AutoCAD Instruction Manual

AUTOCAD
CAD-Computer Aided Design, also known as Computer 22. AUTOCAD R2008

Aided Drafting, is the use of computer software and MARCH 2007
systems to design and create 2D and 3D virtual models 23. AUTOCAD R2009
of goods and products for the purposes of testing. It is JUNE 2008
also sometimes refered to as Computer assisted drafting. 24. AUTOCAD 2010
MARCH 2009
AutoCAD- is a CAD software application for 2D and
3D design and drawing developed and sold by Autodesk, FIELDS OF USE
initially released in late 1982.
THE ARCHITECHURAL, ENGINEERING,
AUTOCAD HISTORY AND TIMELINE AND CONSTRUCTION (AEC) INDUSTRY
 Architechural
1. AUTOCAD V 1.0  Architechural engineering
DECEMBER 1982  Interior design
2. AUTOCAD V1.2  Interior Architechture
APRIL 1983  Building engineering
3. AUTOCAD V1.3  Civil engineering and insfrastructure
AUGUST 1983  Construction
4. AUTOCAD V1.4  Roads and highways
OCTOBER 1983  Railroads and Tunnels
5. AUTOCAD V2.0  Water supply and hydraulic Engineering
OCTOBER 1984  Storm Drain, Wastewater and sewer system
6. AUTOCAD V2.1  Mapping and Surveying
MAY 1985  Chemical Plant Design
7. AUTOCAD V2.5  Factory Layout
JUNE 1986  Heating, Ventilation and air-conditioning
8. AUTOCAD V2.6 (HVAC)
APRIL 1987
9. AUTOCAD VR9 MECHANICAL (MCAD) ENGINEERING
SEPTEMBER 1987
10. AUTOCAD R10  Automotive- vehicles
OCTOBER 1988  Aerospace
11. AUTOCAD R11  Consumer Goods
OCTOBER 1990  Machinery
12. AUTOCAD R12  Shipbuilding
JUNE 1992  Bio chemical system
13. AUTOCAD R13  Electronic design automation (EDA)
OCTOBER 1994  Electronic and Electrical (ECAD)
14. AUTOCAD R14  Digital circuit design
FEBRUARY 1997  Electrical engineering
15. AUTOCAD R2000  Manufacturing process planning
MARCH 1998  Industrial Design
16. AUTOCAD R2000i  Software application
JULY 2000  Apparel and Textile CAD
17. AUTOCAD R2002
JULY 2001 AUTOCAD WINDOW
18. AUTOCAD R2004
MARCH 2003 1. Title Bar - This will show you what program
19. AUTOCAD R2005 you are running and what the current filename
MARCH 2004 is.
20. AUTOCAD R2006 2. Pull-down menus - These are the standard
MARCH 2005 pull-down menus through which you can access
21. AUTOCAD R2007 almost all commands.
MARCH 2006
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AUTOCAD
3. Main toolbar - This has most of the standard In order to work effectively with AutoCAD, you have to
Windows icons, as well as the most common work with this system. Until you are comfortable and
AutoCAD commands. familiar with it.
4. Property toolbar - This toolbar gives a way to
quickly modify an object's properties, such as Here is how it works:
layer and linetype.
5. Floating toolbar - This is a toolbar that can be
AutoCAD uses points to determine where an object is
moved around the screen, or 'docked' as the located. There is an origin where it begins counting
main toolbar is. from. This point is (0,0). Every object is located in
6. Drawing space - This is where you draw. You
relation to the origin. If you were to draw a line straight
have an almost infinite area to draw and this is
out to the right from the origin, this would be considered
just a 'section' of the entire space.
the positive X-axis. If you were to draw a line straight
7. Scrollbars - These work like in other windows
up, this would be the positive Y-axis. The picture at the
programs. You can also use the PAN command left shows a point located at (2,3). This means that the
to move around your drawing. point is 2 units over in the X-axis and 3 units up in the
8. WCS Icon - This is here to show you which
Y-axis. When you are working with points, X always
direction positive X and positive Y go. The W
comes first. The other point shown is (-3,1). This means
means you're in the World Co-ordinate System.
that the point is 3 units in the negative X-axis (left) and 1
(It can be changed to a User Co-ordinate
unit in the positive Y-axis (up).
System.)
9. Status Bar Tray Icons - These icons give you
updates on items like reference files program Most of the time you will not have an indication of
updates and print status. where the origin is. You may need to draw a line from
10. Command line - When you type a command, the endpoint of an existing line. To do this you use
you will see it here. AutoCAD uses this space relative or polar coordinates.
to 'prompt' you for information. It will give you
a lot of information and tell you where you are Entering Points in AutoCAD
in the command. Watch this line while
learning. You can enter points directly on the command line using
11. Status bar - This allows to see and change three different systems. The one you use will depend on
different modes of drawing such as Ortho, which is more applicable for the situation. The first
Osnaps, Grid, Otrack, etc. assignment will get you used to this. The three systems
are as follows:
THE X,Y COORDINATE SYSTEM
 ABSOLUTE CO-ORDINATES - Using this
Everything that you draw in AutoCAD is exact. It will method, you enter the points as they relate to
be more accurate than you will ever need it to be. All the origin of the WCS. To enter a point just
objects drawn on the screen are placed there based on a enter in the exact point as X,Y.
simple X,Y co-ordinate system. In AutoCAD this is  RELATIVE CO-ORDINATES - This allows
known as the World Co-ordinate System (WCS). You you to enter points in relation to the first point
must understand this to know how to put things where you have entered. After you've entered one
you want them. point, the next would be entered as @X,Y. This
means that AutoCAD will draw a line from the
first point to another point X units over and Y
units up relative to the previous point.
 POLAR CO-ORDINATES - You would use
this system if you know that you want to draw a
line a certain distance at a particular angle. You
would enter this as @D<A. In this case, D is the
distance and A is the angle. Example: @10<90
will draw a line 10 units straight up from the
first point.
The three ways of entering co-ordinates shown

above are the ONLY way AutoCAD accepts input.
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First decide which style you need to use, and then .dwt. See Use a Template File to Start a Drawing in
enter as shown. Remember that X is always before the User's Guide.
Y (alphabetical). Don't forget the '@' symbol when
you are entering relative points. Any typing error or Select a Template
omission will give you results you don't want. If you
make a mistake and need to see what you typed,
Lists all DWT files that currently exist in the drawing
press F2 to bring up the text screen and check your
template file location, which is specified in the
typing. (press F2 to get back to your drawing.) Options dialog box. Choose a file to use as a starting
point for your new drawing. A preview image of the
STARTING A DRAWING selected file is displayed to the right.
There are three main methods that you can use to create Browse
a new drawing. (The first option, Open a Drawing, is not
available from the NEW command. To open an existing
Displays the Select Template dialog box (a standard file
drawing, use OPEN.) Choose one of the buttons at the
selection dialog box) where you can access template
top of the dialog box
files that are not available in the Select a Template
list.
1. Start from Scratch
3. Use a Wizard
Starts an empty drawing using default imperial or metric
settings. AutoCAD stores this setting in the
Sets up a drawing using a step-by-step guide. You can
MEASUREINIT system variable. You can change the choose from two wizards: Quick Setup and
measurement system for a given drawing by using the Advanced Setup.
MEASUREMENT system variable. To start a new
drawing based on a customized template, see Use a
Template. Quick Setup
Imperial Displays the Quick Setup wizard, in which you can

specify the units and area for your new drawing.
The Quick Setup wizard also changes settings, such
Starts a new drawing based on the Imperial measurement
as text height and snap spacing, to an appropriate
system. The default drawing boundary (the drawing scale.
limits) is 12 × 9 inches.
Advanced Setup
Metric
Displays the Advanced Setup wizard, in which you can
Starts a new drawing based on the metric measurement specify the units, angle, angle measure, angle
system. The default drawing boundary (the drawing
direction, and area for your new drawing. The Quick
limits) is 429 × 297 millimeters.
Setup wizard also changes settings, such as text
height and snap spacing, to an appropriate scale
2. Use a Template
SAVING A FILE
Starts a drawing based on a drawing template file.
Template drawings store all the settings for a
Saves the drawing under the current file name or a
drawing and may also include predefined layers,
specified name
dimension styles, and views. Template drawings are
distinguished from other drawing files by the .dwt
file extension. They are normally kept in the Keyboard SAVE or CTRL+S
template directory.
Menubar > File > Save as
Several template drawings are included with AutoCAD.
You can make additional template drawings by QSAVE- The QSAVE command is equivalent to
changing the extensions of drawing file names to clicking Save on the File menu.
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If the drawing is named, AutoCAD saves the drawing
using the file format specified on the Open and Save Draw toolbar
tab of the Options dialog box and does not request a
file name. If the drawing is unnamed, AutoCAD Pull down menu Draw > Line
displays the Save Drawing As dialog box (see
SAVEAS) and saves the drawing with the file name
Keyboard LINE or L
and format you specify.
ERASE- The command erases(deletes) any selected
If the drawing is read-only, use the SAVEAS command
object(s) from the drawing.
to save the changed file under a different name
SAVING FILE AS
Modify toolbar
Pull down menu Modify > Erase
JPG FORMAT JPGOUT Keyboard ERASE or E
BMP FORMAT BMPOUT
TIFF FORMATT TIFOUT
UNDO- Use to cancel actions you’ve made.
PNG FORMAT PNGOUT
GIF FORMAT GIFOUT
Standard toolbar
GRID- Pattern of dots displayed on screen to guide you. Keyboard UNDO, U or Ctrl + Z
(F7)
ZOOM- Increases or decreases the apparent size of
LIMITS- Drawing limits is used to define the extent of object in the current viewport.
the grid display and to toggle limits mode which can be
used to define the extent of your drawing.
Zoom All Z(enter) A(enter)
Reset Model space limits: Example you want to change
the limits to 20,20. Zoom Extents Z(enter)E(enter)
command: limits (enter) Zoom Window Z(enter)W(enter)
Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] <0.000,0.000> Zoom Center Z(enter) C(enter)
(enter)
Zoom Dynamic Z(enter) D(enter)
Specify upper right corner <12.0000,9.0000> 20,20
(enter) Zoom Previous Z(enter) P(enter)
LINE- Line are probably the most simple command of Zoom Scale Z(enter) S(enter)
AutoCAD.a line can be drawn between any two points
picked within area.
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DIRECT DISTANCE ENTRY SNAP- This is a drawing mode that allows you to snap
your cursor to precise point laid out in grid pattern.
Direct distance entry is one of those AutoCAD features
that is often overlooked. This is rather unfortunate Statusbar SNAP Keyboard F9
because it can be extremely useful and an amazing time-
saver. Basically, direct distance entry enables you to GRID- Pattern of dots displayed on screen to guide you.
draw an object, such as a line, by pointing in a particular
direction with the cursor and entering a distance at the Statusbar GRID Keyboard F7
command line.
ORTHO- Ortho is short for Orthogonal, which .
How does it work?
means either Horizontal or vertical.
Say, for example, you wanted to draw a horizontal line

Statusbar ORTHO Keyboard F8
with a length of 30 drawing units. Start the Line
command, Draw Line from the pull-down menu or POLAR- Allows you to snap into angles you choose to
from the Draw toolbar. When prompted, to specify the configure.
first point for the line, pick a point somewhere on the left
side of the drawing area. Statusbar POLAR Keyboard F10
You now need to constrain the line to the horizontal. OTRACK

You can do this using Polar Tracking . Use the POLAR
button on the status bar to turn on Polar Tracking. Statusbar OTRACK Keyboard F11
Usually, Polar Tracking is on by default, so you may not
need to do this.
Object Snaps (OSNAP)
Suppose you want to draw a line from the center of the

circle to the middle of the vertical line you extended
earlier. AutoCAD has a feature that makes this very
easy. These are the Object Snaps (or Osnaps "Oh-
Snaps"). Type OS <ENTER> . You will see this
dialog box appear.
You may select whichever points you want to 'snap' on

Now, move your cursor to the right of the first pick an object. Here is a list of your options. Followed by
point. If you are within a few degrees of the the command entry to invoke the needed Osnap.
horizontal, you should see something similar to the
illustration above. Hold your cursor in this position Endpoint - snaps to either the beginning or the end of an
and simply enter 30 at the keyboard. When you hit object such as a line - END
the Return key, a line segment is drawn, 30 units
long and in the direction you were pointing. Midpoint - snaps to the exact middle of a line or an arc -
MID
Center - snaps to the center-point of a circle or arc -
Obviously, you could vary this sequence to get different
CEN
effects. If you only want to draw horizontal or
vertical lines, you could use Ortho rather than Polar Node - snaps to 'nodes' (not covered in this course) -
Tracking. Or, you could configure polar tracking to NOD
snap to other angles like 45º or 30º. You might even Quadrant - snaps to any of the four quadrants of a circle
want to turn both Ortho and Polar Tracking off and - QUA
use free angles. Intersection - snaps to the point where two object cross
- INT
Extension - Snaps to the phantom extension of an arc or
line - EXT
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Insertion - snaps to the insertion point of an object (such RECTANGLE
as a block or text) - INS
Perpendicular - will snap so that the result is The rectangle command is used to draw a rectangle
perpendicular to line selected - PER whose sides are vertical or horizontal. Th position and
Tangent - snaps to create a line tangent to a circle or arc size of the rectangle are defined by picking two diagonal
- TAN corners.
Nearest - will find the closest point an object and snap
to that point - NEA
Draw toolbar
Parallel -Snaps parallel to a specified line - PAR
None - temporarily turns off all Osnaps. (Pressing your
Pull down menu > Draw > Rectangle
F3 Key is quicker) - NON
Osnap settings - opens the Osnap dialog box.
Keyboard RECTANGLE or REC
Temporary Tracking - Creates a temporary tracking
point
COPY- To make a duplicate of selectd object
Modify toolbar
Pulldown menu > Modify > Copy
Keyboard COPY or CO
CIRCLE
MOVE- To transfer an object from one place to another.
The circle command is used to draw circles. There are
number of ways you can define the circle.
Modify toolbar
The default method is to pick the center point and then to
either pick a second point on the circumference of Pull down menu > Modify > Move
the circle or enter the radius at the keyboard.
Keyboard MOVE or M
Draw toolbar
Pull down menu>Draw> Circle>Center>Radius
Keyboard CIRCLE or C
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DTEXT
Keyboard DTEXT or DT
MULTITEXT
Draw toolbar A
Keyboard MULTITEXT or MT SPELL- Corrects the spelling in text objects created

with TEXT, MTEXT, LEADER, and ATTDEF. The
Check Spelling dialog box is displayed only if
ALIGN- Allows you to enter boundary, text will
AutoCAD finds a misspelled or unknown word in
the specified text
Automatically adjust height and length to
SOLID- Creates solid-filled triangles and
fit. quadrilaterals
FIT- Allows you to enter boundary, text will Keyboard SOLID or SO
Automatically adjust length to fit. SCALE- The Scale command can be used to
change the size of an object or group of objects
CENTER- Allows you to specify the center of
text. Modify Toolbar SCALE
MIDDLE- Allows you to specify the middle of Pull down menu Modify .> Scale
text. Keyboard SCALE or SC
TL- Allows you to specify the topleft of text. ROTATE- The Rotate command allows an object or
objects to be rotated about a point selected by
the user. AutoCAD prompts for a second
TC- Allows you to specify the top center of text. rotation point or an angle which can be typed at
the keyboard.
TR- Allows you to specify the top right of text
ML- Allows you to specify the middle left of text. Modify toolbar ROTATE
MR- Allows you to specify the middle right of Pull down menu > Modify > Rotate
text. DONUT- This command allows you to draw a solid

donut shape.
BL- Allows you to specify the bottom left of text.
Pull down menu > Donut
BC-Allows you to specify the bottom center of
Keyboard DONUT or DO
text.
BR- Allows you to specify the bottom right of
text.
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AUTOCAD
cross the fence will be selected. The Fence
option is invoked by typing F at the "Select
objects" prompt
4.WINDOW POLYGON SELECTION
The Window Polygon option, invoked by typing WP

is similar to the Window option except that you
OBJECT SELECTION can define an irregular polygon shape within
which objects will be selected. As with the
SELECTING OBJECT BY PICKING- Window option, only objects which fall entirely
within the polygon will be selected.
Perhaps the most obvious way to select an object
in AutoCAD is simply to pick it. 5.CROSSING POLYGON SELECTION
1.WINDOW SELECTION- The Crossing Polygon option can be used in

exactly the same way as the Window Polygon
The Window option is invoked by typing W in option but it has the same selection criteria as
response to the "Select objects" prompt. the Crossing Window option, i.e. objects will be
Window allows you to define a rectangle using selected if they fall entirely within or touch the
two points in exactly the same way as the polygon boundary. This option is invoked by
RECTANGLE command. Once the window is typing CP at the "Select objects" prompt.
defined, all objects which lie entirely within the
window will be selected. 6.USING PREVIOUS SELECTION
2.CROSSING WINDOW SELECTION AutoCAD always remembers the last selection set
you defined. This is very useful because you may
The Crossing Window option is invoked by typing C need to make a number of changes using different
at the "Select objects" prompt and is a variation commands to the same group of objects. In order to
of the Window command. The command re-select the last selection set you can use the
sequence is exactly the same but objects are Previous option. The previous option is invoked by
selected which lie entirely within the window typing P at the "Select objects" prompt.
and those which cross the window border
7.SELECTING THE LAST OBJECT
3.FENCE SELECTION-
You can select the last object created by entering L
The Fence option allows you to draw a multi- at the "Select objects" prom
segment line, like a Polyline. All objects which
TIP
AutoCAD Dynamic Viewing
.* Realtime Pan -- drag mouse while holding down middle button (wheel).
* Joystick Pan -- drag while holding down Ctrl key and middle button. The scene moves around
you.
* Realtime 3dOrbit -- drag while holding down Shift key and middle button. You move around
the scene.for AutoCAD 2007 up
* Realtime Zoom -- roll the wheel.

