Beginning AutoCAD 2002 AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page i Other titles from Bob McFarlane Beginning AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 58571 4 Progressing with AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 60173 6 Introducing 3D AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 61456 0 Solid Modelling with AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 63204 6 Assignments in AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 69181 6 Starting with AutoCAD LT ISBN 0 340 62543 0 Advancing with AutoCAD LT ISBN 0 340 64579 2 3D Draughting using AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 67782 1 Beginning AutoCAD R13 for Windows ISBN 0 340 64572 5 Advancing with AutoCAD R13 for Windows ISBN 0 340 69187 5 Modelling with AutoCAD R13 for Windows ISBN 0 340 69251 0 Using AutoLISP with AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 72016 6 Beginning AutoCAD R14 for Windows NT and Windows 95 ISBN 0 340 72017 4 Advancing with AutoCAD R14 for Windows NT and Windows 95 ISBN 0 340 74053 1 Modelling with AutoCAD R14 for Windows NT and Windows 95 ISBN 0 340 73161 3 An Introduction to AEC 5.1 with AutoCAD R14 ISBN 0 340 74185 6 AutoCAD2002_prelims 17/06/2002 15:16 Page ii Beginning AutoCAD 2002 Bob McFarlane MSc, BSc, ARCST, CEng, FIED, RCADDes MIMechE, MIEE, MIMgt, MBCS, MCSD Curriculum Manager CAD and New Media, Motherwell College, Autodesk Educational Developer OXFORD AMSTERDAM BOSTON LONDON NEW YORK PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page iii Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Science Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 225 Wildwood Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801-2041 First published 2002 Copyright © 2002, R. McFarlane. All rights reserved The right of Bob McFarlane to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0 7506 5610 7 Produced and typeset by Gray Publishing, Tunbridge Wells, Kent Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bath Press, Avon For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications visit our website at www.bh.com AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page iv Contents Preface vii Chapter 1 What’s new in AutoCAD 2002 1 Chapter 2 System requirements and installation 3 Chapter 3 Using the book 5 Chapter 4 AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen 6 Chapter 5 Drawing, erasing and the selection set 19 Chapter 6 The 2D drawing aids 30 Chapter 7 Saving and opening drawings 35 Chapter 8 Standard sheet 1 42 Chapter 9 Line creation and coordinate entry 44 Chapter 10 Circle creation 52 Chapter 11 Object snap 56 Chapter 12 Arc, donut and ellipse creation 66 Chapter 13 Layers and standard sheet 2 71 Chapter 14 User exercise 1 85 Chapter 15 Fillet and chamfer 87 Chapter 16 Offset, extend, trim and change commands 92 Chapter 17 User exercise 2 102 Chapter 18 Text 104 Chapter 19 Dimensioning 111 Chapter 20 Dimension styles 1 118 Chapter 21 Modifying objects 129 Chapter 22 Grips 141 Chapter 23 Drawing assistance 148 Chapter 24 Viewing a drawing 154 Chapter 25 Hatching 160 Chapter 26 Point, polygon and solid 175 AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page v Chapter 27 Polylines and splines 180 Chapter 28 Modifying polylines and splines 189 Chapter 29 Divide, measure and break 196 Chapter 30 Lengthen, align and stretch 199 Chapter 31 Obtaining information from a drawing 205 Chapter 32 Text fonts and styles 211 Chapter 33 Multiline text 218 Chapter 34 The ARRAY command 226 Chapter 35 Changing properties 234 Chapter 36 User exercise 3 243 Chapter 37 Dimension styles 2 245 Chapter 38 Drawing with different sizes 258 Chapter 39 Multilines, complex lines and groups 264 Chapter 40 Blocks 272 Chapter 41 WBLOCKS 286 Chapter 42 Attributes 294 Chapter 43 External references 301 Chapter 44 Isometric drawings 305 Chapter 45 Model space and paper space 310 Chapter 46 Templates and standards 323 Chapter 47 The AutoCAD Design Center 336 Chapter 48 The TODAY window 347 Chapter 49 ‘Electronic’ AutoCAD 354 Activities 366 Index 385 vi Beginning AutoCAD 2002 AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page vi Preface AutoCAD is probably the most widely used PC-based CAD software package available, and AutoCAD 2002 is the latest release. The program is very similar to AutoCAD 2000, but incorporates several new features including greater Internet accessibility. These new features, combined with the traditional AutoCAD interface will increase the users’ draughting skills and improve productivity. This book is intended for: a) new users to AutoCAD who have access to AutoCAD 2002 b) experienced AutoCAD users wanting to upgrade their skills from previous releases to AutoCAD 2002. The objective of the book is to introduce the reader to the essential basic 2D draughting skills required by every AutoCAD user, whether at the introductory, intermediate or advanced level. Once these basic skills have been ‘mastered’, the user can progress to the more ‘demanding’ topics such as 3D modelling, customisation and AutoLISP programming. The book will prove invaluable to any casual AutoCAD user, as well as the student studying any of the City and Guild, BTEC or SQA CADD courses. It will also be useful to undergraduates and postgraduates at higher institutions who require AutoCAD draughting skills. Industrial CAD users will be able to use the book, as both a textbook and a reference source. As with all my other AutoCAD books, the reader will learn by completing worked examples, and further draughting experience will be obtained by completing the additional activities which complement many of the chapters. All drawing material has been completed using Release 2002 and all work has been checked to ensure there are no errors. Your comments and suggestions for work to be included in any future publications would be greatly appreciated. Bob