CAD

LECTURE 1
 Introduction to CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers to aid in the creation,
modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. CAD software is used to
increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve
communications through documentation, and to create a database for
manufacturing. CAD is used in many applications, including automotive,
shipbuilding, and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design,
prosthetics, and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce computer
animation for special effects in movies, advertising and technical manuals, often
called DCC digital content creation.
 Introduction to CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers to aid in the creation,
modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. CAD software is used to
increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve
communications through documentation, and to create a database for
manufacturing. CAD is used in many applications, including automotive,
shipbuilding, and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design,
prosthetics, and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce computer
animation for special effects in movies, advertising and technical manuals, often
called DCC digital content creation.
 AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software
application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk

AutoCAD is used in industry, by architects, project managers, engineers, graphic

designers, city planners and other professionals.

Capabilities:

2D line drawings

3D constructions

Rendering

Part Assemblies
 AutoCAD Environment
Menu

Drawing
ToolBars Area

Command Status
Window Bar
 AutoCAD Environment
 Menu: Contains all commands needed to run and design in AutoCAD.
 Toolbars: Quick access to some commands. According to need, the user can
customize the CAD environment by adding/removing toolbars.
 Command Window: Displays commands and messages.
 Drawing Area: The area where you draw is known as drawing area
 Status Bar: Displays the cursor coordinates . Also contains buttons to turn
on common drawing aids such as Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar, O snap, etc.
 Drawing Aids
 Grid: Area of the graphic covered with regularly spaced
dots, acting as visual reference.

 Snap Grid: Invisible grid that locks the pointer into

alignment with the grid points according to the spacing
set by Snap.

 Object Snap: Used to snap the cursor to particular

points on objects, i.e. end points, centers, etc…

 Grips: Small squares that appear on selected objects. By

 Drawing Objects

 Draw Objects:
– Line
– Polyline
– Rectangle
– Arc
– Circle
– Polygon
– Ellipse
– Etc.
 Objects Editing Methods
 Modifying and Editing Commands:
– Trim
– Stretch
– Break (Erases parts of objects or splits an object in two)
– Fillet (Rounds and fillets the edges of objects)
– Chamfer (Equivalent to Fillet with a straight edge)
– Extend (Extends an object to meet another object)
– Mirror
– Array (Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern)
– Offset
– Explode (Breaks a compound object into its component objects)
– Etc.
 Layers
 Layers properties:
– Color
– Line type
– Line weight
– Plot Style

 Layers control methods:

– Freeze (Freezes layers, making them invisible and excluding
them from regeneration and plotting)
– Lock/Unlock (Locks layers, preventing selection and editing of
objects on those layers)
– On (Makes selected layers visible and available for plotting) /Off
– Plot
 Blocks
 Blocks: association of multiple objects into a single entity (e.g.
door, window, etc.)

 Blocks Methods:
– BLOCK: creates block definitions on the command line
– Insert Block: specify the insertion point, scale, and rotation angle
– Explode Block: breaks a block instance for modification, I.e. to add or delete
objects that define the block
– Oops: restores objects erased by the last ERASE command
– Wblock: Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file