Datasheet

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Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
Figure 1-1:
Cities,
houses, little
toy trains —
what do you
want to draw
today?
Why choose AutoCAD? AutoCAD is just the starting point of a whole industry
of software products designed to work with AutoCAD. Autodesk has helped
this process along immensely by designing a series of programming interfaces
to AutoCAD (but not, alas, to AutoCAD LT — see the “Seeing the LT” section
later in the chapter) that other companies — and Autodesk itself — have used
to extend the application. Some of the add-on products have become such
winners that Autodesk acquired them and incorporated them into its own
products. When you compare all the resources — including the add-ons, exten-
sions, training courses, books, and so on — AutoCAD doesn’t have much PC
CAD competition.
The Importance of Being DWG
To take full advantage of AutoCAD in your work environment, you need to be
aware of the DWG file format, the format in which AutoCAD saves drawings.
Here are some DWG facts to keep in mind:
✓ In some cases, an older version of AutoCAD can’t open a DWG file that’s
been saved by a newer AutoCAD release.
✓ A newer version of AutoCAD can always open files saved by older
versions.
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