WEEK TWO: Auto CAD.

TECHNOLOGIST’S NAME: MR.KETER.

Brief Abstract.
The term CAD (Computer Aided Design) applies to a wide range of programs that
allows the user to created drawings, plans, and designs electronically. AutoCAD is
one such program and it main claim to fame is that it is relatively easy to use, it is
very comprehensive in its ability to create 2D and some 3D drawings, and it is very
popular. Seventy percent of the CAD users in the world use AutoCAD.
The initial screen-interface of AutoCAD on start-up.
AutoCAD has a very versatile user interface that allows you to control the program in
several different ways. At the top of the window is a row of menus. Clicking on the
Home, Insert, or Annotate causes another selection of menus to appear. This new
selection of commands is frequently called a Ribbon or a dashboard. You can operate
the program by clicking on the icons in these menus.

Another method of using the program is typing in the command names. This is
frequently faster than using drop down menus for frequently used commands because
you do not have to search for the correct menu or icon. You just type in the command
name. For the most part, we will use this approach in this series of tutorials. The
commands that you type will appear at the bottom of the of the AutoCAD window.

Basic commands in AutoCAD and their Description.

1. Line command.
(a).The ORTHO code.
In drawing lines in AutoCAD, there is need to understand the ORTHO mode. The
ORTHO mode constrains the cursor to horizontal and vertical movement, which
helps you draw straight horizontal and straight vertical line easily.
Every time I need to draw an either vertical or horizontal straight line, I will make
sure the ORTHO mode is activated. The ORTHO icon is located in the Status Bar.
Activating the ORTHO mode.

Just click on the icon to toggle it. If it was OFF before your click, it would turn ON and
vice versa. Now that we know what ORTHO is and how to operate it, we need to
make use of it.
Drawing a vertical line of 50 units. To draw a line
with 50 units:

a) Click on the LINE icon.

b) Click once one the drawing area.

c) Activate the ORTHO mode if it is not activated.

d) Move the cursor away from the first point in the direction your want the line to
have. Since we are drawing a vertical line, you can only go either upward or
downwards.

e) Type 50 on the keyboard and hit on enter key on the keyboard.

2. TRIM AND EXTEND COMMAND.

Both Trim and Extend are tools that help modify existing objects. There are some of
the tools you will make use of more than thousand times in a project, where the
necessity of learning how to make use of them as soon as it is convenient.

(i). TRIM in AutoCAD.

These command helps trim objects to meet the edge of other object(s). If I have two
lines that cross each other’s and want to trim one/both at the point where they
intersect, Trim will help me do it.
To Trim in AutoCAD

1. Click on the TRIM icon

2. Select objects that intersect each other’s and hit ENTER
3. Select the part (or parts) to be removed

(ii). EXTEND in AutoCAD.

The Extend command is not much used compared to the Trim command but can be
very helpful at time. It helps extend object(s) to meet the edges of other objects. It is
used the same way Trim is used.

3. CIRCLE COMMAND.

In this post we are going to learn and start drawing circles in AutoCAD. Time has
come to move forward and learn more, I believe it is the right time to learn and see
how to use AutoCAD to draw circles.
The CIRCLE command is an important and a frequently used command, you can
judge by its location and its size.

Drawing circles in AutoCAD.

Drawing an ordinary circle is quite easy in AutoCAD. All you have to do is

1. Click on the CIRCLE icon (shown on the image above)

2. Specify the center of the circle with a click in the drawing area
3. Specify the radius of the circle with another click

4. MOVE and COPY commands.

Moving and copying are frequently needed action when you work on a CAD
project.

(i). MOVE an object in AutoCAD.

The MOVE command will help change the location of an object in the drawing area.
Notice that when moving an object, you can activate the ORTHO mode and use the
command area to enter the exact distance you want to move the object with. The
ORTHO mode will ensure you are moving on a straight line.

To use the MOVE command

1. Select the object to move (or objects to move)

2. Click on the icon shown on the image above
3. Select the base point with a click (don’t  hold)
4. Move and drop.

(ii). Copy an object in AutoCAD.

The COPY command works similarly to the Move command at the only difference
that it leaves a copy of the original object in its position. It works as it would in other
windows application, and feel free to use the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste
objects in AutoCAD.

To copy Objects in AutoCAD you need to select them first, and you can as well use
the technique we used above to place the copy at a certain distance and angle from
the original item.

5. MIRROR and ROTATE command.

Here comes MIRROR and ROTATE, two important command in AutoCAD. These
command will be a lot useful to you and will constantly help you to get stuff done
the right way.

(i). Mirror.

This command will help create a mirrored copy of a selected object.

To use the MIRROR command in AutoCAD

1. Select objects
2. Click on the MIRROR icon
3. Specify the first point of mirror line
4. Specify the second point of mirror line
5. Hit Enter.

(ii). ROTATE an object in AutoCAD.

The ROTATE command will simply help rotate object. To

rotate an object in AutoCAD

1. Select the object to rotate

2. Click on the ROTATE icon
3. Specify the base point
4. Specify the rotation angle (positive angle for anticlockwise rotation and
negative angle for clockwise rotation) and Hit Enter.

6. CHAMFERING AND FILLETING.

Chamfer and Fillet are two of the most used tools in the Modify ribbon.Fillet helps
convert sharp edges to round edges, Even though this command can be bypassed
using Circles and Trim, its use will still be appreciated seeing how easy getting to the
final result get while using it. Chamfer is also a command you can avoid making use
of.

(i). Chamfer in AutoCAD.

To use the Chamfer command

1. Click on the Chamfer icon

2. Type D and Press Enter
3. Specify the first chamfer distance and Press Enter
4. Specify the second chamfer distance and Press Enter
5. Select the first line.
6. Select the second line.
(ii). To use the Fillet command.

1. Click on the fillet command icon.

2. Type R and Press Enter.
3. Specify the fillet Radius and Press Enter.
4. Select the first line.
5. Select the second line.

LAYERS IN AUTOCAD.

Layers are generally independent drawing spaces that stack on top of each other to
create an overall image. Organizing objects in layers is important when you work on
big projects (Architecture for example). You use layers to organize your project in
such a way that every group of similar things are in their own layers.

Importance of layers.

 Layers allow you to easily control properties of a group of objects; line-weight,

color, line-type.
 Layers allow you to turn object or group of objects off, both on screen and on
the plot.

Creating layers in AutoCAD.

To create a layer, click on the Layer Properties icon. The following will pop up, click
on the indicated icon to create a new layers. The following shows layers I created for
the exercise above. Each of your layers can be customized, such as having its own
Line type, line weight, transparency and plot Style. Close the windows when you are
done creating layers.

Manipulating layers in AutoCAD.

To put an object in a layer, make sure when you are creating that object, its layer is
set to current. If you created an object in the wrong layer, don’t worry, it is possible
to put an already created element in a different layer.

Simply Select the object, Select the layers you want that object in, And Press ESC on
your keyboard.