AutoCAD 2012 For Dummies AutoCAD 2012 Drawing Setup Roadmap Drawing setup in AutoCAD 2012 can seem

a little complicated before you get used to it. The following table lists ten fundamental AutoCAD setup commands in the order you probably use them, explains what they do, and tells you where to find them on the classic pull-down menu system as well as on the Ribbon and Application Menu. If youd rather type than click, you can enter the full command name or its alias or keyboard shortcut (where available shown in parentheses). Ribbon / Application Menu Model Space 1. Application menuNewDrawing FileNew NEW (Ctrl+N) Creates a new drawing based on a template drawing (DWT file) 2. Application menuDrawing UtilitiesUnits 3. None 4. View tabNavigate panelZoom drop-down flyoutExtents 5. None 6. Home tabProperties panel Linetype dropdownOtherShow DetailsGlobal Scale Factor 7. Home tabAnnotation slideout Dimension Style 8. Application menuDrawing UtilitiesDrawing Properties Paper Space 9. None 10.Application MenuSave ToolsWizardsCreate Layout FileSave LAYOUTWIZARD QSAVE (Ctrl+S) Creates a paper space layout Saves the drawing FormatUnits FormatDrawing Limits ViewZoomExtents UNITS (UN) LIMITS Specifies linear and angular units Specifies working area Classic Menu Command Description

ZOOM (Z), Extents Zooms to drawing extents DSETTINGS (DS) LTSCALE (LTS) Specifies snap and grid spacings Sets linetype scale

ToolsDrafting Settings Format LinetypeShow DetailsGlobal Scale Factor

FormatDimension Style FileDrawing Properties

DIMSTYLE (D) DWGPROPS

Sets dimension style Enters drawing informational properties

AutoCAD 2012s Top Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard Shortcut Command Purpose

Ctrl+S Ctrl+O Ctrl+P Ctrl+Tab Ctrl+PgUp/Ctrl+PgDn F1 F2 F3 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12

QSAVE OPEN PLOT None None HELP TEXTSCR OSNAP GRID ORTHO SNAP POLAR None DYNMODE

Saves the drawing Displays the Select File dialog box Displays the Plot dialog box Switches to the next open drawing Switches to the previous/next tab in the current drawing Displays AutoCADs Help in a Web browser window Toggles the AutoCAD Text Window on and off Toggles running object snap mode on and off Toggles grid mode on and off Toggles ortho mode on and off Toggles snap mode on and off Toggles polar mode on and off Toggles object snap tracking on and off Toggles dynamic input mode on and off

AutoCAD 2012's Drawing Scale and Limits Chart: Feet and Inches It's not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD 2012 drawing. Limits in AutoCAD represent the rectangular working area that you'll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in whole feet or feet and inches of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales. Drawing Scale 1/16" = 1'0" 1/8" = 1'0" 1/4" = 1'0" 1/2" = 1'0" 3/4" = 1'0" 1" = 1'0" 1-1/2" = 1'0" 3" = 1'0" 8-1/2" x 11" 136' x 176' 68' x 88' 34' x 44' 17' x 22' 11'4" x 14'8" 8'6" x 11' 5'8" x 7'4" 2'10" x 3'8" 11" x 17" 176' x 272' 88' x 136' 44' x 68' 22' x 34' 14'8" x 22'8" 11' x 17' 7'4" x 11'4" 3'8" x 5'8" 24" x 36" 384' x 576' 192' x 288' 96' x 144' 48' x 72' 32' x 48' 24' x 36' 16' x 24' 8' x 12' 30" x 42" 480' x 672' 240' x 336' 120' x 168' 60' x 84' 40' x 56' 30' x 42' 20' x 28' 10' x 14' 36" x 48" 576' x 768' 288' x 384' 144' x 192' 72' x 96' 48' x 64' 36' x 48' 24' x 32' 12' x 16'

AutoCAD 2012s Drawing Scale and Limits Charts: Millimeters Its not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD drawing. The limits represent the rectangular working area that youll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting AutoCAD's limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your

working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in millimeters of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales. Drawing Scale 1:200 1:100 1:50 1:20 1:10 1:5 210 x 297 mm 297 x 420 mm 420 x 594 mm 594 x 841 mm 841 x 1,189 mm

42,000 x 59,400 59,400 x 84,000 84,000 x 118,800 118,800 x 168,200 168,200 x 237,800 mm mm mm mm mm 21,000 x 29,700 29,700 x 42,000 42,000 x 59,400 mm mm mm 10,500 x 14,850 14,850 x 21,000 21,000 x 29,700 mm mm mm 4,200 x 5,940 mm 2,100 x 2,970 mm 1,050 x 1,485 mm 5,940 x 8,400 mm 2,970 x 4,200 mm 1,485 x 2,100 mm 8,400 x 11,880 mm 59,400 x 84,100 mm 29,700 x 42,050 mm 11,880 x 16,820 mm 84,100 x 118,900 mm 42,050 x 59,450 mm 16,820 x 23,780 mm

4,200 x 5,940 mm 5,940 x 8,410 mm 8,410 x 11,890 mm 2,100 x 2,970 mm 2,970 x 4,205 mm 4,205 x 5,945 mm

Scale factor (as used by AutoCAD) is always a reciprocal of the drawing scale. AutoCad uses the unit one as the base unit. For example, if you wish to plot a mechanical drawing at a scale of 1/2? = 1? the reciprocal of 1/2 is 2/1 which is 2. Therefore the scale factor is 2. If this drawing was to be plotted on a 11 x 17 piece of paper the limits would have to be 34,22. Text would be .25 high and other settings made for this scale to be plotted properly. Another example would be an architectural drawing plotted at a scale of 1/4? = 1? ? Changing feet to -0 . inches so the units are all in inches gives us 1/4? = 12? Dividing both sides by 12 which is the same thing as . multiplying by 1/12 we obtain 1/48 = 1. The reciprocal of 1/48 is 48. The scale factor then is 48. If this drawing is plotted on a 11 x 17 piece of paper the limits would have to be 816,528 (68? ? Text would be ,44 ). 6? high (.125 times 48 = 6). Other settings would have to be made for this scale to be plotted properly. Another example would be a metric drawing made full size. 1 = 25.4. Dividing both sides of this equation by 25.4 we get 1/25.4 = 1. The reciprocal of 1/25.4 is 25.4/1. The scale factor therefore is 25.4. Text (originally .125) then would be made approximately 3 high (.125 X 25.4 = 3.175). Text (originally .25) then would be made approximately 6 high (.25 X 25.4 = 6.35). Other settings would have to be made for this scale to be plotted properly The scale factor of a drawing should be determined and utilized during the time of drawing set up. The proper scale factor is extremely important because it makes sure that text (height, etc.), dimension values (dimscale), hatch patterns, limits, and linetype scale (ltscale) are plotted at the proper size.

Samples: A drawing scale of 1? = 1? has a scale factor of 1 A drawing scale of 1/2? = 1? has a scale factor of 2 A drawing scale of 2 = 1 has a scale factor of .5 A drawing scale of 1 = 60.0? has a scale factor of 720 A drawing scale of half size (metric) has a scale factor of 50.8

Ref: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?1568-understanding-drawing-scale-and-scale-factor