AutoCAD ® User’s Guide 2004 00118-010000-5020A February 2003
Copyright © 2003 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. AUTODESK, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS, AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC.
Contents Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need . . . . . . . . Install the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use the Help System Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . Find Information in Help . . . . . . . . . . Use Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use Ask Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Understand How Help Topics Are Organized . . . . Use the Up Arrow to Navigate Help Topics . . . . . Print Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . Show and Hide the Contents Pane . . . . . . .
Part I The User Interface. . . . . Chapter 2 Menus, Toolbars and Tool Palettes . . . . . . . . Tool Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Insert Blocks and Hatches Using Tool Palettes . Change Tool Palette Settings . . . . . . Control Tool Properties . . . . . . . . Customize Tool Palettes. . . . . . . . Save and Share Tool Palettes . . . . . . Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shortcut Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . The Object Snap Menu . . . . . . . . .
Part II Chapter 7 Start, Organize, and Save a Drawing . Start and Save a Drawing . . . . Chapter 8 Chapter 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Opening Drawings . . . . . . . Find a Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . Specify Search Paths, File Names, and File Locations Work with Multiple Open Drawings . . . . . Open Part of a Large Drawing (Partial Load) . . . Add Identifying Information to Drawings . . . Recover a Damaged File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Part IV Chapter 14 . . . . View a Parallel Projection in 3D . . . . . . . . . Overview of Viewing Parallel Projections in 3D . . Choose Preset 3D Views. . . . . . . . . . Define a 3D View with Coordinate Values or Angles. Change to a View of the XY Plane . . . . . . Change a 3D View Dynamically . . . . . . . Display a Perspective View . . . . . . . . . . . Specify 3D Views Interactively (3D Orbit) . . . . . . Overview of 3D Orbit . . . . . . . . . .
Work with Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . Load Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the Current Linetype . . . . . . . . . . . Change the Linetype of an Object . . . . . . . . Control Linetype Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . Display Linetypes on Short Segments and Polylines . . Control Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . Display Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . Set the Current Lineweight . . . . . . .
Chapter 16 Extract or Calculate Geometric Information from Objects . Obtain Distances, Angles, and Point Locations . . Obtain Area Information . . . . . . . . . Use the Geometry Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draw Geometric Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 17 Change Existing Objects . . . . . . . Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . Select Objects Individually . . . . . . Select Multiple Objects . . . . . . . Prevent Objects from Being Selected . . . Filter Selection Sets . . . . . . . . . Customize Object Selection . . . . . . Group Objects . . . . . . . . . . Correct Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Modifying Objects . . . . . Remove Objects . . . . . . . . . . Move Objects. . . . . . . . .
Part V Chapter 18 Hatches, Notes, and Dimensions . Hatches, Fills, and Wipeouts . . . . . . . Overview of Hatch Patterns and Fills . . . . Define Hatch Boundaries . . . . . . . . Overview of Hatch Boundaries . . . . Control the Hatching in Islands . . . . Define Hatch Boundaries in Large Drawings Create Unbounded Hatches . . . . . Choose Hatch Patterns and Solid Fills . . . . Create Solid-Filled Areas . . . . . . Create Gradient-Filled Areas . . . . . Use Predefined Hatch Patterns. . . . .
Chapter 20 Dimensions and Tolerances . . . Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning . . . . . Overview of Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . Parts of a Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . Associative Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . Use Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . Compare Dimension Styles and Variables. . . . . Control Dimension Geometry . . . . . . . . Control Dimension Text . . . . . . . . . . Control Dimension Values . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 22 Use the Layout Wizard to Specify Layout Settings Reuse Layouts and Layout Settings . . . . . . . Duplicate a Layout . . . . . . . . . . Create a Layout Using a Template . . . . . Save a Layout Template . . . . . . . . . Insert a Layout Using DesignCenter . . . . . Import PCP or PC2 Settings into a Layout . . . Create and Use Named Page Setups . . . . . Create Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . Work with Layout Viewports . . . . . . . Place Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . .
Specify the Area to Plot . . . . Preview a Plot . . . . . . . Plot Files to Other Formats . . . Plot to DXB File Formats . . Plot to Raster File Formats . Create Adobe PostScript Files. Create Plot Files . . . . . Plot Batches of Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part VII Share Data Between Drawings and Applications .
Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 xiv | . . . . Overview of Object Linking and Embedding . . . . Import OLE Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of Importing OLE Objects into Drawings Link OLE Objects in Drawings. . . . . . . Embed OLE Objects in Drawings . . . . . . Limitations of OLE Objects in Drawings . . . Export OLE Objects from Drawings . . . . . . . Edit OLE Objects in Drawings . . . . . . . . . Link and Embed Data (OLE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Use Queries to Filter Database Information . . . . . . . Overview of Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . Construct Simple Queries . . . . . . . . . . . Use the Query Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . Use SQL Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Combine Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . Save and Reuse Queries . . . . . . . . . . . Share Link and Label Templates and Queries with Other Users . Work with Links in Files from Earlier Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 29 Insert and View Markups . . . . . Overview of the Electronic Markup Feature Insert Markup Data . . . . . . . . Review Electronic Markups . . . . . Chapter 30 Part IX xvi | Publish Drawing Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814 . 814 . 816 . . . . 819 Overview of Design Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create an Electronic Drawing Set. . . . . . . . . . . .
Find the Information You Need AutoCAD® is a powerful application with tools that help In this chapter you work with a high level of efficiency and ■ Install the Product productivity. You install AutoCAD with the Installation wizard that starts automatically when you insert the product CD.
Install the Product You can easily install and configure AutoCAD on a stand-alone computer. Insert the product CD in the CD-ROM drive. Then in the AutoCAD CD Browser, on the Install tab, click Install. The Installation wizard leads you through the installation process. The AutoCAD CD Browser also provides instructions for network installations and access to information about technical support and licensing.
Use the Help System Efficiently AutoCAD Help contains complete information about using AutoCAD. In the Help window, you use the left pane to locate information. The tabs above the left pane give you several ways for finding the topics you want to view. The right pane displays the topics you select. Find Information in Help The tabs on the left side of the Help window provide different methods for finding information. To locate a specific word or phrase in the current topic, use the CTRL+F keys.
Ask Me Tab ■ ■ ■ Allows you to find information using a question phrased in everyday language. Displays a ranked list of topics that correspond to the word or phrase entered in the question field. Provides a "Search the Web" link that sends a query to a search engine on the Web. To start Help ■ On the Help menu, click Help or Developer Help. Note You can press F1 at the Command prompt, in a dialog box, or at a prompt within a command to display Help information.
Use Searches A basic search using the Search tab consists of the word or phrase you want to find. The basic search rules are as follows: ■ ■ ■ ■ Type your search in uppercase or lowercase characters; searches are not case-sensitive. Search for any combination of letters (a-z) and numbers (0-9). Do not use punctuation marks such as the period, colon, semicolon, comma, hyphen, and single quotation marks; they are ignored during a search.
Search for Example Results The first term without the "ole" NOT "dde" second term Topics containing the word "OLE," but not the word "DDE" Both terms in the "user" NEAR "kernel" same topic, close together Topics containing the word "user" within eight words of the word "kernel" Note The |, &, and ! characters do not work as Boolean operators. You must use AND, OR, and NOT. To search for information in Help 1 Choose the Search tab and then enter the word or phrase you want to find.
The results of natural language queries are often more accurate than the results of searches. Matching topics are ranked by percentages that reflect how likely they are to answer your questions. You can also expand your natural language query to the Web. To use natural language queries in Help 1 Choose the Ask Me tab, and then enter the question you want answered. Alternatively, you can enter a phrase or a single word.
■ ■ Procedures. Provides step-by-step instructions for common procedures related to the current topic. After displaying a procedure, you can click the Procedures tab to redisplay the current list of procedures. Reference. Lists commands and system variables related to the current topic, with links to detailed descriptions of related commands. If you click an entry on the Reference tab, the Command Reference opens to the command or system variable that you selected.
Note When you select the second option, you may get numerous printed pages, depending on how many subtopics the currently selected topic contains. To print a Help topic 1 Display the topic you want to print. 2 Right-click in the topic pane and select Print. 3 In the Print dialog box, choose OK. To print a selected heading and all subtopics 1 Display the topic you want to print and make sure that the Contents tab is showing. 2 On the Help toolbar, choose the Print button.
Get Additional Help You can access several additional sources of help: ■ ■ ■ Press F1 from within a command, system variable, or dialog box. Displays complete information from the Command Reference. Choose the question mark button in many dialog boxes. Displays a description of the dialog box option you select. View the product Readme topic in Help. Displays late-breaking information about this product.
To control Active Assistance settings 1 Right-click in the Active Assistance window. 2 Choose Settings from the shortcut menu. 3 In the Active Assistance Settings dialog box, use the Show on Start check box to determine whether you want Active Assistance to start automatically when you start AutoCAD. ■ ■ Selecting Show on Start causes Active Assistance to start automatically. Clearing Show on Start causes Active Assistance to start in an alternative manner. Select an alternative in the next step.
Learn the Product Through Autodesk’s training programs, products, and services, you can learn about fundamental or advanced features, and about products. For the latest information about Autodesk training, visit http:// www.autodesk.com or contact your local Autodesk office. Autodesk Authorized Training Centers The Autodesk® Authorized Training Center (ATC®) network delivers Autodesk-authorized, instructor-led training to design professionals who use Autodesk software.
Receive Product Updates and Announcements Overview of Communication Center Communication Center provides the following kinds of announcements: ■ ■ ■ ■ General Product Information. Stay informed about Autodesk company news and product announcements; provide your feedback directly to Autodesk. Product Support Information. Get breaking news from the Product Support team at Autodesk. Subscription Information and Extension Announcements.
Communication Center Online Privacy Communication Center is an interactive feature that must be connected to the Internet to deliver content and information. Each time Communication Center is connected, it sends information to Autodesk so that the correct information can be returned. All information is sent anonymously to maintain your privacy. The following information is sent to Autodesk: ■ ■ ■ ■ Product Name. The name of the product in which you are using Communication Center Product Release Number.
■ ■ ■ Update Frequency. Specifies how often you want Communication Center to synchronize with Autodesk servers. Balloon Notification. Turns on ballon notification so that Communication Center balloon messages are displayed above the status bar when a new announcement is received. If the balloon notifications have been disabled in the tray settings, the Balloon Notification setting in the Communication Center is ignored. Channels. Specifies the information that you want displayed in Communication Center.
If no Communication Center icon is shown on the status bar, see your network administrator. To open the Communication Center window ■ Click the Communication Center icon located in the tray on the right side of the status bar. View the Product Readme You can find late-breaking information about this software in the Readme. It is suggested that you read through the Readme for information about recommended hardware, updated installation instructions, and known software problems.
Part 1 The User Interface Chapter 2 Menus, Toolbars and Tool Palettes 19 Chapter 3 The Command Window Chapter 4 DesignCenter 45 Chapter 5 Customize the Drawing Environment Chapter 6 Pointing Devices 35 61 69 17
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Menus, Toolbars and Tool Palettes AutoCAD® provides menus, shortcut menus, toolbars, In this chapter and tool palettes for access to frequently used ■ Tool Palettes commands, settings, and modes. The Standard, Object Properties, Draw, and Modify toolbars are displayed by default. Shortcut menus display commands that are ■ Toolbars ■ The Menu Bar ■ Shortcut Menus ■ The Object Snap Menu relevant to your current activity.
Tool Palettes Tool palettes are tabbed areas within the Tool Palettes window that provide an efficient method for organizing, sharing, and placing blocks and hatches. Tool palettes can also contain custom tools provided by third-party developers. Insert Blocks and Hatches Using Tool Palettes Tool palettes are tabbed areas within the Tool Palettes window. You can place blocks and hatches that you use often on a tool palette.
To display the Tool Palettes window ■ On the Tools menu, click Tool Palettes Window. Alternatively, you can press CTRL+3. Standard toolbar Command line TOOLPALETTES Change Tool Palette Settings The options and settings for tool palettes are accessible from shortcut menus in different areas on the Tool Palettes window. These settings include ■ Auto-hide. The Tool Palettes window can automatically roll open or roll away when your cursor moves over the title bar on the Tool Palettes window.
■ Views. The display style and size of the icons in a tool palette can be changed. You can dock the Tool Palettes window on the right or left edge of the application window. Press the CTRL key to prevent docking as you move the Tool Palettes window. Tool palette settings are saved with your AutoCAD profile. To change the roll-over behavior of the Tool Palettes window ■ Click the Auto-Hide button at the bottom of the title bar of the Tool Palettes window. Roll-over behavior is on.
To change the icon display style in the Tool Palettes window 1 Right-click the blank area of the Tool Palettes window, and then click View Options on the displayed menu. 2 In the View Options dialog box, click the icon display option that you want to set. You can also change the size of the icons. 3 Click the list box under Apply To, and then click either Current Tool Palette or All Tool Palettes. Click OK.
Update the Icon for a Tool Icons in tool palettes are not automatically updated if the block or hatch changes. If you change a block or hatch definition you can update its icon in a tool palette. In the Tool Properties dialog box, change the entry in the Source File field for blocks or the Pattern name field for hatches, and then change the entry back again. This forces an update of the icon for that tool. Alternatively, you can delete the tool and then replace it using DesignCenter.
■ Properties listed under the General category override the current drawing property settings such as layer, color, and linetype. You can also resize the Tool Properties dialog box or expand and collapse the property categories by clicking the arrow buttons. 3 Click OK. Customize Tool Palettes You can create new tool palettes using the Properties button on the title bar of the Tool Palettes window.
Note For block tools on tool palettes, the source drawing files must always be accessible. If a source drawing file is moved to a different folder, you must modify the block tool that references it by right-clicking the block tool and, in the Tool Properties dialog box, specifying the new source file folder. Once tools are placed in a tool palette, you can rearrange them by dragging them within the tool palette.
The default path for tool palette files is set on the Files tab of the Options dialog box under Tool Palettes File Locations. Note If a tool palette file is set with a read-only attribute, a lock icon displays in a lower corner of the tool palette. This indicates that the tool palette cannot be modified beyond changing its display settings and rearranging the icons. Toolbars Toolbars contain buttons that start commands.
To display a toolbar 1 From the View menu, choose Toolbars. 2 In the Customize dialog box, Toolbars tab, select the name of the toolbar you want to show. 3 Choose Close. Shortcut menu You can also display a toolbar by right-clicking any toolbar button and choosing a toolbar from the shortcut menu. Command line CUSTOMIZE To dock a toolbar 1 Position the cursor on the name of the toolbar or in any blank area, and hold down the button on your pointing device.
The Menu Bar Menus are available from the menu bar at the top of the AutoCAD drawing area. You can choose menu options in the following ways: ■ ■ Click the menu name to display a list of options. Click the option to choose it, or press DOWN ARROW to move down the list and then press ENTER. Press ALT and then enter the underlined letter in the menu name. For example, to open a new drawing, press ALT and press F to open the File menu. Then press ENTER to choose the highlighted option New.
■ ■ ■ On a toolbar or palette On the Model or layout tabs On the status bar or the status bar buttons Shortcut menus typically include options to ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Repeat the last command entered Cancel the current command Cut and copy to the Clipboard and paste from the Clipboard Select a different command option Display a dialog box, such as Options or Customize Undo the last command entered If text has been entered on the command line, right-clicking automatically executes the text as a command without dis
5 In the Right-Click Customization dialog box under Default Mode or Edit Mode, select one of the following options to control what happens when you right-click in the drawing area and no command is in progress: ■ ■ Repeat Last Command. Repeats the last command. Selecting this option turns off the Default and Edit shortcut menus. Right-clicking is the same as pressing ENTER . Shortcut Menu. Displays the Default or Edit shortcut menu.
To control the display of icons and notifications in the status bar tray 1 Click the arrow at the right end of the status bar and then click Tray Settings. 2 In the Tray Settings dialog box, select or clear the following display options: ■ ■ Display Icons from Services. Displays the tray at the right end of the status bar and displays icons from services. When this option is cleared, the tray is not displayed. Display Notifications from Services. Displays notifications from services.
The Object Snap Menu The object snap menu is displayed at your cursor location when you hold down SHIFT and click the right mouse button or the equivalent button on another pointing device. The default object snap menu lists object snaps and tracking options. If you want to change the options, you can customize the acad.mnu file. See Also “Create Pull-Down and Shortcut Menus” in the Customization Guide To display the object snap menu 1 Enter any command that prompts you to specify a point.
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The Command Window Commands, system variables, options, messages, and In this chapter prompts are displayed in a dockable and resizable ■ Enter Commands on the Command Line window called the command window. The bottom line of the command window is called the command line. The command line displays the operation in progress and provides an inside view of exactly what the program is doing.
Enter Commands on the Command Line To enter a command by using the keyboard, type the full command name on the command line and press ENTER or SPACEBAR, or right-click your pointing device. Some commands also have abbreviated names. For example, instead of entering circle to start the CIRCLE command, you can enter c. Abbreviated command names are called command aliases and are defined in the acad.pgp file. To define your own command aliases, see “Create Command Aliases” in the Customization Guide.
Interrupt a Command with Another Command or System Variable Many commands can be used transparently: that is, they can be entered on the command line while you use another command. Transparent commands frequently change drawing settings or display options, for example, GRID or ZOOM. In the Command Reference, transparent commands are designated by an apostrophe in front of the command name.
Enter System Variables on the Command Line System variables are settings that control how certain commands work. They can turn on or turn off modes such as Snap, Grid, or Ortho. They can set default scales for hatch patterns. They can store information about the current drawing and about AutoCAD configuration. Sometimes you use a system variable in order to change a setting. At other times you use a system variable to display the current status.
Navigate and Edit Within the Command Window You can navigate and edit text in the command window to correct or repeat commands. Use the standard keys: ■ UP, DOWN, LEFT ARROW, ■ ■ ■ ■ and RIGHT ARROW INS, DEL PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN HOME, END BACKSPACE You can repeat any command used in the current session by cycling through the commands in the command window with UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW and pressing ENTER. By default, pressing CTRL+C copies highlighted text to the Clipboard.
Press SHIFT with a key to highlight text. For example, press SHIFT+HOME in the text window to highlight all text from the cursor location to the beginning of the line. To copy all the text in the text window to the Clipboard, use the COPYHIST command. See Also “Dock and Resize the Command Window” on page 42 To display the text window ■ From within the drawing area, press F2. The text window is displayed in front of the AutoCAD drawing area.
Switch Between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line Some functions are available both on the command line and in a dialog box. In many cases, you can enter a hyphen before the command to suppress the dialog box and display prompts on the command line instead. For example, entering layer on the command line displays the Layer Properties Manager. Entering -layer on the command line displays the equivalent command line options.
Dock and Resize the Command Window By default, the command window is docked. The docked command window is the same width as the AutoCAD window. If text that is entered becomes longer than the width of the command line, the window pops up in front of the command line to show the full text of the line.
To dock the command window ■ Click the title bar and drag the command window until it is over the top or bottom docking regions of the AutoCAD window. To resize the command window when it is docked 1 Position the cursor over the horizontal splitter bar so that the cursor appears as a double line and arrows. 2 Drag the splitter bar vertically until the command window is the size you want it to be.
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DesignCenter With DesignCenter,™ you can organize access to blocks, In this chapter hatches, xrefs, and other drawing content. You can drag con- ■ Overview of DesignCenter tent from any source drawing to your current drawing. You ■ Understand the DesignCenter can drag drawings, blocks, and hatches to a tool palette. Source drawings can be on your computer, on a network loca- Window ■ Access Content with DesignCenter tion, or on a website.
Overview of DesignCenter With DesignCenter, you can ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Browse for drawing content such as drawings or symbol libraries on your computer, on a networked drive, and on a web page View definition tables for named objects such as blocks and layers in any drawing file and then insert, attach, or copy and paste the definitions into the current drawing Update (redefine) a block definition Create shortcuts to drawings, folders, and Internet locations that you access frequently Add content such as xrefs
Control the Size, Location, and Appearance of DesignCenter You can control the size, location and appearance of DesignCenter. ■ ■ ■ ■ Resize DesignCenter by dragging the bar between the content area and the tree view or by dragging an edge as you would any other window. Dock DesignCenter by dragging it over the right or left docking regions of the AutoCAD window until it snaps into the docked position. You can also dock the DesignCenter window by double-clicking its title bar.
To prevent DesignCenter from docking 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. 2 Click and hold on the DesignCenter title bar. Press CTRL as you move your mouse. Standard toolbar Command line ADCENTER To display and hide the DesignCenter tree view 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. 2 On the DesignCenter toolbar, click Tree View Toggle.
■ ■ ■ Folders Drawings and related support files Xrefs, layouts, hatch styles, and named objects, including blocks, layers, linetypes, text styles, dimension styles, and plot styles within a drawing Click an item in the tree view to display its contents in the content area. Click the plus (+) or minus (-) signs to display and hide additional levels in the hierarchy. You can also double-click an item to display deeper levels.
■ ■ History. Lists the last 20 locations accessed through DesignCenter. DC Online. Displays online content from the Web. Standard toolbar Command line ADCENTER To change the folder of the Home button in DesignCenter 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. 2 In the DesignCenter tree view, navigate to the folder that you want to set as home. 3 Right-click on the folder and, from the shortcut menu, click Set as Home.
To organize your DesignCenter Favorites folder 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. 2 In DesignCenter, click the Favorites button. 3 Right-click the background in the content area and choose Organize Favorites from the shortcut menu. Your Autodesk Favorites folder is opened in a window. Standard toolbar Command line ADCENTER Add Content with DesignCenter The right portion of the DesignCenter window operates on the content displayed.
From the shortcut menu displayed when you right-click a block or drawing file in the content area, click Redefine Only or Insert and Redefine to update the selected block. Open Drawings with DesignCenter With DesignCenter, you can open a drawing from the content area using the shortcut menu, pressing CTRL while dragging a drawing, or dragging a drawing icon to any location outside the graphics area of a drawing area.
■ Right-click a drawing in the DesignCenter tree view or content area, and click Create Tool Palette of Blocks on the shortcut menu. The new tool palette contains the blocks from the drawing you selected. You can drag additional drawings, blocks or hatches from the DesignCenter content area to the tool palette. Standard toolbar Command line ADCENTER To load the content area from the DesignCenter Search dialog box 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter.
To load the content area of DesignCenter with hatch patterns 1 If DesignCenter is not already open, on the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. 2 On the DesignCenter toolbar, click Search. 3 In the Search dialog box, click the Look For box and then click Hatch Pattern Files. 4 On the Hatch Pattern Files tab, in the Search for the Name box, enter *. 5 Click Search Now. 6 Double-click one of the hatch pattern files that was found. The hatch pattern file you selected is loaded into DesignCenter.
Note If the source of the block that you want to update is an entire drawing file rather than a block definition within a drawing file, right-click the drawing’s icon in the DesignCenter content area. Then, on the shortcut menu, click Insert as Block.
In the DesignCenter Online window, two panes are displayed—a right pane and a left pane. The right pane is called the content area. The content area displays the items or folders that you selected in the left pane. The left pane can display one of the following four views: ■ ■ ■ ■ Category Listing. Displays folders containing libraries of standard parts, manufacturer-specific content, and content aggregator websites. Search. Searches for online content.
■ ■ Product Language. The language version of your product Random Number Identifier. DesignCenter Online assigns a random number identifier to each person who uses the feature. This identifier is used to retain your Collections and your Settings views each time DesignCenter Online is used. Autodesk compiles statistics using the information sent from DesignCenter Online to monitor how it is being used and how it can be improved.
You use the Collections view to select the categories of online content that you want to display in the Catagory Listing view. To view online content folders in the Catagory Listing view ■ In DesignCenter Online, at the top of the left pane, click the heading and then click Category Listing. The category folders are displayed in the left pane of the window. Retrieve Content on the Web You can download content from the Web and use it in your drawings.
