utoCAD Tutorial 2:
FOR RELEASE 2000
utoCAD Tutorial 2:
FOR
RELEASE
2000
PLEASE READ: ___________
This tutorial was designed to be part of the introductory courses taught by the Graphic Communications Program at NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY. All of the directions used in this, and the other tutorials in this series, assume that you are running AutoCAD Release 2000i on an NT system. These directions will only work with Release 2000i. Other versions may not have the same commands or format.
his tutorial will allow you to explore new features in AutoCAD while you practice commands you used in the previous tutorial. It is assumed that you completed AutoCAD Tutorial 1 before doing this one.
After completing this tutorial, you should be able to:
- create a two-dimensional drawing using the CIRCLE, TRIM, and LINE commands;
- insert a drawing into the titleblock; and
- print a drawing to scale.
NOTES TO REMEMBER WHEN WORKING IN AUTOCAD
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STEP
1
Now that you have reviewed a few AutoCAD procedures, you need to open the classtemplate file that you used in Tutorial 1. This TEMPLATE file should be on a floppy disk or in your Home Directory. After the file opens, use Save As... to rename the file acadtutor2.
NOTE: Click on the Model
tag, next to the Layout 1
tag. If you find the titleblock on the Model
screen, use the Erase
command to remove it. You do not have to worry about losing the titleblock.
It is in the Layout 1 space. You may also want to open the classtemplate
file again and remove the titleblock in Model
space there and resave it to keep you from having the aggrevation of doing it
everytime you open the file.
STEP
2
Before you actually begin the tutorial drawing, you need to practice four methods AutoCAD uses for locating elements in a drawing. One of these, Absolute Coordinates, you used in the last tutorial. The other three methods are Relative Rectangular Coordinates, Relative Polar Coordinates, and Object Snap (Osnap). Before practicing these, click on the link for Absolute Coordinates to review the information on this location method. Now, use the Line command and draw the following lines with Absolute Coordinates.
The
next lines will use a combination of locating methods: Relative
Rectangular Coordinates and Object Snaps (Osnap).
Object snaps are powerful AutoCAD tools that allow you to locate positions
on existing elements in your drawing. When using Object Snaps, the cursor
will change shape when it is over an appropriate location for that Osnap
option. Each Osnap
option will display a different cursor shape.
Before
using the Osnap
tools, let's place the Osnap
toolbar on the screen. This toolbar will allow you to select Osnaps
by clicking on their buttons. To access this toolbar, select the View
menu and then Toolbars...
When the Toolbars dialogue box appears, scroll down to Osnap, and click on the square check box to the RIGHT of its name. After the Osnap toolbar appears on the screen (See Figure to the RIGHT), select Close to exit the Toolbars dialogue box.
To move the Osnap toolbar to a better location, hold down the LEFT mouse button at the top of the toolbar (by its name), and drag it to a convenient position. You can place it on the drawing screen or with the top and right side toolbars, on the edges of the AutoCAD drawing window. Buttons on the toolbar are usually arranged horizontally, but will become vertical (as shown in the illustration to the right) if you place it with the toolbars on the left side of the screen.
Slide your cursor onto one
of the buttons on the Osnap
Toolbar without clicking the mouse. Notice that the name of that button
appears on the screen. You can identify any button on any toolbar in this fashion.
Relative Rectangular Coordinates allow you to treat any point on the
screen as if it is the 0,0,0 point. This is why this system
is referred to as a RELATIVE locating method. Read the directions for
the Osnap
and Relative Rectangular Coordinates
before drawing the lines indicated below.
If your lines match those in FIGURE 3, erase them and continue to the next part of the tutorial. If they don't, erase any lines that are wrong, and try them again. It is important you become comfortable with these selection systems.
To check your lines,
you can use an Inquiry
command called Distance.
To activate this command, type dist at a Command:
prompt.
When the prompt asks Specify
first point:, use the Endpoint Osnap
to select one end of a line.
When the prompt asks Specify
second point:, use the Endpoint Osnap
again to pick the other end of the line.
AutoCAD will display the position, length, and angle for this line in the prompt window.
STEP
3
Look
at FIGURE 4. This figure provides a view of the drawing you will construct
in this tutorial, inside of the titleblock you constructed in Tutorial
1. You will complete this figure and then use the Insert
command to place the titleblock around it.
You will begin by constructing a rectangle, which you will edit to add other
features.
