Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD

Learning Objectives:
Start AutoCAD and start a drawing in Save the work using various
AutoCAD. file-saving commands.
Understand the various components of Close a drawing.
the initial AutoCAD screen. Open an existing drawing.
Invoke AutoCAD commands from the Understand the concept of
keyboard, menu, toolbar, shortcut Multiple Document Environment.
menu, screen menu, and digitizer. Quit AutoCAD.
Understand the functioning of dialog Use the various options of
AutoCADs help.
boxes in AutoCAD.
Understand the use of Active
Start a new drawing using the QNEW Assistance, Learning Assistance,
command and the Startup dialog box. and other interactive help topics.
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
STARTING AUTOCAD
When you turn on your computer, the operating system (Windows 95, Windows NT, or
Windows 98) is automatically loaded. This will display the Windows screen with
various application icons. You can start AutoCAD by double-clicking on the AutoCAD
2004 icon available on the desktop of your computer. You can also load AutoCAD
from the Windows taskbar by choosing the Start button at the bottom left corner of
the screen (default position) to display the menu. Choose Programs to display the
program folders. Now, choose the Autodesk > AutoCAD 2004 folder to display the
AutoCAD programs and then choose AutoCAD 2004 to start AutoCAD.
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD

Windows screen
with taskbar and
application
icons

Learning
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
AutoCAD SCREEN COMPONENT
The various components of the
initial AutoCAD screen are:

Drawing Area
Command Window
Status Bar
Status Bar Tray Options

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AutoCAD screen components
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Drawing Area
The drawing area covers the major portion of the screen. Here you can draw the
various objects and use the various commands. There is a coordinate system icon at
the lower left corner of the drawing area. The window also has the standard Windows
buttons such as close, minimize, scroll bar, and so on, that have the same functions as
for any other standard window.

Command Window
The command window is present at the bottom of the drawing area and has the
Command prompt where you can enter the commands. You can change the size of the
window by placing the cursor on the top edge and then dragging it. By default the
command window displays only three lines.

Learning AutoCAD Scrn.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Status Bar
The status bar is displayed at the bottom of the screen. This bar contains some useful
information and buttons that will make it easy to change the status of some AutoCAD
functions. To change the status, you must choose the buttons that toggle between on
and off.

Default status bar display

Learning
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
The various options under the Status Bar are:

Coordinate display Osnap

Snap Otrack
Grid LWT
Ortho Model
Polar

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Coordinate display
The Coordinates information is displayed in the left corner of the status bar. You can
select this coordinate button to toggle between on and off. The COORDS system variable
controls the type of display of the coordinates.

Snap
If Snap Mode is on, the Snap button is displayed as pressed in the status bar; otherwise,
it is not displayed. This allows you to move the cursor in fixed increments. You can also
use the function key F9 as a toggle key to turn Snap off or on.

Grid
If Grid Display is on, grid lines are displayed on the screen. These lines are used as
reference lines in a drawing. The function key F7 can be used to turn the grid display on
or off.

Learning Status Bar

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Ortho
The Ortho Mode allows you to draw lines at right angles only. If this mode is on, the
ORTHO button is pressed in the status bar. You can use the F8 key to turn Ortho on or
off.

Polar
If you turn the Polar Tracking on, the movement of the cursor is restricted along a path
based on the angle set as the polar angle settings. Choosing the POLAR button in the
status bar turns the Polar Tracking on. You can also use the function key, F10.

Osnap
When Object Snap is on, you can use the running object snaps to snap on to a point. If
Object Snap is on, the OSNAP button is displayed as pressed in the status bar. You can
also use the F3 key to turn the Object Snap on or off.

Learning Status Bar

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Otrack
Choosing the OTRACK button, turns Object Snap Tracking on or off.

LWT
Choosing this button in the status bar, allows you to turn on or off the display of lineweights
in the drawing. If the LWT button is not pressed, the display of Lineweight is turned off.

Model
The Model button is displayed in the status bar when you are working in the model space
to create drawings. You can choose this button to shift to the layouts (paper space) where
you can create drawing views. Once you switch to layouts, this button is replaced by the
PAPER button. You can choose the PAPER button to shift back to the model space.

