INTRODUCTION TO AUTOCAD PART 2

Lab 8

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES Creating New Layers Assigning Colors to Layers Assigning Linetypes Assigning Lineweight Changing the Current Layer Editing Corners Using FILLET Editing Corners Using CHAMFER Using the ZOOM Command Zooming with the Scroll Wheel Entering Single-Line Text Creating a Template Saving a Template Drawing Using the MOVE Command Using the COPY Command Using the ARRAY Command—Rectangular Arrays

SHOW LINEWEIGHT

• Lineweight: A value that specifies the width at which a line will be displayed on the screen or in a printed drawing.

• Lineweight refers to the thickness of lines as they are displayed and plotted. All lines are initially given a default lineweight.

• Lineweights are assigned by layer and are displayed only if the Lineweight button on the status bar is in the on position.

• Lineweight settings are most useful when correlated with plotter pen sizes, so that you control the appearance of lines in your plotted drawing. Your pen sizes may be in inches rather than millimeters.

CREATING NEW LAYERS• Layers allow you to treat specialized groups of entities

in your drawing separately from other groups.

• For example, all the dimensions in this book were drawn on a special dimension layer so that we could turn them on and off at will.

• Fundamentally, layers are used to separate colors and linetypes, and these, in turn, take on special significance, depending on the drawing application.

• It is standard drafting practice, for example, to use small, evenly spaced dashes to represent objects or edges that would, in reality, be hidden from view.

• On a CAD system, these hidden lines can be put on an independent layer so they can be turned on and off, and given their own color to make it easy for the designer to remember what layer he or she is working on.

CREATING NEW LAYERSTHE LAYER PROPERTIES MANAGER DIALOG BOX The creation and

specification of layers and layer properties in AutoCAD is handled through the Layer Properties Manager dialog box.

CREATING NEW LAYERS General Procedure

Select the Layer Properties tool from the ribbon.

Click the New Layer icon. Type in a layer name. Repeat for other new layers. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Layers allow you to treat specialized groups of entities in your drawing separately from other groups.

ASSIGNING COLORS TO LAYERS General Procedure

From the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, pick the color icon in the row for the layer you want to change.

In the Select Color dialog box, select a color from the index color chart or type a color name or number in the edit box.

Click OK.

ASSIGNING LINETYPES

General Procedure From the Layer

Properties Manager dialog box, click in the Linetype column of the layer you want to set.

In the Select Linetype dialog box, select a linetype. If necessary, load linetypes first.

Click OK. Click OK again to exit the

dialog box.

ASSIGNING LINEWEIGHT General Procedure

From the Layer Properties Manager, click in the Lineweight column of the layer you want to change.

In the Lineweight dialog box, select a lineweight.

Click OK. Click OK again to exit the dialog

box. Lineweight refers to the

thickness of lines as they are displayed and plotted.

ASSIGNING LINEWEIGHT

CHANGING THE CURRENT LAYER General Procedure

Open the Layer list from the Layers panel of the ribbon.

Double-click on a layer name.

or Pick the Layer drop down mean tool from the

Home panel of the ribbon. Select an layer you wish to make current.

Previously drawn objects on other layers are also visible, but new objects go on the current layer.

CHANGING THE CURRENT LAYERMAKING AN OBJECT’S LAYER CURRENT

CHANGING LINETYPE SCALE General Procedure

Type lts ↵. Enter a new value.

While you have objects on your screen with hidden and center lines it is a good time to demonstrate the importance of linetype scale.

The size of the individual dashes and spaces that make up center lines, hidden lines, and other linetypes is determined by a global setting called LTSCALE.

EDITING CORNERS USING FILLET General Procedure

Pick the Fillet tool from the ribbon, or type “F” ↵. Right-click and select Radius from the shortcut menu. Enter a radius value. Select two lines that meet at a corner.

Fillets are concave curves on corners and edges, while rounds are convex. AutoCAD uses the FILLET command to refer to both.