McFarlane AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page vii To: Stephen and Amanda. Many congratulations on your marriage, from Mum, Dad, Lynda and Ciara. AutoCAD2002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page viii What’s new in AutoCAD 2002 New features AutoCAD 2002 has several new and enhanced features including those listed below. True associative dimensioning AutoCAD now supports geometry-driven associative dimensioning and trans-spatial dimensioning, providing a new method of dimensioning that eliminates: (a) calculating dimension scales and (b) creating special annotation layers. New text features Several new text utilities include an enhanced spell checker, text scaling, text justifying and matching text between model space and paper space. The spell checker supports all text objects included in block definitions. CAD standards Allow a set of common properties to be defined such as layers and text styles. This allows for consistency in interpreting drawings when a large number of users contribute to a drawing. Design XML Defines a structure for the efficient delivery of geometric model information over the web. This is an advanced feature of AutoCAD 2002. Layer translator Allows layers in the current drawing to be changed to match layers in another drawing or in CAD standard files. Block attribute manager Allows attribute data in block definitions to be modified easily. Enhanced DWF file format DWF now supports raster image formats, thumbnail and preview images as well as support for additional viewer applications and products. Chapter 1 Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 1 Enhanced features AutoCAD Today Allows the user to manage drawing and template files, load symbol libraries, access the Bulletin Board for collaborative work and access the AutoDESK Point A design portal. Live Object Enablers Increases the value of designs and reduces time between drawing and data sharing. Publish to Web The user can the Publish to Web wizard with template, themes and I-drop options. Many (but not all) of these new features will be discussed in this book. 2 Beginning AutoCAD 2002 Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 2 [...]... future recall and all drawings are called files AutoCAD 2002 supports different file formats, including: dwg: AutoCAD 2002 drawing dws: AutoCAD 2002 Drawing Standard dwt: AutoCAD 2002 Template Drawing template file AutoCAD 2002 drawings can be saved in other formats as well as in pre -AutoCAD 2002 formats Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:04 Page 17 The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen 17 Saved drawing... Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 6 Chapter 4 The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen In this chapter we will investigate the graphics screen and discuss some of the terminology associated with it Starting AutoCAD 2002 AutoCAD 2002 is started: a) from the Windows ‘Start screen’ with a double left-click on the AutoCAD 2002 icon b) by selecting the windows taskbar sequence: Start-Programs -AutoCAD. .. The Command prompt window area 16 The Draw toolbar Figure 4.2 9 The coordinate system icon The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 8 8 Beginning AutoCAD 2002 Title bar The title bar is positioned at the top of the screen and displays the AutoCAD 2002 icon, the AutoCAD Release version and the current drawing name The Windows buttons The Windows buttons are... it by picking (leftclick) the X button on the right in the title bar The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen will then be displayed (a) My Drawings (c) Autodesk Point A Figure 4.1 The AutoCAD Today screen (b) Bulletin Board Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 7 The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen 7 The graphics screen The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen (Fig 4.2) displays the following: 1 The title... selection set – a powerful aid when modifying a drawing Starting a new drawing with Wizard 1 Start AutoCAD with: a) a double left-click on the AutoCAD 2002 icon b) select from the Windows taskbar the sequence: Start-Programs -AutoCAD 2002 -AutoCAD2 002 2 When either of the above options is selected, the AutoCAD 2002 logo will be displayed for a short time and if the instructions in Chapter 4 were followed:... the screen Toolbars will be discussed later in this chapter Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 11 The AutoCAD 2002 graphics screen 11 Terminology AutoCAD 2002 terminology is basically the same as previous releases, and the following gives a brief description of the items commonly encountered by new users to AutoCAD Menu A menu is a list of options from which the user selects (picks)... purposes – any speed Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 4 4 Beginning AutoCAD 2002 Optional hardware • • • • • Open GL-compatible 3D video card Printer or plotter Digitizer Modem or access to an Internet connection Network interface card The installation procedure should follow the instructions given in the AutoCAD 2002 Users’ Manual Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03... MODEL/PAPER space toggle Beginning with AutoCAD 2002.qxd 14/06/2002 19:03 Page 10 10 Beginning AutoCAD 2002 Command prompt window area The command prompt area is where the user ‘communicates’ with AutoCAD 2002 to enter: a) a command, e.g LINE, COPY, ARRAY b) coordinate data, e.g 120,150, @15 . Beginning AutoCAD 2002 AutoCAD2 002_prelims 14/06/2002 19:02 Page i Other titles from Bob McFarlane Beginning AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 58571 4 Progressing with AutoCAD. 6 Introducing 3D AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 61456 0 Solid Modelling with AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 63204 6 Assignments in AutoCAD ISBN 0 340 69181 6 Starting with AutoCAD LT