* Zoom to Extents -- double-click the wheel.
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TOOLPALETTES
1. For example, you would like to publish some mouse button and enter ‘New Palette’
standard parts that are commonly used by your command. Then, create a new library (page, tab).
company. The most practical way to do this is
classifying your blocks into groups that you will
determine by yourself and store them together.
Besides, all of the blocks ( “Part01”, “Part02” and
“Part03” ) that are shown below are all stored in
the same drawing file and “Library01.dwg” name
was used as the filename. These blocks inside the
drawing represent different cover parts and are
organized in a logical way.
One of the biggest advantages of storing blocks

Figure 2
all together inside the same drawing is that
AutoCAD files don’t occupy much space. By this

3. I gave the name of ‘MyBlock‘ to the new tab,
way, it will be easier to use the same file for
of course you can name it in different ways.
searching files and changing any property of the
block.
Figure 3
4. Let TOOLPALETTE stay on the screen. Now, we
will open DESIGNCENTER‘ by using ‘CTRL+2’

Figure 1
button combination and enter the location of
“Library01.dwg” file that I explained above into

2. If the TOOLPALETTE is not seen on the screen,
the ‘Folders’ section. When you click on the
then you can use either TOOLPALETTES
‘Blocks’’ from tree-menu, you can see the blocks
command, Tool/Tool Palettes menu command
that exist inside this drawing. You can ‘Drag and
or ‘CTRL+3’ button combination. Press the right
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Drop’ the blocks that you can see here from 6. You can change the names and several
window number (1) to window number (2). You properties of blocks by using ‘Properties’ option.
can select the blocks one by one by using ‘SHIFT

+ Left mouse button’.
DASHBOARD
Figure 4
5. As a result of this operation, AutoCAD will

DASHBOARD feature that came together with
prepare ‘Thumbnail’ views for all of the blocks
AutoCAD 2007 is providing such a functionality.
here.
Even though DASHBOARD is more or less some
kind of a TOOLPALETTE, it has some particular
differences. Controls on it are slightly different.
Besides, you cannot add tabs to DASHBOARD.
You cannot customize DASHBOARD in AutoCAD
2007, but since AutoCAD 2008 it is customizable
now. However, usage of DASHBOARD is mainly
based on control panels rather than tabs. Now,
let’s start learning by taking a look at how
DASHBOARD looks first (Fig. 1).
Figure 5
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Expanding and contracting operations are done by
using the double arrow icon in down direction (
expanding ) or double arrow icon in up direction
(contracting ) that can be found just beside the
large icon that represent each panel. Its usage is
pretty simple. DASHBOARD, similar to
TOOLPALETTE, can be either docked or can be
opened/closed automatically. We can make these
settings from the mini menu that is just under the

gray ( or blue ) band.
Fig.1
In Fig. 1, you can see the DASHBOARD that
belongs to AutoCAD 2008. Please note that each
control panel is divided by a line. Each panel
consists of controls like mini buttons, combo lists,
sliding bars etc. That is the main difference Fig.3
compared to TOOLPALETTEs. Moreover, each

If you also would like to have wide drawing area
panel can expand in between each other (Fig. 2).
like me, then you can choose the ‘auto-hide’
option. It is also possible to open or close
different control panels again from the same
menu. Before finishing the article, let me remind
you once more how to open or close
DASHBOARD. If the dashboard is closed then you
can open DASHBOARD by entering DASHBOARD
from command line or select Dashboard from the

Window menu.
Fig.2
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CHAMFER- The Chamfer command enables you to
create a chamfer between any two non-parallel
EXTEND- This command extends a line, polyline or lines as in the illustration below or any two
arc to meet another drawing object (known as adjacent polyline segments. Usually, the
the boundary edge). In the illustration on the Chamfer command is used to set the chamfer
right, two lines (red) are extended to meet distances before drawing the chamfer.
another line (cyan) which forms the boundary
edge. This command works in a similar way to
the Trim command Modify toolbar
Pull down menu > Modify > Chamfer

Modify toolbar
Keyboard CHAMFER or Cha
Pull down menu > Modify > Extend
MIRROR- defining the position The Mirror
Keyboard EXTEND or E command allows you to mirror selected objects
in your drawing by picking them and then of an
TRIM- The Trim command can be used to trim a imaginary mirror line using two points
part of an object. In order to trim an object you
must draw a second object which forms the
"cutting edge". Cutting edges can be lines, Modify toolbar
xlines, rays, polylines, circles, arcs or ellipses.
Blocks and text cannot be trimmed or used as Pull down menu > Modify > Mirror
cutting edges
Keyboard MIRROR 0r MI
Modify toolbar
OFFSET- Offset is probably one of the most useful
commands for constructing drawings. The
Pull down menu > Modify > Trim
Offset command creates a new object parallel
to or concentric with a selected object. The new
Keyboard TRIM or TR object is drawn at a user defined distance (the
offset) from the original and in a direction
FILLET- The Fillet command is a very useful tool chosen by the user with a pick point. You can
which allows you to draw an arc between two offset lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, 2D polylines,
intersecting lines or adjacent polyline xlines, rays and planar splines.
segments. You first need to use the command
to set the required radius and then a second
time to select the two lines. Modify Toolbar
The Fillet command can also be used to fillet arcs Pull down menu > Mody > Offset
and circles. The "Polyline" option also allows
you to fillet all vertices of a polyline with a Keyboard OFFSET or O
single command. It's worth experimenting with
this command, it can save you lots of time and
enables you to construct shapes which
otherwise would be quite difficult
Setting Colour and Linetype "ByLayer"
Modify toolbar AutoCAD offers two methods of setting the colour

and linetype of a drawing object. First of all, colour
and linetype can be set ByLayer. In other words, an
Pull down menu > Modify > Fillet
object will be displayed in the colour and linetype of
its layer. For example, if you draw a circle on a
Keyboard FILLET or F layer which you have called "Detail" and you have
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also set the colour of Detail to blue and the linetype entering the colour name or number in the text edit
to dashed, then the circle will be displayed in a box. When you have selected the colour you want,
dashed blue line. When an object takes on the click on the "OK" button to set the colour. AutoCAD
properties of its layer, the colour and linetype are uses only 255 colours plus the drawing background
said to be set "ByLayer". colour, irrespective of the capabilities of your video
display.
The second method AutoCAD offers is to set the
colour and linetype by object. Setting properties Assigning different colours to your layers will make
by object overrides those set ByLayer. In working with complex drawings much easier.
general it is good drawing practice to set colour You will be able to see at a glance what a
and linetype properties ByLayer, this is more particular line represents. For example, your
efficient and less confusing in the long-run. For construction lines may be on a layer called
example, imagine that you have drawn "Construction" and have the colour yellow. This
hundreds of objects on the same layer and will visually differentiate these lines from lines
have set their colour to green. Later in the on other layers with different colours.
drawing process you decide that these objects
should, in fact, be yellow. In order to make the
change you would have to use the Properties
command and select every one of the objects Setting the Linetype of a Layer
by picking them. By contrast, if you had set the
objects colour to ByLayer, you would only have
to change the layer colour from green to yellow In the same way that you can assign a colour to a
and all of the objects would change. layer you can also assign a linetype to a layer.
For example, you could have all the lines on a
layer called "Construction" display in a yellow
There are times , however, when in is useful to be
dashed line. To set a linetype to a layer, click
able to set colour and linetype properties by
on and then click on the current linetype name
object. Setting properties by object is covered
associated with your layer in the layer list. By
later in this tutorial. The following sections
default, layers have the "Continuous" linetype.
cover the setting of colour and linetype Clicking on the linetype name brings up the
ByLayer. Select Linetype dialogue box, shown on the
right. You will notice that the "Continuous"
Setting the Colour of a Layer linetype is the only one listed. That's because
all linetypes, except "Continuous", are stored in
It is often convenient to set the layer colour when an external file and have to be loaded before
the layer is created, although this can be done they can be used.
at any time. The layer colour can be changed
as many times as you like. Each time it is
changed, any objects on that layer will change
to the new colour, providing their colour is set
to "ByLayer".
the two logical colour buttons, ByLayer and

ByBlock are no longer greyed-out.
To set a layer colour, open the Layer & Linetype

Properties dialogue box, click on and then click on
the colour icon in the layer list associated with the
layer you want. Notice that all layers have their own
colour icon and that this changes to display the
layer colour. Clicking on the icon brings up the
Select Color dialogue box, shown on the right. You
can select any of the 255 standard AutoCAD
colours by picking on the colour palette or by Loading Linetypes
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To load a linetype, click on the "Load..." button in When you return to the Select Linetype dialogue
the Select Linetype dialogue box. The Load or box the loaded linetypes are displayed in the list.
Reload Linetypes dialogue box appears and To assign a particular linetype to a layer, simply
displays a list of the available linetypes. Select click on the name to highlight it and then click on
as many of the listed linetypes as you wish and the OK button. When you return to the Layer &
then click the OK button to return to the Select Linetype Properties dialogue box, the new linetype
Linetype dialogue box. name will be listed against your layer in the
"Linetype" column. From now on, all objects drawn
on this layer will be drawn with the chosen linetype.
However, just like colours, you may change the
linetype at any time and the objects drawn on that
layer will automatically be updated to display the
new linetype.
Colours
In the same way that you can set a current layer,

you can set a current colour so that every
object you draw will be displayed in a particular
colour irrespective of which layer it is on. As
mentioned earlier, this method of assigning
colour, by object, is recommended only in
special circumstances. In general, colour
should be assigned ByLayer. See Setting
Colour and Linetype "ByLayer" for more
Selecting from list boxes works the same way in
information.
AutoCAD as it does in any other Windows
application. For example, if you wish to select a
block of linetypes from the list at one time, select
the first linetype in the block, hold the Shift key
down on the keyboard and select the last linetype
in the block. All linetypes in the block will be
highlighted and you can click the "OK" button to
load them all in one go. You can also hold the
Control (Ctrl) key down on the keyboard to make
multiple selections which aren't adjacent in the list
(see illustration above).
To set a current colour, simply click on the "Color

Control" box on the Object Properties toolbar. The
drop-down list contains the two logical colours
ByLayer and ByBlock, the seven standard
AutoCAD colours, Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue,
Magenta and White (colour numbers 1 to 7
respectively) and the "Other..." option. Notice that
the default colour for any new drawing is "ByLayer",
this is because in most circumstances you will want
to assign colours by this method. Select a colour
directly from the drop-down list or click on the
"Other..." option to bring up the Select Color
dialogue box (illustrated below) where you can
select any of the AutoCAD colours from the Full
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Color Palette. This dialogue box is the same as the
one you see when setting colour by layer, except
that the two logical colour buttons, ByLayer and
ByBlock are no longer greyed-out
Linetypes
As with
layers and colours, a current linetype can be
set so that all objects drawn will be displayed In the Layer & Linetype Properties dialogue box,
with that linetype. However, the same warnings click on the "Load..." button, this brings up the
given above about assigning colour by object Load or Reload Linetypes dialogue box which
also apply to assigning linetypes by object, you have seen previously in this tutorial. Select
namely that linetypes should be set ByLayer the required linetypes from this dialogue box
wherever possible. That said, to set a current and then click the "OK" button to return to the
linetype, click on the "Linetype Control" box on Layer & Linetype Properties dialogue box,
the Object Properties toolbar, and select a where you will see the newly loaded linetypes
linetype from the drop-down list. The list in the Linetype list. This selection process is the
contains the two logical linetypes, ByLayer and same as that described in the "Loading
ByBlock, these have the same function as the Linetypes" section of this tutorial, above. Now
two logical colours of the same name and a list that the required linetypes have been loaded
of the currently loaded linetypes. you can set the current linetype either by
highlighting it in the Linetype list and then
If you have just started a new drawing the only true clicking the "Current" button in the Layer &
linetype available will be the "Continuous" linetype. Linetype Properties dialogue box or you can
Before you are able to assign any other linetype, simply select the linetype from the drop-down
you must first load the linetypes you may need. To list in the Object Properties toolbar.
load linetypes you must use the "Linetype"
command. Click on the button on the Object Setting the Linetype ScaleIn many cases your
Properties toolbar. You will now see the familiar linetypes will display just as you want them.
Layer & Linetype Properties dialogue box but this However, it is inevitable that at some time you will
time the "Linetype" tab is automatically selected to need to change the scale at which your linetypes
display the linetype information, see illustration are displayed. By default the linetype scale is set to
below 1.0, this means that each linetype pattern will
repeat every 1.0 drawing units. To make the pattern
appear larger, change the scale to a larger number.
Setting the linetype scale to 5.0 for example causes
the linetype pattern to repeat every 5.0 drawing
units so that the pattern will appear 5 times larger.
Conversely, setting the scale to 0.2 causes a
repetition every 0.2 drawing units which will make
the pattern appear 5 times smaller. See the
illustrations below.
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BHATCH- Fills an enclosed area or selected
objects with a hatch pattern or gradient fill
Draw toolbar
Pull down menu > Draw > Hatch
Keyboard BHATCH or H
To change the linetype scale, click on the button to

bring up the Layer & Linetype Properties dialogue
box. If the "Details" section of the dialogue box is
not visible, click on the "Details>>" button to reveal
it. The dialogue box should now look similar to the
one shown above. You set the linetype scale by
changing the value in the "Global scale factor" edit
box. Once you have changed the scale factor, click
on the OK button to return to your drawing.
AutoCAD automatically regenerates the drawing to
display all linetypes with the new scale factor.
Start the Boundary Hatch by typing H <ENTER> .
You may have noticed from the Layer & Linetype When you start the command, you will see this
Properties dialogue box that you can also set the dialog box appear:
linetype scale by object, using the "Current object
scale" edit box. Whilst this is perfectly easy to do,
the results can sometimes be unexpected, since
the linetype scale of any object is a function of both
the Global and Current scales. For example, setting
the Global scale to 2.0 and the Current scale of an
object to 0.5 results in the same appearance as if
both scales were set to 1.0, the default values. In
short, unless you have a really compelling reason
to change it, keep the Current object scale set to
1.0, this will avoid any confusion in the future.
MATCH PROPERTIES
Another way to change the properties of an object

or objects is to match the properties of any
other object using the Match Properties
command on the Standard toolbar
As usual, start at the top of the dialog box and work

Pull down menu > Modify > Match Properties
your way down. We're going to say that this is a
cross section of piece of steel, so choose the
Keyboard MATCH PROP or MA predefined Hatch pattern called STEEL.
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Now you want to pick the area to be hatched. Pick Finally, hit the Preview button to see if this is what
somewhere inside the rectangle, but outside of the you are after, it should match the image below.
circle and press <ENTER>.
Set the scale of the hatch to 6. This is just a

number that works for this object. A larger number
will make the hatch bigger (maybe so big you won't
see it) and a smaller number can make the hatch
so dense that it looks solid (try different numbers
later to see if I'm wrong).
Make this "Associative" - this means that if you

adjust the rectangle or circle, the hatch will
automatically correct itself to the new boundary.
DIMENSION PARTS drawings and how to use them. The correct use
of AutoCADs dimension tools is the key to
producing clear and concise measured
drawings. If you just need to quickly find a
description of the various dimension
commands, click on the appropriate button on
the QuickFind toolbar below.
AutoCAD provides a whole range of

dimensioning tools which can be used to
Also, you can modify the dimension text quickly dimension any drawing without the
dramatically, here are some examples: need for measurement. Dimensioning in
AutoCAD is automatic; lines, arrows and text
are all taken care of by the dimension
commands. AutoCAD dimensions are special
blocks which can easily be edited or erased as
necessary.
AutoCAD provides lots of control over the way

dimensions look. Using a system similar to text
styles, dimension styles allow you to design
dimensions so that they look just the way you
want them to.
Introduction
This tutorial describes the options and
commands available for dimensioning
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When working with dimensions it is very
important that line origins are picked
accurately so that the resulting measurement
and text are correct. Always use an Osnap to
pick dimension
For example, the illustration above shows two

different dimension styles. The one on the left
is the default style known as STANDARD. If
you do not create a style of your own or modify
the standard style, all dimensions will look like
this. The dimension line has arrow heads and
the dimension text is positioned above the line
and is drawn using the current text style. The
dimension on the right has been drawn using a
new style. The arrows have been changed to
obliques, the vertical alignment of the text has
been centred and the current text style has been
changed. line
There are lots of dimension commands which origins. If you have a lot of dimensioning work
include facilities for indicating tolerances and to do, it will be worth using a running Osnap.
alternate units dimensioning. However, this Running object snaps are set using the Osnap
tutorial aims to cover the most common Settings dialogue box. To display this dialogue
commands for general use and constitutes an box type DDOSNAP at the keyboard or select
introduction to dimensioning with AutoCAD. Tools/Object Snap Settings from the Pull-
If you would like to learn more about down menu. There is also a keyboard short-cut;
dimensions, refer to the AutoCAD user you can display the Osnap Settings dialogue
manual. box simply by hitting the F3 key.
AutoCAD divides dimensions into four main This tutorial is not designed as a reference for
categories: Linear, Radial, Ordinate and dimensioning conventions. If you wish to learn
Angular. For the purposes of this tutorial we more about dimensioning conventions, consult
will only consider some of the commands BS 308: Part 2.
within the Linear, Radial and Angular
categories.
When you create dimensions, AutoCAD

Selecting Dimension
automatically creates a new layer called Commands
"Defpoints". This is a special layer which Selecting and working with the dimension
cannot be deleted or renamed. AutoCAD uses commands in AutoCAD R14 is much easier
this layer to store dimension information and than in previous versions. All commands can
you can effectively ignore it. (see Object be accessed from the keyboard and now most
Properties for more information on layers) commands are also available from the
Dimension pull-down menu and the Dimension
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toolbar. The Dimension toolbar is particularly
useful because it places all the dimension
commands a single mouse click away. Since (right) whilst working through the following
the Dimension toolbar is not displayed by examples.
default you will need to enable it from the
Toolbars dialogue Command Sequence
Command: DIMLINEAR
box. To display the Toolbar dialogue box, First extension line origin or press
select View/Toolbars… from the pull-down or ENTER to select: (pick P1)
type TOOLBAR at the keyboard. To display Second extension line origin: (pick P2)
the Dimension toolbar, click in the checkbox Dimension line location
(Mtext/Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/
against "Dimension" in the toolbar list.
Rotated): (pick a point to position the
dimension line, you will see the dimension
rubber banding)
The Linear Dimension
Commands You may have noticed that the first prompt
As the name suggests the Linear dimension asks you to pick the first extension line origin
commands are used to dimension along straight or to press the ENTER key. Pressing the
lines. There are five linear dimension Enter/Return key results in the following
commands, namely: DIMLINEAR, prompt:
DIMCONTINUE, DIMBASELINE,
DIMALIGNED and DIMROTATED. The Select object to dimension:
DIMLINEAR command is probably the most
common dimension command you will use. AutoCAD allows you to dimension an object
simply by picking it. Try this out. Draw a line
or a circle and use this option rather than the
The Linear Dimension Command two point option to see what happens.
Dimensions will automatically adjust

Toolbar themselves to accommodate most situations.
Pull-down Dimension/Linear For example, the illustration on the right shows
what happens to a dimension if the gap
Keyboard DIMLINEAR between the two extension lines is too small for
the dimension text.
You can use this command to generate
horizontal and vertical dimensions. The Continue Dimension Command
Creating a linear dimension is easy. All you
have to do is start the command, specify the
two points between which you Toolbar
want the dimension to be drawn
and pick a point to fix the position Pull-down Dimension/Continue
of the dimension line. Consider Keyboard DIMCONTINUE
the diagram
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You can use the Continue command to add a
string of dimensions. In the illustration above
the "36mm" dimension has been continued
from the "64mm" dimension.
Toolbar
Command Sequence
Command: DIMCONTINUE Pull-down Dimension/Baseline
Specify a second extension line origin
Keyboard DIMBASELINE
or (Undo/<Select>): (pick P3)
Specify a second extension line origin You can use this command to generate a series
or (Undo/<Select>): (pick another or to of dimensions from a single base point. You
end) must already have created the first dimension
There is no prompt for the first line origin, in the sequence using a command such as
AutoCAD automatically selects the second line DIMLINEAR. The DIMBASELINE command
origin of the previous dimension to be the first then creates further dimensions in a similar
of the new dimension. way to the DIMCONTINUE command. All the
There is also no prompt for the dimension line user has to do is pick points.
position, AutoCAD automatically matches up
with the previous dimension. Command Sequence
Command: DIMBASELINE
or (Undo/<Select>): (pick next point)
or (Undo/<Select>): (pick another or to
end)
Select base dimension: ( again to end)
Using the Continue command you can very
quickly generate a string of dimensions which
align perfectly. In the example above, the
"34.41" dimension was drawn with the
DIMLINEAR command; all the other
dimensions were drawn using the
DIMCONTINUE command and simply
picking the four points, one after the other. You In the example above, the "35.07" dimension
can only continue a dimension in a single was created using the DIMLINEAR command.
direction. To generate the "26mm" dimension The others were created using DIMBASELINE
in the previous illustration, you will need to use and picking points 1 and 2.
the DIMLINEAR command and pick P3 and
P4 or enter at the first prompt and pick the
The Aligned Dimension Command
line.
The Toolbar
Baseline
Dimension Pull-down Dimension/Aligned
Command Keyboard DIMALIGNED
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You can use this command to generate aligned
dimensions. These are dimensions along In the example above, the Mtext option has
inclined lines which cannot be dimensioned been used to create a multi-line annotation.
with the DIMLINEAR dimension command When you use this option you will notice that
because that command will only give a the Multiline Text Editor dialogue already has
measured dimension in either a horizontal or some text in the text window. This is the
vertical direction. However, as you can see measured dimension and is displayed as "<>".
from the command sequence below, this If you delete this marker the dimension
command works in exactly the same way. measurement will not appear in the annotation.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMALIGNED
First extension line origin or press
ENTER to select:(pick P1)
Second extension line origin: (pick P2)
Dimension line location
(Mtext/Text/Angle): (pick a point)
The DIMCONTINUE and DIMBASELINE

commands can both be used in conjunction
with DIMALIGNED dimensions.
If you need to edit dimension text after the

