Datasheet

status bar is in the on position, some of the information in the Command win-
dow will appear in the drawing area next to the cursor. I’ll cover this feature
when you start drawing.
Before you begin to draw, take a close look at the menus, toolbars, and key-
board controls.
NOTE In many cases, you can start AutoCAD commands in a number of
ways: from drop-down menus, from the toolbars, from the Command window,
and from menus that appear when you right-click. When you get used to
drawing with AutoCAD, you’ll learn some shortcuts that start commands
quickly, and you’ll find the way that is most comfortable for you.
Using the Drop-Down Menus
The left end of the menu bar, just below the title bar (see Figure 1.3 earlier in this
chapter), consists of an icon and 11 (12 if you have the Express Tools installed)
words. Click any of these to display a drop-down menu. The icon and the File and
Edit menus are included with all Windows-compliant applications, although they
are somewhat customized to work with AutoCAD. The drop-down menu associ-
ated with the icon contains commands to control the appearance and position of
the drawing area.
Commands in the File menu are for opening and saving new and existing draw-
ing files, printing, exporting files to another application, choosing basic utility
options, and exiting the application. The Edit menu contains the Undo and Redo
commands, the Cut and Paste tools, and options for creating links between Auto-
CAD files and other files. The Help menu works like most Windows Help menus
and contains a couple of AutoCAD-specific entries as well, including some online
resources and a link to the New Features Workshop.
The other eight (or nine) menus contain the most often used AutoCAD com-
mands. You’ll find that if you master the logic of how the commands are orga-
nized by menu, you can quickly find the command you want. Here is a short
description of each of the other AutoCAD drop-down menus:
View Contains tools for controlling the display of your drawing file.
Insert Contains commands for placing drawings and images or parts of them
inside other drawings.
Format Contains commands for setting up the general parameters for a new
drawing or changing the entities in a current drawing.
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