H.D. Gamage 24th November 2024 College of Technology - Maradana What is AutoCAD ? • CAD – Computer Aided Design/Drafting • AutoCAD is a computer aided drafting program used by every engineering and design office in the world • Civil engineering • Architecture • Mechanical & electrical engineering • Aeronautical engineering • And many other desciplines Uses & advantages of AutoCAD Facts:
• Accurate drawings can be created AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 and published using AutoCAD’s Founder : John Walker (Autodesk) powerful features • 3D 'models' can also be created giving the designer absolute control over the design from start • Advantages to finish • Accuracy • Time saving • An object can be rendered on • Standardization screen to give an idea of the • Easily shared finished Product • Easy to edit How to start AutoCAD in Windows 11 • Install AutoCAD 4
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• Or double-click the AutoCAD icon on your Windows Desktop
• The AutoCAD window displays a blank default document named Drawing1.dwg. The AutoCAD Window Application Menu The Application menu offers tools to help you manage your AutoCAD files. It is basically the File pull-down menu from previous versions of AutoCAD. Try it out to see how it works: 1. Click the Application menu icon in the upper-left corner of the AutoCAD window. A list of options appears. 2. Move the cursor slowly down the list of options in the left column. As you highlight the options, additional options appear in a column to the right. 3. Highlight the “Open” and “Export” option to see the various formats available for opening and exporting the files. Drawing Area • Covers the major portion of the screen • Area where you can draw the objects and use the commands • To draw the objects, you need to define the coordinate points, which can be selected by using your pointing device. • The position of the pointing device is represented on the screen by the cursor. • The window also has the standard windows buttons such as close, minimize, scroll bar etc. on the top right corner. Command Window
• As mentioned, at the bottom of the screen, just above the status bar, is a small horizontal window called the Command window. • Here, AutoCAD displays responses to your input while you’re using a command. • By default, it shows one line of text. • This line shows the current responses to your command input as well as command options. UCS (User Coordinate System ) Icon • In the lower-left corner of the drawing area, you see an L-shaped line. This is the User Coordinate System (UCS) icon, which tells you your orientation in the drawing. • This icon becomes helpful as you start to work with complex 2D drawings and 3D models. • The X and Y indicate the x and y-axes of your drawing. Ribbon
• The most prominent feature in the AutoCAD window, besides the
drawing area, is the Ribbon. • This is where you’ll be selecting tools to draw, edit, or perform other functions. • The Ribbon contains a set of panels representing groups of tools and features. Navigation bar • The navigation bar is displayed in the drawing area and contains navigation tools View Cube • View cube is available on the top right corner of the drawing area and is used to switch between the standard and isometric views or roll the current view. Basic Setting-Up 1. Units (to mm & inches etc.) 2. Page setup (420x297 mm) 3. Object snap settings (OSNAP) 4. Make nodes visible 5. Set text size 6. Set dimensioning style 7. Set Layer properties Setting units • Usually, the units for mechanical drawing objects will be in mm. • In architectural drawings, the units can be inches or mm • AutoCAD does not use mm by default– This may cause issues while printing/saving as pdf– Becomes difficult to define other properties like line thickness etc. • Exercise: Set units in mm • Also, a good idea to set the precision to single/ double decimal place, depending on requirement Page Setup: Model • Printer name : Choose “dwg to pdf” • Paper size: Choose “ISO Full BleedA3 (420x297 mm)” • We won’t really worry about the page setup for “Layout” tabs Object Snap (OSNAP Command)
Right Click on the point
• While hovering cursor, AutoCAD will automatically select intersections, midpoints etc. • OSNAP command can be used to set which points should be chosen Make Nodes/Points Visible
• Sometimes we mark intersections/divisions using nodes/points • We have to make these intersections visible using markers Setting Up Text Style • Text size should not be too large/small compared to figures • Always test your settings
Annotation– Select Annotative for text,
dimensions and multileader style Dimensioning Style LAYER Command Tool Bars Drawing tool bar
• Main toolbar in AutoCAD
• Practice basic lines,
circles, arcs, hatch, extend lines and divide commands. Modify tool bar
Offset Exercise 1 1. Draw a line (5 mm) 2. Draw a circle (diameter = 25 mm) 3. Draw extend lines (xline) in horizontal and vertical 4. Create a simple picture using above tools Exercise 2 Exercise 3