Changing the Text dimension is drawn, you can use the DDEDIT
You may have noticed that when you are command, Modify/Object/Text… from the
prompted to pick the dimension line location pull-down. If you select a dimension, the
you are also offered a number of options. The Multiline Text Editor will appear and you can
options vary depending upon the particular make any necessary changes to the annotation.
command that you are using. However, the The
Mtext and Text options, which are common to illustratio
all dimension commands are particularly n on the
useful. Essentially they do the same thing, they right
allow you to change the text which will appear shows an
on the dimension line. The Text option allows extract
you to enter a single line of text and the Mtext from the
option starts the MTEXT command and Multiline
enables you to add formatted, multiline text to Text
the dimension. These options can be used to Editor as it would appear if the dimension
add descriptions to your dimensions or to above were selected.
modify the measured distance.
The Radial Dimension

Commands
There are two main radial dimension
commands, DIMDIAMETER and
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DIMRADIUS. Both commands result in a dimension. To achieve this simply start the
similar looking dimension so AutoCAD command, pick a point on the circumference of
automatically inserts a "R" to indicate a radius the circle, pick a second point to determine the
and the dimension symbol to indicate a length of the leader and then add the dimension
dimension. You can get AutoCAD to display text or Return to accept the default.
the dimension symbol by including "%%c" in
any text string. For example, in order to draw Command Sequence
the 40mm diameter text as it is shown in the Command: DIMDIAMETER
Select arc or circle: (pick the
circumference P1)
(Mtext/Text/Angle): (move the cursor until
you are happy with the text position and then
pick to complete the sequence)
illustration on the right, you would need
The Radius Dimension Command
to type "%%c40mm". You can use this special

character with any of the text commands.
Toolbar
The Diameter and Radius commands are
Pull-down Dimension/Radius
supplemented by the DIMCENTER command
which can be used to add a center mark to any Keyboard DIMRADIUS
circle or arc. The DIMDIAMETER and
DIMRADIUS commands do not automatically
draw a center mark. The Radius command is identical to the
Diameter command except that the dimension
By convention it is usual to dimension full measurement is a radius rather than a
circles using a diameter and arcs (partial dimension and the resulting dimension text is
circles) using radius. You will find more prefixed with a "R" to indicate radius.
information on dimensioning conventions in
BS 308: Part 2. Command Sequence
Command: DIMRADIUS
Select arc or circle: (pick the
The Diameter Dimension Command circumference P2)
(Mtext/Text/Angle): (move the cursor until
you are happy with the text position and then
Toolbar pick to complete the sequence)
Pull-down Dimension/Diameter Notice that in the illustration above the radius
Keyboard DIMDIAMETER dimension has been positioned inside the
circle. Both diameter and radius dimensions
can be positioned either inside or outside an arc
You can use the Diameter command to or circle.
annotate a circle or an arc with a diameter
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Practice with the Radial and Diameter Keyboard DIMANGULAR
commands until you understand how they
work.
The Angular command is amazingly flexible
and can be used to indicate an angle in almost
The Center Mark Command any situation. Just like the other
dimension commands, all parts of
the process are rubber banded so
you can see the results of your
actions before you make the final
Toolbar pick.
Command Sequence
Command: DIMANGULAR
Select arc, circle, line, or press
ENTER: (pick a line)
Pull-down Dimension/Center Mark Second line: (pick another line)
Dimension arc line location
Keyboard DIMCENTER (Mtext/Text/Angle): (pick point)
Move the cursor position until you are happy
with the result. Notice that you can move the
cursor to either side of the lines and the angular
You can use the Center Mark command to dimension will change accordingly.
annotate a circle or an arc with a cross at the
center. The illustration above shows a center You may have noticed that at the first prompt
mark added to a circle after a diameter has you are given the option to press ENTER. If
been drawn. you use this option you will be prompted to
pick the angle vertex and then the two angle
Command Sequence endpoints. This is quite useful if the angle you
Command: DIMCENTER
need to dimension is not defined by physical
Select arc or circle: (Pick the lines on the drawing. The illustration on the
circumference of a circle or arc) right shows the result of this option. The centre
A cross is drawn at the center point. point of circle 1 was picked as the angle vertex
and the centre points of circles 2 and 3 were
picked for the two angle endpoints.
Angular Dimensions The degree character is automatically inserted
There is only one command in this section and
for you, however, if you ever need to type it,
it is used to annotate angular measurements.
you can do so by typing "%%d". This is
another of AutoCADs special characters.
The Angular Dimension Command
Ordinate Dimensions
Toolbar Ordinate dimensions are not really dimensions
at all in that they do not indicate a
Pull-down Dimension/Angular measurement. Rather they annotate known co-
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ordinate points. The DIMORDINATE Leaders
command is used to indicate the X and Y
Ordinate dimensions are not really dimensions
ordinate values at any point.
at all in that they do not indicate a
measurement. Rather they annotate known co-
The Ordinate Dimension Command ordinate points. The DIMORDINATE
command is used to indicate the X and Y
ordinate values at any point.
Toolbar
Pull-down Dimension/Ordinate The Leader Command

Keyboard DIMORDINATE
Toolbar
The Ordinate command is used to annotate co-
ordinate points with X or Y values. This may Pull-down Dimension/Leader
be useful for setting-out on site plans.
Keyboard LEADER
Command Sequence
Command: DIMORDINATE
The Leader command can be used to annotate
Select feature: (pick the point to annotate)
Leader endpoint
any point on a drawing. The command
(Xdatum/Ydatum/Mtext/Text): (pick sequence below was used to draw the leader
endpoint or use one of the options) shown in the illustration above.
By default a vertical leader will display the X Command Sequence

Command: LEADER
ordinate and a horizontal one will display the Y
ordinate. However, you can use the Xdatum
and Ydatum options to override this default.
Fro
m
poi
nt: (pick the point to annotate)
To point: (pick vertex point)
To point
(Format/Annotation/Undo)<Annotation>:
In the illustration above, the building corner on (pick end point)
the left has been annotated with X and Y To point
(Format/Annotation/Undo)<Annotation>:
ordinates using the default method. The one on
the right has a Y ordinate which has been
Annotation (or press ENTER for
forced to display in a vertical position using the
options): Corner of
Ydatum option. You could also use the Text or
Mtext options to clearly describe the point you MText: building
are annotating. MText: (to end)
Unlike other dimension commands the leader

Annotation with and annotation text are drawn as separate
objects. So, if you need to move or edit the
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text, you can do so without affecting the leader The results of the four available options are
line. shown in the illustration below.
As you can see by the command line, there are

a number of options with this command
including "Format" options which include
"Spline". Experiment with these options until The Left option moves the text to a left
you understand them. justified position within the dimension.
The Right option moves the text to a right

Editing Dimensions justified position within the dimension.
The dimension edit commands, DIMEDIT and
DIMTEDIT are used primarily to adjust the The Home option returns the text to the home
position of the text part of a dimension. This is position after it has been modified.
usually only necessary if the drawing is quite
complex and the dimension would read more The Angle option enables the text to be rotated
clearly if it were in a different position. about its center.
The Dimension Text Edit Command The Dimension Edit Command
Toolbar Toolbar
Pull-down Dimension/Align Text/options Dimension/Oblique (other options

Pull-
are duplicated in DIMTEDIT so
Keyboard DIMTEDIT down
don't appear)
Keyboard DIMEDIT
The Dimension Text Edit command is used to
modify the text position of any single
dimension. The command can be used to The Dimension Edit command can be used to
position the text dynamically (this is the modify and change the text of any number of
default)or one of the options can be used for a dimensions. The command could, for example,
specific type of movement. For example, the be used to add a standard prefix or suffix to a
dimension shown on the right has been number of dimensions.
modified by dynamically moving the position
of the text and then the text has been rotated Command Sequence
using the Angle option. Command: DIMEDIT
Dimension Edit
(Home/New/Rotate/Oblique) <Home>:
Command Sequence
Command: DIMTEDIT
(choose an option)
Select dimension: (pick the dimension you
Select objects: (pick one or more
want to edit) dimensions)
Enter text location Select objects: (pick more or end)
(Left/Right/Home/Angle): (pick a new
position or use an option) The command sequence will vary depending
upon which option has been chosen but the
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results of the various options are illustrated style, the relative position of the text, the scale
below. of dimensions and many other parameters.
Styles are created using the DIMSTYLE
command.
Dimension styling is a relatively complex area

The Home option returns dimensions to their of AutoCAD and the finer points are beyond
home position. the scope of this tutorial. However, the main
points which will enable you to create clear,
The New option displays the Multiline Text good looking styles are set out below.
Editor. The changes you make to the text will
be applied to all selected dimensions so it is
important not to delete the "<>" marker from
the text string. Deleting this marker will
remove the values from all selected
dimensions.
The Rotate option can be used to rotate

dimension text about its center point. It works
in exactly the same way as the Angle option of
the DIMTEDIT command except that you can Dimension Style Command
rotate any number of dimensions at once.
Toolbar
The Oblique option is used to set the
dimension lines at an angle. This option can be Dimension/Style
very useful when you are dimensioning a Pull-down
…
drawing in isometric projection (see the
illustration on the right). In this case the Keyboard DDIM short-cut D
drawing has been dimensioned using the
Aligned command and then the oblique angle
The Dimension Style command can be used to
modified to suit the dimension position. This
change the appearance of dimensions. The best
usually means setting an angle of 30, 330 or 90
method is to create a new style before you start
degrees depending upon the dimension
creating dimensions so
orientation. If you are creating details in
that you can leave the
isometric projection make sure you are using
STANDARD style as a
the isometric snap/grid option for greater
default option. Having
efficiency. For more information on drawing in
created a new style from
isometric projection and the use of the
STANDARD you can
isometric snap grid, see the "Drawing Aids"
then apply any
tutorial.
modifications you
generally require to the
parent style and then
Dimension Styles more specific modifications to the child styles
Dimension styles are the main method used to in order to create a style family.
control the way dimensions look. Using styles
you can change the text font, the arrow head
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Dimension styles are created using the
Dimension Styles dialogue box. The dialogue
box is shown on the right. As you can see from
the dialogue box, a style is applied to a family
of dimensions. By default, any style changes
are made to the parent. Each style parent has
six child styles. The child styles, Linear,
Radial, Angular, Diameter, Ordinate and
Leader can be used to modify the parent style
when that particular type of dimension is used.
For example, you may like to use a tick rather
than an arrow head for your dimensions but
this isn't really appropriate for a leader, so the Setting the Arrow Head Type
Leader child style can be changed so that The style of arrow heads is set using the
leaders will always be drawn with an arrow Geometry dialogue box, illustrated above. As
head whilst all other dimensions of the same you can see, the STANDARD style has Closed
style family are drawn using ticks. Filled arrow heads as a default.To change the
arrow head style for a
new dimension style,
Creating a new style make sure the style is
To create a new dimension style, make sure the current and that the
STANDARD style is the current style, click in "Parent" radio button is
the Name edit box and type the name of the selected (this assumes
new style you wish to create. Click the Save you are not modifying a
button. You will see a message in the lower left child style), click on the
corner of the dialogue box which says "Created "Geometry…" button and
name from STANDARD" where name is the select a new arrow head
new style name which you typed. The new type from the "1st" drop-
style is automatically set as the current style. down list. Once selected
You may rename the new style if you wish, the new arrow type is
simply by typing a new name in the Name edit illustrated in the dialogue box. If you require
box and clicking on the Rename button. different arrow heads at each end of your
dimensions you can set the other type using the
The new style which you have created is "2nd" drop-down list. Click on "OK" to return
identical to the STANDARD style, so you must to the Dimension Styles dialogue box.
now modify your new style so that it can be
used to create dimensions which conform to
your own requirements. Style changes are Dimension Scale
made in three categories, Geometry, Format When you are working with drawings which
and Annotation. As you can see from the will be plotted at different scales, you will need
Dimension Styles dialogue box, each category some way of changing the scale of the
is represented by a button which leads to a dimension lines relative to your drawing so that
dialogue box which is used to modify the they always appear the same size, irrespective
settings in that particular category. of plotting scale. You can achieve this by using
the Scale variable. This option is also available
from the Geometry dialogue box. The default
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value is set to 1.0. The larger the value the You have independent control over dimension
larger the dimension will appear. For example, text which appears inside and outside of the
a value of 2.0 would double the text height and dimension lines.
the arrow size. To change the scale of
dimensions, simply type the required scale in The illustration on the left shows a dimension
the "Overall Scale" edit box. Try changing the with vertical justification set to "Above" (far
scale factor and check the results. The scaling left) and to "Centred" (near left).
applies to individual styles, so you could create
different styles with different dimension scales
to be used for different plotting scales. Setting Text Style and Units
Text style and units are both set using the
Note that changing the scale of dimensions Annotation dialogue box, illustrated below. To
does not affect the dimension value, this is set a text style to a dimension you must first
always calculated in drawing units. have created the style using the Text Style
command (Format/Text Style… from the
pull-down menu). To assign the text style to a
Setting the Text Location dimension style, click on the "Annotation…"
To change the text location click on the button in the Dimension Styles dialogue box,
"Format…" button in the Dimension Styles click on the drop-down list in the "Text" area
dialogue box. The Format dialogue box is of the Annotation dialogue and select the
shown below. By default the horizontal required text style from the list. Click on "OK"
justification is set to "Centred" and the vertical to return to the Dimension Styles dialogue.
justification to "Above". This means that the
dimension text will appear centred above a
horizontal dimension line and centred left of a
vertical dimension line. To have the text
centred within the dimension line, click on the
down arrow of the "Vertical Justification" pull-
down list to reveal the options and click on
"Centered". The illustration changes to reflect
your choice. Click on "OK" to return to the
Dimension Styles dialogue box. You can see
the result of this action by looking at the
illustration below. Experiment with the
Horizontal
Justification and
Vertical AutoCAD gives you the option to
Justification automatically include a unit prefix or suffix
options to see what results they give. with the dimension text. For example, you
could set the dimension style in such a way that
You can also use Text the option in this it created dimensions with "m" to indicate
dialogue box to change the text orientation in metres after each dimension text. Most usually,
aligned dimensions. By default all dimension dimensions are drawn without units displayed
text is aligned with the dimension. This option but with a note on the drawing indicating the
allows you to force text to appear horizontal, units used, such as "All dimensions in metres".
irrespective of the orientation of the dimension. However, you may have a drawing where
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different units are being used for different Select arc or circle:
elements of the drawing. In such a case it is a Select an arc or circle.
good idea to include units to avoid confusion. Specify dimension line
Remember that the main idea behind location or [Mtext /Text
dimensioning is to give the maximum amount /Angle]: Click on the point where
of information in the clearest and most concise you want the dimension to be.
way. To add units to a dimension style, click
on the "Annotation…" button in the Dimension
Styles dialogue box and enter the required unit
character(s) in the "Prefix" and/or "Suffix" edit
boxes of the "Primary Units" area of the
dialogue box. For example, if you wanted to
display metres, you would type "m" in the
"Suffix" edit box.
The Dimension Update Command

Toolbar
Pull-down Dimension/Update Fig.2 Radius dimensioning.
Keyboard DIM UPDATE Exact measurement of the circle in the figure
The Dimension Update command is used to is 25 units.

apply the current dimension style to existing
dimensions. You can use this command to JOGGED command does not exist in the
change the style of a dimension. Unlike text previous versions. This command enables
styles, dimension styles do not automatically
you to show dimensions for an arc or circle.
update when the style is changed. The
UPDATE command must be used to force As a difference, it shows the dimensions with
dimensions to appear in the current text style. a specific symbol as zigzag line.
CommanSequence Command: _dimjogged
Command: DIM
Dim: UPDATE
Select objects: (pick dimension to update) Select arc or circle: Click
Select objects: (pick more dimensions on an arc or circle.

Specify center location
or to end)
override: Choose center.
Dim: (press the escape key, Esc to return Specify dimension line
Command: _dimradius location or [Mtext /Text
/Angle]: Click on where you want
the dimension to be.
Specify jog location:
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Specify the location of the dimension measurement. Of there is no second line,
text.
you can draw a temporary line and make
dimensioning by that.
Command: _dimangular
Select arc, circle, line,

or : Click on the an arc, circle, line
Fig.4 JOGGED dimension. or corner.
Select second line: Select
In the figure above, you can see the example the second line.
Specify dimension arc
of showing dimension for circle with JOGGED
line location or [ Mtext/
command. Text/ Angle]: Click on the
location where you want the
DIAMETER It is used to present the radius dimension to be.
dimension with (Ø) symbol.
Command: _dimdiameter
Select arc or circle: Select

.
Specify dimension line
location or [ Mtext/
Text/ Angle]: pick the location.
Fig.8 Angular dimensioning.
to the command prompt)
Command: _qdim
Select geometry to
dimension: 1 found
(If the entity you want to dimension is
Fig.6 Radius dimensioning.
a POLYLINE then QDIM will easily
handle this. Or you can make mulitple
ANGULAR enables you to show the
selections for the entities you want to
dimension of angular parts. You can click on dimension one by one and make
both corners and find the angle multiple dimensioning for them)
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Finally, click on the location where you
want the dimension to be.
Fig.4 BASELINE dimensioning.

Fig. 2 If you draw a POLYLINE, you can
place all of the dimensions by only one Command will also automatically determine
click. the space between the dimensions. If your
dimensions are mixed up, you can make the

If you want, you can select all of the entities
relevant necassary adjustments by the help
you want to dimension by selecting them
of Dimension style settings II
with a selection window and dimension all of
article written by Orhan Toker.
them at once, as well as you can make this
operation one bu one for each entity.
Continue Dimension
Command: _dimbaseline
This dimensioning type enables you to make

It enables you to make dimensioning by dimensions which are the continuations of
taking the location, which has been each other. At the first stage, dimension the
dimensioned last, as reference. First, first step as LINEAR. Then, choose
dimension a step by LINEAR as shown in CONTINUE dimensioning and choose the
Fig. 4. end points.
Then press Baseline dimensioning. Command
will automatically find the first point and
prompt you to enter the second point. Click

on each of the corners respectively.
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You can either put a marking at the center of
the circle as seen in figure or by applying the
settings explained by Orhan’s Dimension
Style Settings 3: Dimension arrows and
symbols article. You can place markings as

seen below.
Fig. 6 Continuing dimensioning
Command: _qleader
As shown in Fig.2, click on points 1, 2 and 3
respectively. Enter your text and text width.