FIGURE 4
**HELP NOTES
You can
type u for Undo while you are inside of the Line command, and AutoCAD will remove the last point
you placed without exiting the command. Many commands in AutoCAD will allow
you to undo certain actions during the command.
If you accidentally leave the Line
command, you can start the next line where you left off. Activate the Line
command and use the Endpoint Osnap to select the end of the last line you drew.
You may need to Zoom
out further
to be sure that you can see all of the lines you are drawing. Use the Realtime
or All
option of the Zoom
command to be sure you move back far enough.
DRAWING PROCEDURE
For the construction of the rectangle, you will create a series of lines straight lines.
NOTE:
The icon 
that usually
appears in the lower left hand corner of your AutoCAD screen may not be in the
same position as the one shown in the figures below. Its position, relative
to the drawing, depends on the Zoom factor and its configuration. To move this
icon so that it is not in your way, we will set it so that it consistently stays
in the lower Left Corner of the screen. The default position for this icon is
at the 0,0 point.
To change the postion of the icon, type ucsicon at a Command: prompt. The next prompt will read: Enter an option [ON/OFF/ALL/Noorigin/ORigin/Properties] <ON>: type n, for Norigin, and press Enter.
FIGURE 8
**HELP NOTE: If
you have lines in the wrong place, use
Erase 
to remove
them and add them again.
STEP
4
You
are now going to add two circles
to your
rectangle and edit them to form arcs.
Now, add a 80mm
radius circle (on the right side of the figure) using the Ttr
option. Use the same option to add a 40mm radius circle
(on the upper left side of the figure). If your figure does not match the
one in FIGURE 9, use Undo
or Erase
to remove them
and try placing them again.
FIGURE 9
STEP
5
You
now need to trim the rectangle back to the circles, remove one line, and trim
the circles so that you are left with arcs. You will trim the lines in STEP
5 and the circles in STEP 6. Read the information on the Trim
command.
Now, trim the lines touching the large circle. Examine FIGURE 10 to see
how the drawing should look when you complete this first trim stage.
FIGURE 10
Repeat the Trim
command to remove the lines that extend past the small circle so
that the drawing looks like FIGURE 11.
FIGURE 11
Remove the excess vertical line (touching the large circle) with the Erase
command. Look at FIGURE 12 if you are not sure which line. You
can use oops
or Undo
to replace the line if you accidentally remove the wrong one.
FIGURE 12
Type qsave at a Command:
prompt, so you can save the work you have completed.
STEP
6
The last items to trim are the circles so they form arcs. Use the Trim command to edit these. Examine FIGURE 13.
Use qsave to save your changes.
STEP
7
The next step is to add a polygon
to the drawing and modify it. Look at FIGURE 14.
FIGURE 14
AutoCAD allows you to construct regular polygons; however, a polygon created
in this program is a single or grouped object and is oriented
to a default angle. This means that you must Rotate
the polygon to change its orientation and Explode
it before you can edit it. You will be doing both of these
in this step.
Read the information on the Polygon
command and Center Osnap
(if needed).
Next, add a Hexagon that is concentric with the larger arc
and has a radius of 30mm
across its flats. Remember, if it is constructed
to a measurement across its flats, it is circumscribed.
With the hexagon in the drawing,
click on one of its lines with the Left mouse button. Notice that the whole
polygon selects. This is because it is a grouped item. You cannot select just
one line. Use the Escape Key to deselect the Polygon when you are done. In a
later tutorial you will encounter a discussion of
(Plines).
Polygons are created as Polylines, which are treated by AutoCAD as a single
object.
Polylines
The hexagon you just added has a
corner at 0 degrees on the XY plane. This is a hexagon's default orientation
in AutoCAD. You need to rotate the hexagon so that this corner is at
a 90 degree angle (aligned with the Y-axis). Read the information
on the Rotate
command before you rotate the hexagon to the proper angle. When asked
for a basepoint
for rotation, use the Center Osnap and
select the large arc. See FIGURE 15.
FIGURE 15
Figure 16 shows how the drawing should look when you are done.
FIGURE 16
**NOTE: A polygon does not have a center like a circle. If this hexagon
had not been concentric with the large arc, you would have had to find some
way to create a basepoint for its rotation. Fortunately, a basepoint does not
have to be part of the object being rotated. Other items can be used for this
reference. For Polygons with an even number of sides, you can add a line that
connects two corners of the Polygon and crosses through its center. The midpoint
of this construction line could be used as the basepoint for rotating the Polygon.
Elements are added to a CAD drawing for construction purposes the same way they
are to instrument drawings.
