AutoCAD 2000

Tutorial 1: Basics of Drawing with AutoCAD

In this lesson, you will learn how to use absolute, relative, polar coordinate point entry systems, together with the screen cursor for point entry in AutoCAD. DRAWING METHODS IN AUTOCAD Using AutoCAD, you can draw objects at their actual size. You can also create drawings that represent things that are very large, or things that are very small. To use AutoCAD effectively you must understand the fundamentals of the Coordinate System. When drawing or editing objects in AutoCAD, you are often prompted for a point. Often youll use the graphics cursor to show these points to AutoCAD. However, sometimes you need to explicitly enter the location of a particular point. Here are the ways to specify points in AutoCAD. 1. Click a point on the screen with your pointing device (Freehand drawing) 2. Click a point on the screen using Ortho, Snap, Grid, or Selection Grips. 3. Use Object Snap Modes (Osnaps) to specify a point based on the existing geometry. 4. Locate a point by typing its coordinates at the keyboard.

1: Freehand Drawing Method

Drawing a Line Suppose you want to draw a straight line. The first method is to draw the Line by freehand. i. Select Line from the Draw menu in the menu bar ii. Click anywhere on the screen to mark the starting point. iii. Click any other point on the screen to mark the second point, iv. Press the ENTER key to complete the LINE command. Before continuing, get rid of the line you just drew by using the UNDO command: Select undo from the Edit menu or from the Screen menu. Drawing a Rectangle i. Select Rectangle from the Draw menu in the menu bar ii. Click anywhere on the screen to mark the First corner iii. Click any other point on the screen to mark the second corner, a rectangle appears on the screen. Drawing a Circle i. Select Circle > Centre, Radius from the Draw menu. ii. Click anywhere on the screen to mark the Center point iii. Click any other point on the screen to mark the radius length from the center. A circle is drawn. Cleaning Up the Drawing

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Just as in manual drafting, it is often necessary to correct mistakes or make revisions to an existing drawing. AutoCAD has tools for removing unwanted objects, reversing commands, and refreshing the screen. ERASE COMMAND Select Erase from the Modify menu. Select the objects you want to erase by clicking them. Press ENTER to execute the command. AutoCAD removes the objects.

2: Using Snap, Grid, and Ortho Modes Method

The second way to draw a line is to use Snap, Grid, and Ortho modes. You will use Ortho mode to draw a vertical line. ORTHO MODE Ortho mode constrains cursor movement to horizontal and vertical directions (relative to the current USC and with the current grid rotation angle) To activate the Ortho mode click on ORTHO on status bar. The status line confirms that Ortho mode is on. Draw the Line again from the top to the bottom. i. Select Line from the Draw menu in the menu bar ii. Click anywhere near the top margin of the screen to mark the starting point. iii. Click anywhere near the bottom margin of the screen to mark the end point. Press Enter. As you can see, the Line is completely vertical.

Before continuing: Get rid of the line you just drew by clicking Undo from the Edit menu on the menu bar. You can also use Modify - Erase to remove the objects. Try drawing a few lines and then erasing them. Press down F8 key to turn off the Ortho mode. (This is an alternative way to clicking on ORTHO on status bar). Try drawing some horizontal, vertical and sloped lines when Ortho mode is off; and do the same when Ortho mode is on. Observe the difference.

3: Object Snap Modes Method

Suppose you want to make sure the Line begins exactly at the end of the top horizontal Line. Or suppose you want it to end at the exact middle of another line, or perpendicular to another. Useful drawing aids for such purposes are Object Snap modes. Object Snap modes let you snap to a drawing point at a certain location in an existing object. Object Snap modes can be displayed by typing OSNAP Command using the keyboard, or by selecting Drafting Settings from the Tools menu. In all these ways, an OSNAP dialogue box appears. In the steps below, youll snap a line to a circle To draw a circle: i. Select Circle from the Draw pull-down menu, choose Center, Radius.

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ii. Click any point near the middle of the graphics area of your screen to mark the center of your circle. iii. type 60 (cm) as the radius of the circle. Using OBJECT SNAP MODES to snap the line to the left quadrant of the circle: i. Select Line from the Draw menu ii. Select the Quadrant object snap mode from Snap tools. iii. Click at the circumference of the circle, west part of the circumference at point P1 (refer to a figure). The line snaps to the quadrant of the circle. The line command is still active for more segments. iv. Then repeat clicking at the North (P2), East (P3), South (P4) and West (P1) points to complete the remaining quadrants of the circle. The quadrant snap mode remains active until another snap mode setting is selected. More ways with Object Snap Mode After joining to the quadrant at the west point, try following these steps to use object snap settings: i. Click the Toolbars from the View menu, P2 select the Object Snap (if it is not selected), then click close. The Object Snap toolbar should appear somewhere in the window. Select Line from Draw menu (if command was P5 completed). ii. Select Snap to Midpoint from the Object Snap toolbar and pick any point along line P2P3 to obtain point P5. iii. Click the South quadrant point at (P4). iv. Select snap to center from the Object Snap toolbar and click any point on the circles circumference, AutoCAD will snap at point P6. P4 P1 P6 P3

v. Select Snap to ENDpoint from the Object Snap toolbar and click anywhere towards the west quadrant point (P1). The Endpoint setting snaps to the closest endpoint of the line. vi. Press Enter to complete the Line. NB: Youve now seen how easy it is to use Object Snap Modes and how precise they can be for your drafting needs. Erase the figure.