Control the Number of Categories and Items in a Page By using the Settings view, you can control how many categories or items are displayed on each page in the content area as a result of a search or folder navigation. Collections You can choose the type of content to navigate and search. In the Collections pane, you can specify the content types that are displayed each time you open DesignCenter Online.
To specify content collections 1 In DesignCenter Online, at the top of the left pane, click the heading and then click Collections. 2 In the Collections view, click the check boxes of the collections that you want to use. 3 Click Update Collections. The categories that you have selected are displayed in the left pane. To download content to your computer 1 In DesignCenter Online, at the top of the left pane, click the heading and then click Category Listing. 2 In the Category folders, click a content item.
Customize the Drawing Environment You can change many AutoCAD® window and drawing In this chapter environment settings in the Options dialog box or ■ Set Interface Options when starting AutoCAD. For example, you can change how often AutoCAD automatically saves a drawing to a ■ Customize Startup ■ Save and Restore Profiles temporary file, and you can link AutoCAD to folders containing files you use frequently.
Set Interface Options You can change many of the settings that affect the AutoCAD interface and drawing environment in the Options dialog box. For example, you can establish how often AutoCAD automatically saves the drawing to a temporary file, and you can specify the search path for files that you use most often. Experiment with the settings in the Options dialog box until you find the best environment for your needs.
To customize the colors of the application window elements 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, choose the Display tab ➤ Colors. 3 In the Color Options dialog box, select the element you want to change by clicking the Model tab or layout tabs images. As you click areas of the images, the selection is displayed in the Window Element list. You also can change an attribute by selecting it from the Window Element list. 4 Select the color you want to use from the Color list.
Customize Startup You can use command line switches to specify several options when AutoCAD starts. For example, AutoCAD can run a script, start with a specified template drawing, and display a specified view when a drawing is opened. With command line switches, you can also set up several AutoCAD icons, each with different start-up options. Command line switches are parameters you can add to the acad.exe command line associated with a Windows shortcut icon or the Windows Run dialog box.
/nologo No AutoCAD logo screen Starts AutoCAD without first displaying the logo screen. /p User-defined registry profile for starting AutoCAD Specifies a user-defined registry profile for starting AutoCAD. The selected profile is in effect only for the current session of AutoCAD, unless you make another profile current in the Options dialog box during that session. You create or import Profiles on the Profiles tab in the Options dialog box.
To start AutoCAD with a command line switch 1 Right-click the AutoCAD icon on the Windows Desktop. Then choose Properties. 2 In the AutoCAD Properties dialog box, choose the Shortcut tab. 3 In the Target box, edit the parameters for the switch using the following syntax: "drive:pathname\acad.
Once you save a profile, you can export or import the ARG file to and from different computers. If you make changes to your current profile during an AutoCAD session and you want to save those changes in the ARG file, you must export the profile. When you export the profile with the current profile name, AutoCAD updates the ARG file with the new settings. You can import the profile again into AutoCAD to update your profile settings. For more information about profiles, see OPTIONS in the Command Reference.
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Pointing Devices You can control AutoCAD® with a pointing device such In this chapter as a mouse, digitizing puck, or stylus. A pointing device ■ Pointing Device Buttons may have a number of buttons. The first 10 buttons are ■ Digitizing Tablets automatically assigned by AutoCAD, but you can reassign all but button 1, the pick button, by modifying the AutoCAD menu file. You can change how mouse buttons function by choosing the Mouse icon in the Windows Control Panel.
Pointing Device Buttons The first 10 buttons are automatically assigned, but you can reassign all but button 1, the pick button.
To... Do this...
To turn off all shortcut menus in the drawing area 1 From the Tools menu, click Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, click the User Preferences tab. 3 Under Windows Standard Behavior, clear Shortcut Menus in Drawing Area. 4 Click OK to record the current options settings in the system registry and close the Options dialog box. Command line OPTIONS To turn off shortcut menus individually 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, choose the User Preferences tab.
Digitizing Tablets A digitizing tablet, or digitizer, is a peripheral device that can be used to trace paper drawings into an AutoCAD drawing file or to choose commands from the digitizing tablet overlay supplied with AutoCAD. With the Wintab driver, the tablet pointer can also be used instead of a mouse as a system pointer to choose menu items and drawing objects in AutoCAD or to interact with the operating system. The tablet pointer can be a puck or a stylus.
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Part 2 Start, Organize, and Save a Drawing Chapter 7 Start and Save a Drawing 77 Chapter 8 Open an Existing Drawing Chapter 9 Specify Units, Angles, and Scale Chapter 10 Organize Drawings and Apply Standards 109 87 101 75
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Start and Save a Drawing You can start a new drawing several ways. You can use a In this chapter wizard to step you through the process, you can start ■ Start a Drawing from Scratch from scratch using default settings, or you can start from a template file with a preset environment. In each case, you can choose the conventions and defaults you ■ Use a Setup Wizard ■ Use a Template File to Start a Drawing ■ Save a Drawing want to use.
Start a Drawing from Scratch A quick way to begin a new drawing is to start from scratch, which starts a drawing that uses settings from a default drawing template file. You can start from scratch from the Create New Drawing dialog box, from the Select Template dialog box, or without using a dialog box at all. In each case, you use either the NEW command or the QNEW command.
Use a Default Drawing Template File The fastest way to begin working on a new drawing is to start automatically with a default drawing template file. No dialog box is displayed with this method: ■ ■ ■ ■ You set the STARTUP system variable to 0 (off). You set the FILEDIA system variable to 1 (on). You specify a default drawing template file in the Options dialog box on the Files tab. Click the node labeled “Drawing Template Settings” and specify a path and drawing template file.
3 In the list of nodes, click the plus next to Drawing Template Settings. Click the plus next to Drawing Template File Location, and specify a folder path. Click the plus next to Default Template File Name for QNEW, and specify a drawing template file name. Click OK. 4 On the Standard toolbar, click Qnew. The new drawing starts as drawing1.dwg. The default drawing name changes to reflect the number of new drawings that have been started.
Use a Template File to Start a Drawing A drawing template file contains standard settings. Select one of the template files supplied, or create your own template files. Drawing template files have a .dwt file extension. When you create a new drawing based on an existing template file and make changes, the changes in the new drawing do not affect the template file. You can use one of the template files supplied with AutoCAD, or you can create your own template files.
To start a drawing by selecting a template file 1 On the File menu, click New. 2 In the Select Template dialog box, scroll through the list of templates and select a template from the list and click Open. AutoCAD opens the drawing as drawing1.dwg. The default drawing name changes to reflect the number of new drawings that have been opened. For example, if you open another drawing from a template, the default drawing name is drawing2.dwg.
2 In the Select Template dialog box, click the arrow next to the Open button and then click one of the options from the list: ■ ■ Open with no Template - Imperial to restore acad.dwt Open with no Template - Metric to restore acadiso.dwt The drawing opens with the default settings. 3 On the File menu, click Save As. 4 In the Save Drawing As dialog box, select the Drawing Template file type. Save the drawing with its original name, either acad.dwt for imperial or acadiso.dwt for metric. 5 Click Save.
Use Backup Files If you turn on automatic backups, AutoCAD saves the previous version of your drawing files to a file with the same name and a .bak file extension. To recover the previous version of your drawing from a backup file, rename the file using a .dwg extension. Save Part of a Drawing File If you want to create a new drawing file from part of an existing drawing, you can use BLOCK or WBLOCK.
2 In the Save Drawing As dialog box under File Name, enter the new drawing name; the file extension is not required. Then click Save. Standard toolbar Command line SAVE To save a drawing automatically 1 On the Tools menu, click Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, on the Open and Save tab, select Automatic Save and enter a number in Minutes Between Saves. 3 Click OK. To save a backup of the previous version every time the drawing is saved 1 On the Tools menu, click Options.
To save a block definition as a new drawing file 1 At the Command prompt, enter wblock. 2 In the Write Block dialog box, select Block. 3 Click in the box next to Block and select the block definition you want to save. 4 In the File Name box, enter the name for the new drawing file. 5 In the Location box, specify the folder for the new drawing file. 6 In the Insert Units box, you can select a different base unit. This option provides a method to scale objects automatically in the new drawing file.
Open an Existing Drawing You open drawings to work on them just as you do with In this chapter other Windows® appplications. After you choose Open, ■ Overview of Opening Drawings the Select File dialog box provides a browser to help you locate drawing files. You can also use AutoCAD® DesignCenter™ to open drawings.
Overview of Opening Drawings To open an existing AutoCAD drawing, you can choose Open from the File menu to display the Select File dialog box. You can also open drawings by dragging them from Windows Explorer into AutoCAD. If you drop one or more drawings anywhere outside the drawing area—for example, the command line or the blank space next to the toolbars—AutoCAD opens the drawings.
To open an existing drawing 1 From the File menu, choose Open. 2 In the Select File dialog box, select one or more files and choose Open. The icons on the left side of the dialog box provide quick access to commonly used files and file locations. To reorder the icons, drag them to a new location. To add, modify, or remove an icon, right-click the icon to display a shortcut menu.
To search for files 1 From the File menu, choose Open. 2 In the Select File dialog box, choose Tools ➤ Find. 3 In the Find dialog box, on the Name & Location tab, specify a file type, file name, and path. You can use wild cards when specifying a file name. 4 On the Date Modified tab, choose All Files, or choose Find All Files Created or Modified to specify a date filter. You can search for drawings modified between a specified range of dates or within a specified number of months or days. 5 Choose Find Now.
If you want to use a custom menu, specify it in the Menu, Help, and Miscellaneous File Names box. The default menu is acad.mnu. To change a search path 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, choose the Files tab. 3 On the Files tab, click the plus sign (+) to the left of the kind of path you want to change. 4 Select the path you want to change. 5 Choose Browse, and then search drives and directories until you find the one you want.
To turn Multiple Document mode on or off 1 From the Tools menu, select Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, choose the System tab. 3 Under General Options, select or clear Single-Drawing Compatibility mode. 4 Choose OK. Command line OPTIONS Open Part of a Large Drawing (Partial Load) If you work with large drawings, you can use the Partial Open option to select which view and layer geometry (graphical objects only) that you want to work with in a drawing.
After a drawing is partially open, you can load additional geometry from a view, selected area, or layer into the drawing by using PARTIALOAD. The Partial Open option is available only for drawings in AutoCAD 2000 or later format. To partially open a drawing 1 From the File menu, choose Open. 2 In the Select File dialog box, select a drawing. 3 Click the arrow next to Open and choose Partial Open.
4 In the Partial Open dialog box, select a view; the default view is EXTENTS. You can load only geometry from model space views that are saved in the current drawing. 5 Select one or more layers. If you do not select a layer or layers to load, no layer geometry is loaded into the drawing but all drawing layers exist in the drawing. If no layer geometry is specified to load into the drawing, no geometry is loaded even if the geometry from a view is specified to load.
2 In the Partial Load dialog box, select a view or choose Pick Window to define a view. The default view is Extents. You can load only geometry from model space views that are saved in the current drawing. 3 Select one or more layers. If you do not select a layer or layers to load, no layer geometry is loaded into the drawing, but all drawing layers exist in the drawing. If no layer geometry is specified to load into the drawing, no geometry is loaded even if the geometry from a view is specified to load.
To display drawing properties for the active drawing 1 From the File menu, choose Drawing Properties. 2 In the Drawing Properties dialog box, choose tabs to view the different types of information. Command line DWGPROPS To define drawing properties 1 From the File menu, choose Drawing Properties. 2 In the Drawing Properties dialog box, enter property information on the following tabs: ■ ■ Summary tab.
When an error occurs, AutoCAD tries to record diagnostic information in the acad.err file, which you can use to report a problem. AutoCAD marks a drawing as damaged if it detects corrupted data, or if you request that the drawing be saved after a system failure. If the damage is minor, you sometimes can repair the drawing simply by opening it. You can use RECOVER to perform an audit on, and attempt to open, any file you select. Use AUDIT to find and correct errors in an open file.
If your program terminates unexpectedly, AutoCAD tries to rename the current backup file to prevent it from replacing the previous backup file. AutoCAD uses the file extension .bk1 if that file name does not exist. If that file name does exist, AutoCAD generates new file extensions in the sequence .bk2 through .bk9 and .bka through .bkz. You can revert to your backup version by renaming the .bak file using the .dwg extension.
To audit an open drawing file 1 From the File menu, choose Drawing Utilities ➤ Audit. 2 At the Fix Any Errors Detected? prompt, enter y or n. After an audit, AutoCAD places all objects with errors in the Previous selection set for easy access. The output from the recovery audit is written to an ADT log file if the AUDITCTL system variable is set to 1 (on). This is the same file created by the recovery operation. If the drawing contains errors that AUDIT cannot fix, try using RECOVER.
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Specify Units, Angles, and Scale Every object you draw is measured in units. You can In this chapter choose from several common conventions to represent ■ Set Units of Measurement distances and angles on the screen. To set a scale for your drawing, you use a different method than you use ■ Set Angle Conventions ■ Draw to Scale in manual drafting.
Set Units of Measurement AutoCAD® does not use a predefined system of unit measure such as meters or inches. For example, a distance of one unit may represent one centimeter, one foot, or one mile in real-world units. Before you begin drawing, decide what distance one unit will represent, and then create your drawing with that convention. Set the Units Format You can specify the display format of the unit.
2 In the Drawing Units dialog box under Length, select a unit format and precision. The Sample Output area shows an example of the unit format at the current precision. 3 Choose OK. Command line UNITS To convert a drawing from inches to centimeters 1 From the Modify menu, choose Scale. 2 At the Select Objects prompt, enter all. All objects in the drawing are selected for scaling. 3 Enter a base point of *0,0.
Set Angle Conventions You can specify the measurement conventions for angles so that positive values of angles are measured either clockwise or counterclockwise, and angle 0 can be set to any position. You can enter angles using grads, radians, or surveyor's units or using degrees, minutes, and seconds. If you use surveyor's angles when specifying polar coordinates, indicate whether the surveyor's angles are in the north, south, east, or west direction.
In AutoCAD, this process is reversed. You draw with a unit type you specify (architectural, decimal, and so on) or with the default unit type (decimal). Each unit on the screen represents whatever you want it to be: an inch, a millimeter, a kilometer. Therefore, if you are drawing a motor part, one unit might equal a millimeter. If you are drawing a map, one unit might equal one kilometer. When you print or plot, you can set different scales for different sections of a drawing.
Example The sample architectural scale ratios in the table can be used to calculate text sizes in model space. Scale Scale factor To plot text size at Set drawing text size to 1/8" = 1'-0" 96 1/8" 12" 3/16" = 1'-0" 64 1/8" 8" 1/4" = 1'-0" 48 1/8" 6" 3/8" = 1'-0" 32 1/8" 4" 1/2" = 1'-0" 24 1/8" 3" 3/4" = 1'-0" 16 1/8" 2" 1" = 1'-0" 12 1/8" 1.5" 1 1/2" = 1'-0" 8 1/8" 1.
■ ■ ■ Linetypes. For objects plotted from the Model tab, set the scale for noncontinuous linetypes with the CELTSCALE and LTSCALE system variables. For objects plotted from a layout (paper space), use the PSLTSCALE system variable. Hatch patterns. Set the scale for hatch patterns in the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box (BHATCH) or with the HPSCALE system variable. Views.
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Organize Drawings and Apply Standards Drawings are easier to interpret if you set standards to In this chapter enforce consistency. You can set standards for layer ■ Overview of CAD Standards names, dimension styles, and other elements; check drawings against these standards; and then change any properties that do not conform.
Overview of CAD Standards You can create a standards file to define common properties in order to maintain consistency throughout your drawing files. Standards define a set of common properties for named objects such as layers and text styles. You or your CAD manager can create, apply, and audit standards in AutoCAD® drawings to enforce consistency.
■ A named object in a drawing matches the name of one in a standards file, but their properties are different. For example, in the drawing the WALL layer is yellow, but the standards file specifies red for the WALL layer. When you fix objects with nonstandard names, the nonstandard objects are purged from the drawing. Any drawing objects that are associated with the nonstandard object are transferred to a replacement standard object that you specify.
Define Standards To set standards, you create a file that defines properties for layers, dimension styles, linetypes, and text styles and save it as a standards file with the .dws file name extension. Depending on how you organize your projects, you may decide to create and associate more than one project-specific standards file with an individual drawing. When you audit the drawing file, conflicts may arise between settings in the standards files.
4 (Optional) Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you want to associate additional standards files with the current drawing. 5 Click OK. CAD Standards toolbar To remove a standards file from the current drawing 1 At the Command prompt, enter standards. 2 In the Configure Standards dialog box, Standards tab, select a standards file in Standards Files Associated with the Current Drawing. 3 Click the X button (Remove Standards File). 4 (Optional) Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you want to remove additional standards files.
To specify which standards plug-ins to use when auditing a drawing 1 At the Command prompt, enter standards. 2 In the Configure Standards dialog box, Plug-ins tab, do one of the following: ■ ■ Select the check box for at least one plug-in for auditing a drawing for standards violations. To select all plug-ins, right-click in the Plug-ins list and click Select All on the shortcut menu. (You can clear all plug-ins by right-clicking in the Plug-ins list and clicking Clear All on the shortcut menu.
If no fix is provided for the current standards violation, no item is highlighted in the Replace With list, and the Fix button is not available. If you fix a standards violation that is currently displayed in the Check Standards dialog box, the violation is not removed from the dialog box until you click the Fix or the Next button. Once the entire drawing has been audited, the Checking Complete message is displayed. This message summarizes the standards violations that were found in the drawing.
By default, if an associated standards file is missing or if a violation occurs while you work, a pop-up message appears in the lower-right corner of the application window (the status bar tray). You should check a drawing for standards violations using the Check Standards dialog box before using the notification options. This prevents triggering a notification alert carried over from a previous session.
To audit a drawing for standards violations 1 Open a drawing that has one or more associated standards files. An Associated Standards File(s) icon is displayed in the status bar. If an associated standards file is missing, a Missing Standards File(s) icon is displayed in the status bar. Note If you click the Missing Standards File(s) icon and then resolve or dissociate missing standards files, the Missing Standards File(s) icon is replaced by the Associated Standards File(s) icon.
To turn on or off the display of ignored problems 1 In a drawing with one or more associated standards files, enter checkstandards at the Command prompt. 2 In the Check Standards dialog box, click Settings. 3 In the CAD Standards Settings dialog box, select or clear Show Ignored Problems. 4 Click OK. CAD Standards toolbar To turn on or off notification for standards violations 1 At the Command prompt, enter standards. 2 In the Configure Standards dialog box, click Settings.
To create a standards check file for the Batch Standards Checker 1 Start the Batch Standards Checker. 2 In the Batch Standards Checker, on the File menu, click New Check File, or you can click New on the Batch Standards Checker toolbar. 3 On the Drawings tab, click the + button (Add Drawing). 4 In the Open dialog box, select a drawing to audit. 5 (Optional) Repeat steps 3 and 4 if you want to add additional drawings to the standards check file.
To audit a set of drawings for standards violations 1 Start the Batch Standards Checker. 2 Open an existing standards check file, or create a new one. 3 In the Batch Standards Checker, on the Check menu, click Start Check, or you can click Start Check on the Batch Standards Checker toolbar. When the batch audit is complete, the report is displayed in a browser window. You can cancel the batch audit at any time by clicking Stop Check. Note You cannot check encrypted files using the Batch Standards Checker.
■ ■ ■ Problems. Provides detailed information about each problem that was encountered. Ignored Problems. Provides detailed information about problems that were flagged as ignored. All. Shows all available standards audit information. 5 In the For list, select individual drawings to view their audit information. To export a batch audit report 1 Start the Batch Standards Checker. 2 Create a standards check file or open an existing one.
To convert a drawing’s layers to standard layer settings 1 From the Tools menu, choose CAD Standards ➤ Layer Translator. 2 In the Layer Translator, do one of the following: ■ ■ Choose Load to load layers from a drawing, a drawing template, or a drawing standards file. In the Select Drawing File dialog box, select the file you want and choose Open. Choose New to define a new layer. In the New Layer dialog box, enter a name for the new layer, select its properties, and then choose OK.
View Selected Drawing Layers With the Layer Translator, you can control which layers are visible in the drawing area. You can choose to display objects on all layers in your drawing, or objects on layers you specify. By viewing selected layers, you can visually verify the contents of those layers. To specify which layers are displayed in the drawing area 1 From the Tools menu, choose CAD Standards ➤ Layer Translator. 2 In the Layer Translator, choose Settings.
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Part 3 Control the Drawing Views Chapter 11 Change a View in Two Dimensions 127 Chapter 12 Specify a 3D View 139 Chapter 13 Display Multiple Views 161 125
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Change a View in Two Dimensions As you edit your drawing, you can control the drawing In this chapter display and move quickly to different areas of your ■ Pan a View drawing while you track the overall effect of your changes. You can zoom to change magnification or pan to reposition the view in the drawing area, and you can ■ Magnify a View (Zoom) ■ Pan and Zoom with the Aerial View Window ■ Save and Restore Views save a view and then restore it when you need to plot or refer to specific details.
Pan a View You can shift the location of your view by using PAN or by using the window scroll bars. With the Realtime option, you pan dynamically by moving your pointing device. Like panning with a camera, PAN does not change the location or magnification of objects on your drawing; it changes only the view. By right-clicking, you can display a shortcut menu with additional viewing options. See Also “Pointing Device Buttons” on page 70 To pan by dragging 1 On the View menu, choose Pan Realtime.
Magnify a View (Zoom) You can change the magnification of a view by zooming in and out. Like zooming in and out with a camera, ZOOM does not change the absolute size of objects in the drawing; it changes only the magnification of the view. When you work with minute parts in your drawing, you may need to zoom out frequently to see an overview of your work. Use ZOOM Previous to return quickly to the prior view. The options described here are the options most commonly used.
Zoom in Real Time With the Realtime option, you zoom dynamically by moving your pointing device up or down. By right-clicking, you can display a shortcut menu with additional viewing commands. Zoom to View All Objects in the Drawing ZOOM Extents displays a view with the largest possible magnification that includes all of the objects in the drawing. This view includes objects on layers that are turned off but does not include objects on frozen layers.
point to be centered in the new view current view ZOOM Center with size unchanged ZOOM Center using 2x scale See Also “Scale Views Relative to Paper Space” on page 598 “Toolbars” on page 27 To zoom by dragging 1 From the View menu, choose Zoom ➤ Realtime. 2 Hold down the button on your pointing device and drag vertically to zoom in and out. 3 Press ENTER , press ESC , or right-click to exit.
To display the drawing extents by zooming ■ From the View menu, choose Zoom ➤ Extents. All objects in the drawing are displayed to be as large as possible and still fit in the current viewport or the drawing area. Standard toolbar Command line ZOOM To display the area of the grid limits by zooming ■ From the View menu, choose Zoom ➤ All. The limits of the drawing grid fill the current viewport or the drawing area. If there are any objects outside the grid limits, they are also included.
To restore the previous view ■ From the View menu, choose Zoom ➤ Previous. ZOOM Previous restores only the view magnification and position, not the previous content of an edited drawing. Standard toolbar Command line ZOOM Shortcut menu With the ZOOM command active, right-click in the drawing area and choose Zoom Previous. Pan and Zoom with the Aerial View Window You can use the Aerial View window to change the view in your current viewport quickly.
new view box Aerial View window new view in drawing area To pan the drawing, move the view box. current view box Aerial View window current view in drawing area Aerial View window new view in drawing area new view box Change the View Displayed Inside the Aerial View Window You can use the Aerial View toolbar buttons to change the magnification of the image in the Aerial View window, or you can resize the image incrementally. These changes do not affect the view in the drawing itself.
