEAR’ – squares off a straight or curved line with dimensions
 Align – ‘DMALIGNED’ - will align with your line instead of squaring it
 Angular – ‘DIMANGULAR’ – will provide dimensions of angle between lines
 Arc Length – ‘DIMARC’ – provides length of arc
 Radius – ‘DIMRADIUS’ – places radius dimension
 Diameter – ‘DIMDIAMETER’ – places diameter dimension

Continue – ‘DIMCONTINUE’

 Will start dimension from where last one ended and continue in same style
 Can select Baseline
o Will dimension the entire distance instead of individual distances

Center Mark – ‘DIMCENTER’

 Will add a cross inside center of a circle

Dimension Style – ‘DIMSTYLE’

 Make edits to dimension styles
 Set new styles

ANNOTATE - TEXT

Create Text – ‘TEXT’

 M-Text – to use multiple text styles

 D-Text – for short word text
 Can select justify/style
 Can select rotation
 To make edits – right click on text, click properties

Multiple Line Text – ‘MTEXT’

 Pick first corner

 Can go as far down as needed but are limited on right and left side
 Can make a lot of edits in edit option

Create a Text Style – ‘ST’

 Select new and add a name

  TT or “other object thing” – TT is true text - the other is shape text (takes up less space)
 You can select height and other properties that are always used for that text style
 Will need to click set current to use it

Scale Text – ‘SCALETEXT’

 Used to scale text but keep it with specific object

Find and Replace – ‘FIND’

 Finds text and replaces it with a different specified word

ANNOTATE – LEADERS

Leader – ‘LEADER’

 Creates an arrow to point out object

Multi Leaders – ‘MLEADER’

 Creates a multi-leader object

Multi-Leader Style – ‘MLEADERSTYLE’

 Set new leader style

ANNOTATE – TABLE

Create Table – ‘TB’

 Can create a style (button on right of drop down)

 Allows you to design a table

Insert Table – ‘TB’

 Insert an existing excel table

 Click from data link
 Cannot use edits

Table Style – ‘TS’

 Set table style

Extract Data from Drawing

 TB
 From object data in drawing
 This will count everything in your drawing
 Edit existing or create a new table
  Will extract to a separate file
 Setting to pick where extract object data from
 Can extract to external file or insert to drawing

MODEL SPACE / LAYOUT SPACE

 Best to change the background color of model space

 Icons for layout space / model space on bottom right panel of screen
 Quick View icon on bottom right

Layout Space

 Select View Port to scale

 Draw actual size in Model space and scale down in Layout
 Set up Printer Plot Style to set page size (right click on Layout tab, click Page Set Up Manager,
click Modify)
 Can create more than one View Port by ‘CO’
 You can lock View Port
 If you zoom in View Port you lose your set scale
 Can have objects in View Port only…they will not show up in Model Space
 Bring To Front may be needed with View Port View
 Customize View Port Scale
o Customize, edit, add

Page Set Up Manager

 Right click on Layout Tab

 Page Setup Manager
 Modify
 Plot Style Tables
o Can select gray scale, black/white, monochrome
o Select color properties
o Line type
o Be sure to Save As
 Add Page Setup Name – go to Plot in File
o Make custom PDF sizes
o Properties
o Custom Paper Sizes
o Add
o Set info and name
o Still need to go into paper size and select new file – will show in preview
OTHER

Express Menu (under file)

 Tools that are not full fledge but in pilot mode

 Unsupported tools that ACAD has not fully developed
 Separate help menu in the Express Menu File

System Variables

 Nuts and bolts that make up ACAD

 Turning grid On/Off etc.
 To get a full list of all system variables – ‘setvar’

Customer User Interface – ‘CUI’

 Use to add tools to panels

 Go to panel and drag tool to that panel, select okay or apply
 Also used to change workspaces (2D, 3D)

Options in Command Bar

 Can right click in command bar to get a number of options

Backup Files

 Atomically opens
 Need to rename to use the file

Snap – ‘SNAP’

 Snaps objects to grid

Object Snap – ‘OSNAP’

 Snaps to objects

Drafting Settings – ‘OS’

 Change drafting settings

 Or right click on bar on bottom left

Limits – ‘LIMITS’
 Specify area of your drawing – the outer edge of your drawing

Pan – ‘P’
 Allows you to pan through the screen to move the drawing
  Must press ESC to get out of pan mode
 Can use central roller button to pan

Regenerate – ‘REGEN’

 Recalculates entire drawing

Zoom – ‘ Z’

 All – zooms to show greater drawing

 Center – lets you specify a new center and a new height
 Dynamic – allows you to zoom and pan in one operation
 Extents – zooms to outer extents of drawing
 Previous – displays most recent display of drawing
 Scale – enter number to scale drawing
 Window – lets you define a rectangular window
 Object – lets you zoom in to select an object

Check Spelling – ‘SPELL’

 Checks spelling

Units – ‘UN’
 Set drafting units – Engineering - Inches