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AutoCAD®/AutoCAD LT® 2016 Essentials

Student Guide - Metric

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April 2015

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ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge®

AutoCAD®/AutoCAD LT® 2016Essentials - Metric

Revision 1.0

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Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................ ix

In this Guide ................................................................................................... xi

Practice Files ................................................................................................. xv

Chapter 1: Getting Started with AutoCAD.................................................. 1-1

1.1 Starting the Software ...................................................................... 1-2Start Tab .......................................................................................... 1-2

1.2 User Interface .................................................................................. 1-4

1.3 Working with Commands ............................................................... 1-9Ribbon............................................................................................... 1-9Command Line and Dynamic Input Prompt .................................... 1-11Application Menu............................................................................. 1-14Quick Access Toolbar ..................................................................... 1-17Additional Shortcut Menus .............................................................. 1-17

1.4 Cartesian Workspace.................................................................... 1-20Locating Points................................................................................ 1-20Measuring Angles ........................................................................... 1-21Drawings Created at Full Scale....................................................... 1-21

1.5 Opening an Existing Drawing File ............................................... 1-22Opening Drawings........................................................................... 1-22Multiple Drawings............................................................................ 1-24Closing Files.................................................................................... 1-25

Practice 1a Opening a Drawing........................................................... 1-26

1.6 Viewing Your Drawing .................................................................. 1-28Wheel Mouse Zoom and Pan.......................................................... 1-28Navigation Tools ............................................................................. 1-29Pan and Zoom Commands ............................................................. 1-30

Practice 1b Viewing a Drawing ........................................................... 1-33

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1.7 Saving Your Work ......................................................................... 1-35Automatic Saves ............................................................................. 1-35Saving in Various Formats .............................................................. 1-36

Practice 1c Saving a Drawing File ...................................................... 1-37

Chapter 2: Basic Drawing & Editing Commands....................................... 2-1

2.1 Drawing Lines.................................................................................. 2-2Specifying Length and Angle ............................................................ 2-2Line Command Options .................................................................... 2-3

2.2 Erasing Objects............................................................................... 2-4

2.3 Drawing Lines with Polar Tracking ............................................... 2-6

2.4 Drawing Rectangles........................................................................ 2-8

2.5 Drawing Circles ............................................................................. 2-10

2.6 Undo and Redo Actions ............................................................... 2-13

Practice 2a Basic Drawing and Editing Commands ......................... 2-14

Chapter 3: Projects - Creating a Simple Drawing...................................... 3-1

3.1 Create a Simple Drawing ................................................................ 3-2

3.2 Create Simple Shapes .................................................................... 3-3

Chapter 4: Drawing Precision in AutoCAD ................................................ 4-1

4.1 Using Running Object Snaps......................................................... 4-2Object Snap Settings ........................................................................ 4-3

Practice 4a Using Object Snaps ........................................................... 4-7

4.2 Using Object Snap Overrides ........................................................ 4-9

Practice 4b Object Snap Overrides .................................................... 4-12

4.3 Polar Tracking at Angles .............................................................. 4-13

Practice 4c Polar Tracking .................................................................. 4-16

4.4 Object Snap Tracking ................................................................... 4-18

Practice 4d Object Snap Tracking I .................................................... 4-20

Practice 4e Object Snap Tracking II ................................................... 4-22

4.5 Drawing with Snap and Grid (Optional) ...................................... 4-24Snap and Grid Settings ................................................................... 4-25

Practice 4f Placing Objects on a Drawing.......................................... 4-26

Chapter 5: Making Changes in Your Drawing............................................ 5-1

5.1 Selecting Objects for Editing ......................................................... 5-2Implied Selection............................................................................... 5-2Selecting Objects Before the Command ........................................... 5-4

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Practice 5a Selecting Objects ............................................................... 5-5