Fig. 7 Centermark may also be used as a
If you press ENTER once, cursor goes to the
set of axis.
line below, if you press ENTER twice, you
end the operation.
Let’s enter dimension style settings and then

“Symbols and Arrows” tab. (Fig.2).
With CENTER MARK command, you can

mark centers of CIRCLE or ARC.
Command: _dimcenter
Select arc or circle: Click

on arc or circle.
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Fig.3 Center mark can be the axis lines

at the same time.
You can put center marks into circles or arcs

inside the AutoCAD dimensioning system.
Fig.2 Go to symbols and arrows tab.
This symbol can be either a short plus sign
Arrowheads (mark), or (lines). You can change the
properties of read area I have marked in

You can define arrowheads for first arrow,
Fig.3. Axis lines will also extend as equal to
second arrow and dimensioning labels (DIM /
this setting.
LEADER) , separately for each. When you
choose the first arrowhead, second one will Arc Length Symbol
automatically become the same. But, when
you change the second one, first one will not

change.
Arrow Size
Whatever you enter for this variable, affects
all the three symbols I mentioned before.
Arrowsize can change according to the arrow
type you choose. For example, extensions of

Fig.4 AutoCAD puts an arc symbol so
arrow size can be double when you want
that arc length is does not intervene
architectural cuts, on the contrary half will
with the radius.
look better if you choose point.
For your arc length dimensioning, a small arc

Center Mark
symbol is placed near the dimension. With
this setting, you can determine where this
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symbol will be placed. Our options are in Those of you, who know technical drawings,
front of, under and not to put. know that when we are making dimensioning
for small spaces, we should make it from

Radius, Dimension Jog
outside to inside. But things get complicated
when the dimension text does not fit. If you
place it on the sides, it will be mixed up with
the other one. There we go, FIT tab inside
the dimension style settings is for this

matter.
Fig.5 Jog
Sometimes we show the radius or diameter
dimension for very large arcs or circles with
a zigzag line. In AutoCAD it is called jog
dimension. The last setting in this tab is jog

angle Fig. 2 It is possible to lift the text up
First thing that comes into our minds is
“arrows should remain same, but the
text should go up a little” ( Fig.2 ) Here is

the setting you have to do,
Fig. 3
Fig.1 Dimensions which has come inside If you set the “Text Placement” in FIT tab
each other. as seen in Fig.3 then the texts are placed up

by a reference extension. This setting is OK.
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overall scale of:” among these options, you
can enlarge or narrow all of the physical
properties of the dimension (like dimension
arrow size, text height etc.) by the amount
of value you enter here. Thus, if you enter 2,
all of the dimension style properties will
double (Of cource except the measured value

).
Fig .4 Another solution is to keep the

In this part, there is also a “Scale
text always inside.
dimensions to layout” option. This option
On the other hand, all of the dimension text is for those who use LAYOUT. AutoCAD
can remain inside as seen in Fig.4. In order automatically scales all of the dimensions.
to do this, you must use “Always keep text For this reason, we are always suggesting
between ext. Lines” option from “Fit you to use LAYOUT.
Options”. Another point is that, if you use
“Supress arrows if they don’t fit inside
extension lines” there will be no arrows for

the narrow dimension spaces (Fig.5).
Fig. 6 Overall scale
We also have fine tuning settings. . “Place
text manually” option asks you to place all
of the dimension text during the
dimensioning. We strongly suggest you to
leave this field empty. Our last setting is
“Draw dim line between ext lines”, which
is not to place dimension line in between if
the spacing is very small. This option should

also be left blank.
Fig. 5 Fit options
One of the most important and unknown
setting for dimensions is “Scale for Fig.7 Fine tunings
dimension features”. By using “Use
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You can change each of these settings in
these tabs, so that you can learn what they

are for.
Fig. 1 The units affect the appearance.
Fig. 2. The unit changes are performed

Let’s have look at the unit in Fig.1. The
under the “Primary Units”tab.
writing style of this dimensioning has not
been edited and it has directly written on the When we examine the “Linear Dimension”
measured value. At the first look there are section in detail in Primary Units tab we
two unnecessary situations in the can solve our problem above and can make
dimensioning. The first thing is the writing some necessary changes. First of all , we
style of 5,000 where the zeros are solve the precision value by adding 00 in
unnecessary. The second is the needless Precision section. The other one can be
three decimals in 16,405 measured value solved by check the “Trailing” in “Zero
(sometimes 1/100 scale can be acceptable) Suppression” section. “Trailing zero
Let’s eliminate these two situations. suppression” means hide the zeros after
commas should be checked. We have
completed the first phase.
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If Scale Factor is made as 50 it will give the
measured value in cm. If you make it only in
the Layout portion please click on the mini
table below in order to prevent other values

to be not disturbed.
Fig.3. The extra zeros and numbers
were eliminated by the adjustments we

performed.
Now let’s have look at the other items

and see how it works:
Round Off value can be used whenever Fig.4. The unit can be also written.
requested. For example in architecture 5mm
precision is being used and cm is accepted as
standard unit. Therefore from this time only
0.5 precision after the point is very
important for us. If “Round off” value is
entered as 0.5 then 24.6 will be showed as

25.0 as well as 24.3 will be showed as 24.5.
In other words if the value is greater than
0.5 then it rounds the latter value if not it Fig.1 You can also have AutoCAD to
rounds the former one. write the alternative measurement

under the main dimension.
Prefix and Suffix values are used when you
want extra writing in front or behind of the As you know, AutoCAD automatically
values. For example if the suffix value is measures the distance between the two
entered as mm then mm expression will be points you have chosen and writes it while
displayed in the screen (25 mm). you are making the drawing, unless you
specify anything else. Now you will see one

Scale Factor is used when you want to
of the benefits, as I had mentioned in my
multiply the measure value. For example in
article Understanding scale concept and
spite of our all warnings you have drawn one
to one means 1/50 (1 m = 2 units) drawing.

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units in Autocad, of preparing the drawing settings. Now, let’s have a look at these
one to one, not according to a scale. settings.
Let’s say you are managing one project with Unit Format: In this drop down menu, there
a Japanese originated company and they are are the default unit settings. It is used to
using engineering units but you are using change the variable as architectural,
metric units. So, both sides may have scientific, engineering settings. Let’s choose
difficulty in reading the units. You can engineering for Japanese.
resolve this by making a small adjustment in

Precision: Here, you can determine how
the dimension style settings. Let’s go to
much precision you want for the format you
“Alternate Units” tab in the dimension style
have chosen.
settings.
Multiplier for all units: We can roughly say
that it is the ratio of your unit to the
alternative unit, i.e. if 25.4mm = 1”, then
your multiplier will be 0.03937. As I have
told you, the default formats in the drop
down menu I have mentioned above works.
However, for a special unit (for example
fathom :) ) you will have to specify the

multiplier.
Round distances to: Similarly as I
mentioned in my previous articles, you can
of course specify a rounding value. However,
according to the unit system you have
chosen, the rounding values may be a little
Fig. 2 When you choose the option that different.
is marked with red, other settings will

Prefix/Suffix: It is same as they are in the
open.
units. Whatever you write here, will come in
First of all, we should start by marking front or after the alternative dimension.
“Display alternate units” option. By

Zero Suppression: It is possible not to
marking this option, we have both opened
write the 0 feet or 0 inch values that are
the alternative settings and activated the
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remaining at the end of the decimal part of
the alternative unit system.
Fig. 2 We can make tolerance assigning,

Fig. 3 Where shall we put the alternative
which we are used to, from basic
dimension?
tolerance settings.
We can set the location where the alternative

By using the first option, which is
dimension will be placed by “Placement”
“Symmetrical”, you can get the tolerance
option. I always prefer to put it below. You
format as shown in Fig. 1. By using the
can have this by marking the “Below the
other settings, you can change values like
primary value” option.
decimal digits after dot (precision), upper
and lower values and text height scale

(scaling for height).
Below, you can find examples for tolerance

formats.
Fig. 1 Assigning symmetrical tolerance

values.
To achieve this, you must select the format
you like from the “Tolerance Format” pull-
down menu from TOLARENCES tab in

dimension style settings (Fig. 2).
Fig. 3 Tolerance by using deviation

method.
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Fig. 4 Showing tolerances by using

upper and lower limits.
Now start the Array command.First of all, make

sure that the Rectangular Array radio button is
Fig. 5 Basic tolerance (You should put selected and that you are looking at the
Rectangular Array dialogue box and now follow
tolerance beside it by yourself). the steps below:
:ARRAY COMMAND 1. Click the Select objects button. The dialogue

box will temporarily disappear enabling you to
The Array command makes multiple copies of select the rectangle you just drew. Press the
selected objects in a rectangular matrix Return button on your keyboard to complete
(columns and rows) or a polar (circular) pattern the selection. You are now returned to the
dialogue box and the message immediately
• RECTANGULAR ARRAY- Arrays the below the Select Objects button should read "1
selected object in Rows/ column objects selected".
arrangement.
2. Enter the number of rows required in the Rows
edit box. For this example, enter the value "3".
Notice that the schematic preview on the right
hand side of the dialogue box updates to reflect
the values you are entering.
3. Enter the number of columns required in the

Columns edit box. Enter the value "2".
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4. Enter the row offset in the Row Offset edit box. and follow the steps below:
This is the distance DR in the illustration above.
Note that tis is not the distance between rows.
In this example, our rectangle is 10 units high 1. Click the Select objects button. The dialogue
and we will enter a row offset of 15. The result box will temporarily disappear enabling you to
will be a 5 unit gap between rectangles. select the rectangle you just drew. Press the
Return button on your keyboard to complete
5. Enter the column offset in the Column Offset the selection. You are now returned to the
edit box. The same parameters apply as for the dialogue box and the message immediately
row offset. Enter a value of 25 to give a 5 unit below the Select Objects button should read "1
gap between our rectangles. objects selected".
6. Click on the Preview button. Once again, the 2. Specify the center point for the array. This is
dialogue box disappears and the specified the point C in the illustration below. You can do
array is temporarily drawn so that we can this by entering x and y co-ordinates into the
preview it. We are now offered 3 choices. If the appropriate edit boxes if you know what these
array isn't quite right, click the Modify button to values should be. However, this is rarely the
return to the Array dialogue box. If you are case and most often you will want to click the
happy with the array, click the Accept button, Pick Center Point button to pick a point from
the array will be permanently drawn and the the drawing area. Pick a point somewhere
command is ended. below the rectangle you have just drawn.
You should now have an array that looks similar to 3. Enter a value for the total number of items. For
the one in the illustration above consisting of 6 this example, enter the value "6". Notice that
rectangles arranged in 3 rows and 2 columns. once again, the schematic preview updates to
As you can se, this command is very powerful reflect the values you have entered.
and can save lots of time if used carefully.
4. Make sure that the Rotate items as copied
• POLAR ARRAY- checkbox is checked.
Arrays the selected object in circular

arrangement.
5. Click on the Preview button. Once again, the

dialogue box disappears and the specified
array is temporarily drawn so that we can
preview it. We are now offered 3 choices. If the
array isn't quite right, click the Modify button to
return to the Array dialogue box. If you are
happy with the array, click the Accept button,
the array will be permanently drawn and the
command is ended.
You can try this for yourself by drawing another The array you have just drawn should look
rectangle as described above. This time, something like the one illustrated below, left.
though, locate the rectangle in the centre top Take some time to play around with the other
half of the drawing area. Now, start the Array options in the Array dialogue box to see what
command, click the Polar Array radio button they can do
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ARC- The Arc command allows you to draw an arc
of a circle. There are numerous ways to define
an arc, the default method uses three pick
points, a start point, a second point and an end
point. Using this method, the drawn arc will
start at the first pick point, pass through the
second point and end at the third point. Once
you have mastered the default method try
some of the others. You may, for example need
to draw an arc with a specific radius. All of the
Arc command options are available from the
ARRAY- pull-down menu.
Modify toolbar >
Pull down menu > Modify > Array
Keyboard ARRAY or AR
ELLIPSE COMMAND- The Ellipse command gives Draw toolbar

you a number of different creation options. The
default option is to pick the two end points of an Pull down menu > Draw > Arc
axis and then a third point to define the
eccentricity of the ellipse. After you have
Keyboard ARC or A
mastered the default option, try out the others.
EXPLODE- The Explode command is used to
"explode" single objects back to their
constituent parts. In other words, the command
is used to return blocks, polylines etc. (which
may be composed of a number of component
objects) back to their individual component
parts. The change has no visible effect
Modify toolbar
Draw toolbar
Pull down menu > Modify > Explode

Pull down menu >draw > Ellipse
Keyboard EXPLODE or X
Keyboard ELLIPSE or EL
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The Dimension Style Manager Back at the "Dimension Style Manager" dialog box,
you will see that the new style you created is listed
Keyboard DDIM or D at the top (left side). To modify it, select the name,
So now that you have seen what can do - how do then press the modify button. The dialog box opens
you do it? All options are available in the DDIM at you are at the first tab (Lines and Arrows).
(Dimension Style Manager) dialog box.
On the left is current style for working with

(highlighted in green) and below that is an indicator
that the style has overrides.
In this lesson, you will create a new Dimension As a general rule, I recommend not change much
Style and use it in a drawing. From there, you on this tab - especially when you're learning. Set as
should try different styles and get familiar with the defaults, the dimensions are sized proportionately,
options. Most companies these days will have a if you change the setting on one parameter, your
standard style (or set of styles) to use on drawings, dimension can look 'off-balance'. For example, you
but this is a very important tool to know if you want could end up with huge arrows and small text. For
to turn out professional looking drawings. the purposes of this lesson, the only thing that will
change on this tab is the arrowheads. Select
Start but invoking the DDIM command and press something other than the standard. You'll also see
the NEW button to open the small dialog for that you can set the colours, but just like regular
entering the name of the style you are creating. In objects, it's best to leave them set to "Bylayer" -
this example I used the name "DIMSTYLE 1". and make sure you have a separate layer for all
dimensions.
Go to the second tab (Text).
Start up the Text Styles dialog box by pressing the

button with the ... next to the text name. Create a
new textstyle using RomanS and a width of 0.8 and
call it "DIMTEXT". (For more info, see Lesson 1-8.)
Close the Text Styles dialog box. Select DIMTEXT
as your text for dimensions as shown.
The great thing about this dialog box is that it

shows you a preview of what your changes will do
the final dimension in the top right window. In the
Make sure that "Start with" has "Standard" as its bottom right, select ISO as the Text Alignment
setting. Press the Continue Button when everything option. Try some other changes to see their effects
is set. This will open the dialog box for settings, so in the preview, then end with the settings as shown
just press OK to close it for now. below:
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Make the changes you see above and check the
preview after each change. In this tab, you can also
set the overall scale of your dimensions. This can
also be done using the DIMSCALE command.
The next tab (alternate units) is used if you want to

display two different units in your dimension. For
example, you can draw your drawing in imperial
inches, then dimension with inches as your primary
units and add the alternate units behind. Skip this
tab for now and go on to the last tab (Tolerances).
In this example, you will set the tolerances to be +/-

So far you haven't changed much, but you've seen .05 units and display them at 80% of the primary
the options available in just 2 tabs. Click on the units. Sound easy? It is. Look at the image below to
next tab to continue. see how this is done.
As a rule, I leave this tab alone. AutoCAD does a

good job of placing and fitting dimension where I
want them. If I don't agree, I usually just use grips
to edit the placement. Click on the next tab
(Primary Units) to continue.
In the Primary Units, you find some of the more

common parameters that need to be changed.
Precision is very important. First off, you usually
don't need to show 4 decimal places. If you do
show 4 decimals places and send your drawing off
to the machinist, you are asking him to manufacture
the part to within 1/10000 of a unit - which can be a WBLOCK command - a create tool for creating a
very expensive mistake. 3 Decimal places is new file from content in your current open
usually enough - or less for rougher jobs. drawing.
Also, I have added a couple of other changes; Keyboard WBLOCK or W

adding leading and trailing zeros and a suffix
denoting the units.
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Standard toolbar
Pull down menu > Format > Layer
Keyboard LAYER
LAYER- Although AutoCAD provides many

shortcuts for working with layers, many of which will
be covered later, the Layer command provides the
most comprehensive control over layers and layer
operations. This command uses a dialogue box.
The dialogue box is a tabbed dialogue box and can There are a few restrictions to consider when you
be modified to show more or less details. This is are naming layers. The most annoying is that
quite nice because in its simplified form it looks you cannot use spaces within layer names. So,
much less intimidating to beginners. The following for example, the layer name "Tree trunk" is
setions demonstrate how the Layer command can illegal. However, it is common practice to
be used to perform many of the most common layer replace the space with either a hyphen or an
operations. underscore, both of which are valid layer name
characters. So, the layer names "Tree-trunk"
Creating a New LayerTo create a new layer, click and "Tree_trunk" are both acceptable. Some
on in the Object Properties toolbar, the Layer & other special characters are also not allowed. If
Linetype Properties dialogue box, illustrated below, you do use an illegal character, AutoCAD will
appears. This is a tabbed dialogue box and can be alert you with the error message box illustrated
used to control either layer properties or linetype above. Notice that it very helpfully tells you
properties depending upon which tab is selected. which characters are legal. Basically, if you
The Layer tab is always selected by default. Now stick with letters and numbers you won't
click on the "New" button. A new layer called experience any problems. In addition to the
"Layer1" is automatically created in the layer list hyphen and underscore mentioned above, the
below layer 0. As you can see from the illustration, dollar sign is the only other symbol allowed.
the layer name is automatically highlighted for you
so that you can give the layer a more meaningful
name. When you have entered an appropriate
name, press the key to complete the operation.
You have now created a new layer and given it a
name. Notice that by default it has been assigned
the colour white and the linetype "Continuous".
The only other restriction relating to layer names is

the number of characters used. Layer names
can be between one and thirty-one characters
long. This should give you plenty of scope to
devise understandable and descriptive names
for your layers. It is good drawing practice to
name your layers sensibly, bear in mind that
other people may have to work with drawings
which you create. If you enter a layer name
longer that 31 characters, AutoCAD will display
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the error message drawing process you decide that these objects
should, in fact, be yellow. In order to make the
change you would have to use the Properties
command and select every one of the objects
by picking them. By contrast, if you had set the
objects colour to ByLayer, you would only have
to change the layer colour from green to yellow
and all of the objects would change.
There are times , however, when in is useful to be

able to set colour and linetype properties by
object. Setting properties by object is covered
later in this tutorial. The following sections
cover the setting of colour and linetype
Layers are always listed alphabetically in layer lists, ByLayer.
the user has no other way to control the list
order. It is worth bearing this in mind when Making a Layer the Current Layer
naming your layers. Keep similar object layers
together by devising a hierarchical naming Once you have created some layers you will want
structure. For example, if you are drawing a to start using them. As indicated above, you
tree symbol which comprises a number of can only draw on one layer at a time. In order to
elements, your layer names might be, draw on a particular layer you must first make it
"Tree_canopy", "Tree_text", "Tree_trunk" etc. the current layer. As usual with AutoCAD there
This will cause all the Tree layers to be are a number of alternatives. You could, for
displayed together, see the illustration on the example, use the Layer command, Layer...
right. This is quite important because in from the Format pull-down or from the Object
complicated drawings there may be many Properties toolbar. As you have seen
layers and searching for the right group of previously, this command brings up the Layer &
layers can waste a lot of time. Linetype Properties dialogue box. To
Setting Colour and Linetype "ByLayer" set the current layer, select a layer name from the
list and then click on the "Current" button and
AutoCAD offers two methods of setting the colour then click the "OK" button to finish. The
and linetype of a drawing object. First of all, selected layer is now the current layer and it's
colour and linetype can be set ByLayer. In other properties are displayed on the Object
words, an object will be displayed in the colour Properties toolbar.
and linetype of its layer. For example, if you
draw a circle on a layer which you have called
"Detail" and you have also set the colour of
Detail to blue and the linetype to dashed, then
the circle will be displayed in a dashed blue
line. When an object takes on the properties of
its layer, the colour and linetype are said to be
set "ByLayer".
The second method AutoCAD offers is to set the

colour and linetype by object. Setting properties
by object overrides those set ByLayer. In
general it is good drawing practice to set colour
and linetype properties ByLayer, this is more
efficient and less confusing in the long-run. For Most experienced AutoCAD users change the
example, imagine that you have drawn current layer so frequently that the above
hundreds of objects on the same layer and method starts to seem very long winded. It is
have set their colour to green. Later in the much quicker and therefore more efficient to set
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the current layer directly from the Object Properties toolbar. When the Layer & Linetype
Properties toolbar using the "Layer Control" Properties dialogue box appears, click on the
drop-down list. To set the current layer, click on "Details>>" button to reveal the layer details.
the down arrow next to the Layer Control Pick the layer name you wish to change from
window to reveal the layer list. Simply click on the layer list. The name appears in the Name
the name of the layer you wish to make current. text edit box under "Details". Simply edit or
If the layer name is not visible because the list retype the name in the edit box and you will see
is quite long, scroll down the list until you see it. the name change simultaneously in the layer
The drop-down list only displays 10 layers at a list. You cannot rename layer "0", the deafault
time. As a beginner, you may feel that this is layer, nor can you rename a layer called
quite a lot but a complex and well structured "Defpoints" which AutoCAD creates
drawing may have 50 or 100 layers. automatically when you use Dimensions (see
Dimensioning). In theory you can also edit a
Turning Layers On and Off layer name directly from the layer list but I have
always found this to be a bit tricky. Notice that
you can also change the layer colour and
You can turn layers off or on either by using the
linetype using the "Details" section of the
Layer command, from the Object dialogue box.
Properties toolbar or you can more easily do it
using the "Layer Control" list, directly from the Deleting a Layer
Object Properties toolbar. In either case, all you
have to do is click on the icon you wish to
change. The icons all act as toggles, so if a To delete a layer, start the Layer command,
layer is on, all you need to do is click on the from the Object Properties toolbar to open the
icon and the icon will change to , turning the Layer & Linetype Properties dialog box. Click
the name of the layer to highlight it, click the
layer off. And conversely, clicking on
"Delete" button and then click "OK".
changes the icon to and turns the layer back
on.
You cannot delete any layer which has objects on
it, you cannot, therefore, use this process to
Objects on a layer which is turned off aren't delete all of the objects on a particular layer.
displayed in the drawing window and they won't You cannot delete the current layer, layer "0",
be plotted. The objects still exist in the drawing; layer "Defpoints" or any layers from external
they are just invisible. references.
If a layer is turned off and you make it the current

