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CE-388
Computer Aided Civil Engineering Design and Graphics

Getting Started with Auto CAD

Engr. Malik Kamran Shakir

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
National University of Sciences and Technology
Getting Started 2

Sheet set Manager

Tool Palettes
Getting Started Pull-down Menus 3

Draw Toolbar
Graphics Window /
Object Properties
Drawing Area
Toolbar

Pick Box
Crosshairs

Cursor Coordinate Display

Model tab
Command Line
Layout tab Modify Toolbar
Status bar
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 Getting Started 4
Menu Bar
Contains the default Auto CAD pull down menus: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Draw, Dimension,
Modify, Windows, Help

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 Getting Started 5
Standard Toolbar
Contains standard and frequently used icons such as Cut, Copy, Paste, Match Properties, Zoom, Pan etc.

Standard Tools

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 Getting Started 6
Draw Toolbar
Contains common draw commands: Line, Polyline, Polygon, Rectangle, Arc, Circle, Spline, Ellipse, Hatch,
Multiline Text, etc.

Drawing Tools

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 Getting Started 7
Properties Toolbar
Set object properties such as Colour, Linetype and Lineweight.

Properties Tools

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 Getting Started 8
Drawing Area
The space (called Model Space) on the screen used to compose/ edit drawing. It shows a floating
crosshair cursor and a user coordinate system (UCS) icon at the lower left corner. By default, the color of
the model space is black.

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 Getting Started 9
Layer Toolbar
Used to make new layer, switch between layers and change layer properties

Layer Tools

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Status Bar
Contains buttons like SNAP, GRID, ORTHO, POLAR, OSNAP, OTRACK, DUCS, DYN, LWT and MODEL. It also
displays the cursor coordinates in the lower left corner.

Status Bar

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Getting Started 11
Function Keys
Function key Use Button on Status Bar
F1 Help
F2 Auto Cad Text Window(Command History)
F3 OSNAP ON/OFF OSNAP
F6 Dynamic UCS ON/OFF DUCS
F7 Grid ON/OFF GRID
F8 Ortho ON/OFF ORTHO
F9 Snap ON/OFF SNAP
F10 Polar ON/OFF POLAR
F11 Object Snap Tracking (OTRACK) ON/OFF OTRACK
F12 Dynamic Input ON/OFF DYN
To make line weight visible LWT
To switch between Model and Paper Space MODEL (PAPER)
Coordinates ON/OFF COORDINATE (left end of status bar)
 Getting Started 12
How to give a command?
The commands can be given in 1 one the following
ways:

1. Choose the commands icon on a Toolbar.

2. Type the command in Command line. 3. Type the command near the Crosshair (Dynamic
input).

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How to give a command? (cont.)

1. When you enter a command in the command line, you need to press ENTER or space bar key to
activate the command.

2. Dynamic input works when DYN button on the Status bar is active. A shortcut menu is displayed when
you right –click in the drawing area before entering any command.

3. Whichever the way you give the command, the command appears in the command line.

4. Most of the commands are terminated by pressing ENTER. A few commands are self-termination.
Pressing ENTER after termination of a command will reactivate it. You may use UP or DOWN keys to
scroll through commands and or point inputs used.

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How to give a command? (cont.)

5. Most of the commands are terminated by pressing ENTER. A few commands are self-termination.
Pressing ENTER after termination of a command will reactivate it. You may use UP or DOWN keys to
scroll through commands and or point inputs used.

5. Many commands have options in them. The options are enclosed in [ ]. To make a particular option
active, simply enter capital letter(s) in that option in the Command line. The default value(s) or
active option is enclosed in < >. Press ENTER to accept default values or active option.

