AutoCAD 2012

Instructor: Yasser M Siddiqi

Practicing the Create Objects Commands

Line
Line

Keyboard: Type in line and press Enter Cascading menus: Draw --- Line Toolbar icon: Draw toolbar, click Line icon Ribbon: Home tab --- Line icon

Step 1. Begin the Line command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Specify first point:
Step 2. Using the mouse, left-click anywhere on the

screen.
AutoCAD says: Specify next point or [Undo]:
Step 3. Move the mouse elsewhere on the screen and

left-click again. You can repeat Step 2 as many times as you wish. When you are done, click Enter or Esc.

Circle
Circle

Keyboard: Type in circle and press Enter. Cascading menus: Draw Circle Center, Radius. Toolbar icon: Draw toolbar Circle icon. Ribbon: Home tab Circle icon.

Step 1. Begin the Circle command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:

Step 2. Using the mouse, left-click anywhere on

the screen and move the mouse out away from that point.
AutoCAD says: Specify radius of circle or [Diameter] <1.9801>:

Circle (contd)
Step 3. Notice the circle that forms; it varies in

size with the movement of your mouse. The value in brackets in the previous step may also be different; left-click again to finish the Circle command. The method just used to create the circle was called Center, Radius, and you could have specified an exact radius size if you wished, by just typing in a value after the first click. There are six ways to create Circles that can be seen with the Ribbon and cascading menus. Special attention should be paid to the Center, Diameter option. Press d for [Diameter] before entering a value.

Arc
Arc
Keyboard: Type in arc and press Enter. Cascading menus: Draw Arc 3 Points. Toolbar icon: Draw toolbar arc icon. Ribbon: Home tab arc icon.

Step 1. Begin the Arc command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Specify start point of arc or [Center]:

Step 2. Take the mouse and left-click anywhere on

the screen. This is first of the three points necessary for the arc.
AutoCAD says: Specify second point of arc or [Center/End]:

Arc (contd)
Step 3. Click somewhere else on the screen to

place the second point.

Finally AutoCAD says: Specify end point of arc:

Step 4. Left-click third time somewhere else on

screen to finish the arc. The method just used is called 3 Point that is a rather arbitrary method of creating arcs. There are in total 11 ways to create arcs but not all of these options are used and some you will probably never need.

Rectangle
Rectangle
Keyboard: Type in rectangle and press Enter. Cascading menus: Draw Rectangle. Toolbar icon: Draw toolbar rectangle icon. Ribbon: Home tab Rectangle icon.

Step 1. Begin the Rectangle command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]:

Step 2. Left-click, and move the mouse diagonally

somewhere else on the screen.

AutoCAD says: Specify other corner point or [Area/Dimensions/Rotation]:

Rectangle (contd)
Step 3. Left-click one more time to finish the

command. There are of course more precise ways to draw a rectangle. In Step 3, you can press d for Dimensions and follow the prompts to assign length, width, and a corner point to you rectangle. Try to draw this small house using the commands you have learned so far.

View Objects
Zoom
By turning your mouse wheel in forward and

backward direction you can zoom in or zoom out on your screen.

Pan
By pressing your mouse wheel, a hand symbol will

appear. Now move the mouse around while keeping the wheel depressed. You will be able to pan around your drawing.
Regen
Just type regen and press Enter. The screen will

refresh.

Practicing the Edit / Modify Objects Commands

Erase
Erase

Keyboard: Type in erase and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Erase. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Erase icon. Ribbon: Home tab Erase icon.

Step 1. Begin the Erase command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Select objects:

Step 2. Select any object from the house in the

previous drawing assignment by taking the mouse, positioning over that object, and leftclicking once.

Erase (contd)
AutoCAD says: Select objects: 1 found
Step 3. The object becomes dashed. It means the

object is selected.
AutoCAD asks you again: Select objects:
Step 4. Watch out for this step. AutoCAD always asks

this, in case you want to select more objects. You are done, so press Enter and the object will disappear. Practice this several times, using the Undo command to bring the object back. Just type u in the command line and press Enter to undo. You can select any number of objects to erase as you desire.

Move
Move

Keyboard: Type in move and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Move. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Move icon. Ribbon: Home tab Move icon.

Step 1. Begin the Move command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Select objects:

Step 2. Select any object by positioning the

mouse over that object and left-clicking once.

AutoCAD says: Select objects: 1 found

Move (contd)
The object becomes dashed. AutoCAD then asks you again: Select objects: Step 3. Unless you have more than one object to

move, you are done, so press Enter.

