autoCAD tutorial 1 - University of Sheffield/file/autoCAD-tutorial-1.pdf · UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD; LANDSCAPE DEPARTMENT AUTOCAD 2013/14/15 TUTORIALS - SESSION 1 Page 2 SESSION ONE

UNIVERSITYOFSHEFFIELD;LANDSCAPEDEPARTMENTAUTOCAD2013/14/15TUTORIALS-SESSION1

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These tutorials are intended for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS and are to accompany tutor led training in the Department’s Computer Suites, using PC’s. (The ‘user interface’ is different on MAC’s but the overall concepts remain the same.) Most users prefer to use a mouse with a left and a right button and a central scrolling wheel. As a student you are able to download a copy of AutoCAD to your own computer / laptop from here http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/all .

You will be offered the latest version ie AutoCAD 2015 but bear in mind this will not look like the version you are learning on. Opt for an earlier version such as 2013 / 2014 as these have all the features you will need and the screen will match that in the hand-outs.

Many people are afraid of AutoCAD- fearing its ‘complexity’. However, although it can be used to do amazingly complex things we will be learning the SIMPLE, BASIC, tools that will be enough to produce simple 2D drawings and to print them at scale.

There are many places to get help whilst you are learning –

• Ask a fellow student in the computer suite on floor 11.

• From the internet – there are many different organisations offering free CAD tutorials including :-

• From the software designers’ website - https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/AutoCAD-Core/files/GUID-2AA12FC5-FBB2-4ABE-9024-90D41FEB1AC3-htm.html. It’s called the “ Hitchhikers Guide to AutoCAD basics”.

• From “Lynda” – free tutorials on a massive range of subjects – available via the University by logging into MUSE, clicking the ‘View all services” link and searching for ‘Lynda’ in the alphabetical list

• By asking a member of staff who is familiar with AutoCAD

• By clicking on the ‘help’ button at the top of the screen.

In these tutorials we will be working our way through the tools necessary to produce the plans for the construction and the planting aspects of your current modules ; to annotate them; and to plot at a chosen scale. We will also show you how AutoCAD is increasingly used in practice.


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SESSIONONE

AutoCADisinstalledonallthedepartment’scomputersonFloors10and11soshouldbeavailablefromthestartmenuonceyou’veloggedin.

Itmaytakeawhiletogetstartedbutwhenitdoesweareaimingforyourscreentolooklikethis.

The‘Welcome’screenwillbeatthefrontbutcanbeclosedintheusualmanner–clickonthe‘x’.Ifyouhaveanddropdownmenusfloatingoverthewideblackdrawingspacethenclosetheminthesamewayuntilyourscreenlookslikethis.IfAutoCADisopenbutyoudon’thavethesameribbonoftoolsacrossthetoporthebigblackspacetodrawinthengotothenextpage.


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ThisnextprocedureistocreateaNEWdrawingtoworkon.

ClickontheredletterAonthetopleftofyourscreen

Clickonthe‘New’buttonYourscreenshouldthenlooklikethis.Thisdrop-downmenucontainsalistofdifferenttemplatesbuiltintoACADthatwecoulduse.

Allweneedistoclickonthedownarrownextto‘Open’thenchoose‘Openwithnotemplate–Metric’

.


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Sohereisthestartingpositionagain.

Thereisa‘ribbon’acrossthetopwithawholestripofpalettesoficons-thetools.Ifyou’renotsurewhataniconortooldoes,youcanhoverthecursoroveritforafewsecondsanditwillgiveyouinformationonitsfunctionandquickkeysforusingit.Aswithmostsoftware‘drawing’packagesifyouclickonthesmalldownarrowyougetabroadersetofoptions.Thefirstoneswe’llusewillbeinthe‘draw’setandthe‘modify’set.

Inthemiddleisadarkspaceintowhichwewillbedrawing–thisisessentiallyourinfinitelybigpieceofdrawingpaper–or,inAutoCADterms–our‘Modelspace’

Alongthebottomofthescreen(ignoringthecomputer’susual‘tray’ofprogrammesetc)thereshouldbe3separateother‘active’toolbars.

TheCommandlineisessential-wecantypeintothespaceheretostartcommandsandifthereareoptionsthenorstepsinaprocedurethenthisiswheretheywillappear.Thisiswherewe“talk”toAutoCAD.

TheStatusbarcontrolsthe‘environment’inwhichweareworking.Hoveryourcursor

overtheiconsanditwilltellyouwhateachofthemare.

Ignore

The“Statusbar”–controlshowyouareworking

The“Commandbar”–vital!Watchthisallthetime


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SETTHECORRECTUNITSINYOURDRAWING:

Thisisveryimportanttodoasitwillaffectthedimensionsandscaleofallyourdrawings.

ClickontheredA-AutoCADbutton-andanewlistdropsdown.

Clickon“DrawingUtilities”then“Units”andthedropdownmenubelowwillappear.