To zoom to a new area using the Aerial View window 1 From the View menu, choose Aerial View. 2 In the Aerial View window, click inside the view box until you see the arrow. 3 Drag to the right to zoom out. Drag to the left to zoom in. 4 Right-click to end the zoom operation. Command line DSVIEWER To pan using the Aerial View window 1 From the View menu, choose Aerial View. 2 In the Aerial View window, click inside the view box until you see an X. 3 Drag to change the view.
To turn dynamic updating on and off ■ From the Options menu in the Aerial View window, choose Dynamic Update. A check mark indicates that the Aerial View window shows changes as they occur. To turn viewport updating on and off ■ From the Options menu in the Aerial View window, choose Auto Viewport. A check mark indicates that Aerial View displays the current viewport as you switch viewports. Save and Restore Views A specific magnification, position, and orientation is known as a view.
Restore a View You restore a named view to the current viewport. You can use named views to ■ ■ ■ Restore a view in a model viewport or a layout viewport Specify an area for plotting Determine the initial model view when opening a drawing When opening a drawing, you can specify a layout view only if you saved the drawing in that specific layout tab.
To restore a saved view 1 If you have more than one viewport, click inside the viewport that contains the view you want to replace. 2 From the View menu, choose Named Views. 3 In the View dialog box, on the Named Views tab, select the view you want to restore. 4 Choose Set Current. The current view setting is indicated by a small pointer icon beside the name in the list and is also displayed next to Current View. 5 Choose OK.
Specify a 3D View When working in 3D, you'll often want to display In this chapter several different views so that you can easily verify the ■ View a Parallel Projection in 3D 3D effects of your editing. One of these viewpoints is often an isometric view to reduce the number of visually ■ Display a Perspective View ■ Specify 3D Views Interactively (3D Orbit) overlapping objects. From a selected viewpoint, you can create new objects, edit existing objects, or generate a hidden-line or shaded view.
View a Parallel Projection in 3D You can view the parallel projection of a 3D model from any point in model space. Overview of Viewing Parallel Projections in 3D To determine the point or angle in model space, you can ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Choose a preset 3D view from a toolbar. Enter a coordinate or angles that represent your viewing location in 3D. Change to a view of the XY plane of the current UCS, a saved UCS, or the WCS. Change the 3D view dynamically with your pointing device.
To use a preset 3D view ■ From the View menu, choose 3D Views. Then choose a preset view (Top, Bottom, Left, and so on). View toolbar Command line VIEW Define a 3D View with Coordinate Values or Angles You can define a viewing direction by entering the coordinate values of a point or the measures of two angles of rotation. This point represents your position in 3D space as you view the model while looking toward the origin (0,0,0).
To set a view with a viewpoint coordinate 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Views ➤ Viewpoint. 2 Click inside the compass to specify the viewpoint. The selected viewpoint is used to view the drawing in the direction of 0,0,0. Command line VPOINT To set a view with two angles of rotation 1 At the Command prompt, enter vpoint. 2 Enter r (Rotate) to specify a new direction using two angles. 3 Enter an angle in the XY plane measured from the positive X axis.
Change to a View of the XY Plane In AutoCAD, a plan view is a view aimed toward the origin (0,0,0) from a point on the positive Z axis. This results in a view of the XY plane. You can restore the view and coordinate system that is the default for most AutoCAD drawings by setting the UCS orientation to World and then setting the 3D view to Plan View. To change the current view to the XY plane 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Views. Then choose Plan View.
back clip front clip camera position of clipping planes view resulting from camera position To create a parallel projection dynamically 1 On the command line, enter dview. 2 Do one of the following: ■ ■ Select the objects to display and press ENTER. Press ENTER without selecting objects to see a representation of a house that shows the current viewing angle. 3 Enter ca (Camera). By default, AutoCAD sets a camera point at the center of the drawing. 4 Adjust the view as if you're aiming a camera.
To set clipping planes 1 On the command line, enter dview. 2 Select the objects on which to base the view. 3 On the command line, enter cL (Clip). 4 Enter f to set a front clipping plane or b to set a back clipping plane, or press ENTER. 5 Position the clipping plane by dragging the slider or entering a distance from the target. 6 Press ENTER to exit the command. Command line DVIEW To restore the default view and UCS 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Views. 2 Choose Plan View. 3 Choose World UCS.
Many operations are not available in perspective view, including panning and zooming and operations that require using object snap or input from the pointing device. A perspective view remains in effect until the perspective effect is turned off or until a new view is defined in its place. To define a perspective view of a 3D model 1 On the command line, enter dview. 2 Select the objects to display. 3 Enter ca (Camera). By default, AutoCAD sets a camera point at the center of the drawing.
To turn off a perspective view 1 On the command line, enter dview. 2 Select the objects to display. 3 Enter o (Off). Perspective is turned off and the view is restored to a parallel projection. Command line DVIEW Specify 3D Views Interactively (3D Orbit) Use the 3DORBIT command to activate an interactive view of your 3D model. Overview of 3D Orbit The 3DORBIT command activates an interactive 3D Orbit view in the current viewport.
Set 3D Graphics Display Options (3D Orbit) Graphics configuration settings affect the way that 3D objects are displayed; for example, the shading of 3D objects and the way graphics are displayed when the 3DORBIT command is active. You set these options using the 3D Graphics System Configuration dialog box. These settings do not affect how objects are rendered. AutoCAD uses the Heidi® 3D Graphics System developed by Autodesk as the default graphics system.
The display of materials in 3D Orbit and objects that are shaded using SHADEMODE is subject to these limitations: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 2D textures (bitmaps and bitmap blending) are displayed for the color/ pattern material component only. 3D textures (also called solid, template, or procedural materials) are not shown. Bump maps are not shown. Opacity maps are not shown. Refraction is not shown. Reflection is not shown. Other rendering features such as background and fog are not supported in 3D views.
To change the camera and target locations 1 On the command line, enter camera. The current camera and target positions are displayed. 2 To set the camera location, use the pointing device or enter X,Y,Z coordinate values. 3 To set the target location, use the pointing device or enter X,Y,Z coordinate values. Command line CAMERA To adjust the camera distance in the 3D Orbit view 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. 2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose More ➤ Adjust Distance from the shortcut menu.
Use 3D Orbit Commands You can choose from several commands that control the 3D Orbit display, projection, and visualization tools. You can access Pan and Zoom options from the 3D Orbit shortcut menu or on the 3D Orbit toolbar. You can also choose to use a perspective or a parallel projection of the view while 3DORBIT is active. Shade Objects in the 3D Orbit View Objects in the 3D Orbit view can be shaded to give them a more realistic 3D appearance.
When you zoom in and out of the 3D Orbit view, the number of grid lines changes to give you a clear view of the lines. Fewer lines are drawn as you zoom out. As you zoom in closer, more grid lines are drawn until the number of lines corresponds again to the number set in GRIDUNIT. ■ UCS Icon. Turns the display of the UCS icon on and off. If the UCS icon is displayed when you start 3DORBIT, a shaded 3D UCS icon is displayed in the 3D Orbit view.
Note OLE objects and raster objects do not appear in the 3D Orbit view. 2 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. An arcball is displayed within the active viewport. If the UCS icon is on, it appears shaded. If the GRID is on, a 3D line grid replaces the 2D dot grid. 3 Click and drag the cursor to rotate the view. When you move your cursor over different parts of the arcball, the cursor icon changes.
To pan in the 3D Orbit view 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. 2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose Pan from the 3D Orbit shortcut menu. The cursor changes to a hand cursor. 3 Click and drag the cursor to move the view horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The view moves in the direction that you drag the cursor. You can use the projection options, shading modes, and visual aids at the same time that you pan and zoom by choosing an option from the 3D Orbit shortcut menu.
2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose More ➤ Zoom Window from the shortcut menu. The cursor changes to a window icon, and you can select a specific area that you want to zoom. 3 Click and drag the pointing device to draw a square around the area you want to select. When you release the pick button, the drawing is zoomed in, focused on the area you selected.
To change the shading mode in 3D Orbit view 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. 2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose Shading Modes from the shortcut menu. 3 Choose one of the following options: 156 | ■ Wireframe. Displays the objects in the 3D view using lines and curves to represent the boundaries. ■ Hidden. Displays the objects in the 3D view using wireframe representation with the lines representing the back faces hidden. ■ Flat Shaded.
■ Flat Shaded, Edges On. Combines the Flat Shaded and Wireframe options. The objects are flat shaded with the wireframe showing through. ■ Gouraud Shaded, Edges On. Combines the Gouraud Shaded and Wireframe options. The objects are Gouraud shaded with the wireframe showing through. Note When you shade objects in the 3D Orbit view, the shading is still applied to the objects after you exit 3DORBIT. Use SHADEMODE to change the shading when 3DORBIT is not active.
To display a visual aid 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. 2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose Visual Aids from the 3D Orbit shortcut menu. 3 Choose one or more of the following options: Compass, Grid, or UCS Icon. Command line 3DORBIT To start a continuous orbit 1 From the View menu, choose 3D Orbit. 2 Right-click in the drawing area, and choose More ➤ Continuous Orbit. The cursor changes to a small sphere encircled by two lines.
Adjust Clipping Planes (3D Orbit) You can set clipping planes for the objects in 3D Orbit view. A clipping plane is an invisible plane. Objects or parts of objects that move beyond a clipping plane cannot be seen in the view. In the Adjust Clipping Planes window, there are two clipping planes, front and back. The front and back clipping planes are represented as lines at the top and bottom of the Adjust Clipping Planes window.
3 Right-click in the Adjust Clipping Planes window and choose one of the following options from the shortcut menu: ■ ■ Front Clipping On. Toggles the front clipping plane on or off. When the front clipping plane is on, you can see the results of moving the line that adjusts the front clipping plane as described in step 3. Back Clipping On. Toggles the back clipping plane on or off.
Display Multiple Views To see several views at the same time, you can split In this chapter the drawing area into separate viewing areas called ■ Set Model Tab Viewports viewports. When several viewports are displayed, all view commands are applied to the current viewport. ■ Select the Current Viewport ■ Save and Restore Model Tab Viewport Arrangements You can save arrangements of viewports for reuse at any time.
Set Model Tab Viewports Viewports are areas that display different views of your model. As you work on the Model tab, you can split the drawing area into one or more adjacent rectangular views known as model viewports. In large or complex drawings, displaying different views reduces the time needed to zoom or pan in a single view. Also, errors you might miss in one view may be apparent in the others. Viewports created on the Model tab completely fill the drawing area and do not overlap.
Use Model Viewports Using model viewports, you can ■ ■ ■ ■ Pan; zoom; set Snap, Grid, and UCS icon modes; and restore named views Save user coordinate system orientations with individual viewports Draw from one viewport to another when executing a command Name a viewport arrangement so that you can reuse it on the Model tab or insert it on a layout tab Setting up different coordinate systems in individual viewports is useful if you typically work on 3D models.
To subdivide a viewport on the Model tab 1 If you have more than one viewport, click inside the viewport you want to subdivide. 2 From the View menu, choose Viewports and then either 2 Viewports, 3 Viewports, or 4 Viewports to indicate how many viewports should be created. 3 At the Next prompt, specify the arrangement of the new viewports. Command line VPORTS To join two viewports on the Model tab 1 From the View menu, choose Viewports. Then choose Join.
To draw a line using two viewports, you start the line in the current viewport, make another viewport current by clicking within it, and then specify the endpoint of the line in the second viewport. In a large drawing, you can use this method to draw a line from a detail in one corner to a detail in a distant corner. start of line current viewport and end of line To make a viewport current ■ Click anywhere within the viewport border.
You can list, restore, and delete the available viewport arrangements. A viewport arrangement saved on the Model tab can be inserted on a layout tab. To save and name a viewport arrangement 1 From the View menu, choose Viewports. Then choose New Viewports. 2 In the Viewports dialog box, New Viewports tab, enter a name for the viewport configuration in the New Name box.
Part 4 Create and Modify Objects Chapter 14 Control the Properties of Objects Chapter 15 Use Precision Tools 209 Chapter 16 Draw Geometric Objects 261 Chapter 17 Change Existing Objects 355 169 167
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Control the Properties of Objects Layers are like transparent overlays on which you In this chapter organize and group different kinds of drawing ■ Overview of Object Properties information. The objects you create have common properties including colors, linetypes, and lineweights.
Overview of Object Properties Every object you draw has properties. Some properties are general and apply to most objects; for example, layer, color, linetype, and plot style. Other properties are object-specific; for example, the properties of a circle include radius and area, and the properties of a line include length and angle. Most general properties can be assigned to an object by layer or can be assigned to an object directly.
Use the Properties Palette The Properties palette lists the current settings for properties of the selected object or set of objects. You can modify any property that can be changed by specifying a new value. ■ ■ When more than one object is selected, the Properties palette displays only those properties common to all objects in the selection set.
To list database information for several objects 1 From the Tools menu, choose Inquiry ➤ List. 2 Select one or more objects and press ENTER . The text window displays a report. Inquiry toolbar Command line LIST To display a coordinate 1 From the Tools menu, choose Inquiry ➤ ID Point. 2 Specify the point whose coordinate you want to identify. The X, Y, and Z values are displayed on the command line.
Copy Properties Between Objects You can copy some or all properties of one object to other objects using Match Properties. The types of properties that can be copied include, but are not limited to, color, layer, linetype, linetype scale, lineweight, plot style, and thickness. By default, all applicable properties are automatically copied from the first object you selected to the other objects.
Work with Layers Layers are like transparent overlays on which you organize and group different kinds of drawing information. Overview of Layers Layers are the equivalent of the overlays used in paper-based drafting. They are the primary organizational tool in AutoCAD, and you use them to group information by function and to enforce linetype, color, and other standards.
Use Layers to Manage Complexity You can reduce the visual complexity of a drawing and improve display performance by controlling the number of objects that are displayed or concealed. For example, you can use layers to control the visibility of similar objects, such as electrical parts or dimensions. Also, you can lock a layer to prevent objects on that layer from being accidentally selected and modified.
Control Whether Objects on a Layer Can Be Modified When a layer is locked, none of the objects on that layer can be modified until you unlock the layer. Locking layers reduces the possibility of modifying objects accidentally. You can still apply object snaps to objects on a locked layer and perform other operations that do not modify those objects. To make a selected layer the current layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer control. 2 Click the layer name that you want to use.
To assign a color to a layer 1 From the Format menu, choose Layer. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select a layer and click the color. 3 In the Select Color dialog box, select a color. 4 Choose OK. Layers toolbar Command line LAYER Create and Name Layers You can create and name a layer for each conceptual grouping (such as walls or dimensions) and assign common properties to those layers. By grouping objects into layers, you can control their display and make changes quickly and efficiently.
Copy Layers from Another Drawing You can use DesignCenter™ to copy layers from any drawing to another by dragging. For example, you might have a drawing that contains all the standard layers needed for a project. You can create a new drawing and use DesignCenter to drag the predefined layers to the new drawing, which saves you time and ensures consistency between drawings. You can also drag layers or copy layers by double-clicking or by choosing Insert from the shortcut menu.
You can also open the Layer Properties Manager from a menu: Choose Layer on the Format menu. Layers toolbar Command line LAYER To remove an unused layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select the layer that you want to delete and choose Delete. 3 Choose OK. The selected layer is removed. Layers that have objects assigned to them cannot be removed until those objects are reassigned to a different layer or are deleted.
Change Layer Settings and Layer Properties Because everything in your drawing is associated with a layer, it's likely that in the course of planning and creating a drawing, you'll need to change what you place on a layer or how you view the layers in combination.
To change the layer of an object 1 Select the objects whose layer you want to change. 2 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer control. 3 Select the layer that you want to assign to the objects. Layers toolbar To change the default linetype assigned to a layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select the linetype name you want to change. 3 In the Select Linetype dialog box, select a linetype.
To set Layer Previous tracking on or off 1 At the Command prompt, enter layerpmode. The current Layer Previous tracking status is displayed. 2 Enter on to turn on Layer Previous tracking of layer settings, or enter off to turn off tracking. Command line LAYERPMODE Filter and Sort the List of Layers You can control which layer names are listed in the Layer Properties Manager and sort them by name or by property, such as color or visibility.
■ Show All Xref Dependent Layers. Displays all the layers being referenced from another drawing. Once you have saved a filter, it is displayed in the Named Layer Filters list in the Layer Properties Manager. Saved filters are stored in the drawing file. Sort Layers Once you have created layers, you can sort them by name, visibility properties, color, lineweight, plot style, or linetype. In the Layer Properties Manager, click the column heading to sort layers by the property in that column.
Note If you use wild-card characters in named object names, precede the character with a reverse quote (`) so AutoCAD does not interpret the character as a wild-card character. To filter the display of layer names 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager under Named Layer Filters, click the [...] button. 3 In the Named Layer Filters dialog box, set the layer filters you want to apply.
Thawed setting of the layers in a drawing, ignoring all other settings. When you restore the layer state, all settings remain as they are currently set except whether each layer is frozen or thawed. Using the Layer States Manager, you can export saved layer states to an LAS file for use in other drawings. The layer states of external references cannot be exported. Restore Layer Settings In addition to restoring previously saved layer settings, you can edit, rename, or delete the named settings.
To restore layer settings 1 From the Format menu, choose Layer. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, choose State Manager. 3 In the Layer States Manager, select the name of a saved layer state. 4 Choose Restore. 5 Choose Close. Layers toolbar Command line LAYER To edit, rename, or delete saved layer settings 1 From the Format menu, choose Layer. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, choose State Manager. 3 In the Layer States Manager, enter the name of the layer state that you want to edit, rename, or delete.
Work with Colors You can use color to help you group objects visually. You can also choose from a variety of colors including true colors and colors from imported color books to enhance the quality of rendered objects in your drawings. Set the Current Color You can use color to help you group objects visually. You can assign the color of an object either by layer or by specifying its color explicitly, independent of layer. Assigning colors by layer makes it easy to identify each layer within your drawing.
If the current color is set to BYLAYER, objects are created with the color assigned to the current layer. If you do not want the current color to be the color assigned to the current layer, you can specify a different color. If the current color is set to BYBLOCK, objects are created using color 7 (white or black) until the objects are grouped into a block. When the block is inserted into the drawing, it acquires the current color setting.
4 Click OK. The Color control displays the current color. Command line COLOR To set a color from a color book for all new objects 1 On the Properties toolbar, click the Color control. 2 Click Select Color to display the Select Color dialog box. 3 In the Select Color dialog box, on the Color Book tab, select a color book from the Color Book box. 4 Select a color by clicking on a color chip. To browse through the color book, use the up and down arrows on the color slider. 5 Click OK.
To change the layer of an object 1 Select the objects whose layer you want to change. 2 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer control. 3 Select the layer that you want to assign to the objects. Layers toolbar To change the color assigned to a layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, click the color you want to change.
■ ■ ■ On the True Color tab, select the HSL color model in the Color Model option and specify a color by entering a color value in the Color box or by specifying values in the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance boxes, and then choose OK. On the True Color tab, select the RGB color model in the Color Model box and specify a color by entering a color value in the Color box or by specifying values in the Red, Green, and Blue boxes.
To install a color book 1 On the Tools menu, click Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, click the Files tab. 3 Click Color Book Locations. 4 Click Add to add a color book location. 5 Enter the new location in the blank path box. 6 Click OK. Command line OPTIONS To search for color swatches within a color book 1 On the Format menu, click Color. 2 In the Color dialog box, click the Color Books tab. 3 Select a color book from the Color Book drop-down list.
To define multiple folders for the color book path 1 On the Tools menu, click Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, click the Files tab. 3 Click Color Book Locations. 4 Click Add to add a color book location. 5 Enter the new location in the blank path box. 6 Click OK. Command line OPTIONS Work with Linetypes You can use linetypes to distinguish objects from one another visually and make your drawing easier to read.
AutoCAD includes the linetype definition files acad.lin and acadiso.lin. Which linetype file is appropriate depends on whether you use imperial or metric measurements. ■ ■ For imperial units, use the acad.lin file. For metric measurements, use the acadiso.lin file. Both linetype definition files contain several complex linetypes. If you select a linetype whose name begins with ACAD_ISO, you can use the ISO pen-width option when you plot.
4 In the Select Linetype File dialog box, select an LIN (linetype definition file) whose linetypes you want to list and choose Open. The dialog box displays the linetype definitions stored in the selected LIN file. 5 In the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog box, choose Cancel. 6 Choose Cancel to close the Linetype Manager. Command line LINETYPE To unload an unused linetype 1 From the Format menu, choose Linetype. 2 In the Linetype Manager, select a linetype and choose Delete.
Set the Current Linetype All objects are created using the current linetype, which is displayed in the Linetype control on the Properties toolbar. You can also set the current linetype with the Linetype control. If the current linetype is set to BYLAYER, objects are created with the linetype assigned to the current layer. If the current linetype is set to BYBLOCK, objects are created using the CONTINUOUS linetype until the objects are grouped into a block.
To change the linetype assigned to a layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select the linetype name you want to change. 3 In the Select Linetype dialog box, select the linetype you want and click OK. 4 Click OK again. Layers toolbar Command line LAYER Change the Linetype of an Object You have three choices for changing the linetype of an object: ■ ■ ■ Reassign the object to another layer with a different linetype.
To change the layer of an object 1 Select the objects whose layer you want to change. 2 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer control. 3 Select the layer that you want to assign to the objects. Layers toolbar To change the default linetype assigned to a layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select the linetype name you want to change. 3 In the Select Linetype dialog box, select a linetype.
■ ■ The Linetype Manager displays the Global Scale Factor and Current Object Scale. The Global Scale Factor value controls the LTSCALE system variable, which changes the linetype scale globally for both new and existing objects. The Current Object Scale value controls the CELTSCALE system variable, which sets the linetype scale for new objects. The CELTSCALE value is multiplied by the LTSCALE value to get the displayed linetype scale.
Display Linetypes on Short Segments and Polylines If a line is too short to hold even one dash sequence, AutoCAD draws a continuous line between the endpoints, as shown below. You can accommodate short segments by using a smaller value for their individual linetype scales. For more information, see “Control Linetype Scale” on page 198. For polylines, you can specify whether a linetype pattern is centered on each segment or is continuous across vertices throughout the entire length of the polyline.
To change the linetype display of existing polylines 1 Double-click the polyline whose linetype display you want to change. 2 In the Properties palette, click Linetype Generation and select Enabled or Disabled. Standard toolbar Command line PROPERTIES Control Lineweights You can further differentiate objects in your drawing by controlling the thickness of their lines both in the drawing display and in plotting.
Lineweight Scale in Drawings Objects with a lineweight plot with the exact width of the assigned lineweight value. The standard settings for these values include BYLAYER, BYBLOCK and Default. They are displayed in either inches or millimeters, with millimeters being the default. All layers are initially set to 0.25 mm, controlled by the LWDEFAULT system variable. A lineweight value of 0.
To assign a lineweight to a layer 1 From the Format menu, choose Layer. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, select a layer and click the lineweight associated with that layer. 3 In the Lineweight dialog box, select a lineweight from the list. 4 Choose OK to exit each dialog box. Command line LAYER To set the display scale of lineweights on the Model tab 1 From the Format menu, choose Lineweight. 2 In the Lineweight Settings dialog box under Adjust Display Scale, move the slider to change the scale.
Regeneration time increases with lineweights that are represented by more than one pixel. Turn off the display of lineweights to optimize AutoCAD performance. On the Model tab, you can turn the display of lineweights on or off by clicking Lwt on the status bar. Display Lineweights in Layouts In layouts and plot preview, lineweights are displayed in real-world units, and lineweight display changes with the zoom factor.
To make a lineweight current for creating objects 1 On the Format menu, click Lineweight. 2 In the Lineweight Settings dialog box, select a lineweight. 3 Click OK. Note To display the lineweight at its current setting, the Display Lineweight option must be selected in the Display Lineweight dialog box. Command line LAYER, LWEIGHT Change the Lineweight of an Object You have three choices for changing the lineweight of an object: ■ ■ ■ Reassign the object to another layer with a different lineweight.
