AutoCAD - Tutorial 1

Computer Lab

Tutorial 1 - Starting AutoCAD

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TUTORIAL 1: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

Let the drawing begin!
	Now, after we have learned how to enter commands let's try it.
	The required object is on the left. For this time, just repeat the commands as they are written below.

This will draw a 2x3 rectangle, which should fit comfortably in the AutoCAD graphics area. Type RECTANG , or select . (If you can't see the rectangle icon on the Draw toolbar, its probably hiding under this icon - move the cursor over the icon and hold the left mouse button down, AutoCAD will display a "flyout" that should inclde the rectangle icon.) After you've issued the command, type:

When you enter the first point, then the beginning of the rectangle is fixed at that point. As you move the mouse around the rectangle stretches with the crosshair cursor. This is referred to as dynamic dragging. 2,3
4,6 these are absolute cartesian coordinates

"C" is the alias for CIRCLE. Then draw a circle. To draw the circle, type CIRCLE or or select the circle icon . After you've issued the command, type:

This will draw a circle centred at 3,2 with a 0.5 radius. 3,2 the circle centre.
0.5 the circle radius.

"L" is the alias for LINE. Type LINE or select . Then, type:

This will draw a horizontal line, starting at the point "d". 5,1 the start point.
1,1 the endpoint.
Press to terminate the command.

To recall the last command simply press or the Space Bar or the right mouse button. This feature is very useful when you are doing the same operation over and over again.

If the last action was drawing a line, a hit on twice would initiate the line in the last entered point!

Normally, you would just continue to type in the next point. But I want to highlight here the two following features of AutoCAD.

Press

(for the 2nd time) to recall the last (LINE) command.
Press

(the 3rd time) to initiate a new line at the last entered point!
1,8

to continue drawing the line.
5,8

to end the line.
Press

to terminate the command.

Let's MIRROR!

With this command a mirror copy of a selected group of objects is produced by specifying the two ends of the mirror line. The original objects may be deleted or retained. Type MIRROR , or select

The drawing up to now should look like figure below.

The most commonly used snap mode is "Endpoint" (which snaps to the end of the selected graphics entity).

Select the circle
Press (again)	to end the selection process.
Type `MIDpoint`	it will snap to the midpoint of a line

Breaking Data Entry:
In order to facilitate accurate pointing operations, AutoCAD provides a set of object snap modes that can be activated whenever the user wishes to specify a point at an exact location on an object. A mode is activated simply by typing its name (first three letters only is required) followed by

prior to pointing with the screen cross-hairs. (Don't worry, it is discussed latter. But trust me, this will make your life much easier!)

Select the point "a"	as the "First point of mirror line:" (shown in figure).
Type `MIDpoint`	it will snap to the midpoint of a line.
Select the point "b"	as the "Second point:" (shown in figure).
Press	to terminate the command (and to retain the old circle).

Press	to recall the MIRROR command.
Type `ALL`	to select all drawn objects.
Press (again)	to end the object selection process.
Type `ENDpoint`	it will snap to the endpoint of a line.
Select the point "c"	as the "First point of mirror line:" (shown in figure).
Type `ENDpoint`	it will snap to the endpoint of a line.

Select the point "d"	as the "Second point:" (shown in figure).
Press	to terminate the command (and to retain the old objects).

The drawing is finished!

Saving a drawing

When you type SAVE for the first time, you actually get "Save As"!! To save a drawing, you can type QSAVE , select File - Save from the menu, or select the Save icon from the standard toolbar.

The drawing has not been saved before, so AutoCAD will display a SAVE AS dialog box, select the appropriate Drive and Directory (for example: C:\Tutoril), type the drawing name (for example task1), and then select "OK".

Exiting AutoCAD

The END command doesn't exist any more in AutoCAD 14. Use QUIT or EXIT commands instead.

The END command saves your drawing and then exits AutoCAD.
The QUIT command exits AutoCAD without saving last changes to your drawing.

In fact you'll be asked whether to save last changes or not.

Starting AutoCAD with an existing drawing

When you type SAVE for the first time, you actually get "Save As"!!

While opening a drawing, make sure that the "Read Only" setting is OFF (not checked). Early releases of R13 had this setting ON by default, which means that you get a "Write Protected" error when you try to save the drawing.

Once AutoCAD has loaded, to open a drawing, you can type OPEN

, select File - Open from the menu, or select the Open icon

from the standard toolbar. Then select your drawing from the list and click OK button or simply double-click your drawing.

If you use Open command from the File menu, at the bottom of the menu you'll see a list of recently opened drawings. Check whether your drawing is still there, and if so, just select it.

In a Windows operating environment you can also load a drawing through "Explorer" - without loading AutoCAD first. Select the appropriate Drive and Directory and then double-click on your drawing.

Finishing up

That's all for tutorial one! Save your drawing and then exit AutoCAD.