layer, AutoCAD turns it on. It's possible to turn To delete a layer, start the Layer command,
off the current layer, but this is rarely desirable. from the Object Properties toolbar to open the
To do so causes no harm, but it can be Layer & Linetype Properties dialog box. Click the
confusing if you don't realise what has name of the layer to highlight it, click the "Delete"
happened; new objects you draw are added to button and then click "OK".
the drawing but are not displayed until the layer
is again turned on. Each designated layer is You cannot delete any layer which has objects on
turned on (made visible) using the colour it, you cannot, therefore, use this process to delete
number and linetype previously associated with all of the objects on a particular layer. You cannot
it. If the layer is presently frozen, turning it on is delete the current layer, layer "0", layer "Defpoints"
not sufficient to make it display again; you must or any layers from external references.
also thaw the layer (see Freezing and Thawing
Layers below).
Renaming a Layer
To rename a layer, start the Layer command by

clicking on the button on the Object
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Keyboard POLYLINE or PL
POLYEDIT
Keyboard POLYEDIT ,PEDIT or PE
Command use to transform multiple objects(consist

of lines and arcs) into single object.
MULTILINE-
POLY LINE - Polylines differ from lines in that they
are more complex objects. A single polyline can Pull down menu > Draw > Multiline
be composed of a number of straight-line or arc
segments. Polylines can also be given line Keyboard MULTILINE or ML
widths to make them appear solid.
The Multiline command is used to draw multilines.
You may be wondering, if Polylines are so useful, This process of drawing is pretty much the same as
why bother using ordinary lines at all? There drawing polylines, additional line segments are
are a number of answers to this question. The added to the multiline as points are picked. As with
most frequently given answer is that because of polylines, points can be unpicked with the Undo
their complexity, polylines use up more disk option and multilines can be closed.
space than the equivalent line. As it is desirable
to keep file sizes as small as possible, it is a
good idea to use lines rather than polylines When you start the Multiline command you also
unless you have a particular requirement. You have the option to specify the Justification,
will also find, as you work with AutoCAD that Scale and Style of the multiline. The
lines and polylines are operationally different. Justification option allows you to set the
Sometimes it is easier to work with polylines for justification to "Top", the default, "Zero" or
certain tasks and at other times lines are best. "Bottom". When justification is set to top, the
You will quickly learn the pros and cons of top of the multiline is drawn through the pick
these two sorts of line when you begin drawing points, as in the illustration below. Zero
with AutoCAD. justification draws the centreline of the multiline
through the pick points and Bottom draws the
bottom line through the pick points. Justification
The Polyline or Pline command is similar to the line allows you to control how the multiline is drawn
command except that the resulting object may relative to your setting out information. For
be composed of a number of segments which example, if you are drawing a new road with
form a single object. In addition to the two ends reference to its centre line, then Zero
a polyline is said to have vertices (singular justification would be appropriate.
vertex) where intermediate line segments join.
In practice the Polyline command works in the
same way as the Line command allowing you
to pick as many points as you like. Again, just
hit to end. As with the Line command, you also
have the option to automatically close a polyline
end to end. To do this, type C to use the close
option instead of hitting . Follow the command
sequence below to see how this works.
Draw toolbar
Pull down menu > Draw > Polyline

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The Scale option allows you to set a scale factor,
which effectively changes the width of the
multiline. The default scale factor is set to 1.0
so to half the width of the multiline, a value of
0.5 would be entered. A value of 2.0 would
double the width.
The Style option enables you to set the current

multiline style. The default style is called
"Standard". This is the only style available
unless you have previously created a new style
with the Multiline Style command.
ALIGN- Use ALIGN to move, rotate, or scale objects

into alignment with other objects. Add source points
to the objects you want to align, and add destination
points to the objects to which you want the source
objects to align. You can add up to three pairs of
source and destination points to align an object
Keyboard ALIGN or AL
STRETCH- The Stretch command can be used to

move one or more vertices of an object whilst
leaving the rest of the object unchanged. In the
example below, a rectangle has been stretched
by moving one vertex to create an irregular
shape.
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 ISOMETRIC DRAWING
isometric circles drawn by ELLIPSE. You can cycle
through the isometric planes by pressing CTRL+E or F5.
LEFT
Rctangular snap Isometric snap

Selects the left-hand plane, defined by the 90-degree and
The Isometric Snap/Grid mode helps you create 2D 150-degree axis pair.
isometric images that represent 3D objects.
TOP
By setting the Isometric Snap/Grid, you can easily align
objects along one of three isometric planes; however,
although the isometric drawing appears to be 3D, it is
actually a 2D representation. Therefore, you cannot
expect to extract 3D distances and areas, display objects
from different viewpoints, or remove hidden lines
automatically.
TO DRAW ISOMETRIC CIRCLE
1. From the Tools menu, choose Drafting Settings.

Selects the top face of the cube, called the top plane,
defined by the 30-degree and 150-degree axis pair.
2. On the Snap and Grid tab, under Snap Type and
Style, turn on the isometric snap and choose
OK. RIGHT
3. From the Draw menu, choose Ellipse

Axis, End.
4. Enter i (Isocircle).
5. Specify the center of the circle.

Selects the right-hand plane, defined by the 90-degree
and 30-degree axis pair.
6. Specify the radius or diameter of the circle.
ISOPLANE
The isometric plane affects the cursor movement keys

only when Snap mode is on and the snap style is
Isometric. If the snap style is Isometric, Ortho mode uses
the appropriate axis pair even if Snap mode is off. The
current isometric plane also determines the orientation of
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commands that control the 3D Orbit display,
projection, and visualization tools. You can
THE 3-D CO-ORDINATE SYSTEM access Pan and Zoom options from the 3D
Orbit shortcut menu or on the 3D Orbit toolbar.
By now you should be very comfortable working
your way around the X-Y co-ordinate system.
You can also choose to use a perspective or a
Anyway, here is a quick review. Looking from the parallel projection of the view while 3DORBIT
plan (top) view, this is what you see to figure out is active.
where is positive X and positive Y.
Shade Objects in the 3D Orbit View
Objects in the 3D Orbit view can be shaded to give them

a more realistic 3D appearance. You can change the way
objects are shaded using the different shading modes,
which are also accessible from the 3D Orbit shortcut
menu.
Use Visual Aids in the 3D Orbit View
You can choose to display one or more of the visual aids

If you were to look at the same picture, but at a (compass, grid, and UCS icon) in the 3D Orbit view. A
slight angle, you would see the third axis. This new check mark is displayed next to the active visual aid
axis is called the Z-axis. Imagine that the positive option(s). A visual aid that is active when you exit
Z-axis is coming towards you out of the monitor 3DORBIT remains active in the view outside the 3D
Orbit view unless SHADEMODE is set to 2D
Wireframe.
• Compass. Draws a sphere within the

arcball composed of three lines
representing the X, Y, and Z axes.
• Grid. Draws an array of lines on a plane parallel

to the current X and Y axes, perpendicular to
the Z axis. You specify the height of the grid
display in the ELEVATION system variable.
Before starting 3DORBIT, you can use the GRID

command to set system variables that control the grid
The Z-axis has always been there, lurking in the display. The number of major grid lines corresponds to
background, waiting for you. the value you set using the Grid Spacing option of
GRID, which is stored in the GRIDUNIT system
When you entered points previously, you variable. Ten horizontal lines and ten vertical lines are
drawn between major lines.
would enter them in the format: X,Y. By doing
this, you let AutoCAD know that in these When you zoom in and out of the 3D Orbit view, the
cases, Z was equal to zero. Entering 4,3 would number of grid lines changes to give you a clear view of
be the same as entering 4,3,0. Now if you the lines. Fewer lines are drawn as you zoom out. As you
drew a line from the origin (0,0,0) to a point zoom in closer, more grid lines are drawn until the
number of lines corresponds again to the number set in
at 4,3,2, you would get a line that goes 4 GRIDUNIT.
inches to the right, 3 inches up and 2 inches
towards you. You can choose from several
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• UCS Icon. Turns the display of the UCS icon You also can create viewports on a layout tab. You use
on and off. If the UCS icon is displayed when the viewports you create there for arranging the views of
you start 3DORBIT, a shaded 3D UCS icon is your drawing on a sheet. You can move and resize these
displayed in the 3D Orbit view. On the 3D UCS viewports, and you also have more control over the
icon, the X axis is red, the Y axis is green, and display. For example, you can freeze certain layers in
the Z axis is blue or cyan. The UCSICON one viewport without affecting the others.
command also controls the display of the 3D
UCS icon. SPLIT AND JOIN MODEL VIEWPORTS
Use Continuous Orbit The illustrations below show several default viewport
configurations
You can click and drag in the 3D Orbit view to start a
continuous motion. When you release the pick button on
your pointing device, the orbit continues in the direction
that you were dragging.
While Continuous Orbit is active, you can change the

view by right-clicking in the drawing area and choosing
Projection, Shading Modes, Visual Aids, Reset View, or
Preset Views from the shortcut menu. You can also turn
the front and back clipping planes on and off while
Continuous Orbit is active; however, you cannot adjust
the clipping planes. If you choose Pan, Zoom, Orbit, or
Adjust Clipping Planes from the shortcut menu,
Continuous Orbit ends. SELECT THE CURRENT VIEWPORT
VIEWPORT In AutoCAD, you always work in one viewport at a

time. When you use multiple viewports, one of them is
Viewports are areas that display different views of your the current viewport. When a viewport is current, the
model. As you work on the Model tab, you can split the cursor is displayed as crosshairs rather than an arrow and
drawing area into one or more adjacent rectangular the viewport boundary is highlighted. You can change
views known as model viewports. In large or complex the current viewport at any time except when a viewing
drawings, displaying different views reduces the time command is in progress.
needed to zoom or pan in a single view. Also, errors you
might miss in one view may be apparent in the others. To make a viewport the current viewport, you click
inside it or press CTRL+R to cycle through the existing
Viewports created on the Model tab completely fill the viewports.
drawing area and do not overlap. As you make changes
in one viewport, the others are updated simultaneously. To draw a line using two viewports, you start the line in
Three model viewports are shown in the illustration. the current viewport, make another viewport current by
clicking within it, and then specify the endpoint of the
line in the second viewport. In a large drawing, you can
use this method to draw a line from a detail in one corner
to a detail in a distant corner.
To join two viewports on the Model tab
1. From the View menu, choose Viewports. Then

choose Join.
2. Click within the viewport containing the view

you want to keep.
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3. Click within an adjacent viewport to join it to below. The hidden-line image makes it easier to
the first viewport visualize the model because the back faces are not
displayed. Shading and rendering can greatly enhance
EXTRUDE COMMAND the realism of the image.
With EXTRUDE, you can create solids by extruding Note It is strongly recommended that you have
(adding thickness to) selected objects. You can extrude a 3D graphics card if you plan to use Render
an object along a path, or you can specify a height value options, particularly textures and higher quality
and a tapered angle.
transparency.
Use EXTRUDE to create a solid from a common profile
of an object, such as a gear or sprocket. EXTRUDE is
particularly useful for objects that contain fillets,
chamfers, and other details that might otherwise be
difficult to reproduce except in a profile. If you create a
profile using lines or arcs, use the Join option of PEDIT
to convert them to a single polyline object or make them
into a region before you use EXTRUDE.
REGION- A region is a surface created from

objects that form a closed shape, known as a loop.
The Region command is used to transform objects
into regions rather than actually drawing them (i.e.
you will need to draw the closed shape or loop
first). Once a region is created, there may be little
visual difference to the drawing. However, if you set
the shade mode to "Flat Shaded", View Shade Of the image types, hidden-line images are the simplest.
Flat Shaded, you will see that the region is, in fact, Shading removes hidden lines and assigns flat colors to
a surface and not simply an outline. Regions are visible surfaces. Rendering adds and adjusts lights and
particularly useful in 3D modeling because they can attaches materials to surfaces to produce realistic effects.
be extruded
Creating realistic three-dimensional (3D) images helps

you visualize your final design much more clearly than
you can with wireframe representations. In the
wireframe, because all edges and tessellation lines (lines
that help visualize curved surfaces) are visible, it's hard
to tell whether you're viewing the model from above or
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Command: F <ENTER>
FILLET
The purpose of this lesson is to look further at the Current settings: Mode = TRIM, Radius
EXTRUDE command. As you saw in Lesson 3-7, it = 0.0000
can be used to create a 3D solid from a closed 2D Select first object or
shape. Two other ways you can extrude (which you [Polyline/Radius/Trim/mUltiple]: R
may have seen as options on the command line) Specify fillet radius <0.0000>: 24
are to taper the extrusion and the extrude a shape Select first object or
along a path. If you need to, you can also combine [Polyline/Radius/Trim/mUltiple]: P
the two options and extrude along a path while Select 2D polyline: <SELECT THE
tapering the shape (shown below POLYLINE>
3 lines were filleted
What you're going to do next is extrude a circle a

One example where you can use extruded paths is long the polyline - or to be more accurate, the path
to represent pipes in a drawing. You may not use of the polyline. This would be one way of drawing
the tapered path option often, but at least it's there. pipes in 3D. For this example, you'll draw a pipeline
with a diameter of 12 units.
EXTRUDING ALONG A PATH
Next draw CIRCLE at the bottom right end of
Draw a POLYLINE from 0,0 to 120,0 to 120,120 polyline. Use a diameter of 12 (radius of 6). Once
to 240,120 to 240,0 and then press <Enter> to you have that, you need to rotate it in 3D. This is
finish the command. covered in the next lesson as well. To do this, you
will select the circle, select the axis you want it
rotated around and then choose the angle.
Do a Zoom > Extents to see the polyline and then
zoom out a little more. Your line should look like
Command: ROTATE3D
this:
Current positive angle:
ANGDIR=counterclockwise ANGBASE=0
Select objects: <SELECT THE CIRCLE> 1
found
Select objects: <ENTER>
Specify first point on axis or define
axis by
[Object/Last/View/Xaxis/Yaxis/Zaxis/2p
oints]: X Specify a point on the X
axis
<0,0,0>: <SELECT THE BOTTOM RIGHT END
OF THE POLYLINE - Make sure your
Next you will put a 24 unit radius on all the corners. Osnaps are on for endpoints>
The easiest way to do this is using the Polyline Specify rotation angle or [Reference]:
option of the FILLET command. 90 <ENTER>
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Your circle should have rotated 90 degrees and be extruded along a path. A path can be any open
now you are looking at the side of it so the circle object such as lines, arc, polylines, splines, etc.
appears to be a line as shown in the image below.
For more practice, try to created a cord for your
lamp (Lesson 3-8) using a Spline as the path. You
can also extrude 2 circles along a path (make one
one circle smaller) and then subtract the smaller
diameter extrusion from the larger to create a
hollow pipe.
Use the 3DORBIT command to view it at different

angles (Click on the screen, hold the button down
and move the cursor around the screen). Try
extruding different shapes with various taper angles
for more practices.
Now comes the easy part. Next you will EXTRUDE
the circle along the path of the polyline. These options give you a lot of versatility within
one command. You may not use these options
Command: EXT very often in your everyday drafting, but they're
EXTRUDE good to know
Current wire frame density: ISOLINES=4
Select objects: <SELECT THE CIRCLE> 1 UCS – USER CO-ORDINATE SYSTEM
found The user coordinate system (UCS) is a movable
Select objects: <ENTER> coordinate system for coordinate entry, planes of
Specify height of extrusion or [Path]: operation, and viewing. Most AutoCAD geometric
P editing commands are dependent on the location and
Select extrusion path or [Taper orientation of the UCS; objects are drawn on the XY
angle]: <SELECT THE PLINE> plane of the current UCS
Note: After the Extrude command, the polyline will SETTING AND USING THE UCS
still be there. If you need to keep your drawing
clean, remember to erase the path if you don't need When working in 3D, it sometimes necessary to
it any more. To see how it looks, view the object in change the plane that you are drawing on. For
the SW Isometric view, and use the HIDE example, if you need to add some detail to the
command. It should look like this: side of a wall, you would want to draw on that
plane. It's like taking a sheet of paper up off the
floor (WCS) and taping it onto the wall (UCS).
The WCS is the World Co-ordinate System.