Control the Display Properties of Certain Objects You can control how overlapping objects and certain other objects are displayed and plotted. Control the Display of Polylines, Hatches, Gradient Fills, Lineweights, and Text The display performance of AutoCAD is improved when wide polylines and donuts, solid-filled polygons (two-dimensional solids), hatches, gradient fills, and text are displayed in simplified form. Simplified display also increases the speed of creating test plots.
Quick Text mode off Quick Text mode on Turn Off Lineweights Any lineweight width that is represented by more than one pixel may slow down performance. If you want to improve display performance while working in AutoCAD, turn lineweights off. You can turn lineweights on and off by choosing the Lwt button on the status bar or by using the Lineweight Settings dialog box. Lineweights always plot at their real-world value whether their display is turned on or off.
To turn the display of text on or off 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, choose the Display tab. 3 Under Display Performance, choose Show Text Boundary Frame Only. The check mark indicates that text is displayed as a rectangular frame. 4 Choose OK. 5 To display your changes, choose Regen from the View menu. Command line OPTIONS, REGEN To turn lineweights on or off 1 From the Format menu, choose Lineweight. 2 In the Lineweight Settings dialog box, clear Display Lineweight.
Use Precision Tools A variety of precision tools are available to help you In this chapter produce quick, accurate drawings without performing ■ Use Coordinates and Coordinate Systems tedious calculations. Although all your work is based on a coordinate system, you can establish settings that cause you to snap to locations on the screen, to specified locations on objects, or to points relative to other locations or objects. You also can display information about existing objects.
Use Coordinates and Coordinate Systems For precise coordinate input, you can use several coordinate system entry methods. You can also use a movable coordinate system, the User Coordinate System, for convenient coordinate entry and to establish drawing planes. Overview of Coordinate Entry When a command prompts you for a point, you can use the pointing device to specify a point, or you can enter a coordinate value on the command line.
Another method of entering a relative coordinate is by moving the cursor to specify a direction and then entering a distance directly. This method is called direct distance entry. In AutoCAD, you can enter coordinates in scientific, decimal, engineering, architectural, or fractional notation. You can enter angles in grads, radians, surveyor's units, or degrees, minutes, and seconds. You specify this style in the Units Control dialog box.
To visually locate a point 1 From the Tools menu, choose Inquiry. Then choose ID Point. 2 On the command line, enter the coordinate of the point you want to locate. If the BLIPMODE system variable is on, a blip (a small cross) is displayed at the point location. Inquiry toolbar Command line ID To change the coordinate display on the status bar Use one of the following methods: ■ ■ ■ Click the coordinate display at the Specify Next Point prompt. Press F6 or CTRL+D.
Y 3,4 -X -2,1 X -Y The following example draws a line whose endpoint is 5 units in the X direction and 0 units in the Y direction from the start point at the absolute coordinate -2,1. Pressing ENTER at the next To Point prompt ends the command.
To enter a relative coordinate (2D) At a prompt for a point, enter the coordinate using the following format: @x,y ■ ■ X represents the distance and direction along the horizontal axis from the last point entered. Y represents the distance and direction along the vertical axis from the last point entered. Enter Polar Coordinates To enter a polar coordinate, enter a distance and an angle separated by an angle bracket (<).
The following example shows a line drawn with relative polar coordinates. Pressing ENTER at the next To Point prompt ends the command. To point: @3<45 To point: @5<285 @3<45 previous point previous point 0,0 0,0 @5<285 To enter a polar coordinate (2D) At a prompt for a point, enter the coordinate using the following format: distance
In the illustration below, the coordinate values of 3,2,5 indicates a point 3 units along the positive X axis, 2 units along the positive Y axis, and 5 units along the positive Z axis. +Z +Y 3,2,5 -X WCS origin point -Y +X -Z Use Default Z Values When you enter coordinates in the format X,Y, the Z value is copied from the last point you entered. As a result, you can enter one coordinate in the X,Y,Z format and then enter subsequent coordinates using the X,Y format with the Z value remaining constant.
Use Coordinate Filters Coordinate filters are useful for creating a new coordinate location using the X value from one location, the Y value of a second location, and the Z value of a third location. Coordinate filters operate the same way in 3D as they do in 2D. To specify a filter on the command line, enter a period and one or more of the letters X, Y, and Z. AutoCAD accepts the following filter selections: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ .X .Y .Z .XY .XZ .
2 1 point 3 Digitize Coordinates When you enter coordinates by digitizing, the UCS Z value for all coordinates is 0. You can use ELEV to set a default height above or below the Z = 0 plane for digitizing without moving the UCS. To enter an absolute coordinate (3D) At a prompt for a point, enter the coordinate using the following format: x,y,z ■ ■ ■ X represents the distance and direction along the X axis from the UCS origin (0,0,0).
3 To extract the next coordinate value, specify a different point at the prompt for the remaining coordinate values. For example, if you entered .x in step 1, AutoCAD prompts for the Y and Z coordinate values. AutoCAD defines a new point at a location that combines the coordinate values extracted from the points you specified in steps 2 and 3. Note Instead of specifying a point in steps 2 or 3, you can enter a numeric value.
In the illustration below, the coordinate 5<60,6 indicates a point 5 units from the origin of the current UCS, 60 degrees from the X axis in the XY plane, and 6 units along the Z axis. The coordinate 8<30,1 indicates a point 8 units from the origin of the current UCS in the XY plane, 30 degrees from the X axis in the XY plane, and 1 unit along the Z axis. 5<30,6 8<60,1 0,0 When you need to define a point based on a previous point, you can enter a relative cylindrical coordinate with the @ sign.
To enter cylindrical coordinates At a prompt for a point, enter the coordinate values using the following format: x<[angle from X axis],z ■ ■ ■ X represents the distance from the UCS origin (0,0,0) Angle from X axis represents the angle from the X axis in the XY plane. Z represents the distance from the origin (0,0,0) along the Z axis.
When you need to define a point based on a previous point, you can enter a relative spherical coordinate by preceding it with the @ sign. To enter spherical coordinates At a prompt for a point, enter the coordinate values using the following format: x<[angle from X axis] <[angle from XY plane] ■ ■ ■ X represents the distance from the UCS origin (0,0,0). Angle from X axis represents the angle from the X axis in the XY plane. Angle from XY plane represents the angle from the XY plane.
■ ■ Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes. Restore a saved UCS. Once you have defined a UCS, you can name it and then restore it when you need to use it again. The Prev option of the UCS command sequentially restores up to 10 previous coordinate systems used in the current session. If you no longer need a named UCS, you can delete it. Also, you can restore the UCS to be coincident with the WCS. To define a new UCS origin 1 From the Tools menu, choose New UCS. Then choose Origin.
To save a UCS 1 From the Tools menu, choose Named UCS. The new UCS is displayed in the UCS list as UNNAMED. 2 In the UCS dialog box, Named UCSs tab, select UNNAMED and enter a new name. You can also select UNNAMED, and then right-click and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. 3 Choose OK. You can use up to 255 characters, including letters, digits, and the special characters dollar sign ($), hyphen (-), and underscore(_). AutoCAD converts all UCS names to uppercase.
To delete a UCS 1 From the Tools menu, choose Named UCS. 2 In the UCS dialog box, Named UCSs tab, select the UCS you want to delete. 3 Press DELETE or right-click and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. You cannot delete the current UCS or a UCS with the default name UNNAMED. UCS toolbar Command line UCSMAN Specify Drawing Planes in 3D (UCS) Control of the user coordinate system is essential for effective 3D modeling.
+Z -X +Y WCS origin point -Y -Z +X The WCS and the UCS are often coincident — their axes and origin points overlap exactly. No matter how you reorient the UCS, you can always make it coincident with the WCS by using the World option of the UCS command. Apply the Right-Hand Rule Use the right-hand rule to determine the positive axis direction of the Z axis when you know the direction of the X and Y axes in a 3D coordinate system.
In practice, most coordinates are entered relative to the UCS rather than the WCS. Control the User Coordinate System in 3D You define a user coordinate system (UCS) to change the location of the 0,0,0 origin point and the orientation of the XY plane and Z axis. You can locate and orient a UCS anywhere in 3D space, and you can define, save, and recall as many UCSs as you require. Coordinate input and display are relative to the current UCS. UCSs are especially useful in 3D.
UCS dialog box show the available choices. If you have already specified a UCS, you can control whether choosing a preset option shifts the UCS relative to the current UCS orientation or relative to the default world coordinate system (WCS). This option has no effect if you restore the WCS, restore the previous UCS, or set the UCS to the current view.
3 Specify a point to indicate the horizontal orientation of the new UCS (2). This point should be on the positive portion of the new X axis. 4 Specify a point to indicate the vertical orientation of the new UCS (3). This point should be on the positive portion of the new Y axis. The UCS, including grid, shifts to represent the X and Y axes you have specified. Y 3 1 2 X points specified new UCS UCS toolbar Command line UCS To select a UCS preset 1 From the Tools menu, choose Orthographic UCS.
Assign User Coordinate System Orientations to Viewports Multiple viewports provide different views of your model. For example, you might set up viewports that display top, front, right side, and isometric views. To facilitate editing objects in different views, you can define a different UCS for each view. Each time you make a viewport current, you can begin drawing using the same UCS you used the last time that viewport was current. The UCS in each viewport is controlled by the UCSVP system variable.
The second figure shows the change that occurs when the lower-left, or front, viewport is made current. The UCS in the isometric viewport updates to reflect the UCS of the front viewport. front viewport is current UCSVP = 0; UCS icon reflects UCS of current viewport In previous releases, the UCS was a global setting for all viewports in either model or paper space. If you want to restore the behavior of previous releases, you can set the value of the UCSVP system variable to 0 in all active viewports.
Control the Display of the User Coordinate System Icon To indicate the location and orientation of the UCS, AutoCAD displays the UCS icon either at the UCS origin point or in the lower-left corner of the current viewport. You can choose one of three styles of icon to represent the UCS. 2D UCS icon 3D UCS icon shaded UCS icon Use the UCSICON command to choose between displaying the 2D or the 3D UCS icon. Use SHADEMODE to display the shaded UCS icon.
You can use the UCSICON command to switch between the 2D UCS icon and the 3D UCS icon. You can also use the command to change the size, color, arrowhead type, and icon line width of the 3D UCS icon. The UCS broken pencil icon replaces the 2D UCS icon when the viewing direction is in a plane parallel to the UCS XY plane. The broken pencil icon indicates that the edge of the XY plane is almost perpendicular to your viewing direction. This icon warns you not to use your pointing device to specify coordinates.
To change the appearance of the UCS icon 1 From the View menu, choose Display. 2 Choose UCS Icon. 3 Choose Properties. 4 In the UCS Icon dialog box, change the settings. 5 Choose OK. Command line UCSICON Snap to Locations on Objects (Object Snaps) Instead of entering coordinates, you can specify points relative to existing objects such as endpoints of lines or center points of circles.
Use Running Object Snaps If you need to use the same object snap repeatedly, you can set it as a running object snap, which means it stays on until you turn it off. For example, you might set Center as a running object snap if you need to connect the centers of a series of circles with a line. As with single object snaps, the aperture, or target box, indicates that an object snap is on and identifies the selection area. You can change the size of the target box.
To set running object snaps 1 From the Tools menu, choose Drafting Settings. 2 In the Drafting Setting dialog box, Object Snap tab, select the object snaps you want to use. 3 To change the size of the target box, choose Options. 4 In the Options dialog box, Drafting tab, drag the slider bar under Aperture Size. 5 Choose OK to exit each dialog box. Press SHIFT and right-click to display the object snap menu.
■ ■ Magnet. Attracts and locks the cursor onto the nearest detected snap points. Provides a visual cue, similar to snapping to a grid. Aperture box. Surrounds the crosshairs and defines an area within which, as you move the cursor, AutoCAD evaluates objects for object snaps. You can choose to display or not display the aperture box, and you can change the aperture box size.
Restrict Cursor Movement Several tools are available that you can use to restrict or lock the movement of your cursor. Adjust Grid and Grid Snap The grid is a rectangular pattern of dots that extends over the area you specify as the drawing limits. Using the grid is similar to placing a sheet of grid paper under a drawing. The grid helps you align objects and visualize the distances between them. The grid is not plotted.
The snap base point is the offset from a specified X,Y value from which snap points are measured. The default snap base point is 0,0, but it can be changed to any X,Y coordinate value to adjust snap points. For example, if X and Y spacing are set to 0.5, and X and Y base points are set to 0,0, the snap points along the X and Y axes are 0, .50, 1.0, and so on. Changing the X snap base point to 0.1 and the Y snap base point to 0.2 causes the snap points along the X axis to shift to 0.1, 0.60, 1.
6 To specify the same vertical snap spacing, press ENTER. Otherwise, enter a new distance in the Grid Y Spacing box. 7 Choose OK. Command line DSETTINGS To rotate the snap angle and change its base point 1 From the Tools menu, choose Drafting Settings. 2 In the Drafting Settings dialog box, Snap & Grid tab, under Snap, enter a rotation angle in the Angle box. 3 If you want to set the base point in order to align snap locations, enter the X and Y coordinate values in the X Base and Y Base boxes. 4 Choose OK.
To turn on or turn off Ortho mode ■ On the status bar, click Ortho. Note Turning on Ortho automatically turns off polar tracking. Command line ORTHO Use Polar Tracking and PolarSnap When you are creating or modifying objects, you can use polar tracking to display temporary alignment paths defined by the polar angles you specify. You can use PolarSnap™ to snap to specified distances along the alignment path.
y y y polar: 1.500<60 polar: 1.500<30 x x polar: 1.500<90 x The orientation of 0 depends on the angle you set in the Drawing Units dialog box (UNITS). The direction of snap (clockwise or counterclockwise) depends on the units direction you specify when setting units of measurement. Specify Polar Distances (PolarSnap) PolarSnap restricts cursor movement to increments of a polar distance you specify.
To draw objects using polar tracking 1 Turn on polar tracking and start a drawing command, such as ARC, CIRCLE, or LINE. You can also use polar tracking with editing commands, such as COPY and MOVE. 2 As you move your cursor to specify points, notice the dotted polar tracking line that appears at the tracking angles you specified. Points you specify while the line is displayed conform to the polar tracking angle. Command line DSETTINGS To draw objects using polar distance 1 Turn on snap and polar tracking.
Lock an Angle for One Point (Angle Override) You can specify an angle override that locks the cursor for the next point entered. To specify an angle override, enter a left angle bracket (<) followed by an angle whenever a command asks you to specify a point. The command prompt sequence below shows a 30-degree override entered during a LINE command.
midpoint y midpoint x result Here is the command line sequence: Command: circle Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tangent tangent radius)]: .x of: mid of: Select the horizontal line on the lower edge of the holding plate of: (need YZ): mid of: Select the vertical line on the left side of the holding plate of: Diameter/ Specify the radius of the hole Coordinate filters work only when AutoCAD prompts you for a point.
To use coordinate filters to specify a point in 3D 1 At the prompt for a point, enter a coordinate filter (.x, .y, .z, .xy, .xz, or .yz). For example, enter .x to specify the X value first. 2 To extract the specified coordinate value(s), specify a point. For example, if you entered .x in step 1, AutoCAD extracts the X value from this point. 3 At the prompt for the remaining coordinates, do one of the following: ■ ■ Extract the remaining coordinate values by specifying a point.
In the following illustration, the Endpoint object snap is on. You start a line by clicking its start point (1), move the cursor over another line’s endpoint (2) to acquire it, and then move the cursor along the horizontal alignment path to locate the endpoint you want for the line you are drawing (3). alignment path 2 3 Endpoint: 0.48<0 1 start point acquired point endpoint Change Object Snap Tracking Settings By default, object snap tracking is set to orthogonal.
■ ■ After you acquire an object snap point, use direct distance to specify points at precise distances along alignment paths from the acquired object snap point. To specify a point prompt, select an object snap, move the cursor to display an alignment path, then enter a distance at the Command prompt. Use the Automatic and Shift to Acquire options set on the Drafting tab of the Options dialog box to manage point acquisition. Point acquisition is set to Automatic by default.
Specify Distances When specifying a point, you can enter distances, offsets, and measured intervals. Enter Direct Distances To specify a line length quickly, without entering coordinate values, you can specify a point by moving the cursor to indicate a direction and then entering the distance from the first point. You can use direct distance entry to specify points for all commands requiring more than one point.
To offset a point from a temporary reference point 1 At a prompt for a point, enter from. 2 If you want to offset from a location on an existing object, specify an object snap method. Then select the object. 3 Enter a relative coordinate. Press SHIFT and right-click to display the object snap menu. Object Snap toolbar Specify Intervals on Objects You can mark off equal distances along objects.
The points or blocks you draw using MEASURE or DIVIDE are placed in a selection set. Therefore, if you want to edit them immediately, you can use the Previous option of SELECT. See Also “Create and Insert Symbols (Blocks)” on page 316 Specify Measured Intervals on Objects You can use MEASURE to mark an object at specified intervals. You can mark the intervals with either points or blocks. The last segment of a measured object may be shorter than the interval you specify.
To insert points at measured intervals on an object 1 From the Draw menu, choose Point. Then choose Measure. 2 Select a line, arc, spline, circle, ellipse, or polyline. 3 Enter an interval length, or specify points to indicate a length. AutoCAD places points on the object at the specified intervals. Command line MEASURE To insert blocks at measured intervals on an object 1 If necessary, create the block you want to insert. 2 From the Draw menu, choose Point. Then choose Measure.
The starting point for measurements or divisions varies with the object type. For lines or open polylines, the starting point is the endpoint closest to the selection point. For closed polylines, it is the polyline start point. For circles, it is at the angle from the center point that is equivalent to the current snap angle. For example, if the snap angle is 0, the circle starts at the three o'clock position and continues counterclockwise.
Extract or Calculate Geometric Information from Objects The inquiry and calculation commands can provide information about objects in your drawing and do useful calculations.
Obtain Area Information You can calculate and display the area and perimeter of a sequence of points or of any of several types of objects. If you need to calculate the combined area of more than one object, you can keep a running total as you add or subtract one area at a time from the selection set. You cannot use window selection or crossing selection to select objects. Calculate a Defined Area You can measure an arbitrary closed region defined by the points you specify.
Example: How Various Areas Are Calculated polyline selected closed polyline calculated area wide polyline calculated area polyline selected polyline selected open polyline calculated area Calculate Combined Areas You can measure more than one area, either by specifying points or by selecting objects. For example, you can measure the total area of selected rooms in a floor plan.
Example: Subtraction of Areas from a Calculation In the following example, the closed polyline represents a metal plate with two large holes. You first calculate the area of the polyline and then subtract each hole. AutoCAD displays area and perimeter or circumference of each object and a running total after each step.
Command line AREA To calculate the area of an object 1 From the Tools menu, choose Inquiry. Then choose Area. 2 On the command line, enter o (Object). 3 Select an object. AutoCAD displays the area and perimeter of the selected object. Inquiry toolbar Command line AREA To add areas as you calculate 1 From the Tools menu, choose Inquiry. Then choose Area. 2 Enter a (Add). 3 Use one of the following methods: ■ ■ Specify points to define the area you want to add and press ENTER.
Use the Geometry Calculator By entering a formula on the command line, you can quickly solve a mathematical problem or locate points in your drawing. By entering a formula on the command line, you can quickly solve a mathematical problem or locate points in your drawing. The CAL command runs the AutoCAD 3D calculator utility to evaluate vector expressions (combining points, vectors, and numbers) and real and integer expressions. The calculator performs standard mathematical functions.
Calculating Points To calculate a point You can use CAL whenever you need to calculate a point or a number within an AutoCAD command. For example, you enter (mid+cen)/2 to specify a point halfway between the midpoint of a line and the center of a circle. The following example uses CAL as a construction tool. It locates a center point for a new circle, and then calculates one fifth of the radius of an existing circle.
Draw Geometric Objects You can create a range of objects, from simple lines and In this chapter circles to spline curves, and ellipses. In general, you ■ Draw Linear Objects draw objects by specifying points with the pointing device or by entering coordinate values on the command line.
Draw Linear Objects A line, the most basic object, can be one segment or a series of connected segments. Draw Lines With LINE, you can create a series of contiguous line segments. Each single line segment can be edited separately from the other line segments in a series. You can close a sequence of line segments so that the first and last segments are joined. To draw lines 1 From the Draw menu, choose Line. 2 Specify the start point.
pipe symbol differing widths an insulated wall Multisegmented lines provide editing capabilities unavailable for single lines. For example, you can adjust their width and curvature. After you've created a polyline, you can edit it with PEDIT or use EXPLODE to convert it to individual line and arc segments.
Taper When you use the Width option, AutoCAD prompts for both a starting and an ending width. By entering different values, you can taper the polyline. The starting and ending points of wide polyline segments are in the center of the line. Intersections of adjacent wide segments are usually beveled. However, AutoCAD does not bevel nontangent arc segments, acute angles, or segments that use a dash-dot linetype.
To draw a line and arc combination polyline 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polyline. 2 Specify the start point of the polyline segment. 3 Specify the endpoint of the polyline segment. ■ ■ Switch to Arc mode by entering a (Arc) on the command line. Return to Line mode by entering L (Line). 4 Specify additional polyline segments as needed. 5 Press ENTER to end or c to close the polyline. Draw toolbar Command line PLINE To create a wide polyline 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polyline.
3 Under Boundary Set, do one of the following: ■ ■ To create a boundary set from all objects visible in the current viewport, select Current Viewport. Avoid this option for large, complex drawings. To specify which objects to include in the boundary set, choose New. Select the objects AutoCAD should examine in order to create the boundary. Choosing this option automatically selects the Existing Set option.
There are many ways to create polygons: ■ ■ ■ Specifying the radius when you know the distance between the center of the polygon and the endpoint of each side (inscribed) Specifying the radius when you know the distance between the center of the polygon and the midpoint of each side (circumscribed) Specifying the length of an edge and where you want to place it Use RECTANG rather than POLYGON to create rectangles.
To draw an inscribed polygon 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polygon. 2 On the command line, enter the number of sides. 3 Specify the center of the polygon. 4 Enter i to specify a polygon inscribed within a circle of specified points. 5 Enter the radius length. Draw toolbar Command line POLYGON To draw a rectangle 1 From the Draw menu, choose Rectangle. 2 Specify the first corner of the rectangle. 3 Specify the other corner of the rectangle.
Create Multiline Styles You can create named styles for multilines to control the number of elements and the properties of each element. The style also controls the background fill and the end cap. You can add up to 16 elements to a multiline style. If you create or modify an element so that it has a negative offset, it appears below the origin in the image tile of the Multiline Styles dialog box.
To create a multiline style 1 From the Format menu, choose Multiline Style. loads style from external file saves style to external file 2 In the Multiline Styles dialog box, enter a name and description for the style. Descriptions are optional and can be up to 255 characters, including spaces. 3 To create a multiline style, choose Add. 4 To add elements to the style or to modify existing elements, choose Element Properties.
To specify the properties of the entire multiline 1 From the Format menu, choose Multiline Style. 2 In the Multiline Styles dialog box, choose Multiline Properties. toggles display of multiline joints controls display of end caps controls background fill 3 In the Multiline Properties dialog box, select Display Joints to display a line at the vertices of the multiline. 4 Under Caps, select a line or an arc for each end of the multiline, and enter an angle.
7 In the Select Color dialog box, select the background fill color and choose OK. 8 In the Multiline Properties dialog box, choose OK to return to the Multiline Styles dialog box. 9 In the Multiline Styles dialog box under Name, enter a name and a description for the style. Descriptions are optional and may have up to 255 characters, including spaces. 10 To add the newly created multiline style to the drawing and set it as current, choose Add. 11 To save the style to an external MLN file, choose Save.