Learning Status Bar

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Status Bar Tray Options*
The status bar tray options are displayed at the lower-right corner of the screen.
These options are used to access the frequently used commands in AutoCAD.

Communication Center*
The Communication Center displays a message and an alert whenever
Autodesk provides the latest information regarding software updates and their
other products.

Manage Xrefs*
The Manage Xrefs icon is displayed whenever an external reference drawing
is attached to the selected drawing. This icon displays a message and an alert
whenever an xref drawing is required to be reloaded.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
CAD Standards*
The CAD Standards icon is displayed whenever a standard drawing is
associated with the selected drawing to compare the standards. This icon
displays a message and an alert whenever standard violation occurs in the
drawing.

Validate Digital Signatures*

The Validate Digital Signatures icon is displayed whenever AutoCAD
drawing has a valid digital signature. You can validate the digital signature by
clicking on this icon.

Learning AutoCAD Scrn.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
INVOKING COMMANDS IN AutoCAD
When you start AutoCAD and you are in the drawing area, you need to invoke AutoCAD
commands to perform any operation. AutoCAD has provided the following methods to
invoke commands:

Keyboard
Menu
Toolbar
Shortcut menu
TOOL PALETTES*

Learning
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Keyboard
You can invoke any AutoCAD command at the keyboard by typing the command name at
the Command prompt, and then pressing ENTER or the SPACEBAR. If the Command
prompt is not displayed as the last line in the command window area, you must cancel the
existing command by pressing Esc (escape) on the keyboard. The following example
shows how to invoke the LINE command from the keyboard:

Command: LINE or L (L is command alias)

Learning Invoking
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Menu
You can also select commands from the menu.
The menu bar that displays the menu bar
titles is at the top of the screen. As you move
the cursor over the menu bar, different titles
are highlighted. You can choose the desired
item by pressing the pick button of your
pointing device. Once the item is selected, the
corresponding menu is displayed directly
under the title. Some of the menu items in the
menu display an arrow on the right side, which
indicates that the menu item has a cascading
menu. You can display the cascading menu by
moving the arrow pointer over the item and
press the pick button.
Learning Invoking
Objectives Invoking the ELLIPSE command Commands
from the Draw menu
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Toolbar
In Windows, the toolbar is an easy and convenient
way to invoke a command. For example, you can
invoke the LINE command by choosing the Line
button in the Draw toolbar. When you choose a
command from the toolbar, the command prompts
are displayed in the command window.

Toolbars have numerous features that help to

control their appearance. Toolbar features include:

Displaying Toolbars
The Draw toolbar
Moving and Reshaping Toolbars

Learning Invoking
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Displaying Toolbars
The various toolbars can be
displayed by selecting their
respective check boxes in the
Toolbars tab of the Customize
dialog box. The Customize dialog
box can be invoked by selecting
Toolbars in the View menu. You
can also display a toolbar from the
shortcut menu by selecting the
name of the toolbar. The shortcut
menu can be displayed by right-
clicking anywhere on any toolbar
on the screen.
List of toolbars in the Toolbars tab of
the Customize dialog box
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Moving and Reshaping Toolbars
The toolbars can be moved anywhere on the screen by placing the cursor on the title bar
area and then dragging it to the desired location. While moving the toolbars you can
dock them to the top or sides of the screen by dropping them in the docking area. You
can also change the shape of the toolbars by placing the cursor anywhere on the border
of the toolbar where it takes the shape of a double arrow, and then pulling it in the desired
direction.

Reshaping the Draw toolbar Draw toolbar reshaped

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Shortcut Menu
AutoCAD has provided shortcut menus as an easy and convenient
way of invoking commands. These menus are context sensitive.
They are invoked by right-clicking and displayed at the cursor
location.

Shortcut menu without

an active command
Shortcut menu with the Shortcut menu for
POLYLINE command active the Layout tab

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
You can also right-click on the command
window to display the shortcut menu. This
menu displays the six most recently used
commands and some of the window options
like Copy and Paste.