To edit the hexagon, Explode it into individual lines so it is no longer a single or grouped entity. It is not possible to remove part of it otherwise.
I know,
you expected something spectacular to happen. Sorry,
no pyrotechnics come with this command, although I have always thought the programmers
should have added a small sound effect for fun. The hexagon even looks the same;
however, if you click on one of the hexagon's lines, only that line is now selected.
With the hexagon exploded, use the Erase
command to remove the two top lines of the hexagon. Look
at FIGURE 17 to be sure which lines to remove.
FIGURE 17
This is a good time to save your changes.
STEP
8
The
next command you will use is the Extend
command. This command will allow you to extend the
vertical sides of the hexagon so they touch the top of the drawing.
Look at FIGURE 18 to see how the drawing should appear when you have
completed this step.
FIGURE 18
Read the information
on the Extend
command.
After familiarizing yourself with this information, use it to extend the
vertical sides of the hexagon to the top of the drawing.
STEP
9
Look at FIGURE 19. Notice that
part of the horizontal line and the arc, between the lines you extended, have
been trimmed. Use the Trim
command to remove these lines.
FIGURE 19
_qsave_
STEP
10
The
last visible lines you will add to the drawing are in the lower left corner
of the figure. Look at FIGURE 20. Use a combination of Absolute,
Relative Rectangular or Relative Polar Coordinates to add these lines.
The first line begins 40mm from the bottom
of the left side of the drawing, both are 40mm
long and at 90 degrees to each other. You should recall
that the lower left corner of the original rectangle was started
at the 0,0 point.
FIGURE 20
If you look at FIGURE 20 again, you should notice the lines that
form the LOWER LEFT CORNER, between the lines you just added, have been trimmed
away. Use the Trim
command to remove this part of these lines.
STEP
11
Now that the visible lines of the
drawing are complete, you need to add center lines. Examine FIGURE 21,
which again shows you a scaled down version of the completed drawing inside
a titleblock.
FIGURE 21
So far all of the construction of
this drawing has been on one layer of the file. You will add the center lines
in the Center layer.
The startpage file, which you used in Tutorial 1, was already been configured
with a set of layers. Since you used this file to create the classtemplate
file you used for this tutorial, it also has the same layers. If you
open a new AutoCAD file, only the 0 layer (the default layer in AutoCAD) exists. Another configuration
that was made to the startpage file was the assignment of line types,
line colors, and line weights to the layers. AutoCAD refers to this
as assignment BYLAYER. Anything drawn in a layer
will be in the line type, line color, and line weight (when
printed) assigned to that layer.
To draw center lines in this file, all you have
to do is change to the Center Layer. In a later tutorial, you will be
shown how to add layers to a new drawing file and configure them. If you have
accidentally started this tutorial in a default AutoCAD file, there will be
no Center layer.
Look at the Layer Status Window in the upper left corner of the screen,
which indicates the current layer (see FIGURE 22).
FIGURE 22
Change to the CENTER Layer by selecting it on the Layer
Status Window drop-down menu. The Center Layer name should now appear
in the Layer Status Window.
__qsave__
That will teach you to read my directions more carefully, but don't panic! Since you accidentally started this tutorial in a default AutoCAD file, you will need to insert the drawing you created into that file now. To do this, you will use the Insert command you used in the last tutorial.
First, open the classtemplate file and click on the MODEL button to move to MODEL SPACE.
Under the Insert menu, select Block...
When the Block dialogue box appears, click on the Browse button.
Locate your acadtutor2 file and click on OK. You will return to the Block dialogue box.
Click on OK to exit the Block dialogue box.
Click the mouse on the screen to place the drawing.
Press Enter until you have passed all of the prompts and returned to a Command: prompt.
Use Save as... to name the classtemplate file acadtutor2 to overwrite the old file.
Use the Explode command to explode the drawing. NOTE: When you insert a drawing from one file into another, it will always be converted to a grouped drawing or Block. To edit it, you have to explode it back to individual lines.
If an inserted drawing needs to be moved, it should be moved while it is still a single item with the Move command.
If you need to move an element to a different layer, use the Layer Status Window drop-down menu (see FIGURE 22). To move items with the Layer Status menu, select the objects that need to be moved and then the appropriate layer on the Layer Status Window drop-down menu. Finally, press Escape to keep from reactivating the last command you used and to deselect the item(s) you moved. To determine if the layer change was properly completed, click on an item that you moved to a different layer, and its layer will appear in the Layer Status Window.