Erase Freehand Lines You erase freehand lines by using the Erase option of the SKETCH command. In Erase mode, wherever the cursor intersects the freehand line, everything from the intersection to the end of the line is erased. Once you record freehand lines, you can’t edit them or erase them with the Erase option of SKETCH. Use the ERASE command after you finish sketching. Sketch in Tablet Mode You use Tablet mode with a digitizer.
4 Click the endpoint to lift the “pen” up so that you can move the cursor around the screen without drawing. Click a new start point to resume drawing from the new cursor position. 5 Enter r at any time to record (save) in the database the line you’re drawing and those already drawn. If the pen is down, you can continue drawing after recording. If the pen is up, click to resume drawing. The freehand line starts from wherever the cursor is when you click.
endpoint of line 2 3 1 Draw Arcs by Specifying Start, Center, End When you know the start point, center point, and endpoint, you can draw an arc by specifying either the start point or the center point first. The center point is the center of a circle that the arc is part of.
The included angle determines the endpoint of the arc. Use the Start, End, Angle method when you know both endpoints but cannot snap to a center point. 1 1 2 2 1 2 center, start, angle start, center, angle start, end, angle Draw Arcs by Specifying Start, Center, Length When you have a start point and a center point you can snap to and you know the chord length, use the Start, Center, Length or the Center, Start, Length option.
2 radius 1 direction 2 start, end, radius 1 start, end, direction The illustration on the right shows an arc drawn with the pointing device by specifying a start point and an endpoint and a direction. Moving the cursor up from the start point and endpoint draws the arc concave to the object, as shown here. Moving the cursor down draws the arc convex to the object.
To draw an arc by specifying three points 1 From the Draw menu, choose Arc ➤ 3 Points. 2 Specify the start point. 3 Specify a point on the arc. 4 Specify the endpoint. Draw toolbar Command line ARC To draw an arc using a start point, a center point, and an endpoint 1 From the Draw menu, choose Arc ➤ Start, Center, End. 2 Specify a start point. 3 Specify the center point. 4 Specify the endpoint. Draw toolbar Command line ARC To continue an arc with a tangential line 1 Complete the arc.
Draw Circles You can create circles in several ways. The default method is to specify the center and the radius. AutoCAD provides three other ways to draw a circle, as shown in the illustration. center radius radius 3 tangent objects 1 center, radius 2 two points defining diameter 2 1 three points defining circumference tangent tangent, radius Draw a Circle Tangent to Other Objects The tangent point is a point where an object touches another object without intersecting it.
To draw a circle by specifying a center point and radius or diameter 1 From the Draw menu, choose Circle ➤ Center, Radius or Center, Diameter. 2 Specify the center point. 3 Specify the radius or diameter. Draw toolbar Command line CIRCLE To create a circle tangent to two objects 1 From the Draw menu, choose Circle ➤ Tan, Tan, Radius. AutoCAD starts Tangent object snap mode. 2 Select the first object to draw the circle tangent to. 3 Select the second object to draw the circle tangent to.
Create Arc Polylines When you draw arc segments in a polyline, the first point of the arc is the endpoint of the previous segment. You can specify the angle, center point, direction, or radius of the arc. You can also complete the arc by specifying a second point and an endpoint. Create Closed Polylines You can draw a closed polyline to create a polygon. To close a polyline, specify the starting point of the last side of the object, enter c (Close), and press ENTER .
internal point selected uniform width See Also “Modify Splines” on page 418 “Modify or Join Polylines” on page 423 “Control Lineweights” on page 201 To draw a polyline with straight segments 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polyline. 2 Specify the first point of the polyline. 3 Specify the endpoint of the first polyline segment. 4 Continue specifying segment endpoints as needed. 5 Press ENTER to end, or enter c to close the polyline.
To create a wide polyline 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polyline. 2 Specify the start point of the line segment. 3 Enter w (Width). 4 Enter the starting width of the line segment. 5 Specify the ending width of the line segment using one of the following methods: ■ ■ To create a line segment of equal width, press ENTER . To create a tapering line segment, enter a different width. 6 Specify the endpoint of the polyline segment. 7 Continue specifying segment endpoints as needed.
6 Specify points within each area that you want to form a boundary polyline. This area must be totally enclosed; that is, there can be no gaps between enclosing objects. You can select more than one area. 7 Press ENTER to create the boundary polyline and end the command. AutoCAD creates a polyline in the shape of the boundary. Because this polyline overlaps the objects used to create it, it may not be visible. However, you can move, copy, or modify it just as you can any other polyline.
2 1 3 Draw Ellipses The shape of an ellipse is determined by two axes that define its length and width. The longer axis is called the major axis, and the shorter one is the minor axis. distance distance midpoint of first axis major axis endpoints of first axis minor axis The illustrations below show two different ellipses created by specifying axis and distance. The third point specifies only a distance and does not necessarily designate the axis endpoint.
To draw an isometric circle 1 From the Tools menu, choose Drafting Settings. 2 On the Snap and Grid tab, under Snap Type and Style, turn on the isometric snap and choose OK. 3 From the Draw menu, choose Ellipse ➤ Axis, End. 4 Enter i (Isocircle). 5 Specify the center of the circle. 6 Specify the radius or diameter of the circle. Draw toolbar Command line ELLIPSE To draw a true ellipse using endpoints and distance 1 From the Draw menu, choose Ellipse ➤ Axis, End.
The ellipitical arc is drawn counterclockwise between the start point and endpoint. 1 5 3 4 2 Draw toolbar Command line ELLIPSE Draw Splines AutoCAD uses a particular type of spline known as a nonuniform rational Bspline (NURBS) curve. A NURBS curve produces a smooth curve between control points. Splines are useful for creating irregularly shaped curves, for example, drawing contour lines for geographic information system (GIS) applications or automobile designs.
With AutoCAD, there are two methods for creating splines: ■ Create spline curves with the Spline option of PEDIT to smooth existing polylines created with PLINE. Such spline-fit polylines are created with uniform knot vectors and are more likely to be included in drawings created with earlier versions of AutoCAD. Create splines, which are NURBS curves, with SPLINE. Drawings containing splines use less memory and disk space than those containing spline-fit polylines of similar shape.
The spline below uses the same points but different start and end tangents. 6 7 The spline below uses the same points but a higher tolerance and different start and end tangents. 4 2 7 3 5 1 6 Draw toolbar Command line SPLINE Draw Construction and Reference Geometry Construction lines and reference points are temporary objects you create to help you draw accurately. Draw Reference Points Point objects are useful as nodes or reference geometry for object snaps and relative offsets.
To set point style and size 1 From the Format menu, choose Point Style. 2 In the Point Style dialog box, select a point style. 3 Under Point Size, specify a size, either relative to the screen or in absolute units. 4 Choose OK. Command line DDPTYPE To create a point object 1 From the Draw menu, choose Point ➤ Single Point. 2 Specify the point location. You can snap to a point using the Node object snap.
■ ■ ■ Angle. Creates a construction line in one of two ways. Either you select a reference line and then specify the angle of the construction line from that line, or you create a construction line at a specific angle to the horizontal axis by specifying an angle and then a point through which the construction line should pass. Bisector. Creates a construction line that bisects an angle you specify. You specify the vertex and the lines that create the angle. Offset.
To create a ray 1 From the Draw menu, choose Ray. 2 Specify a starting point for the ray. 3 Specify a point through which the ray should pass. 4 Continue to specify points to create additional rays as needed. All subsequent rays pass through the first point specified. 5 Press ENTER to end the command. Command line RAY Create and Combine Areas (Regions) Regions are two-dimensional enclosed areas you create from objects that form closed loops.
You create composite regions by combining, subtracting, or finding the intersection of regions. After forming these more complex regions, you can apply hatching or analyze their area. Objects combined using UNION: selected regions result Objects combined using SUBTRACT: 2 1 result—a composite region selected regions Objects combined using INTERSECT: selected intersecting regions result To define regions 1 From the Draw menu, choose Region. 2 Select objects to create the region.
3 Press ENTER . A message on the command line indicates how many loops were detected and how many regions were created. Command line REGION To define regions by using boundaries 1 From the Draw menu, choose Boundary. 2 In the Boundary Creation dialog box, in Object Type, select Region. 3 Choose Pick Points. 4 Specify a point in your drawing inside each closed area that you want to define as a region and press ENTER . This point is known as the internal point.
To combine regions by finding intersections 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Intersect. 2 Select one region of the intersection. 3 Select another intersecting region. You can select regions in any order to find their intersection. 4 Continue selecting regions or press ENTER to end the command. AutoCAD converts the selected regions to a new region defined by the intersection of the selected regions.
AutoCAD supports three types of 3D modeling: wireframe, surface, and solid. Each type has its own creation and editing techniques. 3D wireframe mesh solid A wireframe model is a skeletal description of a 3D object. There are no surfaces in a wireframe model; it consists only of points, lines, and curves that describe the edges of the object. With AutoCAD you can create wireframe models by positioning 2D (planar) objects anywhere in 3D space.
Warning! Because each modeling type uses a different method for constructing 3D models and editing methods vary in their effect on the different model types, it is recommended that you not mix modeling methods. Limited conversion between model types is available from solids to surfaces and from surfaces to wireframes; however, you cannot convert from wireframes to surfaces or from surfaces to solids. Add Extruded Thickness to Objects Thickness is a property of objects that simulates surfaces in AutoCAD.
To set the thickness of new objects 1 From the Format menu, choose Thickness. 2 On the command line, enter the value for the thickness. New objects are created at the current thickness. Command line THICKNESS To change the thickness of existing objects 1 Select the objects whose thickness you want to change. 2 Right-click one of the objects and click Properties on the shortcut menu. 3 In the Properties palette, select Thickness and enter a new value.
■ ■ Use object snaps and grid snap carefully to ensure the precision of your model. Use coordinate filters to drop perpendiculars and easily locate points in 3D based on the location of points on other objects. Methods for Creating Wireframe Models With AutoCAD you can create wireframe models by positioning any 2D planar object anywhere in 3D space, using several methods: ■ ■ ■ Entering 3D coordinates. You enter coordinates that define the X, Y, and Z location of the object.
Use meshes if you need hiding, shading, and rendering capabilities that wireframes don’t provide but do not need the physical properties that solids provide (mass, weight, center of gravity, and so on). Meshes are also useful if you want to create geometry with unusual mesh patterns, such as a 3D topographical model of mountainous terrain. A mesh can be open or closed. A mesh is open in a given direction if the start and end edges of the mesh do not touch, as shown in the following illustrations.
top radius 4 height height M 1 length width 1 1 N base radius radius 1 2 3 1 1 2 radius radius 3 apex height 4 1 1 3 1 2 length width Create a Rectangular Mesh With the 3DMESH command, you can create polygon meshes that are open in both the M and N directions (similar to the X and Y axes of an XY plane). You can close the meshes with PEDIT. You can use 3DMESH to construct very irregular surfaces.
In the following example of text on the command line, you enter a coordinate for each vertex to create the mesh in the illustration.
M direction N direction Create a Polyface Mesh The PFACE command produces a polyface (polygon) mesh, with each face capable of having numerous vertices. Creating a polyface mesh is similar to creating a rectangular mesh. To create a polyface mesh, you specify coordinates for its vertices. You then define each face by entering vertex numbers for all the vertices of that face. As you create the polyface mesh, you can set specific edges to be invisible, assign them to layers, or give them colors.
You can control the display of invisible edges with the SPLFRAME system variable. If SPLFRAME is set to a nonzero value, the invisible edges become visible and can then be edited. If SPLFRAME is set to 0, the invisible edges remain invisible. invisible edges SPLFRAME = 1 SPLFRAME = 0 Create a Ruled Surface Mesh With RULESURF, you can create a surface mesh between two objects.
specified points on opposite sides result Create a Tabulated Surface Mesh With the TABSURF command, you can create a surface mesh representing a general tabulated surface defined by a path curve and a direction vector. The path curve can be a line, arc, circle, ellipse, elliptical arc, 2D polyline, 3D polyline, or spline. The direction vector can be a line or an open 2D or 3D polyline. TABSURF creates the mesh as a series of parallel polygons running along a specified path.
Create an Edge-Defined Surface Mesh With the EDGESURF command, you can create a Coons surface patch mesh, as shown in the following illustration, from four objects called edges. Edges can be arcs, lines, polylines, splines, and elliptical arcs, and they must form a closed loop and share endpoints. A Coons patch is a bicubic surface (one curve in the M direction and another in the N direction) interpolated between the four edges.
To create a tabulated surface mesh 1 From the Draw menu, choose Surfaces ➤ Tabulated Surface. 2 Specify a path curve. 3 Specify a direction vector. 4 Erase the original objects if necessary. Surfaces toolbar Command line TABSURF To create a surface of revolution mesh 1 From the Draw menu, choose Surfaces ➤ Revolved Surface. 2 Specify a path curve. The path curve, which defines the N direction of the mesh, can be a line, arc, circle, ellipse, elliptical arc, 2D polyline, 3D polyline, or spline.
Create 3D Solids A solid object represents the entire volume of an object. Solids are the most informationally complete and least ambiguous of the 3D modeling types. Complex solid shapes are also easier to construct and edit than wireframes and meshes. You create solids from one of the basic solid shapes of box, cone, cylinder, sphere, torus, and wedge or by extruding a 2D object along a path or revolving a 2D object about an axis.
The RECTANG or PLINE command creates a rectangle or closed polyline from which you can create a box using EXTRUDE. The 3D command creates a box shape defined by surfaces only. Create a Solid Cone You can use CONE to create a solid cone defined by a circular or an elliptical base tapering to a point perpendicular to its base. By default, the cone’s base lies on the XY plane of the current UCS. The height, which can be positive or negative, is parallel to the Z axis.
2 1 To create a dome or dish, combine a sphere with a box and use SUBTRACT. If you want to create a spherical object that has additional detail, create a 2D profile and use REVOLVE to define a rotation angle about the Z axis. The 3D command creates a spherical shape defined by surfaces only. Create a Solid Torus You can use TORUS to create a ring-shaped solid similar to the inner tube of a tire. The torus is parallel to and bisected by the XY plane of the current UCS.
The 3D command creates a wedge shape defined by surfaces only. Create an Extruded Solid With EXTRUDE, you can create solids by extruding (adding thickness to) selected objects. You can extrude closed objects such as polylines, polygons, rectangles, circles, ellipses, closed splines, donuts, and regions. You cannot extrude 3D objects, objects contained within a block, polylines that have crossing or intersecting segments, or polylines that are not closed.
You can use REVOLVE on closed objects such as polylines, polygons, rectangles, circles, ellipses, and regions. You cannot use REVOLVE on 3D objects, objects contained within a block, polylines that have crossing or intersecting segments, or polylines that are not closed.
2 1 object to subtract from object to subtract selected result (lines hidden for clarity) With INTERSECT, you can create a composite solid from the common volume of two or more overlapping solids. INTERSECT removes the nonoverlapping portions and creates a composite solid from the common volume. 1 2 objects to intersect selected result INTERFERE performs the same operation as INTERSECT, but INTERFERE keeps the original two objects. To create a solid box 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Box.
To create a solid cone with an elliptical base 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Cone. 2 Enter e (Elliptical). 3 Specify an axis endpoint. 4 Specify a second axis endpoint. 5 Specify the length of the other axis. 6 Specify height, and then press ENTER . Command line CONE To create a solid cylinder with a circular base 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Cylinder. 2 Specify the base center point. 3 Specify the radius or diameter of the base. 4 Specify the height.
3 Specify the opposite corner of the base. 4 Specify the height of the wedge. Command line WEDGE To extrude an object along a path 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Extrude. 2 Select the objects to extrude. 3 Enter p (Path). 4 Select the object to use as the path. After the extrusion, AutoCAD may delete or retain the original object, depending on the setting of the DELOBJ system variable. 2 1 Command line EXTRUDE To revolve an object about an axis 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Revolve.
To create a solid from the intersection of two or more other solids 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Intersect. 2 Select the objects to intersect. Create and Insert Symbols (Blocks) A block is one or more objects combined to create a single object. Blocks help you reuse objects in the same drawing or in other drawings. Overview of Blocks You can use several methods to create blocks: ■ ■ ■ Combine objects to create a block definition in your current drawing.
empty drawing file with block table block definition stored in block table block references inserted in drawing area When you insert a block, you are inserting a block reference, AutoCAD does not simply copy the information from the block definition to the drawing area. Instead, a link is established between the block reference and the block definition. Therefore, if the block definition is changed, all references are updated automatically.
objects in drawing area block definition created from selected objects The illustration shows a typical sequence for creating a block definition. objects created insertion point selected objects selected block written to block table Nested Blocks Block references that contain other blocks are known as nested blocks. Using blocks within blocks can simplify the organization of a complex block definition. With nested blocks, you can build a single block out of several components.
assembly block blocks that are components of the assembly block fastener block blocks that are components of the fastener block To define a block for the current drawing 1 Create the objects you want to use in the block definition. 2 From the Draw menu, choose Block ➤ Make. 3 In the Block Definition dialog box, enter a block name in the Name box. 4 Under Objects, select Convert to Block.
8 In the Description box, enter a description for the block definition. This description is displayed in AutoCAD® DesignCenter™ (ADCENTER). 9 Choose OK. The block is defined in the current drawing and can be inserted at any time. Draw toolbar Command line BLOCK Create Block Libraries You can organize a set of related block definitions by creating the blocks in the same drawing file. Drawing files used this way are called block, or symbol, libraries.
To create a block library drawing 1 Begin a new drawing. 2 Define a block. 3 Repeat step 2 for as many related block definitions as you want to make. 4 Save the drawing using a name appropriate for a library drawing. These blocks can be inserted into any drawing using DesignCenter (ADCENTER). Draw toolbar Command line BLOCK Create Drawing Files for Use as Blocks You can create drawing files for the purpose of inserting them into other drawings as blocks.
Change the Base Point of Drawings to Be Used as Blocks By default, AutoCAD uses the WCS (World Coordinate System) origin (0,0,0) as the base point for drawing files inserted as blocks. You can change the base point by opening the original drawing and using BASE to specify a different base point for insertion. The next time you insert the block, AutoCAD uses the new base point.
Command line WBLOCK To create a new drawing file from an existing block definition 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Block Description. 2 In the Block Definition dialog box, in the Name box, select the block to modify. 3 In the Name box, enter a new name. 4 In the Description box, enter or modify the description for the new drawing file. 5 Choose OK.
For this choice, before you create objects to be included in the block definition, set the current color or linetype to BYBLOCK.
To set the linetype for all new objects 1 From the Format menu, choose Linetype. 2 If you need to load additional linetypes, choose Load, select one or more linetypes, and choose OK. You can hold down CTRL to select several linetypes or SHIFT to select a range of linetypes. 3 In the Linetype Manager, do one of the following: ■ ■ ■ Select a linetype and select Current to draw all new objects with that linetype. Select BYLAYER to draw new objects in the linetype assigned to the current layer.
Insert a Drawing File as a Block When you insert an entire drawing file into another drawing, AutoCAD copies the drawing information into the block table of the current drawing as a block definition. Subsequent insertions reference the block definition with different position, scale, and rotation settings, as shown in the following illustration.
Insert Blocks at Intervals You can insert blocks at intervals along a selected geometric object. ■ ■ Use MEASURE to insert a block at measured intervals. Use DIVIDE to insert a block at proportional (evenly spaced) intervals. Insert Blocks with DesignCenter Use DesignCenter to insert blocks from the current drawing or from another drawing. Drag and drop the block names for quick placement. Double-click the block names to specify the precise location, rotation, and scale of the blocks.
To insert a drawing file as a block by dragging 1 From Windows Explorer or any folder, drag the drawing file icon into the AutoCAD drawing area. When you release the button, AutoCAD prompts you for an insertion point. 2 Specify the insertion point and scale and rotation values. To insert a block using DesignCenter 1 From the Tools menu, choose DesignCenter. The DesignCenter window is displayed.
There are two methods for redefining a block definition: ■ ■ Modify the block definition in the current drawing. Modify the block definition in the source drawing and reinsert it into the current drawing. The method you choose depends on whether you want to make changes in the current drawing only or in a source drawing also.
Redefine Block Attributes You can attach attributes to a block when you define or redefine that block. When AutoCAD prompts you to select the objects to include in the block definition, include the desired attributes in the selection set. Redefining the attributes in the block definition has the following effects on block references that were previously inserted: ■ ■ ■ Constant attributes, which have a fixed value, are lost and replaced by any new constant attributes.
3 In the Description box, enter or modify the description of the block. 4 Choose OK. 5 A message box displays the warning "Block name is already defined. Do you want to re-define it?" Choose Yes to redefine the block. Command line BLOCK Modify Block Attributes You can modify attributes in block definitions with the Block Attribute Manager.
Remove Block Attributes You can remove attributes from block definitions and from all existing block references in the current drawing. Attributes removed from existing block references do not disappear in the drawing area until you regenerate the drawing using REGEN. You cannot remove all attributes from a block; at least one attribute must remain. If you need to remove all attributes, redefine the block.
To specify whether changes are applied to existing block references 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Attribute ➤ Block Attribute Manager. 2 In the Block Attribute Manager, choose Settings. 3 In the Settings dialog box, do one of the following: ■ ■ To apply changes to existing block references, select the Apply Changes to Existing References option. To apply changes only to new block insertions, clear the Apply Changes to Existing References option. 4 Choose OK.
Modify II toolbar Command line BATTMAN To remove an attribute from a block definition and all block references 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Attribute ➤ Block Attribute Manager. 2 In the Block Attribute Manager, select a block from the Block list, or choose Select Block and select a block in the drawing area. 3 (Optional) If you do not want attributes removed from existing instances of the block, choose Settings, and, in the Settings dialog box, clear Apply Changes to Existing References.
If you specify a block that does not exist, or if the block exists but does not contain attributes, an error message is displayed. Modify II toolbar Command line ATTSYNC Alternate 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Attribute ➤ Single. 2 In the drawing area, select the block you want to edit. 3 In the Enhanced Attribute Editor, select the attribute you want to edit. You can change the attribute value or choose another tab and edit other attribute properties.
If a block was not created using objects with floating color and linetype properties, the only way to change these properties is to redefine the block. See Also “Control the Color and Linetype Properties in Blocks” on page 323 To change the layer of an object 1 Select the objects whose layer you want to change. 2 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer control. 3 Select the layer that you want to assign to the objects.
3 In the Properties palette, select Color. An arrow is displayed in the right column. 4 Click the arrow and select a color from the list. Standard toolbar Command line PROPERTIES To change the linetype assigned to a layer 1 On the Layers toolbar, click the Layer Properties Manager button. 2 In the Layer Properties Manager, click Load and click one or more linetypes to load, and then click OK. You can hold down CTRL to select several linetypes or SHIFT to select a range of linetypes.
Disassemble a Block Reference (Explode) If you need to modify one or more objects within a block separately, you can disassemble, or explode, the block reference into its component objects. After making the changes, you can ■ ■ ■ Create a new block definition Redefine the existing block definition Leave the component objects uncombined for other uses You can automatically explode block references as you insert them by selecting the Explode option in the Insert dialog box.
7 In the Block Definition dialog box under Base Point, specify the block insertion point using one of these methods: ■ ■ Choose Pick Point to specify a point using the pointing device. Enter the X,Y,Z coordinate of the point. 8 In the Description box, enter a description for the block definition. This description is displayed in DesignCenter (ADCENTER). 9 Choose OK. The block is defined in the current drawing and can be inserted at any time.
attribute definition blocks with attributes Attribute information extracted from a drawing can be used in a spreadsheet or database to produce a parts list or a bill of materials. You can associate more than one attribute with a block, provided that each attribute has a different tag. Whenever you insert a block that has a variable attribute, AutoCAD prompts you to enter data to be stored with the block.