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4: Coordinate Entry Method

Coordinate entry is the most exact and precise drawing method of all. AutoCAD uses the World Coordinate System (WCS) to locate objects in your drawing or model. It is based on the Cartesian coordinate system. You can also create a temporary, movable coordinate system (UCS), for convenient coordinate entry. Both the WCS and UCS contain X and Y axes perpendicular to each other. The X coordinate specifies a horizontal distance, and the Y coordinate specifies a vertical distance. The (X, Y) indicates the position of any two-dimensional point. At the bottom of the screen, the coordinate display shows the current X, Y coordinate location. Try moving the graphics cursor around the graphics area. AutoCAD uses four methods for locating elements in a drawing. These methods are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Absolute coordinates Relative coordinates Polar coordinates Object snap

4.1. Coordinate Entry with Absolute Coordinates

These are coordinates values which are based on origin (0,0). You can specify a point explicitly by entering its X and Y values, separated by a comma. In this exercise, youll use the LINE command to create some simple figures. i. Select the Line Command ii. Type the X, Y coordinates 70, 20 to specify the beginning point of the line and Press ENTER key to confirm the entry. The Command line displays the entries and prompts for the next point. iii. Respond to the To point prompts in the command line by typing the X, Y coordinates to specify the new points as follows: To point: 70, 60 and then Right-click or press return, To point: 40, 75 and then Right-click, To point: 40, 243 and then Right-click, To point: Right - click to exit the LINE command. As you can see, the Line begins at the X, Y coordinate of 70, 20 and ends at the coordinates 40, 243. Note: In Absolute Coordinate method, points are located from the Origin (0,0).

4.2. Coordinate Entry From the Last point

AutoCAD remembers the last point you specified. As a short cut, you can enter the @ symbol at the From point prompt to specify the previous point. Try using the @ symbol as follows: i. Select Line from the Draw menu ii. From point: @ iii. To point: 305, 243 iv. To point: Dont exit the line command here; more instructions continue in the next section.
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4.3. Coordinate Entry with Relative Coordinates

These are coordinates which are based on last point entered. Sometimes you need to select a point at a known distance from the last point specified. To do this, enter @ followed by the X and Y coordinate values. For example, the next Line you draw will be 223 units long. You need to tell AutoCAD to draw 0 units in the X direction and 223 units in the negative Y direction. i. To point: @ 0, -223. The line is to move 223 units down (in the negative Y direction) and nothing in the X direction. This takes you to coordinates 305,20. ii. To point: @ - 108, 0 The line moves 108 units in the X direction and 0 units in the Y direction, to coordinates 197,20. iii. To point: @ 0, 60 The line moves 40 units to the right, to coordinates 197, 60 iv. To point: Dont exit the line command here; more instructions continue in the next section Note: In Relative Coordinate method, points are located from the previous position, rather than from the Origin.

4.4. Coordinate Entry with Polar Coordinates

These are the coordinates which use distance and angle to locate a point. Polar Coordinates specify a point at a distance and angle from the previous point. The format for this method is @distance<angle where distance is the linear distance from the previous point, and angle is the angle from the positive X or Y axis. In AutoCAD, angles are typically measured in a counterclockwise direction. To extend a line downward by 102 units at an angle of 180, do the following: To point: @102<180. The line moves down in the X direction by 102 units, from previous coordinates 197, 60 to 95, 60. Complete the other segments of the line as follows: i. To point: @60<270 The line moves to down in the Y direction by 40 units, from previous coordinates 95, 60 to 95, 20.

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40, 243

305, 243

40, 75

70, 60

95, 60

197, 60

197, 20 305, 20 20 Y direction 70, 20 down95, ii. To point: @25<180 The line moves in the by 25 units, from previous coordinates 95, 20 to 70, 20. vi. To point: Press Enter key to complete the Line. Note: In Polar Coordinate method, points are located basing on a fixed point at a given angle.

5.0. Saving your work

It is a good idea to save your work periodically, for example, at 10-minutes interval or after you have completed an important change. To save your work: 1. Select Save As from the File menu. 2. Under Save In locate your named folder 3. Under File Name, type AutoCAD Basics and click Save.

6.0. Exercise
1. Given the following Absolute coordinates, use the LINE command to draw the object. Save your drawing as Exercise 1. Point 1 2 3 4 5 Coordinates 6,6 186,6 186,186 6,186 6,6 Enter Key Point 1 2 Coordinates 12,186 42,156

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