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 Getting Started 15
Selection Windows

1. Crossing Selection
Selects all objects which are even partially in the window

2. Window Selection
Selects only the objects that are completely engulfed

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 Setting Up the Drawing Environment 16
Units
Command: un
Indicate metric unit in pop up window at start up
Format / Units…

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 Setting Up the Drawing Environment 17
Drawing

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 Setting Up the Drawing Environment 18
Drawing
1. Absolute coordinate system (#)
Cartesian (#X,Y)
Press TAB to switch between abscissa and
ordinate

2. Relative coordinate system (@) – default

Cartesian (X,Y)
Press TAB to switch between abscissa and
ordinate

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Drawing
3. Polar coordinate system (<)
Length of segment, angle
Press TAB to switch between length and
angle

4. Direct entry

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Dimensioning

There are several different types of dimensions:

1. Linear dimensions are used for dimensioning either horizontal or vertical distances.

2. Aligned dimensions will measure the actual length of an angled line.

3. Radius dimensions will give you the radius of either arcs or circles.

4. Diameter dimensions are used on circles.

5. Angular dimensions will measure the angle between two lines that you pick.

Try exploring what do these do?

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 Getting Started 21
Layers
Layers are used to organize drawings. Imagine a large project for a high-rise tower. The designers would
create layers for the electrical, plumbing, landscape and more. It is necessary to control the drawing and
turn some layers off and view only the ones you want. This is one reason why layers are needed. But if
you were to use AutoCAD professionally, every drawing you dealt with would have layers. Normally, it is
acceptable to have a layer for each different part of a drawing.

You will be creating a layer for the dimensions, one for the lines (objects that were drawn) and another
for the text. Start the LAYER command (LA). This will bring up the Layer Properties Manager .

New Use current layer

Colour

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Layers (cont.)
In the Layer Properties Manager, you will notice that each layer can have a number of specific properties.

Status: Displays the current state of the layer. In this example, the green check means that objects is the
current layer.
Name: The name of the layer. Give layers understandable names.
On: If a layer is 'On' it means that it is visible (but objects can still be erased when the 'Select > All option
is used).
Freeze: A layer is not visible and cannot be deleted.
Lock: Layer is visible, but cannot be modified.
Color: A specific color for everything on that layer.
Linetype: A specific linetype (hidden, center, etc) for the layer.
Lineweight: The visible width of the objects on that layer.
Description: A user-defined description for the layer.
Plot: A defined color for the plotter to use on that layer. (Try exploring this yourself)

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 Let’s Practice 23
We will go through the following in Auto CAD,
Please practice as we proceed:

1. Setting up units 4. Dimensioning

2. Drawing Tools 1. Changing Dimension Styles
1. Line 5. Tables
2. Polyline 1. Changing table annotations
3. Circle 6. Block
4. Rectangle 1. Editing blocks
3. Modify Tools 7. Layers
1. Move 8. Plotting the sheet
2. Copy
3. Mirror
4. Chamfer
5. Fillet
6. Extend
7. Trim
8. Erase
9. Offset
10. Explode
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 Let’s Practice
Some Basic Short Commands
1. Line <l> enter – single entity
2. Polyline <Pline> enter – single entity
3. Circle - <c> enter
4. Arc - <arc> enter
5. Rectangle - <rec> enter
6. Polygon - <pol> enter
7. Hatch - <hat> enter
8. Dimension - <d> enter
9. Move : <m> enter
10.Copy: <co> enter
11.Stretch: <str> enter
12. Rotate: <ro> enter
13.Mirror: <mi> enter
14.Scale: <sc> enter
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15. Trim: <tr> enter, select the point from where you
want to trim, then select object for trimming
16.Extend: <ex> enter, select the point from where
you want to extend, then select object for
trimming
17.Fillet: <f> enter, <r> enter
18.Chamfer: <cha> enter, <d> enter distance, enter
19.Array: <ar> enter
20.Erase: <e > enter
21.Offset : <o> enter, specify distance, enter
22.Explode: <x> enter
 Course Outline 25
You are here to learn NOT copy.

Copying is wrong. Copying is wrong.

Copying is wrong. Copying is wrong.
Copying is wrong. Copying is wrong.
Copying is wrong. Copying is wrong.

Using CAD is a skill, it can only be acquired through practice.

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 Course Outline 26
Remember it takes two to cheat.
Both students will be penalized.

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