Command line without

shortcut menu

You can right-click on the status bar to

display the shortcut menu. This menu
contains the options to change the settings of
drawing tools
Status bar shortcut
menu
Learning Invoking
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
TOOL PALETTES*
AutoCAD has provided TOOL PALETTES as an
easy and convenient way of placing and sharing
hatch patterns and blocks in the current drawing.
By default, AutoCAD displays the Tool Palettes
as a window on the right of the drawing area.
Also, the TOOL PALETTES window can be
turned on or off by either choosing the Tool
Palettes button available on the Standard
toolbar or by pressing the CTRL and 3 keys.

TOOL PALETTES window

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
AutoCAD DIALOG BOXES
There are certain commands which
when invoked display a dialog box.
A dialog box is a convenient
method of user interface. For
example, Options... in the Tools
menu displays the Options dialog
box. Any dialog box contains a
number of parts like the dialog
label, radio buttons, text or edit
boxes, check boxes, slider bars,
image boxes, and command
buttons. These components are
also referred to as TILES.
Components of a dialog box
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
STARTING A NEW DRAWING
You can open a new drawing
using the QNEW command.
When you invoke the QNEW
command by default, AutoCAD
will display the Select
template dialog box, as
shown in the figure. The dialog
box displays a list of the
default templates available in
AutoCAD 2004. You can select
the desired template to open a
new drawing that will use the
settings of the selected
template.
Learning Select template dialog box
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
You can also open a new drawing using
the Use a Wizard and Start from
Scratch options available in the Create
New Drawing dialog box. By default,
the display of this dialog box is turned
off. The display can be turned on using
the Options dialog box. The options
provided in the Create New Drawing
dialog box are discussed next.

Open a Drawing
By default this option is not available.
Create New Drawing dialog box

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Start from Scratch
When you choose the Start from
Scratch button, AutoCAD provides you
with options to start a new drawing that
contains the default AutoCAD setup for
Imperial (acad.dwt) or Metric drawings
(acadiso.dwt).
Options that are displayed to start a
new drawing when you choose the
Start from Scratch button

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Use a Template
When you choose the Use a Template
button in the Create New Drawing dialog
box, AutoCAD displays a list of templates
supplied with AutoCAD, as shown in the
figure. The default template file is
Acad.dwt or Acadiso.dwt, depending on
the installation. If you use a template file,
the new drawing will have the same
settings as specified in the template file.
To differentiate the template files from the
drawing files, the template files have .dwt
extension whereas the drawing files have
.dwg extension. The default templates that are displayed
when you choose the Use a Template
button
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Use a Wizard
The Use a Wizard option allows you to
set the initial drawing settings before
actually starting a new drawing. When
you choose the Use a Wizard button,
AutoCAD provides you the option of
using the Advanced Setup or Quick
Setup.

The Wizard options that are displayed when

Learning you choose the Use a Wizard button
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Advanced Setup
The Units page is displayed by default as The Angle page is shown in the figure
shown in the figure.

The Units page of the The Angle page of the

Advanced Setup dialog box Advanced Setup dialog box
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
The Angle Measure page is shown in the The Angle Direction page is shown in
figure. the figure

The Angle Measure page of the The Angle Direction page of the
Advanced Setup dialog box Advanced Setup dialog box
Learning Advanced
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
The Area page is shown in the figure.

Learning The Area page of the Advanced Setup dialog box Use a Wizard
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Quick Setup
The Units page opened by The Area page is displayed as
default in Quick Setup dialog shown in figure.
box as shown in figure.

The Units page of the The Area page of the

Quick Setup dialog box Quick Setup dialog box
Learning
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
SAVING YOUR WORK
In AutoCAD or any computer system, you must
save your work before you exit from the
drawing editor or turn the system off. AutoCAD
has provided the following commands that allow
you save your work on the hard disk of the
computer or on the floppy diskette.