If you plan to extract the attribute information for use in a parts list, you may want to keep a list of the attribute tags you have created. You will need this tag information later when you create the attribute template file. Correct Mistakes in Block Attribute Definitions If you make a mistake, you can use the Properties palette or DDEDIT to edit an attribute definition before it is associated with a block. You can change the tag, prompt, and default value.
To create an attribute definition 1 From the Draw menu, choose Block ➤ Define Attributes. 2 In the Attribute Definition dialog box, set the attribute modes and enter tag information, location, and text options. 3 Choose OK. After creating the attribute definition, you can select it as an object while creating a block definition. If the attribute definition is incorporated into a block, whenever you insert the block, AutoCAD prompts you with the text string you specified for the attribute.
■ ■ ■ Create a selection set of blocks in the current drawing. Select the Select Objects option. Choose the Select Objects button to close the wizard temporarily while you select the blocks you want in the drawing area. Press ENTER to complete the selection and return to the Attribute Extraction wizard. Select all blocks in the current drawing. Choose Current Drawing. Select all blocks in one or more drawing files. Select the Select Drawings option, and then choose the [...
Extract Block Attribute Data (Advanced) You can extract attribute information from a drawing and create a separate text file for use with database software. This feature is useful for creating parts lists with information already entered in the drawing database. Extracting attribute information does not affect the drawing.
The following template file includes the 15 possible fields. N means numeric, C means character, www means a 3 digit number for the total width of the field, and ddd means a 3 digit number representing how many numeric decimal places are to be displayed to the right of the decimal point.
Field (C)haracter or (N)umeric data Maximum field length Decimal places Block name C 040 000 Manufacturer C 006 000 Model C 015 000 Cost N 006 002 You can create any number of template files, depending on how you'll use the data. Each line of a template file specifies one field to be written in the attribute extraction file. Follow these additional guidelines: ■ ■ ■ Be sure to place a space between the attribute tag and the character or numeric data.
Create an Attribute Extraction File After creating a template file, you can extract the attribute information using one of the following formats: ■ ■ ■ Comma-delimited format (CDF) Space-delimited format (SDF) Drawing interchange format (DXF) The CDF format produces a file containing one record for each block reference in a drawing. A comma separates the fields of each record, and single quotation marks enclose the character fields. Some database applications can read this format directly.
The first nonblank character following the C:QUOTE or C:DELIM field name becomes the respective delimiter character. For example, if you want to enclose character strings with double quotes, include the following line in your attribute extraction template file: C:QUOTE “ The quote delimiter must not be set to a character that can appear in a character field. Similarly, the field delimiter must not be set to a character that can appear in a numeric field.
Error Handling If a field is not wide enough for the data that is to be placed in it, the data is truncated and the following message is displayed: ** Field overflow in record This could happen, for example, if you have a BL:NAME field with a width of 8 characters and a block in your drawing has a name 10 characters long. To create an attribute extraction template file 1 Start Notepad. You can use any text editor or word processor that can save a text file in ASCII format.
Remove Block Definitions To reduce the size of a drawing, you can remove unused block definitions. You can remove a block reference from your drawing by erasing it; however, the block definition remains in the drawing's block definition table. To remove unused block definitions and decrease the drawing size, use PURGE at any time in your drawing session. All references to a block must be erased before you can purge the block definition.
Create Revision Clouds If you review or redline drawings, you can increase your productivity by using the Revision Cloud feature to highlight your markups. REVCLOUD creates a polyline of sequential arcs to form a cloud-shaped object. You can create a revision cloud from scratch, or you can convert a closed object, such as a circle, ellipse, closed polyline, or closed spline, to a revision cloud.
To create a revision cloud from scratch 1 On the Draw menu, click Revision Cloud. 2 At the command prompt, specify a new minimum and maximum arc length or specify a revision cloud starting point. The default minimum and maximum arc lengths are set to 0.5000 units. The maximum arc length can be no more than three times the minimum arc length. 3 Guide the crosshairs along the cloud path. You can click pick points along the path if you want to vary the size of the arcs.
To change the default values for arc lengths in a revision cloud 1 On the Draw menu, click Revision Cloud. 2 At the command prompt, specify a new minimum arc length and press ENTER. 3 At the command prompt, specify a new maximum arc length and press ENTER. The maximum arc length can be no more than three times the minimum arc length. 4 Press ENTER to continue with the command or ESC to end the command.
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Change Existing Objects AutoCAD® offers two approaches to editing: you can In this chapter start a command first and then select the objects to edit, ■ Select Objects or you can select the objects first and then start the command. Double-clicking an object displays the Prop- ■ Correct Mistakes ■ Modify Objects ■ Modify Compound Objects erties palette or, in some cases, a dialog box that is ■ Modify 3D Solids specific to that type of object.
Select Objects You have a wide range options when you need to select objects for editing operations. Select Objects Individually In response to the Select Objects prompt, you can select one or more objects individually. The objects you select are highlighted. You can also remove selection from objects. Use the Pickbox Cursor You select an object by clicking it with your pointing device. The square pickbox cursor must touch some part of the object.
2 Click the object. The object you selected is highlighted. 3 Press ENTER to end object selection. Note If the PICKFIRST system variable is set to 1 (noun-verb selection), you can select objects before entering a command. To change the size of the pickbox cursor 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. Then choose the Selection tab. 2 Under Pickbox Size, move the pickbox size slider until the pickbox is the size you want to use. 3 Choose OK.
1 2 objects selected using window selection box 1 2 objects selected using crossing selection box When selecting objects with a window selection, usually the entire object must be contained in the window selection box. However, if an object with a noncontinuous (dashed) linetype is only partially visible in the viewport and all the visible vectors of the linetype can be enclosed within the selection window, the entire object is selected.
fence selection selected objects highlighted Use Other Selection Options You can see all selection options by entering ? at the Select Objects prompt. For a description of each of the selection options, see SELECT. Remove Selection from Multiple Objects You can enter r (Remove) at the Select Objects prompt and use selection options such as Crossing Polygon and Fence to remove objects from the selection set.
To select objects with a fence 1 At the Select Objects prompt, enter f (Fence). 2 Specify points to create a fence that passes through the objects you want to select. 3 Press ENTER to complete the selection. To remove several objects from the selection set 1 After selecting objects, at the Select Objects prompt, enter r (Remove). 2 Enter any selection option such as cp (Crossing Polygon) or f (Fence), and select the objects to be removed from the selection set.
With Quick Select, you can quickly define a selection set based on filtering criteria that you specify, and if an application such as Autodesk Map was used to add a feature classification to an object, you can select objects by classification property. With Object Selection Filters, you can name and save filters for future use.
To exclude objects from the selection set You can exclude objects from the current selection set by using the Exclude from New Selection Set option. In the following example, you exclude all circles with a radius greater than 1 from a set of objects already selected. 1 With several objects selected, from the Tools menu, choose Quick Select. 2 In the Quick Select dialog box under Apply To, select Current Selection. 3 Under Object Type, select Circle. 4 Under Properties, select Radius.
3 Choose Add to List. 4 Under Save As, enter a filter name such as Linefilter. 5 Choose Save As. 6 Choose Apply. AutoCAD applies the filter so you can select, in this case, only lines in the drawing. If you select objects with a selection, AutoCAD applies the filter to all objects in the selection area. Command line FILTER To use a named filter 1 At the Select Object prompt, enter 'filter. (The apostrophe makes it a transparent command.
■ ■ Combine selection methods. For example, to select most of the objects in the graphics area, select all objects and then remove the objects that you do not want selected. Enter 'filter to use a named selection filter. The apostrophe runs the command transparently. Select Objects First You can use one of two methods to select objects before starting a command to operate on them: ■ ■ ■ Use the SELECT command, and enter ? to display all selection options.
■ ■ ■ You select all objects in a group when you select one object in that group. The boundary is included in the selection set when you select a hatch. You change how overlapping objects are processed. You can specify that overlapping objects be processed in the order in which they were created in the drawing. You use these options if your drawing or application depends on the order in which objects were created (SORTENTS). To change the size of the pickbox cursor 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options.
In some ways, groups resemble blocks, which provide another method of combining objects into a named set. For example, the groups you create are saved from session to session. However, you can edit individual objects in groups more easily than you can edit them in blocks, which must be exploded first. Unlike blocks, groups cannot be shared with other drawings. Create Groups When you create a group, you can give the group a name and description.
Select Objects in Groups You can select groups by name at the Select Objects prompt. If the PICKSTYLE system variable is set to 1 or 3 and you select any member of a selectable group, AutoCAD selects all group members that meet the selection criteria. You can also toggle group selection on and off by pressing CTRL + H or SHIFT + CTRL + A .
To delete a named group 1 At the Command prompt, enter group. 2 In the Object Grouping dialog box, select the group name from the list of groups. 3 Under Change Group, choose Explode. 4 Choose OK. The group is deleted. Command line GROUP To reorder group members 1 At the Command prompt, enter group. 2 In the Object Grouping dialog box under Change Group, choose Re-Order. 3 In the Order Group dialog box under Group Name, select the group to reorder.
Correct Mistakes With AutoCAD, you can backtrack your recent actions using one of several methods. Undo a Single Action The simplest method of backtracking is to use Undo on the Standard toolbar or the U command to undo a single action. Many commands include their own U (undo) option so that you can correct mistakes without leaving the command. When you are creating lines and polylines, for example, enter u to undo the last segment.
To undo the most recent action ■ From the Edit menu, choose Undo. Standard toolbar Command line U To undo a specific number of actions 1 On the Standard toolbar, click the Undo list arrow. A list of actions that you can undo, starting with the most recent action, is displayed. 2 Drag to select the actions to undo. 3 Click to undo the selected actions. Standard toolbar Command line UNDO To redo an action ■ From the Edit menu, choose Redo.
Modify Objects You can easily modify the size, shape, and location of objects. See Also “Work with Custom and Proxy Objects” on page 724 Overview of Modifying Objects With AutoCAD, you can easily modify the size, shape, and location of objects. You can either enter a command first and then select the objects to modify, or you can select the objects first and then enter a command to modify them.
To erase an object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Erase. 2 At the Select Objects prompt, use a selection method to select the objects to be erased or enter an option: ■ ■ ■ ■ Enter L (Last) to erase the last object drawn. Enter p (Previous) to erase the last selection set. Enter all to erase all objects from the drawing. Enter ? to see a list of all selection methods. 3 Press ENTER to end the command. Modify toolbar Command line ERASE To restore the last erased object ■ At the Command prompt, enter oops.
If the item you want to purge is not listed, select View Items You Cannot Purge. 3 You are prompted to confirm each item in the list. If you do not want to confirm each purge, clear the Confirm Each Item to Be Purged option. 4 Choose Purge. To confirm the purging of each item, respond to the prompt by choosing Yes or No, or Yes to All if more than one item is selected. 5 Choose Close. Command line PURGE Move Objects You can move objects without changing their orientation or size.
You can also use STRETCH to move objects if all their endpoints lie entirely within the selection window. Turning on Ortho mode or Polar Tracking helps you move the object at a specific angle. 1 4 3 2 objects selected with crossing selection objects dragged with Ortho mode on result In the illustration, notice that the door itself is entirely within the selection area and thus moves to the new location. The wall lines, on the other hand, merely cross the selection area.
3 Enter the displacement in the form of a Cartesian, polar, cylindrical, or spherical coordinate value. Do not include the @ sign, because a relative coordinate is assumed. 4 At the prompt for the second point of displacement, press ENTER. By entering only one set of coordinate values, you instruct AutoCAD to use it as a relative displacement rather than a base point. The objects you select are moved to a new location determined by the relative coordinate values you enter.
Rotate Objects You can rotate objects around a specified point. To determine the angle of rotation, you enter an angle value or specify a second point. Entering a positive angle value rotates the objects counterclockwise or clockwise, depending on the Direction Control setting in the Drawing Units dialog box. The plane of rotation and the direction of the zero angle depend on the orientation of the user coordinate system.
In the following example, you specify the reference angle by selecting two points on the object to rotate. You select the object to be rotated (1), specify the base point (2) by using the Midpoint object snap on the window shown, and then use the Reference option to specify the angle of rotation. For the reference angle, specify two points: the midpoint of the window (2) and the endpoint of the window (3). Rotate the window by dragging it and specify the endpoint of the wall (4).
3 Specify the base point for the rotation. 4 Enter r (Reference). Now define the reference and new angles by selecting the objects you are aligning. 5 Enter int (Intersection object snap), and select the intersection point (2) to begin defining the reference angle. 6 Enter end (Endpoint object snap), and select the endpoint of the object you are rotating (3) to complete the definition of the reference angle. 7 Enter end again, and select the endpoint of the object you are aligning to (4).
3 2 1 object to rotate selected axis of rotation specified result Command line ROTATE3D Align Objects You can move, rotate, or tilt an object so it aligns with another object. In the following example, align the pieces of piping using a window selection box to select the object to be aligned. Use the Endpoint object snap to align the pieces precisely.
5 Specify the third source point, or press ENTER to continue. 6 Specify whether you want to scale objects to the alignment points. The objects are aligned (moved and rotated into position), and then scaled. The first destination point is the base point of the scale, the distance between the first and second source points is the reference length, and the distance between the first and second destination points is the new reference length.
With the Multiple option, you can copy an object or a selection set multiple times without leaving the COPY command. next point base point second point of displacement next point next point object selected result To copy an object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Copy. 2 Select the objects to copy. 3 Specify the base point. 4 Specify the second point of displacement. Modify toolbar Command line COPY To copy an object multiple times 1 From the Modify menu, choose Copy. 2 Select the objects to copy.
Create an Array of Objects You can create copies of objects in a rectangular or polar (circular) pattern called an array. For rectangular arrays, you control the number of rows and columns and the distance between each. For polar arrays, you control the number of copies of the object and whether the copies are rotated. To create many regularly spaced objects, arraying is faster than copying.
The radius of the array is determined by the distance from the specified center point to a reference or base point on the last selected object. You can use the default reference point (usually an arbitrary point that coincides with a snap point), or you can specify a new base point to be used as the reference point. Array in 3D With 3DARRAY, you can create a rectangular array or a polar array of objects in 3D.
■ Click the Pick Row Offset or Pick Column Offset button to use the pointing device to specify the horizontal and vertical spacing. The example box displays the result. 7 To change the rotation angle of the array, enter the new angle next to Angle of Array. 8 The default angle 0 direction setting can also be changed in UNITS. 9 Choose OK to create the array. Modify toolbar Command line ARRAY To create a polar array 1 From the Modify menu, choose Array. 2 In the Array dialog box, choose Polar Array.
9 You can set any of the following options: ■ ■ To rotate the objects as they are arrayed, select Rotate Items As Copied. The example area displays the result. To specify the X,Y base point, choose More, clear the Set to Object's Default option and enter values in the X and Y boxes, or click the Pick Base Point button and use the pointing device to specify the point. 10 Choose OK to create the array.
To create a 3D polar array of objects 1 From the Modify menu, choose 3D Operation ➤ 3D Array. 2 Select the object to array (1). 3 Specify Polar. 4 Enter the number of items to array. 5 Specify the angle that the arrayed objects are to fill. 6 Press ENTER to rotate the objects as they are arrayed, or enter n to retain their orientation. 7 Specify the start point and endpoint of the axis about which the objects are to be rotated (2 and 3).
trim and extend the offset lines offset result 2D polylines and splines are trimmed automatically when the offset distance is larger than can otherwise be accommodated. offset automatic trim You can offset ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Lines Arcs Circles Ellipses and elliptical arcs (resulting in an oval-shaped spline) 2D polylines Construction lines (xlines) and rays Splines To offset an object by specifying a distance 1 From the Modify menu, choose Offset. 2 Specify the offset distance.
To offset an object through a point 1 From the Modify menu, choose Offset. 2 Enter t (Through). 3 Select the object to offset. 4 Specify the through point. 5 Select another object to offset, or press ENTER to end the command. Modify toolbar Command line OFFSET Mirror Objects Mirroring creates a mirror image of objects. It is useful for creating symmetrical objects because you can quickly draw half the object and then mirror it instead of drawing the entire object.
By default, MIRRTEXT is on. This system variable affects text that is created with the TEXT, ATTDEF, or MTEXT commands; attribute definitions; and variable attributes. Text and constant attributes within an inserted block are mirrored as a consequence of mirroring the entire block. These objects are inverted regardless of the MIRRTEXT setting. Mirror in 3D With MIRROR3D, you can mirror objects along a specified mirroring plane.
Change the Size and Shape of Objects There are several methods for adjusting the lengths of existing objects relative to other objects both symmetrically and asymetrically. Trim or Extend Objects You can shorten or lengthen objects to meet the edges of other objects. This means you can create an object such as a line first and then later adjust it to fit exactly between other objects. Objects you select as cutting edges or boundary edges are not required to intersect the object being trimmed.
An object can be one of the cutting edges and one of the objects being trimmed. For example, in the illustrated light fixture, the circle is a cutting edge for the construction lines and is also being trimmed. cutting edges selected objects to trim selected result When you trim several objects, the different selection methods can help you choose the current cutting edges and objects to trim. In the following example, the cutting edges are selected using crossing selection.
You can trim objects to their nearest intersection with other objects. Instead of selecting cutting edges, you press ENTER. Then, when you select the objects to trim, AutoCAD automatically chooses the nearest objects in the drawing as cutting edges. In this example, the walls are trimmed so that they intersect smoothly. cutting edges selected with crossing selection objects to trim selected result Extend Objects Extending operates the same way as trimming.
Trim or Extend in 3D You can trim or extend an object to any other object in 3D space, regardless of whether the objects are on the same plane or parallel to the cutting or boundary edges. By using the PROJMODE and EDGEMODE system variables, you can choose one of three projections for trimming or extending: the XY plane of the current UCS, the current view plane, or true 3D, which is not a projection. In true 3D trimming or extending, objects must intersect with the boundaries in 3D space.
To extend in 3D using an XY plane of the current UCS 1 From the Modify menu, choose Extend. 2 Select the boundary edge for extending (1). 3 Enter e (Edge). 4 Enter e (Extend). 5 Enter p (Project). 6 Enter u (UCS). 7 Select the object to extend (2). 2 1 Command line EXTEND To trim in 3D using the current view plane 1 From the Modify menu, choose Trim. 2 Select the cutting edge for trimming (1). 3 Enter p (Project). 4 Enter v (View). 5 Select the object to trim (2).
To trim using true 3D 1 From Modify menu, choose Trim. 2 Select the cutting edges to use for trimming (1 and 2). 3 Enter p (Project). 4 Enter n (None). 5 Select the object to trim (3 and 4). 1 3 2 4 Command line TRIM Resize or Reshape Objects You can resize objects to make them longer or shorter in only one direction or to make them proportionally larger or smaller. You can also stretch certain objects by moving an endpoint, vertex, or control point.
Stretch Objects To stretch an object, you specify a base point and then a point of displacement. Because stretching moves the endpoints that lie within the crossing selection window, you must select the object with a crossing selection. To stretch with greater accuracy, you can combine grip editing with object snaps, grid snaps, and relative coordinate entry.
You can use the Reference option to scale an entire drawing. For example, use this option when the original drawing units need to be changed. Select all objects in the drawing. Then use Reference to select two points and specify the intended distance. All the objects in the drawing are scaled accordingly. To stretch an object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Stretch. 2 Select the object using a crossing window selection. The crossing window must include at least one vertex or endpoint.
To scale an object by reference 1 From the Modify menu, choose Scale. 2 Select the object to scale. 3 Select the base point. 4 Enter r (Reference). 5 Select the first and second reference points, or enter a value for the reference length. Modify toolbar Command line SCALE To change the length of an object by dragging 1 On the Modify menu, click Lengthen. 2 Enter dy (Dynamic Dragging mode). 3 Select the object you want to lengthen.
You can fillet ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Arcs Circles Ellipses and elliptical arcs Lines Polylines Rays Splines Xlines Using FILLET is also a convenient method of creating an arc with a specified radius that is tangent to two selected objects. FILLET can be used to round all corners on a polyline using a single command. If both objects being filleted are on the same layer, the fillet arc is created on that layer. Otherwise, the fillet arc is created on the current layer.
two lines filleted with the Trim option set two lines filleted with the No Trim option set Control the Location of the Fillet Depending on the locations you specify, more than one possible fillet can exist between the selected objects. Compare the selection points and resulting fillets in the illustrations.
Fillet an Entire Polyline You can fillet an entire polyline or remove fillets from an entire polyline. If you set a nonzero fillet radius, AutoCAD inserts fillet arcs at the vertex of each polyline segment that is long enough to accommodate the fillet radius.
Fillet in 3D You can fillet coplanar objects with extrusion directions not parallel to the Z axis of the current UCS. AutoCAD determines the extrusion direction for the fillet arc in 3D space as follows. For objects on the same plane with the same extrusion direction normal to that plane, the fillet arc is on that plane and has the same extrusion direction.
3 Select the objects to fillet. Modify toolbar Command line FILLET To fillet an entire polyline 1 From the Modify menu, choose Fillet. 2 Enter p (Polyline). 3 Select the polyline. Modify toolbar Command line FILLET To fillet multiple sets of objects 1 On the Modify menu, click Fillet. 2 Enter u (Multiple). The main prompt is displayed. 3 Select the first line, or enter an option and complete the prompts for that option and then select the first line. 4 Select the second line.
If both objects being chamfered are on the same layer, the chamfer line is created on that layer. Otherwise, the chamfer line is created on the current layer. The layer affects object properties including color and linetype. Use the Multiple option to chamfer more than one set of objects without leaving the command.
Trim and Extend Chamfered Objects By default, objects are trimmed when chamfered, but you can use the Trim option to specify that they remain untrimmed. Chamfer by Specify Length and Angle You can chamfer two objects by specifying where on the first selected object the chamfer line starts, and then the angle the chamfer line forms with this object. In this example, you chamfer two lines so that the chamfer line starts 1.
Chamfer an Entire Polyline When you chamfer an entire polyline, each intersection is chamfered. For best results, keep the first and second chamfer distances equal. In this example, the chamfer distances are set to equal values. polyline selected when chamfer distances equal result When you chamfer an entire polyline, AutoCAD chamfers only the segments that are long enough to accommodate the chamfer distance. The polyline in the following illustration has some segments too short to be chamfered.
3 Select the second line. Modify toolbar Command line CHAMFER To chamfer by specifying chamfer length and angle 1 From the Modify menu, choose Chamfer. 2 Enter a (Angle). 3 Enter the distance from the corner to be chamfered along the first line. 4 Enter the chamfer angle. 5 Select the first line. Then select the second line. Modify toolbar Command line CHAMFER To chamfer without trimming 1 From the Modify menu, choose Chamfer. 2 Enter t (Trim Control). 3 Enter n (No Trim). 4 Select the objects to chamfer.
To chamfer multiple sets of objects 1 On the Modify menu, click Chamfer. 2 Enter u (Multiple). The main prompt is displayed. 3 Select the first line, or enter an option and complete the prompts for that option and then select the first line. 4 Select the second line. The main prompt is displayed again. 5 Select the first line for the next chamfer, or press ENTER or ESC to end the command.
When breaking an object, you can either ■ ■ Select the object at the first break point and then specify a second break point Select the entire object and then specify two break points To break an object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Break. 2 Select the object to break. By default, the point at which you select the object is the first break point. To choose a different pair of break points, enter f (First) and specify the first break point. 3 Specify the second break point.
circle spline line polyline block text To use grips, select a grip to act as the base point for the action. Then select one of the grip modes. You can cycle through these modes by pressing ENTER or SPACEBAR. You also can use shortcut keys or right-click to see all of the modes and options. You can use multiple grips as the base grips to keep the shape of the object intact between the selected grips. Hold down SHIFT as you select the grips.
Stretch with Grips You can stretch an object by moving selected grips to new locations. Grips on text, block references, midpoints of lines, centers of circles, and point objects move the object rather than stretching it. This is an excellent method for moving block references and adjusting dimensions. Move with Grips You can move objects by the grip selected. Selected objects are highlighted and are moved the direction and distance of the next point location you specify.