5.2 Moving Objects ............................................................................... 5-7

5.3 Copying Objects.............................................................................. 5-9

5.4 Rotating Objects ........................................................................... 5-11

5.5 Scaling Objects ............................................................................. 5-13

5.6 Mirroring Objects .......................................................................... 5-14

Practice 5b Modifying Objects ............................................................ 5-15

5.7 Editing with Grips ......................................................................... 5-21Working with Hot Grips ................................................................... 5-21Grips with Dynamic Dimensions ..................................................... 5-23

Practice 5c Editing with Grips I........................................................... 5-25

Practice 5d Editing with Grips II ......................................................... 5-27

Chapter 6: Projects - Making Your Drawings More Precise ..................... 6-1

6.1 Schematic Project: Electronics Diagram ...................................... 6-2

6.2 Architectural Project: Landscape.................................................. 6-3

6.3 Mechanical Project (with Polar & Tracking) ................................. 6-5

6.4 Mechanical Project: Surge Protector ............................................ 6-6

6.5 Mechanical Project: Satellite.......................................................... 6-7

Chapter 7: Organizing Your Drawing with Layers ..................................... 7-1

7.1 Creating New Drawings With Templates ...................................... 7-2What is a Template? ......................................................................... 7-2Starting New Drawings...................................................................... 7-2Working with Different Types of Units ............................................... 7-4

Practice 7a Using a Template to Start a Drawing................................ 7-5

7.2 What are Layers? ............................................................................ 7-7Setting the Current Layer .................................................................. 7-8

7.3 Layer States................................................................................... 7-10On/Off.............................................................................................. 7-10Thaw/Freeze ................................................................................... 7-10Lock/ Unlock.................................................................................... 7-11

Practice 7b Working with Layers and Layer States .......................... 7-12

7.4 Changing an Object’s Layer......................................................... 7-15Match Layer .................................................................................... 7-16

Practice 7c Changing an Object’s Layer............................................ 7-17

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Chapter 8: Advanced Object Types ............................................................ 8-1

8.1 Drawing Arcs ................................................................................... 8-2Arc Command Options...................................................................... 8-2Notes on Arcs.................................................................................... 8-3

Practice 8a Drawing an Arc................................................................... 8-4

8.2 Drawing Polylines ........................................................................... 8-6

8.3 Editing Polylines ............................................................................. 8-8Converting Lines and Arcs to Polylines........................................... 8-10Turning Polylines into Lines and Arcs ............................................. 8-11

Practice 8b Drawing and Editing Polylines........................................ 8-13

8.4 Drawing Polygons......................................................................... 8-17

Practice 8c Drawing Polygons............................................................ 8-19

8.5 Drawing Ellipses ........................................................................... 8-20

Practice 8d Drawing Ellipses .............................................................. 8-22

Chapter 9: Analyzing Model and Object Properties .................................. 9-1

9.1 Working with Object Properties..................................................... 9-2Quick Properties................................................................................ 9-2Properties Palette.............................................................................. 9-3Matching Properties .......................................................................... 9-6Quick Select ...................................................................................... 9-8

Practice 9a Mechanical - Working with Object Properties ............... 9-10

Practice 9b Architectural - Working with Object Properties ............ 9-12

9.2 Measuring Objects ........................................................................ 9-14Using the Measure Tools ................................................................ 9-14Measuring Distances....................................................................... 9-15Measuring Radius and Diameter..................................................... 9-16Measuring Angles ........................................................................... 9-16Measuring Areas ............................................................................. 9-18

Practice 9c Architectural - Measuring Objects.................................. 9-20

Practice 9d Mechanical - Measuring Objects .................................... 9-22

Chapter 10: Projects - Drawing Organization & Information .................. 10-1

10.1 Architectural Project..................................................................... 10-2

10.2 Mechanical Project........................................................................ 10-4

10.3 Civil Project ................................................................................... 10-6

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Chapter 11: Advanced Editing Commands.............................................. 11-1

11.1 Trimming and Extending Objects................................................ 11-2Trimming Objects ........................................................................... 11-2Extending Objects ........................................................................... 11-5