AutoCAD says: Specify base point or [Displacement] <Displacement>:

Step 4. That means left-click anywhere on or near

the object to pick it up; this is where you will be moving it from.
AutoCAD says: Specify second point or <use first point as displacement>:

Move (contd)
Step 5. Move the mouse somewhere else on the

screen and left-click to place the object in the new location. This is where you will be moving it to. Notice that the dashed copy of the object remains in its original location until you complete the command.

Copy
Copy
Keyboard: Type in copy and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Copy. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Copy icon. Ribbon: Home tad Copy icon.

Step 1. Begin the Copy command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Select objects:
Step 2. Select an object by positioning the mouse

over that object and left-clicking once.

AutoCAD says: Select objects: 1 found

Copy (contd)
The object becomes dashed.

AutoCAD then asks you again: Select objects:

Step 3. Unless you have more than one object to

copy, you are done, so press Enter.

AutoCAD says: Specify base point or [Displacement/mOde]<Displacement>:
Step 4. That means left-click anywhere on or near the

object to pick it up; this is where you will be copying it from.

AutoCAD says: Specify second point or <use first point as displacement>:

Copy (contd)
Step 5. Move the mouse somewhere else on the

screen and left-click to copy the object to the new location. This is where you will be copying it to. Notice that a dashed copy of the object remains in its original location until you complete the command. You can copy as many times as you want. Complete the command by pressing either Esc or Enter.

Rotate
Rotate
Keyboard: Type in rotate and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Rotate. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Rotate icon. Ribbon: Home tab Rotate icon.

Step 1. Begin the Rotate command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Current positive angle in UCS: ANGDIR = counterclockwise ANGBASE = 0, and on the next line: Select objects:

Rotate (contd)
Step 2. Select any object as before, remembering to

press Enter again after the selection.

AutoCAD says: Specify base point:
Step 3. This means select the pivot point of the

objects rotation (the point about which it will rotate). Click anywhere on or near the object.
AutoCAD says: Specify rotation angle or [Copy/Reference] <0>:

Step 4. You can click anywhere for a random rotation

angle or you can type in a specific numerical degree value.

Scale
Scale
Keyboard: Type in scale and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Scale. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Scale icon. Ribbon: Home tab Scale icon.

Step 1. Begin the scale command via any of the

preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Select objects:
Step 2. Select any object as before, remembering to

press Enter again after the first selection.

AutoCAD says: Specify base point:

Scale (contd)
Step 3. This means select the point from which the

scaling of the object will occur. For now, click somewhere on or near the object or directly in the middle of it.
AutoCAD says: Specify scale factor or [Copy/Reference] <1.000>:
Step 4. Move the mouse around the screen. The

object will get bigger or smaller. You can randomly scale it or enter a numerical value. For example, if you want it twice as big, enter 2; half size will be .5.

Trim
Trim

Keyboard: Type in trim and press Enter Cascading menus: Modify Trim Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Trim icon. Ribbon: Home tab Trim icon.

To practice this command you first need to draw two

intersecting lines, one horizontal and one vertical, similar to a plus sign. Step 1. Begin the Trim command via any of the preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Current settings: Projection = UCS, Edge = None Select cutting edges Select Objects or <select all>:

Trim (contd)
Step 2. Using the mouse, left-click on one of the lines.

This is your cutting edge. It becomes dashed.

AutoCAD says: Select objects or <select all>: 1 found

Press Enter.
AutoCAD says: Select object to trim or shift-select to extend or[Fence/Crossing/Project/Edge/eRase/Undo]:
Step 3. Go ahead and pick anywhere on the line that

you did not select and it will be trimmed. You can also do a trim between two or more lines.

Extend
Extend
Keyboard: Type in extend and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Extend. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Extend icon. Ribbon: Home tab Extend icon.

To practice this command we need to draw two lines,

one vertical and one horizontal with a potential to intersect but not intersecting each other. Step 1. Begin the extend command via any of the preceding methods.

Extend (contd)
AutoCAD says: Current settings: Projection = UCS, Edge = None Select boundary edges Select objects or <select all>:
Step 2. Left-click the vertical line. This is the target

into which you will extend the horizontal line. It becomes dashed.
AutoCAD says: Select objects: 1 found

Press Enter.
AutoCAD says: Select object to extend or shift-select to trim or [Fence/Crossing/Project/Edge/Undo]:
Step 3. Pick the end of the horizontal line that is

closest to the vertical line. It is the arrow that will extend into the vertical line target. Press Enter to complete the command.