To limit the number of objects in the initial selection set that display grips 1 On the Tools menu, click Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, Selection Tab, enter a number in the Object Selection Limit for Display of Grips box. The maximum is 32,767. If you add objects to the current selection set, the limit does not apply. To display grip tips for custom objects that support grip tips 1 On the Tools menu, click Options.
3 Cycle through the grip modes by pressing ENTER until the grip mode Move appears. Alternatively, you can right-click to display a shortcut menu of modes and options. 4 Move the pointing device and click. The selected objects are moved along with the grip. To rotate objects using grips 1 Select the objects to rotate. 2 Select a base grip on an object by clicking the grip. The selected grip is highlighted, and Stretch, the default grip mode, is active.
3 Cycle through the grip modes by pressing ENTER until the grip mode Mirror appears. Alternatively, you can right-click to display shortcut menu modes and options. 4 Click to specify the second point of the mirror line. Turning on Ortho mode is often useful when mirroring objects. Make Multiple Copies with Grips You can create multiple copies of objects as you modify them with any of the grip modes.
If you hold down SHIFT while you select multiple copy points with the pointing device, the graphics cursor snaps to an offset point based on the last two points you selected. In the illustration below, the midpoint of line 1 is at coordinate 8,5. Based on that midpoint, line 2 was copied using the SHIFT key and Stretch grip mode; its midpoint is at 9,5. The third line snaps to an offset based on the coordinate values 10,5.
3 Cycle through the grip modes by pressing ENTER until the grip mode you want appears. Alternatively, you can right-click to display shortcut menu modes and options. 4 Enter c (Copy). AutoCAD makes copies until you turn off grips. 5 Enter or specify the additional input required for the current grip mode. 6 Turn off grips by pressing ENTER, SPACEBAR, or ESC. To create an offset snap for multiple copies using grips 1 Select the objects to copy. 2 Select a base grip on an object by clicking the grip.
5 Move the pointing device and click. The rotation snap is the angle between the grip you selected and the location you specified for the copy. 6 Hold down SHIFT and place additional copies by specifying additional locations. These copies are created at the same rotation snap angle as the first copy. 7 Turn off grips by pressing ENTER, SPACEBAR, or ESC. To mirror objects and retain the originals using grips 1 Select the objects to mirror. 2 Select a base grip on an object by clicking the grip.
To turn grips within blocks on or off 1 From the Tools menu, choose Options. 2 In the Options dialog box, Selection tab, select or clear Enable Grips Within Blocks. 3 Choose OK. Command line OPTIONS Modify Splines In addition to the general editing operations available for most objects, there are additional options available for editing splines with SPLINEDIT. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Fit Data. Edits the fit point data that defines the spline, including changing the tolerance. Close.
control points control points fit points spline with fit tolerance=0 fit points spline with fit tolerance=.5 You can delete fit points of a spline, add fit points for greater accuracy, or move fit points to alter the shape of a spline. You can open or close a spline and edit the spline start and end tangents. Spline direction is reversible. You can change the tolerance of the spline also. Tolerance refers to how closely the spline fits the set of fit points you specify.
fourth fit point selected fit point moved result To edit a spline 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object. Then choose Spline. 2 Select the spline to modify. 3 Edit the spline by entering one or more of the following options: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Enter f (Fit) to edit the fit data that defines the spline. Enter c (Close) to change an open spline into a continuous, closed loop. Enter m (Move Vertex) to move a fit point to a new location.
Explode Dimensions and Hatches When you explode a dimension or a hatch, all associativity is lost and the dimension or hatch object is replaced by individual objects such as lines, text, points, and 2D solids. Explode Polylines When you explode a polyline, AutoCAD discards any associated width information. The resulting lines and arcs follow the polyline's centerline. If you explode a block that contains a polyline, you need to explode the polyline separately. If you explode a donut, its width becomes 0.
available resources. You can avoid this problem by imposing a limit on the number of objects created by a single HATCH or BHATCH command. If the approximate number of objects needed for a particular hatch (considering the boundary extents, pattern, and scale) exceeds the limit, AutoCAD displays a message indicating that the hatch scale is too small or that its dash length is too short, and the hatch request is rejected. If this occurs, carefully examine your hatch settings.
You modify each of these solid-filled objects just as you would any other hatch, 2D solid, wide polyline, or donut. In addition to PROPERTIES, you can use HATCHEDIT for solid-filled hatches and gradient fills, grip editing for 2D solids, and PEDIT for wide polylines and donuts. To change the angle of a hatch 1 Select the hatch pattern. 2 Right-click the hatch and click Properties on the shortcut menu. 3 In the Properties palette, enter the new value for Angle.
Joined Polyline Segments You can join a line, an arc, or another polyline to an open polyline if their ends connect or are close to each other. If the ends are not coincident but are within a distance that you can set, called the fuzz distance, the ends are joined by either trimming them, extending them, or connecting them with a new segment.
■ ■ Fit. Creates a smooth curve consisting of arcs joining each pair of vertices. The curve passes through all vertices of the polyline and uses any tangent direction you specify. Spline. Uses the vertices of the selected polyline as the control points, or frame, of a spline-fit polyline. The curve passes through the first and last control points unless the original polyline was closed. polyline ■ ■ splined polyline Decurve.
3 Edit the polyline by entering one or more of the following options: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Enter c (Close) to create a closed polyline. Enter j (Join) to join contiguous lines, arcs, or polylines. Enter w (Width) to specify a new uniform width for the entire polyline. Enter e (Edit Vertex) to edit a vertex. Enter f (Fit) to create a series of arcs joining each pair of vertices. Enter s (Spline) to create an approximation of a spline.
Add and Delete Multiline Vertices You can add or delete any vertex in a multiline. multiline with vertex deleted vertex in multiline to delete Edit Multiline Intersections If you have two multilines in a drawing, you can control the way they intersect. Multilines can intersect in a cross or a T shape, and the crosses or T shapes can be closed, open, or merged.
To delete a vertex from a multiline 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Multiline. 2 In the Multiline Edit Tools dialog box, select Delete Vertex (in the bottom row of images), and then choose OK. 3 In the drawing, specify the vertex to delete and press ENTER . Command line MLEDIT To create a closed cross intersection 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Multiline. 2 In the Multiline Edit Tools dialog box, click Closed Cross (in the top row of images), and then choose OK.
Modify 3D Solids After creating a 3D solid model, you can use the ShapeManager modeler in AutoCAD LT to change the form and appearance of the model. Overview of Modifying 3D Solids After creating a solid model, you can change its appearance by filleting, chamfering, sectioning, slicing, and separating. You can also edit faces and edges on your solid model. You can easily remove blends created by FILLET or CHAMFER.
1 edge to fillet selected result Command line FILLET To chamfer a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Chamfer. 2 Select the edge of the base surface to chamfer (1). AutoCAD highlights one of two surfaces adjacent to the selected edge. 3 To select a different surface, enter n (Next), or press ENTER to use the current surface. 4 Specify the base surface distance. The base surface distance is measured from the selected edge to a point on the base surface.
Section and Slice 3D Solids With SECTION, you can create a cross section through a solid as a region or an anonymous block. The default method is specifying three points to define the plane. Other methods define the cross-sectional plane by another object, the current view, the Z axis, or the XY, YZ, or ZX plane. AutoCAD places the cross-sectional plane on the current layer. With SLICE, you can create a new solid by cutting the existing solid and removing a specified side.
To slice a solid 1 From the Draw menu, choose Solids ➤ Slice. 2 Select the objects to slice. 3 Specify three points to define the cutting plane. The first point defines the origin (0,0,0) of the cutting plane. The second point defines the positive X axis, and the third point defines the positive Y axis. 4 Specify which side to retain, or enter b to retain both sides.
Boundary sets are sets of faces defined by a closed boundary, which consists of lines, circles, arcs, elliptical arcs, and spline curves. When defining a boundary set on a solid object, you first select an internal point on the solid, highlighting the face. If you select the same point on the face again, AutoCAD highlights the adjoining face.
5 Specify a taper angle. 6 Press ENTER to complete the command. 1 face selected face extruded Command line SOLIDEDIT To extrude a face along a path on a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Extrude Faces. 2 Select the face to extrude (1). 3 Select additional faces or press ENTER to extrude. 4 Enter p (Path). 5 Select the object to use as the path (2). 6 Press ENTER to complete the command.
To move a face on a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Move Faces. 2 Select the face to move (1). 3 Select additional faces or press ENTER to move the face. 4 Specify the base point for the move (2). 5 Specify the second point of displacement (3). 6 Press ENTER to complete the command.
1 2 face selected rotation point selected face rotated about Z axis 35° Command line SOLIDEDIT Offset Faces on 3D Solids On a 3D solid, you can uniformly offset faces by a specified distance. New faces are created by offsetting existing ones inside or outside at a specified distance from their original positions (offsetting works in the direction of the face’s normal or the positive side of the surface or face). For example, you can offset larger or smaller holes on a solid object.
Taper Faces on 3D Solids You can taper faces with a draft angle along a vector direction. Tapering the selected face with a positive angle tapers the face inward, and a negative angle tapers the face outward. Avoid using extremely large tapered angles. If the angle is too large, the profile can taper to a point before it reaches the specified height, and AutoCAD rejects the tapering. To taper a face on a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Taper Faces.
1 face selected face deleted Command line SOLIDEDIT Copy Faces on 3D Solids You can copy faces on a 3D solid object. AutoCAD copies selected faces as regions or bodies. If you specify two points, AutoCAD uses the first point as a base point and places a single copy relative to the base point. If you specify a single point, and then press ENTER , AutoCAD uses the original selection point as a base point and the next point as a point of displacement.
Color Faces on 3D Solids You can change the color of a face on a 3D solid object. You can choose a color from the seven standard colors or select a color from the Select Color dialog box. When specifying a color, you can enter the name of the color or an AutoCAD Color Index (ACI) number, an integer from 1 through 255. Setting a color on a face overrides the color setting for the layer on which the solid object resides. For information about assigning colors, see “Work with Colors” on page 187.
To change the color of an edge on a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Color Edges. 2 Select the edge of a face to color. 3 Select additional edges or press ENTER . 4 In the Select Color dialog box, select a color and choose OK. 5 Press ENTER to complete the command. Command line SOLIDEDIT To copy an edge on a solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Copy Edges. 2 Select the edge of the face to copy (1). 3 Select additional edges or press ENTER .
3 Select the object that you want to imprint (2). 4 Press ENTER to retain the original objects, or enter y to delete them. 5 Select additional objects to imprint or press ENTER . 6 Press ENTER to complete the command. 1 2 solid selected object selected object imprinted on solid Command line SOLIDEDIT Separate 3D Solids You can separate (take apart) composite solids. The composite 3D solid object cannot share a common area or volume.
4 Select additional faces to be excluded or press ENTER . 5 Specify the shell offset valve. A positive offset value creates a shell in the positive face direction; a negative value creates a shell in the negative face direction. 6 Press ENTER to complete the command. 1 face selected shell offset = 0.5 shell offset = –0.5 Command line SOLIDEDIT Clean and Check 3D Solids You can remove edges or vertices if they share the same surface or vertex definition on either side of the edge or vertex.
3 Press ENTER to complete the command. 1 solid selected solid cleaned Command line SOLIDEDIT To validate a 3D solid object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Solids Editing ➤ Check. 2 Select the 3D solid object. 3 Press ENTER to complete the command. AutoCAD displays a message stating that the solid is a valid ShapeManager solid.
Copy Objects You can use the Clipboard to copy part or all of a drawing into a document created by another application. The AutoCAD objects are copied in vector format, which retains the high resolution in other applications. These objects are stored in WMF (Windows metafile) format in the Clipboard. The information stored in the Clipboard can then be embedded in the other document. Updating the original drawing does not update the copy embedded in the other application.
You can insert a linked or embedded object from the Clipboard into an AutoCAD drawing with PASTESPEC. If you convert pasted information to AutoCAD format, the object is inserted as a block reference. To edit the pasted information, explode the block reference into its component objects. When you convert a Windows metafile stored on the Clipboard to AutoCAD format, you may lose some scaling precision.
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Part 5 Hatches, Notes, and Dimensions Chapter 18 Hatches, Fills, and Wipeouts 449 Chapter 19 Notes and Labels 467 Chapter 20 Dimensions and Tolerances 509 447
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Hatches, Fills, and Wipeouts Many drafting applications use a process called In this chapter hatching to fill an area with a pattern. You can use a ■ Overview of Hatch Patterns and Fills predefined hatch pattern, define a simple line pattern using the current linetype, or create more complex hatch patterns. You can also use the hatching feature to create solid fills.
Overview of Hatch Patterns and Fills You can drag and drop hatches from a tool palette, or use a dialog box with additional options. You can choose among several methods to specify the boundaries of a hatch, and you can control whether the hatch automatically adjusts when the boundary changes (associative hatching). To reduce file size, a hatch pattern is defined in the drawing database as a single graphic object.
hatched object result of editing boundary with nonassociative hatch result of editing boundary with associative hatch Choose a Hatch Pattern AutoCAD supplies a solid fill and more than 50 industry-standard hatch patterns that you can use to differentiate the components of objects or represent object materials. AutoCAD supplies 14 hatch patterns that conform to the ISO (International Standards Organization) standards.
Create Custom Hatch Patterns You can also define your own hatch pattern using the current linetype with the User Defined Pattern option, or you can create more complex hatch patterns. See Also “Overview of Hatch Pattern Definitions” in the Customization Guide To drag hatch patterns into your drawing 1 On the Tools menu, click DesignCenter. Note This procedure describes how to use DesignCenter to drag hatch patterns into your drawing. You can also drag hatch patterns from a tool palette.
7 From the content area, drag a hatch pattern onto a closed object in your drawing or onto a tool palette. Note If the hatch pattern scale is too large or small, an error message is displayed. You can adjust the scale for any hatch pattern by double-clicking the hatch pattern to display the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box. Standard toolbar Command line ADCENTER To hatch areas 1 From the Draw menu, choose Hatch. 2 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose Pick Points.
To hatch selected objects 1 From the Draw menu, choose Hatch. 2 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose Select Objects. 3 Specify the object or objects you want to hatch. The objects need not form a closed boundary. You can also specify any islands that should remain unhatched. 4 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose OK to apply the hatch.
Control the Hatching in Islands You can determine how islands, enclosed areas within the hatch boundary, are hatched using the three hatching styles: Normal, Outer, and Ignore. You can preview these hatching styles in the Advanced Options dialog box by selecting Preview. Normal hatching style (the default) hatches inward from the outer boundary. If the hatching process encounters an internal boundary, hatching is turned off until another boundary is encountered.
You can also remove any islands from the hatch area. internal point boundaries detected islands to remove (solid boundaries) result To remove islands from the hatch area 1 From the Draw menu, choose Hatch. 2 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose Pick Points. 3 Specify a point in your drawing inside the hatch area. 4 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose Remove Islands. 5 Select the boundaries of areas you do not want excluded from hatching.
For clarity, first zoom into the area you want to hatch. area for hatching The View Selections option in the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, Advanced tab, highlights the objects in the drawing that define the boundary. To define a boundary set in a complex drawing 1 From the Draw menu, choose Hatch. 2 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, choose the Advanced tab. 3 On the Advanced tab under Boundary Set, choose New.
Create Unbounded Hatches You can define a hatch boundary with HATCH by specifying boundary points. For example, you might want to show that a large area of a drawing is filled with a pattern by filling only a small section of that area, as shown in the following illustration. 2 1 3 5 6 4 12 13 10 8 7 9 points specified to define hatch boundary 11 result In the illustration, you define an area to be hatched by specifying points directly. The hatch pattern is EARTH, and it is rotated 45 degrees.
Choose Hatch Patterns and Solid Fills You can use a predefined hatch pattern or solid fill or create your own hatch patterns.
6 Select the [...] button next to Pattern to display the Hatch Pattern Palette dialog box. 7 In the Hatch Pattern Palette dialog box, Other Predefined tab, select Solid. Then choose OK. 8 To see how the hatch pattern will look, choose Preview. 9 When you finish previewing the hatch pattern, right-click or press ENTER to apply the hatch, or press any other button or key to return to the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box. 10 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, make adjustments, if necessary.
To create a wide polyline 1 From the Draw menu, choose Polyline. 2 Specify the start point of the line segment. 3 Enter w (Width). 4 Enter the starting width of the line segment. 5 Specify the ending width of the line segment using one of the following methods: ■ ■ To create a line segment of equal width, press ENTER . To create a tapering line segment, enter a different width. 6 Specify the endpoint of the polyline segment. 7 Continue specifying segment endpoints as needed.
Gradient fills are applied to objects in the same way solid fills are and can be associated with their boundaries or not. An associated fill is automatically updated when the boundary changes. You cannot use plot styles to control the plotted color of gradient fills. Double-click a gradient fill to modify it. To create a one-color gradient fill 1 On the Draw menu, click Hatch. 2 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, click Pick Points or click Select Objects.
3 Specify an internal point or select an object, and press ENTER . 4 In the Boundary Hatch and Fill dialog box, Gradient tab, select Two Color. The second color is the color of the highlighted area in the gradient fill. 5 If you want to change either color, click the [...] button next to the color to open the Select Color dialog box. 6 Click a pattern, and set the following options: ■ ■ Select Center to create a symmetrical fill, or clear Center to move the “highlight” up and to the left.
4 In the Boundary Hatchand Fill dialog box, Hatch tab, select Predefined in the Type box. 5 From the Pattern box, select a pattern. 6 Choose OK. Draw toolbar Command line BHATCH Create User-Defined Hatch Patterns In addition to using predefined hatch patterns, you can define a simple hatch pattern based on the current linetype. You define the pattern by changing the angle and spacing of the hatch lines.
You can create a wipeout object by specifying a polygonal area with a series of points, or you can convert a closed polyline into a wipeout object. Closed polyline created Wipeout object created from polyline Wipeout frame turned off Requirements and Limitations If a polyline is used to create a wipeout object, the polyline must be closed, contain line segments only, and have zero width. You can create wipeout objects on a layout in paper space to mask objects in model space.
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Notes and Labels AutoCAD® provides various ways to create text. For In this chapter short, simple entries, use single-line text. For longer ■ Overview of Notes and Labels entries with internal formatting, use multiline text, also called mtext. You can also create multiline text with leaders.
Overview of Notes and Labels AutoCAD provides various ways to create text. For short, simple entries, use single-line text. For longer entries with internal formatting, use multiline text, also called mtext. You can also create multiline text with leaders. Although all entered text uses the current text style, which establishes the default font and format settings, you can use several methods to customize the text appearance.
Leader Objects A leader object is a line or a spline with an arrowhead at one end and a multiline text object at the other. The leader object is associated with the multiline text object, so when the text object is moved, rotated, or scaled, the leader object is updated accordingly. Similarly, when associative dimensioning is turned on, and object snaps are used to locate the leader arrowhead, a leader object is also associated with any objects to which the arrowhead is attached.
MC (middle center) TC (top center) TL (top left) TR (top right) ML (middle left) MR (middle right) Default setting (left) Right BL (bottom left) BR (bottom right) Center Middle BC (bottom center) right-justified text left-justified text center-justified text middle-justified text fit-justified text To create single-line text 1 From the Draw menu, choose Text. Then choose Single Line Text. 2 Specify the insertion point for the first character.
5 Enter the text. At the end of each line, press ENTER. Enter more text as needed. If you specify another point during this command, the cursor moves to that point, and you can continue typing. Every time you press ENTER or specify a point, a new text object is created. 6 Press ENTER on a blank line to end the command. Command line TEXT To specify a text style when you create single-line text 1 From the Draw menu, choose Text. Then choose Single Line Text. 2 Enter s (Style).
Before entering or importing text, you specify opposite corners of a text bounding box that defines the width of the paragraphs in the multiline text object. The length of the multiline text object depends on the amount of text, not the length of the bounding box. The Multiline Text Editor displays the bounding box with a ruler at the top and the Text Formatting toolbar. The Multiline Text editor is transparent so that, as you create text, you can see whether the text overlaps other objects.
6 In the Multiline Text Editor, enter text. 7 To override the current text style, select text as follows: ■ ■ ■ To select one or more letters, click and drag the pointing device over the characters. To select a word, double-click the word. To select a paragraph, triple-click the paragraph. 8 On the toolbar, make format changes as follows: ■ ■ ■ ■ To change the font of the selected text, select a font from the list. To change the height of the selected text, enter a new value in the Height box.
Justify Multiline Text Justification controls both text alignment and text flow relative to the text insertion point. Text is left-justified and right-justified with respect to the boundary rectangle that defines the text width. Text flows from the insertion point, which can be at the middle, the top, or the bottom of the resulting text object. AutoCAD offers nine justification settings for multiline text.
3 On the Properties palette, select one of the Justification options. 4 Click outside the Properties palette. Command line PROPERTIES Format Characters Within Multiline Text As you create multiline text, you can override the text style and apply different formatting to individual words and characters. The format changes affect only the text you select; the current text style is not changed. You can specify a different font and text height and apply boldface, italics, underlining, and color.
6 To save your changes and exit the Multiline Text Editor, use one of the following methods: ■ ■ ■ Click OK on the toolbar. Click in the drawing outside the editor. Press CTRL + ENTER . Draw toolbar Command line MTEXT Indent Multiline Text and Use Tabs You can indent text in a multiline text (mtext) object (for example, to align items in a list or to create a simple table). The ruler in the Multiline Text Editor shows the settings for the current paragraph.
To create a list with hanging indention 1 On the Draw menu, click Text ➤ Multiline Text. 2 Specify opposite corners of a bounding box to define the width of the multiline text object. 3 In the Multiline Text Editor, set text style and other multiline text properties as needed. 4 For the list you are creating, enter each item as follows: ■ ■ ■ Enter the item number. Press TAB. Enter the text of the item. 5 Press CTRL + A (Select All) to select the list.
Specify the Line Spacing Within Multiline Text Line spacing for multiline text is the distance between the baseline (bottom) of one line of text and the baseline of the next line of text. The line space factor applies to the entire multiline text object, not to selected lines. You can set the spacing increment to a multiple of single line spacing, or as an absolute distance. Single spacing is 1.66 times the height of the text characters.
4 Change the number next to Line Space Factor as follows: ■ ■ If Line Space Style is set to At Least, the value indicates a multiple of single line spacing. If Line Space Style is set to Exactly, the value indicates the distance between lines, measured in drawing units. Standard toolbar Command line PROPERTIES Create Stacked Characters Within Multiline Text Stacked text is text or fractions that indicate tolerances or measurements.
You can set AutoCAD to automatically stack numeric characters entered before and after the slash, pound sign, or carat. For example, if you enter 1#3 followed by a nonnumeric character or space, the AutoStack Properties dialog box is displayed. You can change the settings to indicate your formatting preferences. AutoStack stacks only numeric characters immediately before and after the slash, pound sign, and carat.
5 In the AutoStack Properties dialog box, you can choose to automatically stack numbers (not nonnumeric text) and to remove leading blanks. You can also specify whether the slash character creates a diagonal fraction or creates a vertical fraction. If you do not want to use AutoStack, click Cancel to exit the dialog box. 6 Select the text that you want to stack, and click the Stack button on the toolbar.
To unstack text 1 Double-click the multiline text object you want to edit. 2 In the Multiline Text Editor, select the stacked text. 3 Click Stack on the Text Formatting toolbar. 4 To save your changes and exit the Multiline Text Editor, use one of the following methods: ■ ■ ■ Click OK on the toolbar. Click in the drawing outside the editor. Press CTRL + ENTER . Draw toolbar Command line MTEXT Create Text with Leaders You can create text that includes one or more leader lines.