Remember, when you use the Center
Osnap, you must
click on the edge of the arcs to identify them.
See FIGURE 23.
FIGURE 23
Once the circles are placed, draw horizontal and vertical center lines across
each arc using the Quadrant Osnap.
Read the information on the Quadrant Osnap and then add a horizontal center line that starts at one edge of the 50mm circle and extends to the other side (see FIGURES 24 and 25).
NOTE: Notice that the cursor
changes to a "diamond" shape when using this and "snaps"
to the appropriate position on the edge of the circle.
FIGURE 24
FIGURE 25
Now, add a vertical center line to the 100mm diameter circle. Repeat
this operation to create horizontal and vertical center lines for
the smaller arc. See Figure 26 for the line positions.
Finally, use Erase
to remove the circles you added for the construction of the lines.
FIGURE 26
Change back to the 0 layer before you insert your titleblock. If you stay in the Center Layer, the titleblock will be inserted as center lines.
qsave
STEP
12
It is finally time to insert the drawing in the titleblock that you created in the first tutorial. Since the titleblock in on the Layout 1 screen, you need to move to that screen using the Layout 1 tab.
On the Layout 1 screen, you will see the titleblock, but not the drawing. To see the drawing, you must "cut" a window or VIEWPORT in the Paper of the Paper Space so the drawing will show through from Model Space.
The command you will use to create this window is called the VPORTS command.
There is three ways to access this command, by typing vports at a Command: prompt, selecting Viewports on the View menu, or using the Viewports toolbar. There are more options available when you type vports at a Command: prompt than with the other methods of accessing this command.
To
use the Viewports toolbar,
you must first place the toolbar on the AutoCAD screen. This toolbar can be
displayed on the screen by locating Toolbars...
on the View menu. When
the Toolbar dialogue
box appears, scroll down to the Viewports
listing and click on the check box next to its name. Click on Close
to exit the Toolbar
dialogue box. The Viewports
tool bar will appear on the AutoCAD screen. Move the toolbar by grabbing it
in the area by its name and dragging it into the area to the top or side of
the screen where other toolbars are located.
With the Viewport toolbar visible, click on the single viewport button to select Single viewport. AutoCAD will return you to the Layout 1 screen. The prompt will ask you to pick the first corner of the viewport. Use the Endpoint or Intersection Osnap and select the upper left corner of the titleblock. When it ask you a second corner, use an Osnap again to select the intersection of the title areas that contains the heading TITLE: and the Right vertical line that forms the titleblock and press Enter to exit the Vport command. See Figure 27. The drawing should show inside the titleblock.
FIGURE 27
Notice that the drawing is a little large for the space available in the titleblock. You need to change the size of the drawing to a STANDARD SCALE. There are certain acceptible scales that can be used. NEVER use the scale to fit option. For this drawing, you need to scale the drawing to 1:2 (half size) before you print it. To scale the drawing, you have one of two options: select a scale factor on the Viewports toolbar or use Zoom XP.
To change the size of the drawing in the viewport with either method, you must first select the viewport edge. Since we made it the same size as the drawing area in the titleblock, if you click on the top line of the titleblock, it will select the viewport. This is because the viewport is on top of the titleblock line. See Figure 28.
FIGURE 29
With the viewport selected, you
can click on the arrow to the Right of the window containing the current size
of the drawing and drag down to the 1:2 selection,
OR
type z or zoom at a Command: prompt and then type .5XP and press Enter. Zoom XP scales the drawing to a ratio of the PAPER Space scale, which we set to 1:1 (actual size). vports at a Command: prompt. The Viewports dialogue box will appear. In the dialogue box, select Single and then click on OK.
The drawing should zoom to a smaller
size.
STEP
13
You
will now need to change the text in the titleblock. To edit the text in
the titleblock you must Explode
it so that it is returned to individual lines. This is the
same command you used to explode the hexagon earlier in this tutorial.
To edit the titleblock text, you are going to use a new command called ddedit.
Read the information on ddedit
and then add the text in the list below.
The text that needs to be added is:
_qsave_
STEP
14
It
is now time to print the drawing.
To print, you will use the Plot
command. Read the information on this command, and then print
your drawing in a 1:1 scale. Be sure to check your drawing with a
Full Preview before you select OK to send the drawing to the printer.
Don't forget to save the
drawing and EXIT AutoCAD PROPERLY.
Congratulations, you have now completed Tutorial 2.
In the next tutorial
you will create a simple solid model.
