Datasheet

Starting a Drawing  23
Next, try drawing a couple of objects just to get comfortable with drawing in Auto-
CAD. In the following exercise, you’ll draw a rectangle; then you’ll add a circle:
1. Click the Rectangle tool in the Draw panel. Remember that you can use the toolt-
ips to help you locate a tool. You can also choose Draw

Rectangle from the Menu
Browser.
2. Click a point in the lower left of the drawing area, as shown in Figure 1.10. Don’t
worry about the exact location. You’re just practicing right now. After clicking, you’ll
see that one corner of the rectangle follows the cursor.
3. Click a point in the upper right of the drawing area, as shown in Figure 1.10. Again,
it’s not important if you don’t pick the exact location. The rectangle is now in place.
Now add a circle to the drawing:
1. Click the Circle tool in the Draw panel.
2. Click the location shown in Figure 1.10 to place the center of the circle. Now as you
move the cursor, a circle appears whose radius follows the location of the cursor.
3. Click another point as shown in Figure 1.10 to “fix” the circle’s radius in place. If
you prefer, you can enter an exact radius value for a circle instead of clicking another
point to “fix” the circle radius.
You now have a circle and a rectangle. As you can see, you create objects by placing key
points of their geometry within the drawing area. For the rectangle, it was two corners;
for the circle, it was the center and a location on the perimeter.
Once you’ve placed objects in the drawing, you can use a variety of tools to edit them.
In later chapters, you’ll learn more about those editing tools. In the following section,
you’ll learn how to get around in your drawing.
Figure 1.10
Drawing a circle
Then click here to
complete the rectangle
Click here for the center of the circle
Click here to “fix” the
circle’s radius
Click here to start the rectangle
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