Datasheet
best meets their customers’ needs. If you haven’t yet agreed or declined to par-
ticipate, when you first start AutoCAD, the Customer Involvement Program dia-
log box might prompt you to join.
Participation is strictly voluntary, and if you choose to participate, AutoCAD
will periodically send a small file to Autodesk containing information such as
your software name and version, the commands you use, and your system con-
figuration information. An Internet connection is required, and you must ensure
that your firewall settings don’t prevent the information from being transmitted.
Exploring the AutoCAD User Interface
After bypassing the initial dialog boxes that AutoCAD provides, the program
opens to display the AutoCAD user interface, also called the graphics window.
AutoCAD provides many methods for creating and editing objects, changing the
view of a drawing, or executing AutoCAD file maintenance or other utilities. In
LT, your screen looks similar to Figure 1.3. For AutoCAD, your monitor displays
one of three workspaces:
The 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace (shown in Figure 1.3)
The AutoCAD Classic workspace
For AutoCAD users only, the 3D Modeling workspace (see Figure 1.4)
You’ll be using the 2D Drafting and Annotation workspace for the first 15
chapters in this book. In the final two chapters, you’ll switch to the 3D Model-
ing workspace, but for now, you need to get your AutoCAD user interface to
look like Figure 1.3.
NOTE
The figures and graphics is this book show the drawing area of
the AutoCAD user interface with a white background, but the default, and pre-
ferred, method is to use a black background to reduce eyestrain. The color
choice in the book is simply for readability.
Chapter 1 • Getting to Know AutoCAD
4
AutoCAD and LT
offer numerous dia-
log boxes with vari-
ous combinations of
buttons and text
boxes.You’ll learn
many of their func-
tions as you progress
through the book.
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