QSAVE SAVEAS SAVE

Learning Different Save options in

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the File menu
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
When you choose Save from the File
menu as shown in the figure the QSAVE
command is invoked. If the current
drawing is unnamed and you are saving
the drawing for the first time in the
present session, the QSAVE command
will prompt you to enter the file name in
the Save Drawing As dialog box.
When you invoke the SAVEAS
command, the Save Drawing As dialog
box is displayed as shown in the figure.
Even if the drawing has been saved with
a file name, this command gives you an
option to save it with a different file Save Drawing As dialog box
name.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
The SAVE command is the most rarely used command and can be invoked only from
the command line by entering SAVE at the Command prompt. It is similar to the
SAVEAS command and displays the Save Drawing As dialog box always. With this
command you can save a previously saved drawing under a different file name, but this
command does not set it as the current drawing.

Save Drawing As Dialog Box

The Save Drawing As dialog box displays the information related to the drawing files
on your system. The various components of the dialog box are described next.

Places list
A column of icons is displayed on the left side of the dialog box. These icons contain
the shortcuts to the folders that are frequently used. You can quickly save your
drawings in one of these folders.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
File name edit box
To save your work, enter the name of the drawing in the File Name edit box. This can
be done by typing the file name or selecting it from the drop-down list.

Files of type drop-down list

The Files of type drop-down list is used to
specify the drawing format in which you
want to save the file.
Files of type drop-down list
Save in drop-down list
The current drive and path information is
listed in the Save in drop-down list.

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Save in drop-down list

 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Views List
The Views drop-down list has options for the type of listing of files
and displaying the preview images.
List Thumbnails
Details Preview Views list
Folder Button
If you choose the Create New Folder button, AutoCAD creates a new directory
under the name New Folder. The new folder is displayed in the File list box.

Up One Level Button

The Up one level button displays the directories that are up by one level.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Search the Web
It displays the Browse the Web dialog box that enables you to access and store
AutoCAD files on the Internet.

Tools List
The Tools drop-down list has an option for adding or
modifying the FTP sites. The Add Current Folder to Places
and Add to Favorites options add the folder displayed in
the Save in edit box to the Places list or to the Favorites
folder. The Options button displays the Saveas Options
dialog box where you can save the proxy images of custom
objects. The Security Options button displays the Security
Tools list
Options dialog box, which is used to configure the security
options of the drawing.
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AUTOMATIC TIMED SAVE
AutoCAD allows you to save your work automatically at specific intervals. To change
the time intervals you can enter the time intervals in minutes in the Minutes between
saves text box in the File Safety Precautions area available in the Options dialog box
(Open and Save tab). This dialog box can be invoked from the Tools menu.

CREATION OF BACKUP FILES

If the drawing file already exists and you use SAVE or SAVEAS commands to update
the current drawing, AutoCAD creates a backup file. AutoCAD takes the previous copy
of the drawing and changes it from a file type .dwg to .bak, and the updated drawing is
saved as a drawing file with the .dwg extension.

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CHANGING AUTOMATIC TIMED SAVED AND BACKUP
FILES INTO AutoCAD FORMAT
To change the backup file into an AutoCAD format, open the folder in which you have
saved the backup or the automatic timed saved drawing. Choose the Tools > Folder
Options from the menu bar to invoke the Folder Options dialog box. Choose the View
tab and under the Advanced settings area, clear the Hide file extensions for known
file types text box, if selected. Exit the dialog box. Rename the automatic saved
drawing or the backup file with a different name and also change the extension of the
drawing from .sv$ or .bak to .dwg. After you rename the drawing, you will notice that the
icon of the automatic saved drawing or the backup file is replaced by the AutoCAD icon.
This indicates that the automatic saved drawing or the backup file is changed into an
AutoCAD drawing.

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CLOSING A DRAWING
You can use the CLOSE command to close the current drawing file without actually
quitting AutoCAD. If you choose Close from the File menu or enter CLOSE at the
Command prompt, the current drawing file is closed. If you have not saved the drawing
after making the last changes to it and you invoke the CLOSE command, AutoCAD
displays a dialog box that allows you to save the drawing before closing. After closing
the drawing you are still in AutoCAD from where you can open a new or an already
saved drawing file. You can also use the close button (X) of the drawing window to
close the drawing.