Chamfers are cut on an angle rather than a curve. The FILLET and CHAMFER commands work

similarly.

EDITING CORNERS USING CHAMFER General Procedure

Pick the Chamfer tool from the Fillet flyout on the ribbon. Right-click and select Distance from the shortcut menu. Enter a chamfer distance. Enter a second chamfer distance or press Enter for an even chamfer. Select two lines that meet at a corner.

The CHAMFER command sequence is almost identical to the FILLET command, with the exception that chamfers can be uneven.

That is, you can cut back farther on one side of a corner than on the other.

USING THE ZOOM COMMAND General Procedure

Pick the Zoom tool from the Navigation bar.

Select All to view entire drawing windows Enter values to magnify by.

When drawings get complex, it often becomes necessary to work in detail on small portions of the drawing space.

Especially with a small monitor, the only way to do this is by making the detailed area larger on the screen.

This is done easily with the ZOOM command.

Right Click

Panning with the mouse is equally simple and does everything the PAN command will do.

Navigation bar

Press the scroll wheel down gently, so that it clicks, and hold it down.

If you do not see the pan cursor, you can select it from the Navigation bar on the right

of the drawing area

PANNING WITH THE SCROLL WHEEL

ENTERING SINGLE-LINE TEXT General Procedure

Pick the Single Line Text tool from the Annotation panel of the ribbon. Pick a start point. Answer prompts regarding height and rotation. Enter text on one line and press Enter. Enter text on other lines or press Enter to exit the command.

AutoCAD has many options for drawing text. The simplest allows you to enter single lines of text and

displays them as you type. You can backspace through lines to make corrections if you

do not exit the command.

ENTERING SINGLE-LINE TEXT

USING THE MOVE COMMAND General Procedure

Pick the Move tool from the Modify panel of the ribbon.

Define a selection set. (If noun/verb selection is enabled, you can reverse Steps 1 and 2.)

Choose the base point of a displacement. Choose a second point.

USING THE MOVE COMMAND

USING THE MOVE COMMANDMOVING WITH GRIPS

There is one more way to use the MOVE command.

Instead of showing AutoCAD a distance and direction, you can type a horizontal and vertical displacement.

CREATING CENTER MARKS

General Procedure Type “dim” ↵. Type “cen” ↵. Select a circle.

Here we use the simplest of all dimension objects, the center mark.

USING THE COPY COMMAND• A general procedure for using the COPY command is:

1. Pick the Copy tool from the Modify panel of the ribbon.2. Define a selection set. (Steps 1 and 2 can be reversed if noun/verb

selection is enabled.)3. Choose a base point.4. Choose a second point.5. Choose another second point or press <Enter> to exit the command.

USING THE COPY RIBBON

COPYING WITH GRIPS

The grip editing system includes a variety of special techniques for creating multiple copies in all five modes. The function of the Copy option differs depending on the Grip Edit mode. For now, we use the Copy option with the Move mode, which provides a shortcut for the same kind of process you just executed with the COPY command.

Circles highlighted with grips

USING THE ARRAY COMMAND—RECTANGULAR ARRAYS

General Procedure Pick the Array tool from the Modify panel

extension of the ribbon. Select Objects Enter the number of columns and rows. Enter the offset distance between rows. Enter the offset distance between columns.

USING THE ARRAY COMMAND—RECTANGULAR ARRAYS The ARRAY command gives you a powerful

alternative to simple copying. An array is the repetition of an image in

matrix form. This command takes an object or group of

objects and copies it a specific number of times in mathematically defined, evenly spaced locations.

USING THE ARRAY COMMAND—RECTANGULAR ARRAYS

USING THE ARRAY COMMAND—RECTANGULAR ARRAYS Panel Extensions

This process will also introduce you to another feature of the ribbon.

Notice that there is a small triangle facing downward at the right end of the label on each panel of the ribbon.

Picking anywhere along the label bar of these panels opens up a panel extension with more tools.

USING THE ARRAY COMMAND—RECTANGULAR ARRAYS