Datasheet

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Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
Why AutoCAD?
AutoCAD has been around a long time — since 1982, which I suspect, dear
readers, is longer than some of you! AutoCAD ushered in the transition from
really expensive mainframe and minicomputer CAD systems costing tens of
thousands of dollars to merely somewhat expensive microcomputer CAD pro-
grams costing a few thousand dollars.
AutoCAD’s 3D capabilities have grown by leaps and bounds over the last
several releases, and 3D modeling is becoming a common way of checking
designs before they’re drafted. Nevertheless, AutoCAD is, first and foremost,
a program for creating two-dimensional technical drawings: drawings in which
measurements and precision are important because these kinds of draw-
ings often get used to build something. The drawings that you create with
AutoCAD must adhere to standards established long ago for hand-drafted
drawings. The upfront investment to use AutoCAD is certainly more expen-
sive than the investment needed to use pencil and paper, and the learn-
ing curve is much steeper, too. So why bother? The key reasons for using
AutoCAD rather than pencil and paper are
✓ Precision: Creating lines, circles, and other shapes of the exact dimen-
sions is easier with AutoCAD than with pencils.
✓ Modifiability: Drawings are much easier to modify on the computer
screen than on paper. CAD modifications are a lot cleaner, too.
✓ Efficiency: Creating many kinds of drawings is faster with a CAD
program — especially drawings that involve repetition, such as floor
plans in a multistory building. But that efficiency takes skill and practice.
If you’re an accomplished pencil-and-paper drafter, don’t expect CAD to
be faster at first!
Figure 1-1 shows several kinds of drawings in AutoCAD 2012.
Why choose AutoCAD? AutoCAD is just the starting point of a whole industry
of software products designed to work with AutoCAD. Autodesk (the soft-
ware corporation that develops and sells AutoCAD along with a host of other
design software) has helped this process along immensely by providing a
series of programming interfaces to AutoCAD (although, alas, not 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 became such winners that Autodesk acquired
them and incorporated them into its own products. When you compare all
the resources — including the add-ons, extensions, training courses, books,
and so on — AutoCAD doesn’t have much PC CAD competition.
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