Datasheet

Using the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface

AutoCAD offers three quite different preset workspaces, depending on how you want to work. For example,

these workspaces determine the toolbars that you see. Also, AutoCAD offers both 2D and 3D environments.

The 3D environment is quite different from the AutoCAD LT screen, but the AutoCAD 2D and the

AutoCAD LT environments are similar. In this section, I discuss the 2D environment. Both AutoCAD and

AutoCAD LT offer two 2D workspaces: 2D Drafting & Annotation and AutoCAD (or AutoCAD LT) Classic.

These two workspaces offer different configurations of toolbars and other tools. The 2D Drafting &

Annotation workspace is the default workspace.

AutoCAD’s 3D environment includes the 3D Modeling workspace, and the drawing templates

acad3D.dwt and acadiso3D.dwt. (I cover templates in Chapter 2.) I cover this 3D envi-

ronment in Part IV, “Drawing in Three Dimensions.”

Figure 1.2 shows the default screen that appears when you first open AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT. Your

screen may look somewhat different — remember that AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT can be customized in

many ways — but the general features will be the same.

If you see other items open on your screen, you can close all of these items by clicking their

Close (X) button. Also, by default, the screen is black, rather than the white screen that you see

in Figure 1.2. You can leave it that way or change the drawing area color, as I explain in Appendix A.

If you find yourself in a 3D environment in AutoCAD, you’ll see a gray background and a perspective view.

To work in 2D in AutoCAD, you need to switch to a 2D environment. To switch to a 2D environment, fol-

low these steps in AutoCAD:

1. From the Workspaces toolbar, choose 2D Drafting & Annotation from the drop-down list. This

displays the Dashboard with 2D commands.

2. Choose File ➪ New. From the Select Template dialog box, choose acad.dwt and click Open.

This places you in a 2D view and turns off the grid.

The AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT screens consist of four important areas. These are discussed in the follow-

ing sections.

The drawing area

The blank area in the middle of the screen, called the graphics window or drawing area, is where you draw.

You can think of this as a sheet of drafting paper, except that this piece of paper can be any size — even the

size of a huge factory!

By default, you draw in model space, so called because that’s where you draw your models. When you create

a new drawing, by default, you are in model space, so that you can just start drawing. You can lay out your

drawings for plotting in paper space, also called a layout. To switch from model space to a layout, use the

tabs at the bottom of the drawing area. (See the section “Creating a Layout in Paper Space” in Chapter 17

for details.)

NOTE

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Basics

Part I

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