Practice 11a Extending and Trimming Objects ................................. 11-6

Practice 11b Trimming Objects on a Drawing................................... 11-7

Practice 11c Break at Point ................................................................. 11-9

11.2 Stretching Objects ...................................................................... 11-11Notes on Stretching Objects ......................................................... 11-12

Practice 11d Stretching Objects ....................................................... 11-13

11.3 Creating Fillets and Chamfers ................................................... 11-15Filleting Objects............................................................................. 11-15Chamfering Objects ...................................................................... 11-16

Practice 11e Filleting Objects ........................................................... 11-18

Practice 11f Chamfering Objects ...................................................... 11-19

11.4 Offsetting Objects ....................................................................... 11-20

Practice 11g Offsetting Objects ........................................................ 11-22

11.5 Creating Arrays of Objects......................................................... 11-24Rectangular Array ......................................................................... 11-24Polar Array .................................................................................... 11-25Path Array ..................................................................................... 11-26

Practice 11h Rectangular Array........................................................ 11-28

Practice 11i Polar Array..................................................................... 11-30

Practice 11j Path Array ...................................................................... 11-32

Chapter 12: Inserting Blocks..................................................................... 12-1

12.1 What are Blocks? .......................................................................... 12-2

12.2 Working with Dynamic Blocks..................................................... 12-4Manipulating Dynamic Blocks ......................................................... 12-4

12.3 Inserting Blocks ............................................................................ 12-6

12.4 Inserting Blocks using the Tool Palettes.................................... 12-8Controlling the Tool Palettes Window ............................................. 12-9

12.5 Inserting Blocks using the DesignCenter................................. 12-11DesignCenter Content................................................................... 12-12

12.6 Inserting Blocks using the Content Explorer ........................... 12-14

Practice 12a Working with Blocks.................................................... 12-17

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Chapter 13: Projects - Creating More Complex Objects ......................... 13-1

13.1 Mechanical Project 1 - Plate......................................................... 13-2

13.2 Mechanical Project 2 - Gasket ..................................................... 13-3

13.3 Mechanical Project 3 - Plate......................................................... 13-4

13.4 Mechanical Project 4 - Rocker Arm ............................................. 13-5

13.5 Architectural Project 1 - Floor Plan ............................................. 13-7

13.6 Architectural Project 2 - Floor Plan ............................................. 13-9

13.7 Civil Project - Parking Lot .......................................................... 13-11

Chapter 14: Setting Up a Layout ............................................................... 14-1

14.1 Printing Concepts ......................................................................... 14-2Model Space Printing ...................................................................... 14-3Paper Space Layout Printing .......................................................... 14-4

14.2 Working in Layouts....................................................................... 14-5Switch Between Paper Space & Model Space ............................... 14-6

14.3 Creating Layouts........................................................................... 14-9

14.4 Creating Layout Viewports......................................................... 14-11Create Viewports........................................................................... 14-11

14.5 Guidelines for Layouts ............................................................... 14-18

Practice 14a Working With Layouts ................................................. 14-19

Chapter 15: Printing Your Drawing........................................................... 15-1

15.1 Printing Layouts............................................................................ 15-2Previewing the Plot ......................................................................... 15-3

15.2 Print and Plot Settings.................................................................. 15-4

Practice 15a Printing Layouts and Check Plots ................................ 15-8

Chapter 16: Projects - Preparing to Print ................................................. 16-1

16.1 Mechanical Project........................................................................ 16-2

16.2 Architectural Project..................................................................... 16-3

Chapter 17: Text.......................................................................................... 17-1

17.1 Working with Annotations............................................................ 17-2Working with Annotative Styles....................................................... 17-4

17.2 Adding Text in a Drawing ............................................................. 17-5Multiline Text ................................................................................... 17-5Copying and Importing Text ............................................................ 17-7Spell Checking ................................................................................ 17-9

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Practice 17a Adding Text in a Drawing ............................................ 17-10