This is the way that the standard X,Y and Z
axis are directed when you begin a new
drawing (X to the right, Y pointing up and Z
pointing towards you). The UCS is the User Co-
ordinate System. This is a ‘redirection' of the
WCS based on parameters set
by the AutoCAD user.
This is just one option available with the Extrude There are several ways of doing this, and we'll
command. Try it on other paths and see how it look at an example here
works. You will find that if your circle is too large, it
may not be able to be extruded on polylines with
tight corners. Any object that can be extruded can
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.NOTE: Pressing enter immediately after

entering the UCS command accepts the default
This is a simple shape drawn on the WCS with one of returning to the WCS.
corner located at 0,0,0.
Here are the other options of the UCS command.
Here is the same object shown a new UCS based
on the side of the object, so that you are enabled to
draw a rectangle on that side: ORIGIN:
Command: UCS
Notice that the positive X Axis is now pointing along
Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/
the side of the house.
Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: O
Origin point <0,0,0>: <PICK A POINT>
Here's how it was changed: You first choose
the 3 point option by typing 3 at the prompt.
Next you have to pick three points to define the This option moves the UCS based on a newly
plane. The first point is the new origin. The picked origin point. It does not shift the drawing
second point is plane
where you want the positive X-axis to be at all as you only pick one point.
positioned. The last point is for the positive Y-Axis.
Z-AXIS:
Command: UCS
Current ucs name: *NO NAME* Command: UCS
Enter an option Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/
[New/Move/orthoGraphic/Prev/Restore/Sa Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: ZA
ve/Del/Apply/?/World] Origin point <0,0,0>:
<World>: 3 Point on positive portion of Z-axis <-
Specify new origin point <0,0,0>: (P1) 8.0000,0.0000,1.0000>:
Specify point on positive portion of
X-axis <1.0000,7.0000,0.0000>: (P2) This choice allows you to pick two points. First you
Specify point on positive-Y portion of pick the new origin, then you pick a point for the
the UCS XY plane positive Z-Axis. Make sure you type ZA to choose
<1.0000,7.0000,0.0000>: (P3) this option.
This is the ‘3-Point' option of the UCS Command. It OBJECT:

is one of the most useful, because you control
exactly where the new drawing plane will be. You Command: UCS
must also be extremely careful when picking the 3 Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/
points, or your plane can be shifted and cause Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: OB
some major problems. I would recommend using Select object to align UCS:
this method for most of your UCS work - or at least
get very comfortable with it before moving on to
other methods
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Using this method, you have to pick on a 2D object Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: R
that is lying on a particular drawing plane. This gets ?/Name of UCS to restore: VIEW1
tricky, as you have to be aware how your positive X
and Y axes end up. Command: UCS
VIEW: Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: ?
UCS name(s) to list <*>:
Command: UCS Current UCS: VIEW1
Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/ Saved coordinate systems:
Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: V VIEW1
Origin = <0.0000,0.0000,0.0000>, X
Axis = <1.0000,0.0000,0.0000>
By choosing the view option, AutoCAD will Y Axis = <0.0000,1.0000,0.0000>, Z
automatically reset the UCS to be aligned with your Axis = <0.0000,0.0000,1.0000>
current view, keeping the origin where it was Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/
previously located. Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: D
UCS name(s) to delete <none>: VIEW1
X / Y / Z: Deleted 1 UCS name.
Command: UCS This was a series where a view was saved,

Origin/ZAxis/3point/OBject/View/X/Y/Z/ restored, listed, and then deleted.
Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: X
Rotation angle about X axis <0>: -90
Other notes about the UCS:
By selecting either the X, Y or Z options, you need Be careful when choosing a UCS. Look to the UCS
to first pick a point along the axis you have chosen, icon and see that it is aligned the way you want it to
then provide a rotation angle based on the right be. Look for a clean vertical lines if it should be
hand rule mentioned earlier. aligned along a vertical plane.
PREVIOUS:
Always be aware of where your UCS is located.
Make sure that positive X is where you expect it to
Command: UCS be.
Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: P
Extra Practice: Create this drawing by switching
the UCS to the correct plane to draw the roof and
This option returns you to the last setting you had skylights. For the geometry, use a combination of
for the UCS. extruding and boolean operations to build it
Restore/Save/Del/?/
The next options are used in conjunction with each

other. You have the option of saving a particular
UCS with a name. You can then restore that named
UCS or delete if you no longer will be using it. Here
are examples of these options:
Command:UCS
Prev/Restore/Save/Del/?/<World>: S
?/Desired UCS name: VIEW1
Command:UCS
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 BOOLEAN OPERATION
BOOLEAN OPERATION
First, to explain the funny name : "It was named Solidedit

after George Boole, who first defined an algebraic
system of logic in the mid 19th century." Keyboard SUBTRACT or SU
Working in 3D usually involves the use of solid INTERSECT- Creates a single solid from one more
objects. At times you may need to combine multiple solids based on the intersected geometry
parts into one, or remove sections from a solid.
AutoCAD has some commands that make this easy
for you. These are the boolean operations as well
as some other helpful commands for solids editing.:
UNION- Joins two or more solids into creating one

based on the total geometry of all
Solidedit toolbar
Keyboard UNION or UNI Solidedit Toolbar
Keyboard INTERSECT or INT
SLICE- This command does exactly what the name

implies. You can slice a 3D solid just like you were
using a knife.
SUBTRACT- Subtracts one or more solids from

another creating a solid based on the remaining
geometry.
toolbar
Keyboard SLICE or SL
POLYGON- The Polygon command can be

used to draw any regular polygon from 3 sides up
to 1024 sides. This command requires four inputs
from the user, the number of sides, a pick point for
the centre of the polygon, whether you want the
polygon inscribed or circumscribed and then a pick
point which determines both the radius of this
imaginary circle and the orientation of the polygon.
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The polygon command creates a closed polyline in
the shape of the required polygon.
This command also allows you to define the

polygon by entering the length of a side using the
Edge option. You can also control the size of the
polygon by entering an exact radius for the circle
Pull down menu > Draw > Polygon
Draw toolbar
Keyboard POLYGON or POL
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 REVOLVE & REVSURF
REVOLVE- Create a Revolved Solid
With REVOLVE, you can create a solid by revolving a

closed object about the X or Y axis of the current UCS,
using a specified angle. You can also revolve the object
about a line, polyline, or two specified points. Similar to
EXTRUDE, REVOLVE is useful for objects that contain
fillets or other details that would otherwise be difficult to
reproduce in a common profile. If you create a profile
using lines or arcs that meet a polyline, use the PEDIT
Join option to convert them to a single polyline object
before you use REVOLVE.
You can use REVOLVE on closed objects such as

polylines, polygons, rectangles, circles, ellipses, and
regions. You cannot use REVOLVE on 3D objects,
objects contained within a block, polylines that have
crossing or intersecting segments, or polylines that are
not closed.
ISOLINES
Specifies the number of contour lines per surface on

objects. Valid integer values are from 0 to 2047.
The path curve is swept about the selected axis to define
the surface. The path curve defines the N direction of the
surface mesh. Selecting a circle or a closed polyline as
the path curve closes the mesh in the N direction
REVSURF- Use the REVSURF command to create a The vector from a

surface of revolution by rotating a profile of the object
about an axis. REVSURF is useful for surfaces with
polyline's first vertex to its last vertex
rotational symmetry. determines the rotation axis. Any intermediate
vertices are ignored. The axis of revolution
determines the M direction of the mesh.
Specify start angle <0>: Enter a value or press ENTER
Specify included angle (+=ccw, -=cw) <360>: Enter a

value or press ENTER
Start Angle
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If set to a nonzero value, begins the surface of revolution drawn at the ends of straight segments, and each arc
at an offset from the generating path curve. segment is divided into the number of intervals specified
by SURFTAB2.
Included Angle
Specifies how far about the axis of revolution the surface

extends.
Specifying a start angle begins the surface of revolution

at an offset from the generating path curve. The included
angle is the distance through which the path curve is
swept.
Entering an included angle that is less than a full circle

prevents the circle from closing.
SPLINE
Pull down menu > Draw > Spline
Draw toolbar
Keyboard SPLINE or SP
The Spline command creates a type of spline

The point you use to select the axis of revolution affects known as a nonuniform rational B-spline, NURBS
the direction of revolution. Each of the surfaces in the for short. A spline is a smooth curve that is fitted
examples below was created by specifying a start angle along a number of control points. The Fit Tolerance
of 0 degrees and an included angle of 90 degrees. option can be used to control how closely the spline
conforms to the control points. A low tolerance
value causes the spline to form close to the control
points. A tolerance of 0 (zero) forces the spline to
pass through the control points. The illustration on
the right shows the effect of different tolerance
values on a spline that is defined using the same
four control points, P1, P2, P3 and P4.
Splines can be edited after they have been created

using the SPLINEDIT command, Modify Object
Spline from the pull-down menu. Using this
command, you can change the tolerance, add more
control points move control points and close
splines, amongst other things. However, if you just
want to move spline control points, it is best to use
The density of the generated mesh is controlled by the grips
SURFTAB1 and SURFTAB2 system variables.
SURFTAB1 specifies the number of tabulation lines that
are drawn in the direction of revolution. If the path curve
is a line, arc, circle, or spline-fit polyline, SURFTAB2
specifies the number of tabulation lines that are drawn to
divide it into equal-sized intervals. If the path curve is a
polyline that has not been spline fit, tabulation lines are
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PRIMITIVE SOLIDS
What is a Primitive Solid?
A primitive solid is a ‘building block' that you can

use to work with in 3D. Rather than extruding or
revolving an object, AutoCAD has some basic 3D
shape commands at your disposal. From these
basic primitives, you can start building your 3D
models. In many cases, you get the same result
from drawing circles and rectangles and then
extruding them, but doing it one command is
generally faster. Using these with Boolean
operations can be a very effective way of drawing Create a Solid Cylinder
in 3D. There are 6 six different shapes that you can
choose from: You can use CYLINDER to create a solid cylinder with
a circular or an elliptical base. The base of the cylinder
You can use primitives to either begin building a lies on the XY plane of the current UCS.
model, or it can even be a finished object on its
own. Many of these commands are similar to 2D If you want to construct a cylinder with special detail,
commands, except with an extra co-ordinate in the such as grooves along its sides, create a 2D profile of its
Z axis. Here is a summary of working with these base with a closed PLINE and use EXTRUDE to define
commands. its height along the Z axis. CIRCLE creates a circle from
which you can create a cylinder using EXTRUDE
You can use BOX to create a solid box. The base of the
box is always parallel to the XY plane of the current
UCS.
The RECTANG or PLINE command creates a rectangle

or closed polyline from which you can create a box using
EXTRUDE. The 3D command creates a box shape
defined by surfaces only.
To create a truncated cone or a cone that requires a

specific angle to define its sides, draw a 2D circle and
then use EXTRUDE to taper the circle at an angle along
the Z axis. To complete the truncation, you can subtract
a box from the tip of the cone with the SUBTRACT
command. CIRCLE creates a circle from which you can To create a dome or dish, combine a sphere with a box
create a cone using EXTRUDE with its Taper option. and use SUBTRACT. If you want to create a spherical
The 3D command creates a conical shape defined by object that has additional detail, create a 2D profile and
surfaces only. use REVOLVE to define a rotation angle about the Z
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axis. The 3D command creates a spherical shape defined
by surfaces only.
Create a Solid Torus
You can use TORUS to create a ring-shaped solid

similar to the inner tube of a tire. The torus is parallel to
and bisected by the XY plane of the current UCS.
To create a lemon-shaped solid, use a negative torus

radius and a positive number of greater magnitude for
the tube radius. For example, if the torus radius is –2.0,
the tube radius must be greater than 2.0.
A torus may be self-intersecting. A self-intersecting

torus has no center hole because the radius of the tube is
greater than the radius of the torus.
The 3D command creates a toroidal shape defined by

surfaces only
Create a Solid Wedge
You can use WEDGE to create a solid wedge. The base

of the wedge is parallel to the XY plane of the current
UCS with the sloped face opposite the first corner. Its
height, which can be positive or negative, is parallel to
the Z axis.
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 SOLID EDITING
Cancels the selection of the faces you removed
most recently from the selection set. AutoCAD then
With SOLIDEDIT, you can edit solid objects by displays the previous prompt. If no faces are
extruding, moving, rotating, offsetting, tapering, currently selected, AutoCAD prompts as follows:
copying, coloring, separating, shelling, cleaning,
checking, or deleting faces and edges Face selection has been completely undone
Face
Edits 3D solid faces by extruding, moving, rotating,

offsetting, tapering, deleting, copying, or changing
the color of the selected faces.
Enter a face editing option

[Extrude/Move/Rotate/Offset/Taper/Delete/Copy/co
Lor/Undo/eXit] <eXit>: Enter an option or press
ENTER
Extrude ADD
Extrudes selected planar faces of a 3D solid object Adds faces to the selection set.
to a specified height or along a path. You can
select multiple faces at one time.
Select faces or [Undo/Remove/ALL]: Select one or
more faces (1) or select an option
Select faces or [Undo/Remove]: Select one or
more faces or enter an option

more faces or enter an option
Undo
Cancels the selection of the faces you added most

recently to the selection set. AutoCAD then
displays the previous prompt. If all faces have been
removed, AutoCAD prompts as follows:
• Undo: Cancels selection of the faces you added
Face selection has been completely undone
most recently to the selection set. AutoCAD
then displays the previous prompt.
Remove
• Remove: Removes previously selected faces.
Removes previously selected faces from the AutoCAD then displays the previous prompt.
selection set. AutoCAD then displays the following
prompt.
• All: Selects all faces and adds them to the
selection set. AutoCAD then displays the
Remove faces or [Undo/Add/ALL]: Select one or previous prompt.
more faces (1), enter an option, or press ENTER
All
Undo
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Selects all faces and adds them to the selection set.
All
Selects all faces and adds them to the selection set.
After you select faces or choose an option, AutoCAD

prompts as follows:

Tapering the selected face with a positive angle tapers
the face in, and a negative angle tapers the face out. The
default angle, 0, extrudes the face perpendicular to its
plane. All selected faces in the selection set are tapered
to the same value. If you specify a large taper angle or
height, you can cause the face to taper to a point before it
reaches the extrusion height.
Path
Sets a path for the extrusion path based on a specified

line or curve. All the profiles of the selected face are
Specify height of extrusion or [Path]: Specify a distance extruded along the chosen path to create the extrusion.
or enter p
Select extrusion path: Use an object selection method
Lines, circles, arcs, ellipses, elliptical arcs, polylines, or

splines can be paths. The path should not lie on the same
Height of Extrusion plane as the face, nor should it have areas of high
curvature.
Sets the direction and height of the extrusion. Entering a
positive value extrudes the face in the direction of its The extruded face starts from the plane of the profile and
normal. Entering a negative value extrudes the face in ends on a plane perpendicular to the path at the path's
the direction opposite to its normal. endpoint. One of the endpoints of the path should be on
the plane of the profile; if not, AutoCAD moves the path
Specify angle of taper for extrusion <0>: Specify an to the center of the profile.
angle between –90 and +90 degrees or press ENTER
If the path is a spline, the path should be perpendicular to
the plane of the profile and at one of the endpoints of the
path. If not, AutoCAD rotates the profile to be
perpendicular to the spline path. If one of the endpoints
of the spline is on the plane of the face, AutoCAD
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rotates the face about the point; otherwise, AutoCAD Rotate
moves the spline path to the center of the profile and
rotates the profiles about its center. Rotates one or more faces or a collection of features on a
solid about a specified axis.
If the path contains segments that are not tangent,
AutoCAD extrudes the object along each segment and Select faces or [Undo/Remove]: Select one or more
then miters the joint along the plane, bisecting the angle faces or enter an option
formed by the segments. If the path is closed, the profile
lies on the miter plane. This allows the start and end
The descriptions of the Undo, Remove, Add, and All
sections of the solid to match up. If the profile is not on
options match the descriptions of the corresponding
the miter plane, AutoCAD rotates the path until it is on
options under Extrude. After you select faces or enter an
the miter plane.
option, AutoCAD prompts as follows:
Move
more faces, enter an option, or press ENTER
Moves the selected face on a 3D solid object to a
specified height or distance. You can select multiple Specify an axis point or [Axis by
faces at one time. object/View/Xaxis/Yaxis/Zaxis] <2points>: Enter an
option, specify a point, or press ENTER
Select faces or [Undo/Remove]: Select one or more
faces or enter an option
Axis Point, 2 Points
The descriptions of the Undo, Remove, Add, and All

Use two points to define the axis of rotation. Pressing
options match the descriptions of the corresponding
ENTER at the main Rotate prompt displays the
options under Extrude. After you select faces or enter an
following prompts. Specifying a point at the main
option, AutoCAD prompts as follows:
prompt skips the prompt for the first point.

Specify the first point on the rotation axis: Specify a
point (1)
Specify a base point or displacement: Specify a base Specify the second point on the rotation axis: Specify a
point (2)
point (2)
Specify a second point of displacement: Specify a point

Specify a rotation angle or [Reference]: Specify an
(3) or press ENTER angle or enter r
The two points you specify define a displacement vector Rotation Angle
that indicates how far AutoCAD moves the selected face
and in what direction. AutoCAD uses the first point as a Rotates the object about the selected axis the specified
base point and places a single copy relative to the base amount from the current orientation.
point. If you specify a single point, usually entered as a
coordinate, and then press ENTER, AutoCAD uses the Reference
coordinate as the new location.
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Specifies the reference angle and the new angle. Specify the reference (starting) angle <0>: Specify the
starting angle
Specify the reference (starting) angle <0>: Specify the
starting angle Specify the ending angle: Specify the ending angle
Specify the ending angle: Specify the ending angle The difference between the starting angle and the ending
angle is the computed rotation angle.
The difference between the starting angle and the ending
angle is the computed rotation angle. LOFT COMMAND
Axis by Object
Aligns the axis of rotation with an existing object. You

can select the following objects:
• Line: Aligns the axis with the selected line.
• Circle: Aligns with the 3D axis of the circle

(perpendicular to the plane of the circle and
passing through the center of the circle).
• Arc: Aligns with the 3D axis of the arc
(perpendicular to the plane of the arc and
passing through the center of the arc). Fig. 1
• Ellipse: Aligns with the 3D axis of the ellipse
(perpendicular to the plane of the ellipse and
passing through the center of the ellipse). In first example, we will create the 3-dimensional
• 2D polyline: Aligns with the 3D axis formed by entity shown on the right side by dragging 3
the polyline's start points and endpoints.
• 3D polyline: Aligns with the 3D axis formed by circles and 1 square along the path with red color.
the polyline's start points and endpoints.
Actually, dictionary meaning of LOFT is attic and
• LW polyline: Aligns with the 3D axis formed
by the polyline's start points and endpoints. LOFTING means to throw something into air. If
you imagine an attic carefully, you will notice that

• Spline: Aligns with the 3D axis formed by the
spline's start points and endpoints. it is created by dragging a triangle along a
rectangular plan. LOFT command in AutoCAD

Select a curve to be used for the axis: Use an object
selection method works the same way. It creates a 3-dimensional
entity by dragging a number of sections over a

Specify a rotation angle or [Reference]: Specify an
angle or enter r certain path. However, there are certain rules
while drawing:
Rotation Angle
1. Entities that make up the sections must

Rotates the object about the selected axis the specified
amount from the current orientation. form closed surfaces. These entities can
be arcs, elliptical arcs, ellipses, circles, 2D

Reference
polylines and 2D splines.
Specifies the reference angle and the new angle. 2. Entities that make up section must be
chosen at a definite number.
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3. Drawing that makes up the path can be total
Select cross sections in lofting order:
either a closed or open route. Line, arc,
Enter an option [Guides/Path/Cross sections only]
elliptical arc, spline, ellipse, helix, circle, 2 <Cross sections only>: C
or 3-dimensional polyline can be used to
draw the path. If more than one main Pass the last option by pressing ENTER.
entity will be used (arc, line, elliptical
arc), then they must be aligned from end
to end and they must be combined into
one polyline by using PEDIT command.
4. If sections will be dragged along guide
lines as shown in Fig. 2, then guide lines

must be again made up of polylines
and/or splines. Guide lines cannot be

closed routes.
Fig.3
You will obtain ‘Loft settings’ window that is

Fig.2 shown in Fig. 3. The options that can be seen in
this window have preview option and your entity

The most basic form of LOFT command is to
will be updated as you change the settings here.
create a solid by selecting two number of closed
In Fig. 4, I tried to give examples for some
curves.
options.
Start the command and select the two circles one
of which is on top of other. First select the one on

top and then the other one.
Command: _loft
Select cross sections in lofting order: 1 found
Select cross sections in lofting order: 1 found, 2
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Fig.4
Fig.6
In this first example, we combined two closed
curves (here what we call them the cro<ss In Fig. 6, I made LOFT by using PATH option.
section curves) by using various options. When
we come to the ‘Guides’ and ‘Path’ options of

LOFT command:
Fig.7
In Fig. 7, you can see that 4 number of curves

Fig.5
were combined by using ‘Smooth Fit’ and
This example that is shown in AutoCAD help files ‘closed’ options.
shows how the example starting and end cross-
section are LOFTed by using aiding curves
(Guides). Make sure that, while drawing these
aiding curves, they must definitely intersect the
curved that you are going to LOFT and the
starting and end points should be exactly on the

curve.
Fig.8 ‘Normal to all cross sections’
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As you can see, there are various options for
LOFT command, however their usage is quite

hard.
HELIX AND SWEEP COMMAND
In this article, I will explain how to draw a basic
screw. As I will focus on HELIX and SWEEP
commands, I will not draw the screw head and
thread end according to rules. First of all, let’s
take a look at the final drawing that we would like

to accomplish: Fig. 2
Section that is in orange color has a triangle in
the base that has dimensions of 1.5 mm and 60
degree internal angles. We will FILLET the top of
this triangle with 0.217 mm radius, and we are
rounding roots of screw with the same radius as
another triangle will come beside it. Then we
obtain the section as shown in figure. By
combining entities that make up this section by
using PEDIT command, we obtain a closed
POLYLINE. After this step, we will create the helix

along which we will sweep this section.
Fig. 1
In this drawing, you can see as 10×20 screw.

When starting drawing, I created one single
thread spacing according to ISO standards (Fig.

