Datasheet

Part I: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Basics

8. Move your mouse so you can see the length and angle tooltips. Notice the value for the

length. Now type a different value and press Enter. For example, if the Length tooltip says

13.7638, type 5 ↵.

9. Press Enter to end the command. The line’s length is based on what you typed, not where

the cursor was, but the line’s angle is the same as it was before you typed in the length.

10. To hide the menu bar, click the down arrow at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar and

choose Hide Menu Bar near the bottom of the list of menu items.

11. For your third line, type line ↵. Notice that the text appears in the Dynamic Input tooltip as

you type, but not in the command line area.

12. Press Enter. You now see the command that you typed in the command line area, as well as

the Dynamic Input prompt to specify the first point.

13. Click in two places to pick a start point and an endpoint.

14. This time, to end the line, right-click anywhere in the drawing area. By default, this opens a

shortcut menu, but it may end the command. If so, you’re done. If you see the shortcut menu,

choose Enter from the shortcut menu to end the command.

15. For your fourth line, click the Workspace drop-down list at the upper-left corner of your

screen, and choose AutoCAD Classic or AutoCAD LT Classic. The entire interface changes:

The Ribbon is gone, and in its place you see a menu bar at the top, and several toolbars. If

you don’t see the Draw toolbar (it’s usually docked vertically on the left side of the applica-

tion window), right-click any toolbar that is already displayed and choose Draw from the list

of toolbars. Click the Line button on the Draw toolbar. Move the mouse so that the cursor is

in the drawing area. Pick two different points and press Enter.

16. Use the Workspace drop-down list to return to the Drafting & Annotation workspace. Leave

the drawing on your screen and complete the next exercise to save the drawing.

You should now have four lines on the screen. You can see how the interface offers several ways to

work. You can use the method that suits you best.

Saving a Drawing

Saving a drawing is similar to saving any other file in Windows. You should get in the habit of saving

your work every few minutes to avoid losing your work in case the software or your computer sys-

tem crashes. Saving a drawing for the first time is different from saving it subsequently because you

have to name the drawing.

To save a drawing, click Save on the Quick Access Toolbar or choose Application Button ➪ Save. If you’re

saving a drawing for the first time, the Save Drawing As dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1.6.

Down the left side of the dialog box are several buttons, called the Places list, to help you find a loca-

tion to save drawings more quickly.

Tip

Conveniently, you can reorder the buttons in the Places list. Just drag any button to a new location.

Of course, you can also choose a location from the Save In drop-down list to which you want to save

the file. To save a file, type a filename in the File Name text box and click Save to save the file.

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