Datasheet

13
Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
often get used to build something. The drawings you create with AutoCAD
must adhere to standards established long ago for hand-drafted drawings.
The up-front investment to use AutoCAD is certainly more expensive than the
investment needed to use pencil and paper, and the learning curve is much
steeper, too. So why bother? The key reasons for using AutoCAD rather than
pencil and paper are
✓ Precision: Creating lines, circles, and other shapes of the exact dimen-
sions is easier with AutoCAD than with pencils.
✓ Modifiability: Drawings are much easier to modify on the computer
screen than on paper. CAD modifications are a lot cleaner, too.
✓ Efficiency: Creating many kinds of drawings is faster with a CAD pro-
gram — especially drawings that involve repetition, such as floor plans
in a multistory building. But that efficiency takes skill and practice. If
you’re an accomplished pencil-and-paper drafter, don’t expect CAD to
be faster at first!
Figure 1-1 shows several kinds of drawings in AutoCAD 2011.
Figure 1-1:
Cities,
houses,
little toy
trains —
what do
you want to
draw today?
06_595398-ch01.indd 1306_595398-ch01.indd 13 3/30/10 7:17 PM3/30/10 7:17 PM