2).
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Command: HELIX
Specify center point of base: (
center of square )
Specify base radius or
[Diameter]: ( at this point, select the
position marked with cross )
Specify top radius or [Diameter]
<3.7000>: ( enter )
Specify helix height or [Axis
endpoint/Turns/turn Height/tWist]
<20.0000>: h
Specify distance between turns:
1.5001 ( thread size spacing )
Specify helix height or [Axis
endpoint/ Turns/ turn Height/
tWist]: 21
When you enter command, AutoCAD will prompt
the center of helix. Select the center of square. In
next step, it asks the base radius of helix. This

Fig. 3 question is critical, because, if you specify the
radius with cursor, then point that you select will

In order to draw the helix that is shown in Fig. 3,
also be the starting point. For this reason, it is
it will be better to draw the base square that is
better to select the mid points of edges of square.
shown in Fig. 4.
Because, it will be easier to align the screw thread
that we prepare to the starting point by this way.
Next question is the top radius of our helix. We
will enter 3.7 in the same manner. After entering
these values, here comes the most important
parameters of the command. Among these
options, there are the axis end point, number of
turns, thread size spacing and turning direction.
As the thread size spacing is important for us,
let’s select < H > and ‘Specify distance between
turns’ prompt will come. Let’s enter 1.5001 which

Fig. 4 is the thread size spacing. Here, we are specifying
1/10,000 times the required. Reason is that, in

After drawing the square with 7.4 x 7.4
SWEEP command it is not permitted to touch for
dimensions, let’s move on to HELIX command:
the surface along which sweeping will be done.
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Finally, let’s enter height of our helix as 21. We
Command: SWEEP
Select objects to sweep: ( orange
will cut 1mm of it while we are adjusting the end.
section surface) 1 found
Select sweep path or [Alignment/
Base point/ Scale/ Twist]: ( helix )
SWEEP command works quite simply. First, we
select the section to be sweeped than the path
over which the section will be sweeped along
(helix). As our threads are formed now, we can
draw a cylinder with R=3.75mm and H=20mm in
the center of this entity and then combine these
two shaped by using UNION command. After that,
we can draw a hexagonal with 4mm height at the
base and combine it with the previous entity by

Fig. 5 using UNION command (Fig. 7).
In next step, we will prepare the outer section
surface perpendicular to starting point of helix. In
order to do this, you can use ROTATE command

once and 3DROTATE once more (Fig. 6).
Fig. 7
Finally, slice the end by using SLICE command
Fig. 6
After doing this, let’s carry the middle point of
base to the section surface so that this starting
point will come correspond to starting point of
helix. Next step is to make the spiral by using

SWEEP command.
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 RENDERING
MATERIALS AND RENDERING
menu under it. There are material
templates, light properties, texture
properties and opacity and bump map

properties on the lower part.
In this article, we will first see how to
create a simple material. To create a new
material, we are using ‘Create New
Material’ in the small menu. In this first
article, we will create a blue plastic
material, let’s name the material as ‘Blue
Plastic’ New material will immediately
appear in the list. The most important
property of render material is light they
reflect. It is same in real life, different
materials also reflect light differently.
During RENDER, we call this property
‘diffuse’. Our material is created as gray
by default. But as we want it to be blue,
then we should click on the color box and

select a soft blue (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2
Fig. 1 Even now, we already have a half matte
blue. Let’s draw a cube on screen and

You can see the control panel in Fig. 1.
assign this material to it. After assigning is
There is the list of defined materials on the
complete, then we get what is shown in
upper part of panel, and there is a small
Fig3
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new material to 70%, and ‘Refraction’
value to 1.75. By using this combination,
our material will be shiny enough to reflect

light (Fig. 4).
Fig. 3
Here, we can see a slight reflection. The
reason for that is ‘Shininess’ property in Fig. 4
light settings is adjusted to 50%. As

As you can see, only by setting there
shininess property decreases, light
properties ( diffuse, shininess, refraction ),
becomes smoother and is diffused over a
we obtained a shiny material just like a
larger area. Controversially, as shininess
billiards ball. The fourth property ‘Self
increases, then light will be reflected from
illumination’ is used to create materials
a very small area and more sharply just
which disperse light by themselves, i.e. a
like it does from a billiards ball. You can
light spreading sphere. However, in real
change shininess and observe the effects
life, such a material must be transparent
on screen. ( You should set view property
and a light source is inserted into a sphere
to REALISTIC from DASHBOARD ). Up to
that is covered with this material.
now, we have learned about the color and
However, in textures that are created by
shininess properties of material. After
computers, it will create better effects to
adjusting shininess properties then we
combine a light source with a self
should make RENDER to see the exact
illuminatiosn effect (Fig. 5).
results of our settings. First of all, let’s
draw a surface under the cube and assign
the preset checkered material to it. By this
way, we can see the result more easily. If
you know how to do it, then you can also
add a light to the scene. I will talk about
lights in another article. As the scene is
ready, let’s set shininess property of the
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Fig. 5 Fig. 1
Even though the subject of this article was Texture files can be created in JPG, TIFF,
plastic material, let me talk about TGA, BMP or PNG formats. However, most
transparency affect a little bit also. If we economical one regarding files size is JPG.
change ‘Opacity’ ( transparency ) property There are some certain points that you
in material control panel in between 20% should take into account while creating
and 0%, then we start to visualize texture pictures:
transparency effect (Fig. 6, 20%). You can
also see that by changing opacity, color of 1. Texture should be able to repeat
the shadow also changes. itself.
2. Size of texture picture as of
number of pixels.
3. Color calibration of our own screen.
1) Texture repetition : The most
important property of textures is that they
can repeat themselves over the surface
that they cover. Otherwise, if we cover a
relatively large area with a small texture,
then we obtain a blurry and undesirable

Fig. 6
picture. This can be explained best by
windows wallpaper example. Even though

In second part of our article series, we will
some of the wallpapers are two percent of
explain how to create a TEXTURED
the whole screen, by using TILE option we
material. A typical textured material is
can see that our desktop is covered with
shown in Fig. 1.
very nice textures. Preparing such a
texture needs a lot of efforts. Especially

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when four edges coincide, texture lines In Fig. 3, ideal size for the texture picture
must follow each other (Fig. 2). is 200×120 pixels. However, texture
materials are generally prepared for
general purposes and as I described in 1.
item, they should be repetitive. For a
repeatable texture, approximately

200×200 pixel size is ideal.
3) Monitor color calibration : Most of

Fig. 2
you are not using professional monitors.
Texture picture shown in Fig. 2 is made up For this reason, colors that you see in you
of combination of two of pictures that is monitor may not be real colors. If you add
shown in Fig. 1 side by side. Even though the color mistakes due to your scanner,
it is a perfect example for texture textures that you have prepared may not
continuity, this is not enough for all only by look the same as you desire in other
itself. It is also required for color saturation computers. For this aspect, you should pay
and brightness level at the edges to be attention to keep color settings of your
equal, so that there will not be any waving monitor and scanner as good as possible
effect. and as close as possible to real colors.
2) Size of Texture picture as number As our texture picture is ready, than we
of pixels: If the texture picture is specially can immediately use it inside a material
prepared for one project, then in order to definition. Let’s create a new material from
obtain the best results, it should have the Material control panel with name of
same size with the size seen in render (Fig. “CHERRY”. After this, select JPG file (in
3). my example FFE2.jpg ) that we prepare as
material shown in Fig. 4, as ‘Texture

Map’.
Fig. 4
Fig. 3
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After making the selection by using
‘Select…’ button, you will see that name
of the button is changed as the texture file
name. There is a texture setting just on
the right side of the button. By using this
icon, we can access settings window by

using this icon (Fig. 5). Fig. 6
Our other option is to scale our texture.
We must use ‘Tiled’ ( repeated ) option
while scaling. You should pay attention for
scaling unit and drawing unit to be the
same. After these settings, values that we
write in width and height areas will
determine reparation spacings. For
example, a repetition is foreseen with 45

cm intervals.
Offset and Rotation : On the lowest part
of screen (Fig. 7), you can set how much
the texture will be offset in U and V
directions and how many degrees it will be

Fig. 5
rotated according to the surface.
There are the settings for repetition and
scaling in ‘Bitmap Scale’ group. If your
texture is prepared for a single drawing (
painting, wallpaper etc. ), then you can use
‘Fit to object’ option. Size of texture
picture as of pixel dimensions is important
at this stage. You should take into Fig. 7
consideration the area of surface that will
be covered. Beside this selection, you can
also set the number of repetitions in U and
V ( X, Y ) directions. By this way, you can
have the texture picture to be placed by

NxN times over the relevant surface.
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Creating Render Material in are 4 different kinds of mapping in
AutoCAD : Mapping AutoCAD:
When a texture material is assigned to a 1. Plannar mapping
surface or a solid entity, then according to 2. Box mapping
the shape of the entity, AutoCAD 3. Spherical mapping
automatically covers it with that texture 4. Cylindirical mapping
material. However, thing may not work out
as we expect all the times and AutoCAD It is obvious what they do, when you look
may make some mistakes; or we may at their names. Now, let’s examine them
have some special demands. closely one by one:
When we discussed about material 1. Plannar Mapping :
definitions, we described about tile
property. This property is distributed to all
of the surfaces equally in standard
applications. When mapping is applied to
any material, mapping area will be the
area that is taken as basis for material.
Accordingly, if the mapping area is larger
than the surface to be covered, only part of
the mapping area that covers the entity
will be used; otherwise, whole mapping
area will be used so that it will be Fig. 1

repeated. When expressions are explained
in words it may be a little confusing. So, it As it can be understood from its name, it is
is better explained by an example like assigned to planar surfaces. It can also be
covering a cylinder, cube or sphere by assigned to other forms in order to get
using a typical woodwork ( with thick, clear massive effect. Mapping menu is included
veins). The way woodworks look is inside the render menu ( Fig. 2).
independent from shape, when they are
massive. However, if we cover these
entities, then the texture will take the
shape of them. That’s what mapping is.
Now, let’s continue with an example. There
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By pressing enter, you can accept settings.
MOVE and ROTATE does the work that we
already know. We can use MOVE option if
we don’t want to start from the corner of
the texture; it is especially useful for
Fig. 2 paving floor tiles. RESET returns all of the
values to their default values. And, ‘sWitch

Due to the fact that mapping is applied to to mapping mode’ is used for accessing
entities, you will have to select an entity one upper menu:
and it will start working on an appropriate
Select an option [Box/ Planar/ Spherical/
mapping as soon as you select one ( Fig.
Cylindrical/ copY mapping to/ Reset
3).
mapping]:
This is actually the first menu (
MATERIALMAP ) that comes up when you
first enter the command. You can copy
mapping settings of one entity to another
by using ‘copY mapping to’ or you can

delete a mapping by using ‘Reset’.
2. Box Mapping :
Fig. 3
Blue triangles that are on the corners are
used for changing dimensions and shapes.
It is similar to STRETCH command. Green,
red and blue stripes ( blue stripe is seen in

Fig. 4
drawing as line ) are used for rotating axis.
When we take a look at command line in In Fig. 4, you can see that box mapping is
this editing mode, then we can see assigned to a cube shaped entity. Similarly
mapping sub-menu: as before, the blue triangle and colored
stripes are waiting for to be used. If

Accept the mapping or [Move/ Rotate/
reseT/ sWitch mapping mode]: spherical mapping is assigned to the same
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entity, then it will look like that is shown in
Fig. 5.
Fig. 7
In Fig. 7, entity that is on the left side is
shown by using cylindrical mapping and
the one on the right is shown by using
planar mapping. As it can be seen on the
entity that is on right side in figure, texture

Fig. 5
is being rendered along the cylinder
In order for you to see the difference, I am

Creating Render Materials in
giving this example.
AutoCAD : Lights
3. Spherical Mapping:
Lights are the most important elements of
scenes as they are so in real life either.
You might have crashed into a well cleaned
glass as you did not notice it. Same glass
can be noticeable in different light
conditions. For this reason, it is very

important to use lights. Uses of lights in
scenes require professional knowledge and
Fig. 6 artistic experience. Please note that, during
this article, I will use the word scene for

Modifications that can be made by using the view that we will render. I also would
spherical mapping are only limited to like to mention that I don’t have expertise
ROTATE. This command defines the polar for use of lights professionally, and I will
of cube. In figure, you can see the state of explain the use of lights only in the
texture material during and after editing. technical manner how to place lights into
the scenes in AutoCAD.
4. Cylindirical mapping:
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Fig. 1-Scene without lights
As there are no lights used in Fig. 1, you

see the painted scene only. During this
article, I will use different lights on the
same scene , so that we will be able to the

differences all together.
1) Sun light: In order to access this light
you have to use ‘Sun Properties’ from
render menu ( Fig. 2), or
SUNPROPERTIES command from Fig. 3

command line.
If we make ‘Status = On’ under ‘General’
title, then sun properties will change our
scene. In AutoCAD 2007, there is a
calculator for direction of sun ( azimuth ).
This calculator allows you to select the
area by using the lens icon which is just
near ‘Geographic Location’ title. By
making this selection; direction, intensity
and softness of sun is automatically
adjusted according to your current

Fig. 2
location, date and time. Here is the result:
As we use this command, a tool panel that
is used to define properties of sun will open

up (Fig. 3).
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Fig. 4 – Sun light
2) Distant light: This light, which creates
an effect very similar to sun light, can also Fig. 6 - Point Light
be used as sun light. It is in form of light

4) Spot light: They are projection type of
rays that are parallel to each other and are
lights that we generally see in theatres and
coming from same direction. Even though
cinemas. As there is no direction for the
result is same, shadows are sharper ( Fig.
spot light, an insertion point and a target
5).
point must be selected for spot. Besides,
conical angle of strong light ( hotspot ) and
soft light ( fallof ) must be adjusted. When
we select spot lights symbol, two conics
and 4 triangles that show directions will
come up. You can make changes by using

these triangles (Fig. 7).
Fig. 5 - Distant Light
3) Point light: You can think of it as a
ceiling light that has no visor. It is very
suitable for closed areas. It can create
sharp or smooth shadows. Intensity of
these lights can be adjusted. I will explain
about the light settings in detail, for now,

let’s see the result (Fig. 6):
Fig. 7 – Fall of and Hotspot Settings
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Result of render is given in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8 - Spot Light
As you can also see from the shadow that
falls on the wall, spot light has a visor an

this is generally used for effects.
Light Settings:
Fig. 10 – Lights List
When you select a light from lights list and

Fig. 9
open ‘Properties’ panel, then all of the
By using ‘Light List’ (Fig. 9) command in properties related to the selected light is
Render menu, you can access the lights list listed and you can change light settings
as shown in Fig. 10. from here. In this article, I will only explain
general settings for lights.
Name: This is the only place for you to

change name of your light. In order to
remember the locations of lights, you have

to write appropriate names.
On/Off Status: You can turn on/off your

light from here.
Shadows: Here, you can determine
whether your light will drop shadow or not.
If you are using more than one light, than
you might want some of the lights not to

drop shadow.
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Intensity factor: You can set the strength
of lights from here. Values between 0-1
means weakening, values larger than 1
means more lightning. For more
professional people, there is ‘Attenuation’
(turning down light) options. It gives effect
of paper, deflector etc. that has been

placed in front of camera. Applying the materials is a relatively easy
process, getting them to look exactly the
way you want them to can be a skill in itself.
Once the materials are added, getting the
lights and shadows to look realistic is
another task that many people prefer to
complete in a program other than AutoCAD.
One of the more interesting aspects of
working in 3-D is that you can visualize what Follow these steps to get an basic, accurate
your design will look like. You have so far rendering:
used the hide and shade commands to give
you some idea towards how the final piece
will look. The next step is to learn about the  Draw the object using solids or
RENDER command. This command is the surfaces
 Apply the materials
most powerful one for viewing your objects.
 Render the scene
Using render, you are able to add realistic
lighting and materials to get the most
realistic view of what you're designing. Once your objects are drawn, you have to
decide which materials you want to use.
AutoCAD comes with a basic materials
You can render objects that don't have
library that you can use to apply to your
materials applied to them, but it won't look
as realistic as if you have material added.
objects.
The first two blocks shown here are
examples of the usual wire-frame view Later lessons will teach you how to create
before and after the HIDE command. new materials and map them to objects.
This lesson is designed to allow you to
quickly and easily apply materials to your
objects.
Start by drawing a basic cube 20x20x20 -

this will be your object for testing materials.
Go to the Tools Menu and select Tools >
Workspaces > 3D Modelling. You will see
that two new palettes are added. Close the
one on the right for drawing and leave the
one that contains a list of materials.
These two blocks show how the render Now that you have your object (the cube)
command can show the object two ways. and a list of materials, you're ready to go.
The block on the left was rendered without a
material applied, while the one on the right To add a material to the cube, click on the
has a white ash material applied icon of the material you want to use. Move
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your cursor into the drawing area and your
cursor should change to this one:
Just move the new cursor over the cube

until it is highlighted and click on it. Press
<Enter> to end the command. It will look like
absolutely nothing happened. You may have
even done it a couple time to try and make it
work. The only way to confirm that the
material is attached to the cube is to 'render
the scene'. This is easy - just type in Render
and press enter. You'll see that a new
Consider the example above. In the image on the
window opened and rendered your cube.
left, the ground has been rendered in the object
colour and this looks perfectly fine. But say we
wanted to give the impression of a close mown
lawn as illustrated in the image on the right.
Object colour alone can't do this and none of the
materials in the Material Library look like this.
The only option is to create our own material.
This tutorial uses the example of mown grass but
the basic principles hold true for any custom
bitmap material.
Adding sunlight to your drawing
Introduction
Use these commands to apply materials to
the solid objects you have drawn. Materials Once you start working with solid models
cannot be applied to wireframe objects or and rendering them, you will want to add
those drawn with line thickness lighting effects to your model. One of the
most common requirements is to add
In many cases, rendering using object colours or sunlight to your drawing. AutoCAD has
the use of materials from the AutoCAD Material some very powerful and useful features for
Library is all that's required to produce a semi- accurately creating sunlight effects.
realistic render of a scene. However, sometimes
you might want something specific. This tutorial
shows you how to create and use a material that
looks just the way you want it.
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are bright, whereas the ground plane is quite
dark. Although this effect enables you to
clearly see your model, it is far from realistic.
In order to add some sunlight to our scene,

we will need to add a light that simulates the
sun; AutoCAD calls this type of light a
"Distant Light". This is much easier than it
sounds and AutoCAD has some very user-
friendly tools to help.
As you can see from figures 2, 3 and 4, not

only can you simulate sunlight but you can
control the time of day, the day of the year
and the geographic location. Also, because
the renderer can create accurate shadows
based upon your parameters, you could
even use these techniques to create a
shadow analysis.
The three sunlight images on the left show

the light and shadow effects on a garden at
different times of the day on the 25th June in
London. This is all possible without needing
to know the first thing about solar geometry!
This tutorial will take you, step-by-step

through the process of creating sunlight,
modifying it and making the necessary
shadow and render settings.
Overview & Fast Track
Adding sunlight and rendering a drawing is