17.3 Modifying Multiline Text ............................................................. 17-13Editing Multiline Text ..................................................................... 17-13Changing Text Width and Length.................................................. 17-14Changing Text Properties ............................................................. 17-14Spell Checking .............................................................................. 17-15

Practice 17b Modifying Multiline Text .............................................. 17-17

17.4 Formatting Multiline Text ........................................................... 17-20Formatting the Multiline Text Object ............................................. 17-20Formatting Selected Text .............................................................. 17-22Formatting Paragraph Text ........................................................... 17-23Creating Columns ......................................................................... 17-27

Practice 17c Formatting Multiline Text in a Drawing ...................... 17-29

17.5 Adding Notes with Leaders to Your Drawing ........................... 17-34Modifying Multileaders .................................................................. 17-36

Practice 17d Adding Notes to Your Drawing................................... 17-41

17.6 Creating Tables ........................................................................... 17-44Populating Table Cells .................................................................. 17-46Calculations in Tables ................................................................... 17-48

Practice 17e Creating Tables ............................................................ 17-50

17.7 Modifying Tables......................................................................... 17-52Modifying Cells, Rows, and Columns............................................ 17-52Modifying the Entire Table ............................................................ 17-55

Practice 17f Modifying Tables........................................................... 17-57

Chapter 18: Hatching.................................................................................. 18-1

18.1 Hatching......................................................................................... 18-2Applying a Hatch: Tool Palettes ...................................................... 18-2Applying a Hatch: Hatch Command ................................................ 18-4Hatch Pattern and Properties.......................................................... 18-5Hatch Options ................................................................................. 18-8

18.2 Editing Hatches ........................................................................... 18-11Edit Hatch Command .................................................................... 18-11Grip Editing Hatch Boundaries...................................................... 18-12

Practice 18a Hatching Using the Tool Palettes ............................... 18-15

Practice 18b Hatching (Mechanical) ................................................. 18-17

Practice 18c Hatching (Architectural) .............................................. 18-20

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Chapter 19: Adding Dimensions ............................................................... 19-1

19.1 Dimensioning Concepts ............................................................... 19-2General Dimensioning..................................................................... 19-3

19.2 Adding Linear Dimensions........................................................... 19-4Individual Linear Dimensions .......................................................... 19-4Multiple Linear Dimensions ............................................................. 19-6Quick Dimensioning ........................................................................ 19-7

Practice 19a Adding Linear Dimensions (Architectural) .................. 19-9

Practice 19b Adding Linear Dimensions (Mechanical)................... 19-12

19.3 Adding Radial and Angular Dimensions................................... 19-15Radius and Diameter Dimensions................................................. 19-15Angular Dimensions ...................................................................... 19-17

Practice 19c Adding Radial and Angular Dimensions (Architectural)..................................................................................... 19-19

Practice 19d Adding Radial and Angular Dimensions (Mechanical)........................................................................................ 19-22

19.4 Editing Dimensions..................................................................... 19-23Dimension Shortcut Menu............................................................. 19-24Editing Dimensions using Grips .................................................... 19-24Dimension Grips Shortcut Options................................................ 19-25Editing the Dimension Text ........................................................... 19-26Adjusting Dimension Spacing ....................................................... 19-27Dimension Breaks ......................................................................... 19-28

Practice 19e Editing Dimensions (Architectural) ............................ 19-29

Practice 19f Editing Dimensions (Mechanical)................................ 19-31

Chapter 20: Projects - Annotating Your Drawing .................................... 20-1

20.1 Mechanical Project........................................................................ 20-2

20.2 Architectural Project 1.................................................................. 20-3

20.3 Architectural Project 2.................................................................. 20-4

20.4 Civil Project ................................................................................... 20-5

Appendix A: Skills Assessment ..................................................................A-1

Appendix B: AutoCAD 2015 Certification Exam Objectives.....................B-1

Index ...................................................................................................... Index-1

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