Offset
Offset
Keyboard: Type in offset and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Offset. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Offset icon. Ribbon: Home tab Offset icon.

This command creates new lines by the directional

parallel offset concept, where if you have a line on your screen, you can create a new one that is a certain distance away but parallel to the original. To illustrate it, first draw a random line anywhere on your screen. Step 1. Begin the Offset command via any of the preceding methods.

Offset (contd)
AutoCAD says: Specify offset distance of [Through/Erase/Layer]<Through>:
Step 2. Enter an offset value (like 2 or 3). Then press

Enter.
AutoCAD says: Select object to offset or [Exit/Undo] <Exit>:
Step 3. Pick the line by left-clicking on it; the line

becomes dashed.
AutoCAD says: Specify point on side to offset or [Exit/Multiple/Undo] <Exit>:
Step 4. Pick a direction for the line to go, which will be

one of the two sides of the original. You can keep doing this over and over by selecting the new line and then the direction.

Mirror
Mirror

Keyboard: Type in mirror and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Mirror. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Mirror icon. Ribbon: Home tab Mirror icon. To practice this command, draw a triangle by joining three lines together. Step 1. Begin the Mirror command via any of the preceding methods.

AutoCAD says: Select objects:

Step 2. Select all the three lines of the triangle and

press Enter.
AutoCAD says: Specify first point of mirror line:

Mirror (contd)
Step 3. Click anywhere near the triangle and move

the mouse around. You will notice the new object appears to be anchored by one point. This is the swinging mirror reflection.
AutoCAD says: Specify second point of mirror line:
Step 4. Click again near the object (make the second

click follow an imaginary straight line).

AutoCAD says: Delete the source objects? [Yes/No] <N>:
Step 5. Press Enter and you are done.

Fillet
Fillet
Keyboard: Type in fillet and press Enter. Cascading menus: Modify Fillet. Toolbar icon: Modify toolbar Fillet icon. Ribbon: Home tab Fillet icon.

Draw two perpendicular lines that intersect. Step 1. Begin the Fillet command via any of the preceding methods.
AutoCAD says: Current settings: Mode = Trim, Radius = 0.0000 Select first object or [Undo/Polyline/Radius/Trim/Multiple]:

Fillet (contd)
Let us put a radius on the fillet. Type in r for

radius and press Enter.

AutoCAD says: Specify fillet radius <0.0000>:

Enter a small value, perhaps 0.5 or 1. Press Enter.

AutoCAD says: Select first object or [Undo/Polyline/Radius/Trim/Multiple]:
Step 3. Select the first (horizontal) line, somewhere

near the intersection. It becomes dashed.

AutoCAD says: Select second object or shift-select to apply corner:
Step 4. Select the second (vertical) line, somewhere

near the intersection. The lines have a fillet added to them.

Drawing Accuracy

Ortho (F8)
Ortho (which stands for orthographic) allows you

to draw perfectly straight vertical or horizontal lines. To turn on the Ortho feature just press the F8 key at the top of your keyboard, or click to depress the ORTHO button at the bottom of the screen.

OSNAPs
While drawing straight lines, we generally like

those lines to connect to each other in a very precise way. Six fundamental OSNAP points.
ENDpoint

MIDpoint
CENter QUADrant INTersection PERPendicular

OSNAP Drafting Settings

Type osnap or select Tools Drafting settings

from the cascading overhead menu. The OSNAP dialog box appears. Check off the six settings mentioned previously, and press OK. To turn OSNAP on press F3 or press the OSNAP toggle button at the bottom of the screen.

Tips
The Esc key in the upper left-hand corner of your

keyboard is your new best friend while learning AutoCAD. It will get you out of just about any trouble you get yourself in. To quickly erase everything on the screen, type in e for erase, press Enter, then type in all. Then press Enter twice. Type in z for zoom, press Enter, then type in the letter e, then press Enter again. This is called Zoom to Extents and makes AutoCAD display everything you sketched, filling up the available screen space. Double-clicking the wheel on your mouse produces the same effect.

Tips (contd)
To perform the Undo command in AutoCAD just

type in u and press Enter. Do not type the entire command if you do that more options pop up, which we do not need at this point, so a simple u suffices. You can also use the standard Undo and Redo arrows. Simply pressing the space bar or Enter, the last command you used will be repeated.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2