Associate Leaders with Objects When the associative dimensioning is turned on (DIMASSOC), the leader arrowhead can be associated with a location on an object using an object snap. If the object is relocated, the arrowhead remains attached to the object and the leader line stretches, but the multiline text remains in place. To create a leader with straight lines 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Leader.
6 Enter the first line of text. To add additional lines, press ENTER once. 7 Press ENTER twice to end the command. Dimension toolbar Command line QLEADER To create multiple leaders from the same annotation 1 Select the leader and then the leader arrowhead grip. 2 At the Command prompt, enter c to select the Copy option. 3 Specify the endpoints for the multiple leaders, and then press ENTER.
To create a box around the text, set the DIMGAP system variable to a negative value. The offset between the box and the text is the absolute value of DIMGAP. To create a leader using the Multiline Text Editor 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Leader. 2 Specify the First leader point and Next points of the leader. 3 Press ENTER to end the leader. 4 Specify the text width. 5 At the Enter First Line of Annotation prompt, press ENTER. 6 In the Multiline Text Editor, enter and format the text.
If you use the Clipboard to paste text from another application, the text becomes an OLE object. If you use the Clipboard to paste text from another AutoCAD file, the text is inserted as a block reference, and it retains its original text style. To import text files 1 On the Draw menu, click Text ➤ Multiline Text. 2 Specify opposite corners of a bounding box to define the width of the multiline text object. 3 Right-click in the Multiline Text editor and click Import Text.
Work with Text Styles When you enter text into your drawing, the current text style determines the text font, size, angle, orientation, and other text characteristics. Overview of Text Styles All text in an AutoCAD drawing has a text style associated with it. When you enter text, AutoCAD uses the current text style, which sets the font, size, angle, orientation, and other text characteristics. If you want to create text using a different text style, you can make another text style current.
Create and Modify Text Styles Except for the default STANDARD text style, you must create any text style that you want to use. Text style names can be up to 255 characters long. They can contain letters, numbers, and the special characters dollar sign ($), underscore (_), and hyphen (-). If you don't enter a text style name, AutoCAD automatically names the text style Stylen, where n is a number that starts at 1. You can modify an existing text style in the Text Style dialog box by changing the settings.
To set the current text style ■ On the Styles toolbar, in the Text Style control, click the arrow and select a text style from the list. Command line STYLE Assign Text Fonts You can assign a text font as part of the text style definition. Several factors depend on the type of text you are working with. Overview of Assigning Text Fonts Fonts define the shapes of the text characters that make up each character set. In AutoCAD, you can use TrueType fonts in addition to compiled SHX fonts.
The Multiline Text Editor can display only fonts that are recognized by Windows. Because AutoCAD SHX fonts are not recognized by Windows, AutoCAD supplies a TrueType equivalent in the Multiline Text Editor when you select an SHX or any other non-TrueType font for editing. See Also “Set Text Height” on page 494 To assign a TrueType font to a text style 1 From the Format menu, click Text Style. 2 In the Text Style dialog box under Style Name, click New.
When you specify fonts using -STYLE, AutoCAD assumes that the first name is the normal font and the second (separated by a comma) is the Big Font. If you enter only one name, AutoCAD assumes it's the normal font and removes any associated Big Font. By using leading or trailing commas when specifying the font file names, you can change one font without affecting the other, as shown in the following table. Specifying fonts and Big Fonts on the command line Enter this ... To specify this ...
6 To update text of the current style in the drawing, click Apply. 7 Click Close. Styles toolbar Command line STYLE Substitute Fonts AutoCAD accommodates a font that is not currently on your system by substituting another font. Specify an Alternative Font If your drawing specifies a font that is not currently on your system, AutoCAD automatically substitutes the font designated as your alternative font. By default, AutoCAD uses the simplex.shx file.
You can use these font mapping files to enforce corporate font standards, or to facilitate off-line printing. For example, if you share drawings with consultants, you may want to use a font mapping table to specify what font AutoCAD substitutes when it encounters a text object created with another font. Similarly, you can edit the drawing using quicker-drawing SHX fonts and then switch to more complex fonts for the final plot by setting up a font mapping file that converts each SHX font to an equivalent.
4 To change the font mapping file, double-click the arrow line to open the Select a File dialog box. Select a file and choose open. Then Choose OK. 5 At the Command prompt, enter regen to convert existing text using the new font mappings. Command line OPTIONS To specify a default alternative font 1 At the Command prompt, enter fontalt. 2 Enter the name of the font file you want to use as the alternative.
4 To update existing text that uses this text style, choose Apply. 5 Choose Close. Styles toolbar Command line STYLE Set Text Obliquing Angle The obliquing angle determines the forward or backward slant of the text. The angle represents the offset from 90 degrees. 0° rotation 0° obliquing –30° rotation –30° obliquing 30° rotation –30° obliquing 30° rotation 30° obliquing Entering a value between -85 and 85 makes the text oblique. A positive obliquing angle slants text to the right.
Set Horizontal or Vertical Text Orientation AutoCAD orients lines of text to be vertical or horizontal. Text can have a vertical orientation only if the associated font supports dual orientation. You can create more than one line of vertical text. Each successive text line is drawn to the right of the preceding line. The normal rotation angle for vertical text is 270 degrees. Note Vertical orientation is not supported for TrueType fonts.
Change Single-Line Text You can change single-line text with DDEDIT and PROPERTIES. Use DDEDIT when you need to change only the content of the text, not the formatting or properties of the text object. Use PROPERTIES when you want to change content, text style, location, orientation, size, justification, and other properties. Text objects also have grips for moving, scaling, and rotating. A text object has grips at the lower-left corner of the baseline and at the alignment point.
Change Multiline Text After you create multiline text, you can use the Properties palette to change ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Text style assignment Justification Width Rotation Line spacing In addition, you can use the Multiline Text Editor to modify individual formatting, such as boldface and underlining and to change the width of the multiline text object. Change Text Location You can use grips to quickly move multiline text or to resize the line width.
To find specified text in a drawing 1 From the Edit menu, choose Find. 2 In Find Text String, enter the text you want to find. 3 In Search In, choose Entire Drawing or Current Selection to define the scope of your search. 4 Choose Options to specify the types of text to include in the search, whether to find whole words only, and whether to match the case of the specified text. 5 Choose Find. AutoCAD displays the found text with its surrounding context in the Context area.
To find and replace text in a multiline text object 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object. 2 Choose Text. Then choose Edit. 3 Select the multiline text object you want to edit. 4 In the Multiline Text Editor, choose the Find/Replace tab. 5 In the Find box, enter the word to be replaced. 6 In the Replace box, enter the word to be substituted. 7 Click the Find button. 8 When you find the word you want to replace, click the Replace button.
To edit leader text 1 From the Modify menu, choose Object ➤ Text ➤ Edit. 2 Select the leader text to display the Multiline Text Editor. 3 Edit the text in the Multiline Text Editor. You can also right-click the selected text, click Properties on the shortcut menu, and then edit the text in the Properties palette. Any modification to the annotation that changes the annotation position or attach point affects the leader's endpoint position.
For more information about entering commands transparently, see “Enter Commands on the Command Line” on page 36. Change the Justification of Text Objects Without Changing Their Location Use JUSTIFYTEXT to redefine the insertion point of text without moving the text. For example, a table or schedule may contain text that is located correctly but each text object in the table should be right-justified instead of left-justified for future entries or modifications.
Create and Edit Custom Dictionaries A custom dictionary is a list of spelling exceptions that you have identified. The files that contain them can be identified by the .cus file extension. You can use any ASCII text editor to add and delete words or to combine dictionaries. If a word is preceded by a tilde (~), AutoCAD always flags the word as incorrect. You also can create and edit dictionaries from inside AutoCAD. To check spelling 1 From the Tools menu, choose Spelling.
4 Do one of the following: ■ ■ ■ To change the main dictionary, select a dictionary from the Main Dictionary list. To change the custom dictionary, select or enter a name under Custom Dictionary. To select from a list of dictionaries, choose Browse. 5 Choose Apply and Close. Command line SPELL To create or edit custom dictionaries during a spelling check 1 From the Tools menu, choose Spelling. 2 Select the text that you want to check and press ENTER .
variable. You can use any text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad, that saves files in ASCII format. If you use an alternate text editor for multiline text, you specify the properties of the multiline text object on the command line first. AutoCAD then opens the text editor for entering text. When you close the text editor, AutoCAD inserts the text within the width limit you specified. If you use an alternate editor, you need to enter special tags to denote formatting.
Format codes for paragraphs (continued) Format code Purpose Enter this … \Hvalue; Changes to the text height specified in drawing units Autodesk \H2;AutoCAD \Hvaluex; Changes the text height to a multiple of the current text height Autodesk \H3x;AutoCAD \S...^...; Stacks the subsequent text 1.000\S+0.010^-0.000; at the \, #, or ^ symbol \Tvalue; Adjusts the space between characters, from .75 to 4 times \T2;Autodesk \Qangle; Changes obliquing angle \Q20;Autodesk \Wvalue; Changes width facto
Example: Formatting Text in a Alternate Text Editor This example describes how the text in the following illustration was created. Each line below was entered in an alternate text editor: {{\H1.5x; Big text} \A2; over text\A1;/\A0; under text}\P {\A0;Baseline: 1 \S1/2;}\P {\A1;Center: 1 \S1/2;}\P {\A2;Topline: 1 \S1/2;}\P {Tolerances: \A1;1.000\H.75x;\S+0.010^-0.000;}\P {Architectural: 9-{\H.666x;\A2;11\A1;/\A0;16}\A2;"}\P To specify an alternate text editor 1 At the Command prompt, enter mtexted.
To create multiline text in an alternate text editor 1 If you need to specify a text editor, at the Command prompt, enter mtexted. Then enter the path of the editor you want to use. 2 From the Draw menu, choose Text. Then choose Multiline Text. 3 Specify the first corner of the multiline text boundary rectangle. 4 Specify the opposite corner of the multiline text boundary rectangle. 5 In the text editor, enter the text. Enter \P to end a paragraph and start a new paragraph on the next line.
Dimensions and Tolerances Dimensioning is the process of adding measurement In this chapter annotation to a drawing. AutoCAD® provides many ■ Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning ways to dimension objects and many ways to format ■ Use Dimension Styles dimensions. You can create dimensions for a wide ■ Set the Scale for Dimensions variety of object shapes in many different orientations.
Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning You can create several types of dimensions, and you can control their appearance by setting up dimension styles or by editing individual dimensions. Overview of Dimensioning Dimensions show the measurements of objects, the distances or angles between objects, or the distance of a feature from an origin you specify. AutoCAD provides three basic types of dimensioning: linear, radial, and angular.
Parts of a Dimension Dimensions have several distinct elements: dimension text, dimension lines, arrowheads, and extension lines. dimension text arrowhead dimension line extension line leader Dimension text is a text string that usually indicates the measurement value. The text can also include prefixes, suffixes, and tolerances. A dimension line indicates the direction and extent of a dimension. For angular dimensions, the dimension line is an arc.
Associative Dimensions Dimension associativity defines the relationship between geometric objects and the dimensions that give their distance and angles. AutoCAD provides three types of associativity between geometric objects and dimensions. ■ ■ ■ Associative dimensions. Automatically adjust their locations, orientations, and measurement values when the geometric objects associated with them are modified. Dimensions in a layout may be associated to objects in model space.
Associativity is not maintained between a dimension and a 3D solid if the shape of the 3D solid is modified. Dimensions created with QDIM are not associative but may be associated individually with DIMREASSOCIATE. Note In releases prior to AutoCAD 2002, the definitions of associative and nonassociative dimensions were different and were controlled by the DIMASO system variable. The behavior of dimensions is now controlled by the DIMASSOC system variable.
Use Dimension Styles You can control the appearance of dimensions by changing settings. For convenience and to help maintain dimensioning standards, you can store these settings in dimension styles. Overview of Dimension Styles By modifying a dimension style, you can update all existing dimensions created previously with that dimension style to reflect the new settings.
you attach baseplat.dwg as an xref to a new drawing, then the xref dimension style is displayed in the Styles list of the Dimension Style Manager as Xref:baseplat.dwg, and FRACTIONAL-1 appears under the drawing name. Externally referenced dimension styles can be examined, but they cannot be modified or made current. You can use an externally referenced dimension style as a template for creating a new dimension style in your current drawing.
To compare dimension styles 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Style. 2 In the Dimension Style Manager, select the style to compare from the Styles list and choose Compare. AutoCAD compares the dimension style to the current dimension style. Dimension or Styles toolbar Command line DIMSTYLE Control Dimension Geometry You can control the appearance of dimension lines, extension lines, arrowheads, and center marks. You can also set the scale of the dimension sizes, distances, and offsets.
Modify Extension Lines You can control several aspects of the extension lines. You can give them a specific color. If extension lines are unnecessary, or there is no space for them, you can suppress one or both. You can specify how far beyond the dimension line the extension line extends. You can control the distance between the extension line origin and the start of the extension line. This distance is known as the extension origin offset.
Choose Dimension Arrowheads Drafting standards for termination symbols differ. AutoCAD provides seven standard types of arrowheads. You can apply a different type to each end of the dimension line and control the size of each. The order of arrowheads is determined by the order of extension lines. The first extension line is where you specified the first extension line origin when creating the dimension. For angular dimensions, the second extension line is counterclockwise from the first.
Arrowhead sizing relies on the overall dimension scale factor. When you create a dimension, AutoCAD inserts your block where the arrowheads would normally go. The object's X and Y scale factors are set to arrowhead size x overall scale. The dimension line is trimmed by text gap x overall scale units at each end. To trim the dimension line, AutoCAD inserts the rightmost block with a zero rotation angle for horizontal dimensioning. The leftmost block is rotated 180 degrees about its insertion point.
When creating new dimensions, you can choose to place text by entering a coordinate or using the pointing device; this is known as user-defined text placement. Alternatively, AutoCAD can compute the text position for you. The options for automatic fitting of text and arrowheads are listed in the Dimension Style Manager, Fit tab. For example, you can specify that text and arrowheads be kept together. In this case, if there is not room for both between the extension lines, they are both placed outside.
Fit Diameter Dimension Text You can draw several different diameter dimensions depending on text placement, horizontal settings on the Text tab and whether you select the Always Draw Dim Line Between Ext Lines options on the Fit tab.
5 Choose OK to exit the Modify Dimension Style dialog box. 6 Choose Close to exit. Dimension or Styles toolbar Command line DIMSTYLE Control the Location of Dimension Text AutoCAD provides several justification settings that facilitate compliance with international standards, or you can choose your own location for the text. text centered above the dimension line text centered horizontally and vertically text left-aligned above the dimension line Many of the settings are interdependent.
Position Dimension Text Horizontally The position of the text along the dimension line in relation to the extension lines is referred to as text placement. To place text yourself when you create a dimension, use the Place Text Manually When Dimensioning option on the Fit tab. Use the text placement options to automatically place text at the center of the dimension line, at either extension line, or over either extension line.
Position Dimension Text Vertically The position of the text relative to the dimension line is referred to as vertical text placement. Text can be placed above or below or centered within the dimension line. In the ANSI standards, centered text usually splits the dimension line. In the ISO standards, it is usually above or outside the dimension line. For example, ISO standards permit angular dimension text to appear in any of the ways shown.
3 In the Modify Dimension Style dialog box, Text tab, under Text Placement, select Over Ext Line 2 from the Horizontal list box. The example area reflects your selection. 4 Choose OK to exit. 5 Choose Close to exit the Dimension Style Manager. Dimension or Styles toolbar Command line DIMSTYLE To place dimension text manually 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Style. 2 In the Dimension Style Manager, select the style you wish to change and choose Modify.
Control the Appearance of Dimension Text AutoCAD supports a mixture of user-supplied text, prefixes and suffixes supplied by the dimension style, and AutoCAD-generated measurements. For example, you could add a diameter symbol as a prefix to a measurement or add the abbreviation for a unit, such as mm, as a suffix. Text in this context refers to all dimension text, prefixes and suffixes, primary and alternate units, and lateral tolerances. Geometric tolerances are controlled independently.
The angle brackets represent the primary units, and the square brackets represent the alternate units. The \X separates text above the dimension line from text below the dimension line. The \P is a paragraph break. The resulting text appears as follows: To control the text style in dimensions 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Style. 2 In the Dimension Style Manager, select the style you wish to change and choose Modify.
diameter symbol These settings are available on the Primary Units tab of the Dimension Style Manager. Control the Display of Alternate Units You can create dimensions in two systems of measurement simultaneously. A common use of this feature is to add feet and inches dimensions to drawings created using metric units. The alternate units appear in square brackets ([ ]) in the dimension text. Alternate units cannot be applied to angular dimensions.
To add and format primary units 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Style. 2 In the Dimension Style Manager, select the style you wish to change and choose Modify. 3 In the Modify Dimension Style dialog box, Primary Units tab, under Linear or Angular Dimensions, select a unit format and precision value for the primary units. 4 Under Linear Dimensions, enter any prefix and suffix for the displayed dimension. 5 Choose OK to exit. 6 Choose Close to exit the Dimension Style Manager.
Round Off Dimension Values You can round off all dimension values except those for angular dimensions. For example, if you specify a round-off value of 0.25, all distances are rounded to the nearest 0.25 unit. The number of digits displayed after the decimal point depends on the precision set for primary and alternate units and lateral tolerance values. round-off value set to default (0) round-off value set to .
The table shows the effect of selecting each option and provides examples of the architectural units style. If feet are included with a fractional inch, the number of inches is indicated as zero, no matter which option you select. Thus, the dimension 4'-3/4" becomes 4'-0 3/4".
Display Lateral Tolerances A lateral tolerance specifies the amount by which a dimension can vary. By specifying tolerances in manufacturing, you can control the degree of accuracy needed for a feature. A feature is some aspect of a part, such as a point, line, axis, or surface. You can apply tolerances directly to a dimension by appending the tolerances to the dimension text. These dimension tolerances indicate the largest and smallest permissible size of the dimension.
Format Lateral Tolerances You can control the vertical placement of tolerance values relative to the main dimension text. Tolerances can align with the top, middle, or bottom of the dimension text. top middle bottom You can also control zero suppression as you can with the primary and alternate units. Suppressing zeros in lateral tolerances has the same effect as suppressing them in the primary and alternate units. If you suppress leading zeros, 0.5 becomes .5, and if you suppress trailing zeros, 0.
To align and suppress zeros in tolerance values 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Style. 2 In the Dimension Style Manager, select the style you wish to change and choose Modify. 3 In the Modify Dimension Style dialog box, Tolerances tab, under Tolerance Format, select the alignment from the Vertical Position list. 4 To suppress zeros in primary or alternate units, under Zero Suppression, select Leading to suppress leading zeros. Select Trailing to suppress trailing zeros. 5 Choose OK to exit.
■ Dimension in layouts. This is the simplest dimensioning method. Dimensions are created in paper space by selecting model space objects or by specifying object snap locations on model space objects. By default, associativity between paper space dimensions and model space objects is maintained. No additional scaling is required for dimensions created in a paper space layout: DIMLFAC and DIMSCALE do not need to be changed from their default value of 1.0000.
4 Choose OK to exit. 5 Choose Close to exit the Dimension Style Manager. Dimension or Styles toolbar Command line DIMSTYLE To set dimension scale for creating dimensions in a layout 1 Choose a layout tab to switch to paper space. 2 To create dimensions in paper space with the correct model space dimension values, use object snap modes to snap to points in model space from paper space or select the objects directly.
3 1 1 2 2 horizontal 3 vertical 1 1 3 3 2 aligned 2 rotated 315 degrees As you create linear dimensions, you can modify the content of the text, the angle of the text, or the angle of the dimension line. Create Horizontal and Vertical Dimensions AutoCAD automatically applies a horizontal or vertical dimension according to the extension line origins that you specify or the location where you select an object.
To create a horizontal or vertical dimension 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Linear. 2 Press ENTER to select the object to dimension, or specify the first and second extension line origins. 3 Before specifying the dimension line location, you can override the dimension direction and edit the text, the text angle, or the dimension line angle: ■ ■ ■ To rotate the extension lines, enter r (Rotated). Then enter the dimension line angle. To edit the text, enter m (Mtext).
3 Before specifying the dimension line location, you can edit the text or change the text angle. Editing within or overwriting the brackets (<>) changes or removes the dimension value calculated by AutoCAD. Adding text before or after the brackets appends text before or after the dimension value. ■ ■ ■ To edit the text using multiline text, enter m (Mtext). In the Multiline Text Editor, revise the text and click OK. To edit the text using single-line text, enter t (Text).
To create a baseline linear dimension 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Baseline. By default, the origin of the last linear dimension created is used as the first extension line for the new baseline dimension. AutoCAD prompts for the second dimension line. 2 Use an object snap to select the second extension line origin, or press ENTER to select any dimension as the base dimension.
To create a rotated dimension 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Linear. 2 Press ENTER to select the object to dimension or specify the first and second extension line origins. 3 To rotate the dimension line, enter r (Rotated). Then enter the dimension line angle. 4 Specify the dimension line location. Dimension toolbar Command line DIMLINEAR Create Dimensions with Oblique Extension Lines AutoCAD creates extension lines perpendicular to the dimension line.
To make extension lines oblique 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Oblique. 2 Select the dimension. 3 Enter a value for the angle of obliqueness, or specify two points. Dimension toolbar Command line DIMEDIT Create Radial Dimensions Radial dimensions measure the radii and diameters of arcs and circles with optional centerlines or a center mark. If Text Placement is set to Over the Dimension Line, with a leader, the dimension is applied with a leader line.
4 Specify the leader line location. Dimension toolbar Command line DIMDIAMETER To create a radius dimension 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Radius. 2 Select the arc or circle to dimension. 3 Enter options as needed: ■ ■ To edit the dimension text content, enter t (Text) or m (Mtext). Editing within or overwriting the brackets (<>) changes or removes the dimension value calculated by AutoCAD. Adding text before or after the brackets appends text before or after the dimension value.
Create Angular Dimensions Angular dimensions measure the angle between two lines or three points. To measure the angle between two radii of a circle, you select the circle and specify the angle endpoints. With other objects, you select the objects and then specify the dimension location. You can also dimension an angle by specifying the angle vertex and endpoints. As you create the dimension, you can modify the text content and alignment before specifying the dimension line location.
To create an angular dimension 1 From the Dimension menu, choose Angular. 2 Use one of the following methods: ■ ■ To dimension a circle, select the circle at the first endpoint of the angle and then specify the second endpoint of the angle. To dimension any other object, select the first line, and then select the second line. 3 Enter options as needed: ■ ■ To edit the dimension text content, enter t (Text) or m (Mtext).
Ordinate dimensions consist of an X or Y value with a leader line. X-datum ordinate dimensions measure the distance of a feature from the datum along the X axis. Y-datum ordinate dimensions measure the distance along the Y axis. If you specify a point, AutoCAD automatically determines whether it is an X- or Y-datum ordinate dimension. This is called an automatic ordinate dimension. If the distance is greater for the Y value, the dimension measures the X value. Otherwise, it measures the Y value.
Modify Existing Dimensions You can modify all components of the existing dimension objects in a drawing either individually or by using dimension styles. Apply a New Dimension Style to Existing Dimensions When you create a dimension, the current dimension style is associated with that dimension. The dimension retains this dimension style unless you apply a new dimension style to it or set up dimension style overrides. You can modify existing dimensions by applying a different dimension style.
Override a Dimension Style A dimension style override is a change made to specific settings in the current dimension style. It is equivalent to changing a dimensioning system variable without changing the current dimension style. You can define dimension style overrides for individual dimensions, or for the current dimension style.
Example: Change a Dimension Style Override on the Command Line You can override the current dimension style while creating a dimension by entering the name of any dimensioning system variable at any prompt. In this example, the dimension line color is changed. The change affects subsequent dimensions you create until you reverse the override or make another dimension style current.
3 In the Override Current Style dialog box, enter the style overrides, and then choose OK. AutoCAD displays
