Building Construction &

Graphics
AutoCAD

Introduction

By Engr. Usman Akmal

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 AutoCAD
Introduction
Opening AutoCAD.
Gettingfamiliar with the AutoCAD Graphics
window or Graphical User Interface. (GUI)
Modifying the display.
Some general tasks

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Introduction (cont.)
Opening AutoCAD
The first step is to start the program. One can start
AutoCAD by following one of the two methods given
below:
a) By default, installing AutoCAD
places a shortcut on the desktop,
one can double-click the
shortcut to launch the program.

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Introduction (cont.)
Opening AutoCAD
b)
Start
Start
(All)Programs
(All)Programs
Autodesk
Autodesk
AutoCAD 2006
AutoCAD 2006
AutoCAD 2006
AutoCAD 2006

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Introduction (cont.)
Opening AutoCAD

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 AutoCAD Graphics window
Application close
Standard toolbar
Menu bar Title bar Styles toolbar
Layers toolbar Properties toolbar button

Drawing close
button

aw toolbar

Modify toolbar

Layout tabs
Status bar Status bar menu 6
Model tab Command window Crosshairs
Pickbox Drawing area
User Coordinate System (UCS) icon
AutoCAD Graphics window

Drawing Area

The blank area in the middle of the screen, called

the graphics window or drawing area, where
one can draw. This is as a sheet of drafting paper,
however this piece of paper can be of any size.

Drawing area
AutoCAD Graphics window

Model and Layout tabs

At the bottom of the drawing area there is a tab

labeled Model. This tab is used to draw. There is
also another tabs labeled Layout 1. This tab is used
to lay out the drawing for plotting.

Layout tabs
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Model tab
AutoCAD Graphics window

User Coordinate System (UCS) icon

Notice the symbol with two arrows at the bottom-left

corner of the drawing area. This symbol is called the
User Coordinate System (UCS) icon. The arrows
Point to the positive directions of the X and Y axes.

User Coordinate System (UCS) icon

 AutoCAD Graphics window
The crosshairs

In the drawing area notice the two intersecting

lines with a small box at their intersection.
The small box is called the pickbox because it
helps to select, or pick, objects.

The lines are called crosshairs. They show the

location of the mouse cursor in relation to
other objects in the drawing. With the
movement of mouse around, the pickbox and
crosshairs will also move with the mouse.

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Crosshairs
Pickbox
 AutoCAD Graphics window
Standard toolbar
Menu bar Title bar Styles toolbar
Layers toolbar Properties toolbar

aw toolbar
The menus and toolbars
Modify toolbar
At the top of screen is the title bar, and directly
beneath the title bar is a menu bar. Below that are
two rows of toolbars. In addition, your screen has two
more toolbars, the Draw and Modify toolbars, which
are probably docked at the left and right sides of the
screen.

The menus and toolbars together are used to give

AutoCAD commands to draw, edit, get information,
and so on. 11
 AutoCAD Graphics window

aw toolbar The menus and toolbars

On the Draw toolbar, move the mouse cursor over the

first button. You should see a tooltip that says Line. Also
notice the status bar, which tells you that this button creates
straight-line segments.

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AutoCAD Graphics window

The command line

At the bottom of the screen, there is a separate

window showing approximately three lines of text.
(You can change it to show as many lines as you like
by dragging the top edge of the window up or down.)
Notice the word Command:. This is the command
line. All commands can be executed by typing them
on the command line.

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Command window
AutoCAD Graphics window

The status bar

At the very bottom of the screen is the status bar. At

the left are the X,Y coordinates. As mouse moves,
these coordinates change. (If they don’t change, click
them and move your mouse again.) The status bar also
contains several buttons that will be explained later.

Status bar 14
 AutoCAD Graphics window
Application close
Standard toolbar
Menu bar Title bar Styles toolbar
Layers toolbar Properties toolbar button

Drawing close
button

aw toolbar

Modify toolbar

Layout tabs
Status bar Status bar menu 15
Model tab Command window Crosshairs
Pickbox Drawing area
User Coordinate System (UCS) icon
AutoCAD Graphics window

Toolbar flyouts
Notice that one icon on the Standard toolbar
has a little triangular arrow in the lower-right
corner. This arrow indicates that clicking
this icon displays more than one command.
This is called toolbar flyout.

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Modifying the display
 Turn off the scroll bars.
 Extending crosshairs completely across the
screen.
 Controlling the color of the cursor and the
drawing area background.
 Controlling the size of pickbox

All the above mentioned tasks will be

completed by changing the settings in
Options dialog box. 17
Modifying the display
 How to open option dialog box
Choose Tools → Options to open the Options dialog box.

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Exercise
 Change the default color of drawing area
to white color.
 Turn off the scroll bars from the display.
 Increase the number of lines in the
command window to 5 from 3.
 Change the crosshair size so that it
extends fully across the screen.
 Increase the size of pickbox.
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Some General Tasks
 How to save the file first time.
 How to save the file with a different name.
 How to close a drawing.
 How to open an existing drawing.
 How to exit AutoCAD
All the above mentioned tasks will be
completed by selecting an option from
File Menu or by using standard toolbar.
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