by Lee Ambrosius AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page iii 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page ii AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page i 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page ii by Lee Ambrosius AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page iii AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008925782 ISBN: 978-0-470-24378-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page iv About the Author Lee Ambrosius works for Autodesk as a technical writer for the Platform Solutions and Emerging Business (PSEB) division and is based out of his home office. Before that, he worked as an independent consultant for more than three years, and before that he was a resident of a cubicle farm for about eight years, where he worked as a systems analyst creating custom applications. Even though Lee doesn’t work for himself anymore, he still runs his Web site, www.hyperpics.com, and his blog, hyperpics.blogs.com. He has been using AutoCAD since 1994, when he was first exposed to Release 12 for DOS, and has been customizing and programming AutoCAD since 1996. Lee was an AutoCAD consultant and trainer for more than ten years, and has been teach- ing at Autodesk University since 2004. For over a decade, Lee has authored a variety of works that include articles for CAD magazines and white papers for Autodesk and has been a contribut- ing author on a few occasions for AutoCAD books. He has been a technical editor for the recent editions of AutoCAD For Dummies and AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Bible. The first version of this book, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, was his first venture into being a co- author for a book before going off and authoring the book AutoCAD 2008 3D Modeling Workbook For Dummies. 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page v 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page vi Dedication To my grandmother, Theresa Severa (Grams, GG and all the other names you go by), for always being there. I also can’t forget the influence you have on my family and of course all the perks of having such a loving person in our family. Author’s Acknowledgments I have to give a special thanks to the great folks at Wiley for being supportive through this entire project. There is always that one shining star on a project that keeps things moving like a well-oiled machine, and that individual was my project and copy editor for this edition, Susan Pink. A special thanks also goes out to my technical editor, Mark Douglas, for agreeing to work with me on this edition of the book. Thanks to all the folks at Autodesk, who are all dedicated to the work they do. An extra thanks to Shaan Hurley and Bud Schroeder. Before joining Autodesk, they were always willing to take time out of their busy days to answer my questions during this project. 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page vii Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Project Editor: Susan Pink Acquisitions Editors: Tiffany Ma, Kyle Looper Technical Editor: Mark Douglas Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services Project Coordinator: Erin Smith Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Stacie Brooks, Reuben W. Davis, Melissa K. Jester, Julie Trippetti, Christine Williams Proofreaders: David Faust, Bonnie Mikkelson Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page viii [...]... .334 Desktop icons .334 Object Enabler Technology 334 Additional Utilities Available from Autodesk 335 DWG TrueView 2009 335 Viewers 335 Companion Products from Autodesk 336 Autodesk Symbols 2000 336 Autodesk VIZ 2008 336 Autodesk Impression 336 xviii AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Third-Party... dimension .28 Fast Track to Plotting 29 xii AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Chapter 2: Drawing on and in AutoCAD 31 Understanding AutoCAD Files and Formats .32 Seeing the LT 33 Using AutoCAD s Latest-and-Greatest Feature Set 34 Chapter 3: Navigating the AutoCAD Interface 37 Starting the Application... of AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 so you get up to speed faster and become productive as soon as possible The different areas of drafting that I discuss include 2D drafting, 3D modeling, annotation, creating and using reusable content, printing and plotting, collaboration, and customizing and programming 2 About This Book About This Book AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference For. .. 317 Controlling the Annotation Scale for Output 319 Book IV: LT Differences .321 Chapter 1: The LT Difference 323 Understanding the Boundaries and Limitations of AutoCAD LT 323 Determining Whether AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT Is Best for You 329 Chapter 2: Extending AutoCAD LT 331 Customizing AutoCAD LT 331 It’s all in the script... For Dummies gives you an understanding of all the main features that you need to know to be productive with AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT The All-in-One Desk References For Dummies are different from other For Dummies books that you may have read; as much information as possible is crammed between the covers (and some has even overflowed to the Web), and the content takes you deep into the depths of AutoCAD. .. 252 Creating Multiline Text 253 Formatting options 254 Numbered and bulleted lists 255 Controlling the flow of text .256 Fields, masks, and other multiline text delights 257 Editing Text 258 Editing single-line text .258 Editing multiline text 259 xvi AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Turning the Tables .259... 628 Design Web Format (DWF and DWFx) .629 Portable Document File (PDF) 630 Head-to-head comparison 630 xxiv AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Working with DWF and DWFx Files 631 Creating a DWF or DWFx file .632 Viewing a DWF or DWFx file 633 Electronically marking up a DWF or DWFx file .634 Book IX: Customizing AutoCAD 637 Chapter... settings 113 The Layer Control drop-down list 118 Layer tools 119 Object Properties 120 Using AutoCAD s color systems .122 Using linetypes 122 Setting Up Standards 123 xiv AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Chapter 7: Precision Tools 125 Understanding Accuracy and Precision 125 Understanding... .396 xx AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Sphere 397 Cylinder .397 Torus 398 Pyramid 398 Editing Solids 399 Solid editing 399 Using grips to edit 3D solids .400 Complex solids 401 Filleting and chamfering 401 Slice 402 Chapter 6: Rendering: Lights, Camera, AutoCAD! ... xxii AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference Using the Tool Palettes Window 486 Blocks, xrefs, images, tables, and hatches 487 Command and flyouts tools 488 Modifying tools on a tool palette .488 Customizing and organizing tool palettes .489 Book VII: Publishing Drawings 491 Chapter 1: Page Setup 493 Preparing for . & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page iii AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ® Published. Ambrosius AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page iii 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page ii AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD. & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page i 01 243787 ffirst.qxp 4/7/08 1:22 PM Page ii by Lee Ambrosius AutoCAD ® 2009 & AutoCAD LT ® 2009 ALL-IN-ONE