AUTOCAD BASICS

Draw lines, circles, and

much, much more!

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 Starting AutoCAD
Click on the AutoCAD icon

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AutoCAD application starts as
shown:

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AutoCAD Toolbars Pull-down Menus

Modify Object
Properties Graphics
Toolbar
Toolbar Cursor
Draw
Toolbar

Graphics
Window

Cursor Coordinate Display Command Line

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 DRAW COMMANDS
• The Draw commands can be used to create
new objects such as lines and circles.
• Draw commands can be started in a number
of ways.
• Command names or short-cuts can be
entered at the keyboard by typing or clicking
from the Draw toolbar,

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 LINE TOOL
With the Line command you can draw a simple line
from one point to another.
Keyboard: LINE
short-cut key: L
Command: line
Specify first point: (pick P1)
Specify next point or [Undo]: (pick P2)
Specify next point or [Undo]:
ENTER (to end)

Experiment with this tool. Play around.

instead of hitting the [ENTER] key, try hitting ‘C’ for Close.
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 The Erase tool
• If an error have been made, there are several ways to
delete it. One way is:
• Command: e (short for erase)
• Select objects: click on a line 1 found
• Select objects: click on a line 1 found 2 total
• Select objects: click on a line 1 found 3 total
– Select objects: enter

Three lines will be erased

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 Line command using the
coordinate system

You can also draw lines by entering

the co-ordinates of their end points
at the command prompt rather than
picking their position from the
screen. Enter coordinate values
(x,y) when prompted for points on
the screen.

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 Example: Line command using the
coordinate system
Command: line
Specify first point: 30,260 and press ENTER
Specify next point or [Undo]: 150,260 enter
Specify next point or [Undo]:150,220 enter
Continue entering the following coordinates:
[250,220] ; [250,260] ; [370,260] ; [370,80] ; [250,80] ;
[250,120] ; [150,120] ; [150,80] ; [30,80] ; c

**For AutoCAD2007 Users, please unclick the DYN button before attempting this
exercise
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This is what you should get!

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 CIRCLE tool
Command: circle
Specify center point for circle or
[3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: click on
any point on the screen to specify the
centre point.
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter]:
click at another point on the screen to
specify the radius.

Experiment and play around with this tool!

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12
Using the Arc tool
• Click on Arc icon in the Draw
toolbar. The command will show:
• Command:_arc Specify starting
point of arc or [Center]: click
anywhere on the screen
• Specify second point of arc or
[Center/End]: click at another point.
• Specify end point of arc: click
anywhere on the screen.

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ARC
tool

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Saving your drawing

AutoCAD files always ends with .dwg

And will always be accompanied by a
backup file of the same name but
extension .bak 15
Setting the Drawing
board
Most engineering drawings are
constructed on a metric A3 (420 mm
by 297 mm) sheet.
A template can be created and
should be saved as A3.dwt, and
each time an assignment or exercise
is to be undertaken, this template will
need to be used.
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 Setting the Limits
Command: LIMITS
Reset Model space limits:
Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF]
<0.0000,0.0000>:
(enter to accept the default value)
Specify upper right corner <12,9>:enter
coordinates 420,297

**(If you have originally opened drawing template acadiso.dwt,

you will see that it is already in A3 size.)
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 Setting the Units and
Precision

• Command: units
• A new window ‘Drawing
Units’ will appear.
• Change the precision to 0
• Use millimeters as your
unit.

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 The Drawing Grid
• The drawing grid is a regular pattern of dots
displayed on the screen which acts as a
visual aid.
• It is the equivalent of having a sheet of graph
paper behind your drawing on a drawing
board.
• You can control the grid spacing, so it can
give you a general idea about the size of
drawn objects.
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GRID Command Sequence
• Command: GRID or F7
Specify grid spacing(X) or
[ON/OFF/Snap/Aspect] <10.000>: (enter
grid spacing)
• Use F7 key to toggle grid ON/OFF.

Grid spacing 10 Grid spacing 5 21

 SNAP
**Make sure your GRID in ON before we try this tool.

Command: SNAP
Specify snap spacing or
[ON/OFF/Aspect/Rotate/Style/Type] <10.0000>:
(enter the required snap spacing in drawing units, for instance 5)

When you move the mouse, the cursor will be restrained to move
at 5 units interval. Click the SNAP button or F9 to ON/OFF Snap.

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Saving the template

Click on File in the menu bar and click

Save As... in the drop-down menu.

File type: AutoCAD Drawing Template File

(*.dwt)

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