Thedefaultsettingsshouldbecorrectbutyouneedtomakesurethattheunitsaresettomillimetersbyclickingonthe“InsertionScale”pulldownmenuandchoosingmillimeters.Alsochoose“Decimal”and“DecimalDegrees”forthe“Length”and“AngleTypes”respectivelyandsettheprecisionto0.000.

Thismeansthatnoweverythingyoudrawwillbeinmillimeters.Thereasonthisunitischosenoverother,perhapseasierunitssuchasmetresis(fornow)scalingdrawingstoprintiseasier(seeWorkshop4)

Millimetersareoftenusedwhenmeasuringdimensionsondrawingssoit’susefultogetintothehabitofworkingtothem.However,thisdoestakesomegettingusedto-forexampleifyouwantedtodrawa1mlineyouwouldhavetotype1000intothecommandline.A5mline

wouldbe5000,20mwouldbe20000,a0.1mlinewouldbe100andsoon.


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DRAWINGLINES

Tostartdrawingweneedtocheckononeofthesettingsonthestatusbar–theDynamicImputfunction

Thosetoolsthatarelightblueare‘on’.Toturnthemonandoffwesimply(left)clickontheicon.Makesureyourdynamicimputtoolison.

TobeginanytaskyouneedtotellAutoCADbyclickingonthetoolyouwanttouseinthiscase‘LINE’ORtypetheletterLintothecommandbar.

NowlookattheCommandbar–Itisaskingforthefirstpointiewheretostarttheline.

Clickanywhereonscreenandnowthecommandlineisaskingwhereisthenextpoint.Movethecursorandclickagain.Itwillkeepdrawinglines.Whenyouwanttostop(thisisthesameformanyCADcommands)youcan

• pressEscape• pressenter• pressspacebarwhichworksas‘enter’.• Rightclickwhichproducesanewmenuandclickon‘enter’.

Haveagoatthis.

However,thebestthingaboutAutoCADisthatwecandrawPRECISELYandACCURATELYandwithdrawinglinesthereare2methods.Afterchoosingthestartpoint,twosmalldialogueboxesappear–onebright,onenot:-

A)–Linelengthandangle(asseenontheright)

Inthelighterbox(usuallyontheleft)typeinthelengthofthelineyouwant

Pressthetabkey(--->)

Nowtypeintheangleyouwanttodrawat(AutoCADtellsyouwhatanglethelineiscurrentlyat)


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B)–givethe‘co-ordinates’ofthenextpoint(asseenontheright)

Inthelighterbox(usuallyontheleft)typeinthehorizontaldistanceofthepointyouwantthelinetogoto(the‘eastings’)

Pressthecommakey(,)

Nowtypeintheverticaldistanceyouwanttodrawthelineto(the‘northings’)

Boththesegiveyoucompletecontrolofwherethelinegoesto.

Notethatthecommandstaysactiveuntilyou’vefinishedwhenyoupressenter/escape.

If,whilstthecommandisstillgoingyouthinkyou’vemadeamistakethensimplytypetheletterUintothecommandlineandtheprevious‘action’isundone!

Ifyou’vefinishedthecommandandwanttogobackthenpressCTRLZ.THISISTHEMOSTIMPORTANTPIECEOFINFORMATIONSOFAR!!

VIEWINGYOURDRAWING-ZOOMING

Youmayhavealreadydiscoveredthatwhatyou’vedrawniseithertoosmalltobeseenoryoucanonlyseeaverysmallpartofit.Theeasiestwaytomovearoundyourdrawingistousethemouse.Thepictureontherightshowshowthemousebuttonsfunction.Forzoomingandpanningthe‘wheel‘isthekeykey.Haveagonowtogetusedtohowtheywork.

TheotheroptionistotypeZ.pressenter.Lookatthecommandlineoptions.WhereverthereisaCapitalletterthatmeanswecantypejustthatletterandpressEntertoaccessthatcommand.IusallyuseEforextentsorAforAllofmydrawing.Wforwindowcanbeusefulwhenyouwanttomoveintoaspecificarea.


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Thissecondtechniqueistheoneusedtodrawrectangles.

SelecttheRECTANGLETOOL.

Choosethestartingpointtheneitherclicktochoosetheoppositecornerortypeintheco-ordinatesofthenextcornerusingthedynamicimputoptionsasshown

OSNAP--OneofthetoolstomakeyourlifeeasierinAutoCADisOSnap–orObjectsnap.TheiconforthisisontheStatusbar-asquarewithonecornerhighlighted.WhathappensisthatwhilstyouaretryingtodrawAutoCADcan‘snap’tospecificpointsonwhatyou’vealreadydrawnegtheendofantherline;theintersectionof2lines;themiddleofacircleetc..

ThiscanbeswitchedonandoffaswithDynamicImputsomakesureit’son.Nowrightclickontheicon;select‘Settings’andyoushouldhavethemenuontheright.Select(toggleon)allthoseI’veselectedthenclickOK.