As you may have realized by now, you don't essentially a 5 step process. If you are
need lights in a scene in order to render a familiar with AutoCAD, you may be able to
model. Figure number 1 on the left shows create sunlight by following the Fast Track
the effect of rendering without lights. As you steps below.
can see, the results are rather uninspiring
and there are no shadows. AutoCAD 1. Create a Distant Light using the
calculates the lighting in a scene where Light command, View Render
there are no lights by determining the the Light… from the pull-down menu.
angle of incidence between the object faces Set the light type to "Distant Light"
and the line of sight. Faces that are and click the New… button.
perpendicular or near perpendicular to the 2. Name the light and set Shadow
line of sight are displayed brighter and faces Type to "Raytraced" in the New
further from the perpendicular are shown Distant Light dialogue box. Give the
darker. The effect is similar to what you new light a name. Click the
would see if the light source was placed at checkbox to turn shadows on and
the camera position; perpendicular faces then click the Shadow Options…
would reflect more light and faces further button. Click the checkbox to turn
from the perpendicular would reflect less "Ray Traced Shadows" on.
light. In figure 1, you can see that the 3. Set the Time using the Sun Angle
vertical faces of the hedge, facing the viewer Calculator. Click the Sun Angle
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Calculator… button in the New already saved for you. However, if you are
Distant Light dialogue box. not familiar with rendering, it would be useful
4. Set the Location from the Sun Angle to have a quick go now so that you know
Calculator dialogue box. Click the what to expect later in the tutorial.
Geographic Location… button in the
Sun Angle Calculator dialogue box. After opening the Garden.dwg, select
5. Render the Scene using the Render
View Render Render… from the pull-
command, View Render
Render… from the pull-down menu. down menu or click on the render
Set the "Rendering Type" to Photo toolbar to display the Render dialogue box.
Raytrace and click the checkbox to Since all of the settings are already made,
turn "Shadows" on. simply click the OK button. After a few
moments, the rendered image will appear in
You can use any 3D drawing to follow this your viewport and your screen should look
tutorial providing that you have drawn a something like the image above. Notice that
ground plane on which the shadows can be the render background has been set to
projected. white. This just makes the rendered objects
easier to see. Notice also that some of the
objects have materials assigned.
Getting Started
Note that rendered views are not interactive,
Open the Garden.dwg file. You may notice
they are just still images, like photographs.
that it is a little slow to open. This is because
You cannot pan, zoom or pick objects in a
the garden is constructed from solid objects
rendered view as you can in shaded views.
and AutoCAD has to load some extra bits of
Therefore, you must return to your previous
the program to deal with them. The opening
viewing mode before continuing with any
view is an aerial perspective. This was
drawing work. To do this, you must
created using the DVIEW command but you
could also use 3D Orbit. The view has been regenerate the view, select View Regen
saved so that you can return to it at any time from the pull-down menu.
using the Named Views command, from The rendered image that you see is shown
the Standard toolbar or View Named with the default lighting as described above
Views…. Highlight the view name, "Sun and illustrated in figure 1. We have not yet
View", click the "Set Current" button and added any lights, so this is the next thing to
then click OK. do.
Adding a Light
Toolbar
Pull-down View Render Light…

Keyboard LIGHT
The first step toward simulating sunlight is to

create a new "Distant Light".
AutoCAD can create 3 different types of

light, namely, Point Light, Spotlight and
In addition to the saved view, the garden Distant Light. It is important to understand
drawing also has the various render settings how each of these light types affects the
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final rendered image. A point light radiates the normal illegal characters such as
light in all directions from a single point. A spaces, asterisks, slashes and dots. If the
real-world example of this type of light is the light name you choose is not liked by
bulb of a ceiling pendant light. A spotlight AutoCAD, you will see a small error
creates a conical light that is also directional. message in the lower left-hand corner of the
This is similar to a real-world spotlight. dialogue box saying "Invalid name".
Distant lights differ from both point lights and
spotlights in that their light rays are not
radial, they are parallel.
Setting shadow options for a light involves

Why are distant lights used to simulate turning shadows on and then specifying the
sunlight? Well, although light rays from the shadow type. When you create any light,
Sun are radial, we are so far away from the you can decide whether it will cast shadows
Sun that the angle between light rays is very or not. In some cases it is desirable that
small by the time they reach the Earth. To all lights do not cast shadows. This ability to
intents and purposes, they are parallel and control shadow casting means that you
since light rays from distant lights are could build a scene with a number of lights,
parallel, they most closely resemble some of which cast shadows and some of
sunlight. which don't. To turn shadows on, click in the
"Shadow On" checkbox (shadows are
So, to create a new distant light, select turned off by default).
View Render Light… from the pull-down
menu. When the Lights dialogue box Now you can set the shadow type. Click the
appears, select "Distant Light" from the Shadow Options… button to display the
drop-down list and then click the New… Shadow Options dialogue box.
button. This will take you to the New Distant
Light dialogue box. Setting Shadow Options
Configuring a Distant Light The AutoCAD renderer can create three

different types of shadows. The default
The second step to simulating sunlight is to shadow type is "Shadow Map" and the
name the light and to set the shadow alternatives are "Volumetric" and "Ray
options. Traced". You can see from the illustrations
below that the shadow map and ray traced
Click in the "Light Name" edit box and type shadow types give quite different results.
the name of your new distant light. For the For most objects, the difference between
sake of simplicity, it might be sensible to call Volumetric and Ray Traced shadows is very
the light "SUN". However, you can call it small. See All about Shadows for a full
anything you like providing that it is eight description of these shadow types. The type
characters or less and doesn't include any of of shadow you use is entirely up to you but
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in general, ray traced shadows tend to give
a better result.
In order to set the date and time, you must

specify the date, the time, the time zone and
decide whether you want daylight savings or
not.
Starting at the top of the left-hand column in

the dialogue box, click in the "Date" edit box
and type the date. Note that dates are in the
American format (mm/dd). Next, click in the
"Clock Time" edit box and enter the time.
Note that this is in 24 hour format or military
time. If you wish, you can use the adjacent
slider bars to set the date and time but it is
very difficult to control accurately and is
therefore not recommended.
Using the drop-down list, select the required

time zone. For example, if your site is in the
The Shadow Options dialogue box is used UK, select the "GMT/WET" option. Finally,
to specify which shadow type is used when you need to decide whether you would like
you render the scene. The default shadow daylight savings to be calculated. This
type is the shadow map. option will automatically convert GMT
(Greenwich Mean Time) to BST (British
Click the "Shadow Volumes/Ray Traced Summer Time). Most likely you will want to
Shadows" check box to change the shadow have this option turned on, so click the
type. Your dialogue box should now look like "Daylight Savings" checkbox.
the one on the right. Click the OK button to
return to the New Distant Light dialogue box. You will notice that AutoCAD allows you to
specify the latitude and longitude of your
Using the Sun Angle Calculator site. These values must be known in order
for AutoCAD to accurately calculate the
The third step in simulating sunlight is to set angle of the Sun. In most cases you won't
the date and time using the Sun Angle know these values but fortunately, AutoCAD
Calculator. From the New Distant Light can help us to locate our site
dialogue box, click the Sun Angle Geographically. Click the Geographic
Calculator… button to display the Sun Location… button.
Angle Calculator dialogue box.
Setting the Geographic Location
The fourth step in simulating sunlight is to

specify the geographic location of your site.
The Geographic Location dialogue box
enables you to do this in a number of ways.
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The first thing to do is to specify which

continent your site is in. Use the drop-down
list, centre top of the dialogue box, to select
a continent. Once you have done this, you Start the Render command by selecting
have a number of options. You can simply View Render Render… from the pull-
select the name of a city from the list on the down menu. The Render dialogue box will
left. You can also select a city by checking appear. First, make sure that the Rendering
the "Nearest Big City" option and picking a Type option is set to "Photo Raytrace". Next,
point on the map. If your site is not near a make sure that "Shadows" is checked in the
big city, you can deselect this option and Rendering Options section of the dialogue
simply pick any point on the map. Obviously box. Shadows will not be generated if this
it is very difficult to accurately pick a location option is not checked, even if shadows are
from such a small map but you should be turned on for your lights.
able to get close enough to generate
realistic shadows. If you are not using the Garden sample
drawing, you should also check that the
You have now made all the settings that are Destination is set to "Viewport". You may
needed to simulate sunlight. Click the OK also like to set the render background colour
button to return to the Sun Angle Calculator to white.
dialogue box. Click the OK button again to
return to the New Distant Light dialogue box, When you are sure that all settings have
click OK a third time to return to the Lights been made correctly (your dialogue box
dialogue box and finally, click OK one more should look similar to the one illustrated
time to complete the specification for your above), click the Render button. AutoCAD
distant light. will take a few seconds to render the scene
(times will vary depending upon the
This might be a good time to save your complexity of the scene and the speed of
drawing if you haven't already done so. your computer).
Rendering the Scene Modifying Sun Light
Once you have created your first sunlight

Toolbar render, you may want to change the time of
day or date of the year in order to
Pull-down View Render Render… demonstrate the changing effect of sunlight
Keyboard RENDER on your site. You can modify your distant
light settings at any time. To do so, select
The fifth and final step to simulating sunlight View Render Light… from the pull-down
is to render a view of your drawing in order menu to go to the Lights dialogue box.
to show the effects of light and shadow. Select your light from the list on the left of
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the dialogue box and click the Modify…
button. This will take you to the Modify
Distant Light dialogue box.
Figure 1
Notes:
► The "delay 2000" causes a 2 second

delay between subsequent slides.
From here you can modify any of the
settings you made when you first configured ► The "rscript" repeats the script from
the light. When your changes have been beginning.
made, render the scene again and you will
see the results of your modification. You 6. Save the file as "slide_show.scr".
could use this technique to create images of
your site at hourly intervals during a single 7. In AutoCAD, start a new drawing.
day or at the same time of day at different
times of the year. This will give a good idea 8. In command line enter SCR and then
how sunlight will affect your site at different press Enter. The Select Script File
times, dialog box appears [Figure 2].
ANIMATION & SLIDESHOW USING

SLIDES AND SCRIPT
1. Open the files will be used in animation
2. Apply Zoom-extents for every drawing.
3. Use MSLIDE to create slides based on

the open drawings. Name the slides S1,
S2, and S3 respectively. Save the slides
in a folder that belongs to AutoCAD file
search path.
4. In command line enter Notepad and then

press Enter twice. The Notepad window Figure 2 - Click on image to
appears.
enlarge
5. Enter the proper text to create the slide
show [Figure 1]. 10. Locate and open "slide_show.scr". The
slide show begins.
11. To exit the slide show press Esc.
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12. Invoke REGEN to remove the current polyline to draw the camera path through the
slide from screen. spaces. Select move, pick the camera-path
line, press , pick anywhere, then type
HOW TO CREATE @0,0,1700. This moves the line up to eye
ANIMATION”WALKTHRU” height (vary this height if you wish).
1. DRAW THE PATH 2.Draw the target path
Create a PATH layer and make it current. Select move , pick the camera-path line,
press , pick anywhere, then type
1.Draw the Camera Path @0,0,1500. This moves the line up to just
below eye height (vary this height if you
wish).
In the plan view, use Zoom out, to put
plenty of space around the rooms, then use
At Command line type ANIPATH
8. Click on the Start button on the task bar,

then move the cursor to All programs then
move the cursor to” Windows Media Player",
select File - Open set the drive and directory,
select the animation file and select Open.
1.Select the camera path( Path name: Path1)
2. Select the target path (Path name Path 1)
3.Set number of Frames
4.Choose visual style (Wireframe, hidden or

Realistic)
5. Choose file Format (MPG, AVI, or WMV)
6. Click Preview (sit

back and relax while
AutoCAD does its stuff...)
7. Save the File
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RENDERING (For AutoCAD 2004)
SETUP CAMERA (Target Camera)
1. Set the Shade mode to 2d wireframe.

Command: SHA (enter)
2D )enter)
2. Set the view to plan view or Topview

at the Menubar click VIEW/ 3dviews/ Topview
3. command: DVIEW (enter)

select Blocks: select blocks or objects (enter)
specify Target location: .xy (enter)
of click TP
need Z 1.3 (enter)
specify camera location: .xy (enter)
of click CP
need z 1.4 (enter)
Enter option [CAmera/TArget/Distance/POints/PAn/Zoom/TWist/CLip/Hide/Off/Undo]:D (enter)
Adjust the distance( using the mouse) left click at drawing area (enter)
SAVE VIEW
Command: DDVIEW (enter)
Click NEW
Enter Name Ex: View 1
Click OK OK
LOAD VIEW
Select view name
Click Set current
Click OK
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MATERIALS
1.Command: RMAT (Enter)

2.Click MATERIALS LIBRARY
3. Choose a Material from the list

4. Click PREVIEW
5. Click IMPORT
6. CLICK OK
7. Click ATTACH
8. Select an object were you want to apply the material (enter)
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Then click OK
9. command: rr (enter)
10. Click RENDER
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TO MODIFY SCALE AND ROTATION OF BITMAP

1. Right click DRAW or MODIFY Toolbar
2.check RENDER
3.On Render toolbar Click MAPPING Icon
4. Select an object for mapping (Enter)
5. Click Adjust Coordinate
6. Rotation: type the angle of bitmap

7.Click ADJUST BITMAP
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8.You may change the scale of Material

The default is U=1 V=1
Higher value will make the material
appearance smaller.
9.Click ok
10. ok
11.. ok
12. command: RR (enter)

13. Click RENDER
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to make a Material transparent or translucent

1.command: RMAT (enter)
2.select a material then Click MODIFY
3. Select TRANSPARENCY
4. Change value range 60-95
5. Click OK OK
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Adding Background
1command: RR (enter)
2.Click BACKGROUND
3. click IMAGE
4. Click FIND FILE
5. Select the drive and folder where the file was saved
6.Select a file
7.Click OPEN
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8. Click RENDER
POINTLIGHT
1. command: LIGHT (enter)
2. Select POINT LIGHT
3. Click NEW
4.Enter Light name ex: light1

5.Change Intensity= 2
6.Check Shadow ON
7. Click MODIFY
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8.Click light location
9. Click OK
10. command: rr(enter)

11. At Rendering type: Select PHOTO REAL
12.Check all Rendering Options
Smooth shades,Apply Materials,
Shadows and Render cache
13.Click MORE OPTIONS
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14. Under Anti Aliasing choose HIGH

15.Under FACE CONTROLS
Check Discard back faces
And Back face normal is Negative
16. Under TEXTURE MAP SAMPLING
Choose Mipmap sample
17. Click OK
18. Click Render
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DISTANT LIGHT
1. command: Light (enter)

2. select Distant light
3. click NEW
4. Enter name ex: SUN

5. check Shadow on
6. click shadow option
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7. Check Shadow Volume/Ray Traced Shadow

8. click OK
9. click OK
10. click OK
11. command: RR (enter)
12. Under Rendering Option make sure that shadows are checked.
13. click RENDER
14. At Render Toolbar click Landscape

15. Select 1 from the list ex: sweet gum summer
16. click Preview
17. click Position
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18. click were you want to position the tree

19. click OK
20.Adjust the scale of the tree then Render the scene
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RENDERING (For AutoCAD 2006 to 2008)
SETUP CAMERA (Target Camera)
4. Set the Visual style to 2d wireframe.

Command: SHA (enter)
2D )enter)
5. Set the view to plan view or Topview

at the Menubar click VIEW/ 3dviews/ Topview
6. command: CAMERA (enter)

specify camera location: .xy (enter)
of click CP
need z 1.4 (enter)
specify Target location: .xy (enter)
of click TP
need Z 1.3 (enter)
(?/name/location/height/target/lens/clipping/view/exit)<exit> V (enter)
Switch to camera view? {yes or no} Y (enter)
SAVE VIEW
Click NEW
Enter Name Ex: View 1
Click OK OK
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LOAD VIEW
Select view name
Set current
Click OK
Assign Materials
1.Command: RMAT (enter)
2.Click CREATE NEW MATERIALS ICON
3.Enter materials Name Example: Sofa then click ok
4.Under Diffuse map click SELECT to browse for an image to use as a texture map
5.Choose a file then click OPEN
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6. Choose a Template
For Metals- use Realistic Metal

Advance Metal
Metal-Brushed
Metal-Polished
Metal-Flat
Metal
For Tiles- use Ceramic Tile,Glazed
For Fabric- use Fabric
For Glass- use Glass Clear or Translucent
For Mirror- use Mirror
For Walls- use Paint Flat
Paint Gloss
Paint Semi Gloss
Etc…..
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7. To modify the scale and rotation of the bitmap click the icon shown below
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Bitmap Scale U=2 V=2 Rotation= 0
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ASSIGN LIGHT
Point light
1. command: Light (enter)
Enter Light type [Point/ Spot/ Distant] <Point> P (enter)
Specify light Location <0,0,0,> click light location
Command: light (enter)(enter)
Enter light type [Point/Spot/Distant] <Point>: P (enter)
Specify source location <0,0,0>: click light location
Enter an option to change [Name/Intensity/Status/shadoW/Attenuation/Color/eXit]

<eXit>: N (enter)
Enter light name <Pointlight7>: light1 (enter)

<eXit>: I (enter)
Enter intensity (0.00 - max float) <1>: 1 (enter)
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<eXit>: S (enter)
Enter status [oN/oFf] <On>: on (enter)

<eXit>: w (enter)
Enter shadow settings [Off/Sharp/soFt] <Sharp>: S (enter)

<eXit>: X (enter)
2. Render the scene(before rendering, create new material,change color to white and set
the self illumination to 100 then apply the material to the light)
Shadow on Shadow off
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DISTANT LIGHT
1. Command: light (enter)
Enter light type [Point/Spot/Web/Targetpoint/Freespot/freeweB/Distant]

<Distant>: d (enter)
Specify light direction FROM <0,0,0> or [Vector]: click DF

Specify light direction TO <1,1,1>:click DT
Enter an option to change [Name/Intensity/Status/shadoW/Color/eXit] <eXit>: I

(enter)
Enter intensity (0.00 - max float) <1.0000>: 1 (enter)
Enter an option to change [Name/Intensity/Status/shadoW/Color/eXit] <eXit>: s

(enter)
Enter status [oN/oFf] <On>: on (enter)
Enter an option to change [Name/Intensity/Status/shadoW/Color/eXit] <eXit>: x

(enter)
2. Render the Scene

Command: RR (enter)
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Add Background using Photoshop
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AUTOCAD

CAD-Computer Aided Design, also known as Computer 22. AUTOCAD R2008

The three ways of entering co-ordinates shown

Imperial Displays the Quick Setup wizard, in which you can

command: limits (enter) Zoom Window Z(enter)W(enter)

Say, for example, you wanted to draw a horizontal line

You now need to constrain the line to the horizontal. OTRACK

Suppose you want to draw a line from the center of the

You may select whichever points you want to 'snap' on

Pulldown menu > Modify > Copy

Pull down menu>Draw> Circle>Center>Radius

Keyboard MULTITEXT or MT SPELL- Corrects the spelling in text objects created

FIT- Allows you to enter boundary, text will Keyboard SOLID or SO

text. Modify Toolbar SCALE

text. Keyboard SCALE or SC

text. DONUT- This command allows you to draw a solid

BR- Allows you to specify the bottom right of

4.WINDOW POLYGON SELECTION

The Window Polygon option, invoked by typing WP

1.WINDOW SELECTION- The Crossing Polygon option can be used in

* Realtime Zoom -- roll the wheel.

company. The most practical way to do this is

classifying your blocks into groups that you will

determine by yourself and store them together.

Besides, all of the blocks ( “Part01”, “Part02” and

“Part03” ) that are shown below are all stored in

the same drawing file and “Library01.dwg” name

was used as the filename. These blocks inside the

drawing represent different cover parts and are

organized in a logical way.

One of the biggest advantages of storing blocks

AutoCAD files don’t occupy much space. By this

4. Let TOOLPALETTE stay on the screen. Now, we

will open DESIGNCENTER‘ by using ‘CTRL+2’

“Library01.dwg” file that I explained above into

can select the blocks one by one by using ‘SHIFT

5. As a result of this operation, AutoCAD will

kind of a TOOLPALETTE, it has some particular

differences. Controls on it are slightly different.

Besides, you cannot add tabs to DASHBOARD.

You cannot customize DASHBOARD in AutoCAD

2007, but since AutoCAD 2008 it is customizable

now. However, usage of DASHBOARD is mainly

based on control panels rather than tabs. Now,

let’s start learning by taking a look at how

DASHBOARD looks first (Fig. 1).

using the double arrow icon in down direction (

expanding ) or double arrow icon in up direction

(contracting ) that can be found just beside the

large icon that represent each panel. Its usage is

pretty simple. DASHBOARD, similar to

TOOLPALETTE, can be either docked or can be

opened/closed automatically. We can make these

settings from the mini menu that is just under the

In Fig. 1, you can see the DASHBOARD that

belongs to AutoCAD 2008. Please note that each

control panel is divided by a line. Each panel

consists of controls like mini buttons, combo lists,

sliding bars etc. That is the main difference Fig.3

compared to TOOLPALETTEs. Moreover, each

option. It is also possible to open or close

different control panels again from the same

menu. Before finishing the article, let me remind