Introducing autoCAD 2009

422 Pages·2008·14.653 MB·English

by  Omura, George

Introducing
®
AutoCAD 2009 and
®
AutoCAD LT 2009
GeorGe omura
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Acquisitions Editor: Willem Knibbe
Development Editor: Thomas Way
Technical Editor: Paul Richardson
Production Editor: Rachel McConlogue
Copy Editor: Kim Wimpsett
Production Manager: Tim Tate
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley
Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert
Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde
Book Designer: Caryl Gorska
Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreader: Ian Golder, Word One
Indexer: Ted Laux
Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed
Main Cover Image: © JupiterImages
Small Cover Image: iStockphoto
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-26060-9
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Omura, George.
Introducing autoCAD 2009 / George Omura.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-470-26060-9 (paper/website)
1. AutoCAD. 2. Computer-aided design. I. Title.
T385.O475 2008
620’.00420285536--dc22
TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. AutoCAD is a
registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing,
Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for choosing Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009. This book
is part of a family of premium quality Sybex books, all written by outstanding authors
who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.
Sybex was founded in 1976. More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to pro-
ducing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a
new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with,
our goal is to bring you the best books available.
I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your com-
ments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think
about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at [email protected], or if you
think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com.
Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.
Best regards,
Neil Edde
Vice President and Publisher
Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley
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Dedication
To my colleagues
at ELS Architecture and Urban Design, who wonder
what I do in the afternoons
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank
Willem Knibbe for giving me the opportunity to
work with Sybex, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, on this project. I’d also like to
thank Pete Gaughan for keeping the project moving along. Thanks to Thomas Way
for coordinating the project. Paul Richardson offered his AutoCAD expertise while
checking all the details. Thanks to Rachel McConlogue for her dedicated work on
each chapter, and thanks to the copy editor, Kim Wimpsett, for her careful atten-
tion to detail. ■ At Autodesk, Jim Quanci once again gave his full support for
our work and cheerfully answered all our questions. Thanks to Shaan Hurley for
graciously opening the doors to the AutoCAD beta program so early in the process.
And thanks to Denis Cadu who is always more than willing to help us in our times
of need. ■ Thank you all for making this book possible.
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CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
Introduction ■ xv
Chapter 1 ■ Getting Familiar with AutoCAD 1
Chapter 2 ■ Understanding the Drafting Tools 37
Chapter 3 ■ Drawing 2D Objects 73
Chapter 4 ■ Editing AutoCAD Objects 111
Chapter 5 ■ Editing with the Modify Panel Tools 127
Chapter 6 ■ Creating 3D Drawings 155
Chapter 7 ■ Getting Organized with Layers 213
Chapter 8 ■ Using Blocks, Groups, Xrefs, and DesignCenter 245
Chapter 9 ■ Creating Text 277
Chapter 10 ■ Using Dimensions 309
Chapter 11 ■ Gathering Information 345
Chapter 12 ■ Laying Out and Printing Your Drawing 361
Index ■ 397
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Contents
Introduction xv
Chapter 1 ■ Getting Familiar with AutoCAD 1
Understanding the AutoCAD Window 2
Starting a Drawing 21
Panning and Zooming to Adjust Your View 25
Understanding the Layout View 28
Understanding How Command
Options Work 30
Getting Help 32
Summary 36
Chapter 2 ■ Understanding the Drafting Tools 37
Understanding the AutoCAD
Coordinate System 38
Setting Up a Drawing 48
Using a Digital T Square and Triangle 53
Getting a Visual Reference
with the Grid Mode 56
Snapping to the Grid or Other
Regular Intervals 57
Changing the Grid and Snap Settings 58
Selecting Exact Locations on Objects 62
Aligning Objects Using Object Snap
Tracking and Tracking Points 67
Using the Temporary Tracking
Point Feature 70
Summary 72
Chapter 3 ■ Drawing 2D Objects 73
Working with the Draw Panel 74
Drawing Straight Lines 74
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Drawing Circles and Arcs 75
Drawing Curves 79
Drawing Parallel Lines 85
Drawing Revision Clouds 86
Working with Hatch Patterns and Solid Fills 88
Drawing Regular Polygons 102
Using Objects to Lay Out Your Drawing 104
Summary 110
Chapter 4 ■ Editing AutoCAD Objects 111
Selecting Objects 112
Editing the Windows Way 115
Changing Objects with Grips and
Dynamic Input 119
Controlling Objects Using the
Properties Palette 123
Summary 125
Chapter 5 ■ Editing with the Modify Panel Tools 127
Selecting Objects 128
Erasing Objects 129
Joining Objects 130
Moving and Copying 137
Scaling, Stretching, and Rotating 142
Breaking an Object into Two 146
Editing Xrefs and Blocks 147
Editing Polylines 150
Summary 153
Chapter 6 ■ Creating 3D Drawings 155
Getting to Know the 3D Modeling
Workspace 156
Drawing in 3D Using Solids and Surfaces 159
Changing Your Point of View 173
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Creating 3D Forms from 2D Shapes 180
Specifying Exact Distances in 3D Space 193
Controlling the Appearance of Your Model 194
Summary 211
Chapter 7 ■ Getting Organized with Layers 213
Creating and Assigning Layers 214
Setting the Current Layer 218
Controlling Layer Visibility 219
Locking Layers from Printing and Editing 224
Finding the Layers You Want 225
Taming an Unwieldy List of Layers 226
Saving and Recalling Layer Settings 231
Using the Layers Panel to Manage Layers 233
Organizing Visual Content by
Using Properties 235
Summary 244
Chapter 8 ■ Using Blocks, Groups, Xrefs,
and DesignCenter 245
Using Blocks to Organize Objects 246
Organizing Objects by Using Groups 256
Getting Multiple Uses from Drawings
Using External References 261
Keeping Track of Drawing Components
with DesignCenter 265
Keeping Tools on Hand with the
Tool Palettes Window 272
Summary 275
Chapter 9 ■ Creating Text 277
Adding and Formatting Text 278
Understanding Text and Scale 287
Using Styles to Organize Your Fonts 289
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