Nowtotesthowthesework-drawarectangle.PressEnterandthesamecommandisrepeated(thisalsoworkswithalltools)Holdyourcursorovertherectangleatdifferentpointsandyouwillseelittlegreen‘highlights’–thesearepointstowhichyoucanautomaticallystartthenextelementofyourdrawing.PracticeusinglineandrectanglewiththenewOSnapsettings.

‘Apparentintersection’isalittletrickybutisusefulandisworthpracticing.Egtodrawalinewhichendsdirectlyinlinewithanotherline–choosethestartpointthenwhenpromptedtochoosethesecondpoint‘hover’yourcursorovertheendofthelinetobelinedupwiiththenmoveyourcursortowhereyouroughlywantittobe–you’llseeagreendottedlinewhichmeansAutoCADisliningyounewlineupwiththeold.Tryit.ThisworksequallywellwithRectanglesandCirclesaswellaslines.


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POLYLINES

Probablythetoolyouwillusemost.


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CIRCLES

TrydrawingacoupleofrectanglesandusingOSnapattachafewcirclestothem.


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MODIFYINGTOOLS

OFFSETallows youtocreateacopyofalineorobjectata(chosen)fixeddistance-oneithersideoftheoriginalTooffsetclickontheoffsettoolThecommandlinewantstoknowhowfartooffset"through"typeadistancepressenterclickonthelineorobjectyouwanttooffsetthenclickonthesideyouwanttooffsetyoucancarryonoffsettingeithertheoriginalordifferentobjectsasmanytimesasyoulikepressenterwhenyouwanttoendthecommandusingthe'Multiple'optionafterspecifyingthedistanceallowsyoutokeepclickingoutsidetheoriginalobjectuntilyouhaveasmanyasyoulike


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COPY

clickontheCOPYiconortypeCOandpressenterselecttheobject/line/texttocopybyclickingorusingtheselectionrectangle/marquee-youcanselectasmanyasyoulike.ifyouselectsomethingbymistakethensimplytypeUandenteranditisdeselectedpressenterwhenyouhavethemallselecta'basepoint'-thisisthepointaroundwhichtheabjectwillbe 'pasted'egthecentreofacircleorcornerofarectangle.selectthepointatwhichyouwanttopastethecopy–thisiswhereOSnap reallyisuseful!thiscanberepeateduntilyoupressenter.NOTE-youcanalsouseCTRLCandCTRLVtocopyandpasteasinmost otherprogrammes.MOVESimilarprocesstocopyclickontheMOVEiconortypeMandpressenterselecttheobject/line/texttomovebyclickingorusingtheselectionrectangle/marquee-youcanselectasmanyasyoulike-pressenterto confirmyourselection.selectthebasepointselectthenextpointthecommandisthenoverNOTEOnceselectedyoucanclickandholddownthecursorand‘drag’the objecttowhereyouwantit–lessaccuratebutusefulforquickmovingofanobject.Don’tclickonanyofthesquare,highlighted‘handles’asthiswillonlymovethehandle.


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TRIMclickon theTRIMiconortypeTRandpressenterselecttheobject/linetoselectthelinetowhichyouwanttheotherobjectscutbackto(youcanselectasmanyasyoulike)pressentertoconfirmyourselection.selecttheobjectsorlinestobecut-againasmanyasyouwantpressentertoendthecommandARRAY–POLARTakesacopyof anobjectandrepeatsininanarrayofyourchoosing.Thereare3options-Inthissessionwearelookingat"POLARARRAY"clickonthesmalldownarrownexttotheARRAYiconachoiceof3optionsappears–clickonPOLARARRAYselecttheobject/linetobearrayed(youcanselectasmanyasyoulike)pressentertoconfirmyourselection.SelectthebasepointaroundwhichtheselectedobjectwillbearrayedTheribbonoftoolsatthetopofyourscreenthenchanges-(seeright)thereareanumberofdifferentoptions.Theeasiestistochangethenumber

ofitemsyouwantarrayed-egchangethe'6'to12andpressenteronceyouhavefinishedmakingchangestotheoptionsclickon"CloseArray"Youneedtoplayaroundwiththistoolinordertolearn.NOTE-Anarraybehaveslikeasingleobject.Ifyouwanttoalteranyaspectofit-egTrimmingyouwillneedto"Explode" itintoitscomponentparts.Followtheonscreeninstructionsforexplode.SAVINGYOURWORK: Havingcreatedyourdrawingandworkedinit,itisveryimportanttosaveitandthencontinuallysaveitasyouwork.Itisalsorecommendedthatyousavethefiletoavarietyofsourcestoensureyouhavebackups. Savingissimple-CtrlS.Thenchoosealocationtosavethework.Itissuggestedforthepurposeoftheseworkshopsthatyoucreatea“Autocad”Folderinyouruniversityaccountharddriveandsaveallworkinthat,soyouknowwhereitis.

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autoCAD tutorial 1 - University of Sheffield/file/autoCAD-tutorial-1.pdf · UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD; LANDSCAPE DEPARTMENT AUTOCAD 2013/14/15 TUTORIALS - SESSION 1 Page 2 SESSION ONE