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OPENING AN EXISTING DRAWING
You can open an existing drawing file that has been saved previously. There are three
methods that can be used to open a drawing file, the Select File dialog box, Startup
dialog box, and by Dragging and Dropping.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Opening an Existing Drawing Using the Select File Dialog Box
If you are already in the drawing
editor, and you want to open a
drawing file you can use the
OPEN command. The OPEN
command also displays the
Select File dialog box as shown
in the figure. You can select the
drawing to open using this dialog
box. This dialog box is similar to
the standard dialog boxes.

Select File dialog box

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
The Open button has a drop-down list as shown in figure. You can
choose a method for opening the file using this drop-down list. These
methods are discussed next.
Open Read-Only
Open drop-down list
If you want to view a drawing without altering it,
you must select the Open Read-Only option from
the drop-down list.

Partial Open
The Partial Open enables you to open only a
selected view or a selected layer of a selected
drawing. When you choose the Partial Open
option from the Open drop-down list, the Partial
Open dialog box is displayed, see figure.

Learning Partial Open dialog box

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Using the PARTIALOAD Command
Once you have opened a part of a drawing and made the necessary changes, you may
want to load additional objects or layers on the existing ones. This can be done by
using the PARTIALOAD command.

Select Initial View

The Select Initial View option allows you to specify the view you want to load initially
when AutoCAD loads the drawing. This option will work if the drawing has saved views.
This option is generally used while working on a large complicated drawing in which
you want to work on a particular portion of the drawing.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Opening an Existing Drawing Using the Startup Dialog Box
If you have configured the settings to show the
Startup dialog box from the Options dialog box,
the Startup dialog box is displayed every time you
start a new AutoCAD session. The first button in
this dialog box is the Open a Drawing button.
When you choose this button, a list of the most
recently opened drawings is displayed for you to
select from, see figure. The Browse button
displays the Select File dialog box, which allows
you to browse another file.
List of recently opened drawings

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MULTIPLE DOCUMENT ENVIRONMENT (MDE)
The MDE is a Windows feature that allows you to
open more than one drawing at a time in one
AutoCAD session. This feature is very helpful when
you want to work on different drawings simultaneously
and make changes to them with reference to each
other. The active drawing is specified by the dark blue
band in the title bar. You can make any drawing active Cascading arrangement in
by simply clicking in it. This type of arrangement is the MDE and the Window menu
cascading arrangement and can be changed as per (c1exm-3.dwg active)
your requirements. If the title bar of a particular
drawing is not visible and you want it active, choose
the drawing name in the Window menu, see figure.

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QUITTING AutoCAD
You can exit from the AutoCAD program by using the EXIT or QUIT command. Even if
you have a drawing file open you can use the EXIT command to close it as well as quit
the AutoCAD program. In case the drawing has not been saved, it allows you to save
the work first through a dialog box. Note that if you choose No in this dialog box, all the
changed made in the current list till the last save will be lost. You can also use the close
button (X) of the main AutoCAD window (present in the title bar) to end the AutoCAD
session.

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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
AutoCAD's HELP
You can get the online help and documentation on the working
of AutoCAD 2004 commands from the Help menu, see figure, or
by pressing the F1 key. The various options available in the
Help menu are discussed next.

Help Help menu

Choosing the Help option displays the AutoCAD

2004 Help: User Documentation dialog box as
shown in figure.
Contents Index
Search Favorites
Ask Me
Learning AutoCAD 2004 Help: User
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Documentation dialog box
(Contents tab)
 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
Active Assistance
Developer Help
New Features Workshop see figure
Online Resources
About

New Features
Learning Workshop window
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 Chapter 1 /Introduction to AutoCAD
ADDITIONAL HELP RESOURCES
1. You can get help for a command while working by pressing the F1 key.
2. You can get help about a certain dialog box by choosing the Help button in that
dialog box.
3. Some of the dialog boxes have a question mark (?) button at the top right corner.
You can drop it on any item in the dialog box to display information about that
particular item.
4. You can also use the following link to get information on Autodesk products,
product updates, and other services provided by Autodesk.
a) Autodesk Web site: http://www.autodesk.com
You can also get help by contacting the author, Sham Tickoo, at
stickoo@calumet.purdue.edu.

Learning
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