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June 30, 2009

Know the basic line conventions for draftingCreate and manage drawing layersSet up and use a variety of line typesDraw objects on separate layersFil li f lFilter a list of layersUse the Design Center to copy layers and line types between drawings Make prints of your drawings.

ANSI Standard Y14.2 provides conventions for line usage in technical drawings.

Line qualities, (type, width, etc…) are assigned in Autocadassigned in Autocad.

Line types may be modified to accommodate different scale drawings.

Section Lines

HiddenLines

Object Line

Center Lines

Hidden Line, Used to show features that are obscured in a view. This line is a .3mm thick, dashed line, ideally it will be composed of q/8” long dashed with 1/16” spaces.

Object Line, Used to show visible features, and are the most commonly used type of line. They are .6mm thick

Extension Line,Used to show the extent of a dimension. It is a continuous, .3mm thick line which should always have a 1/16” gap between the object and its start.

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Center Line, Used to locate cylindrical features

Cutting Plane Line, Used to locate a cutting plane, from which a section view will be created

Short Break

Phantom line ,Used to show projected paths, repetitive features, and alternate positions

Line, Use to show a broken

out detail. This is an irregular shaped, .6mm

thick line

Layers are used in Autocad to organize the drawing’s components and assign the appropriate line types.By default a new drawing will only contain one layerone layer.The Autocad user will create new layers for the various line types used Layers when used correctly will increase productivity

Layers may be used to assign different colors and different line weights for each line type.Changes can be made to a given layer to affect all objects on the layer, but leave the other layers unchanged.Layers may be turned off or frozen to displayLayers may be turned off or frozen to display information as neededEach layer may be plotted, (or not), in different colors or line weightsInformation may be grouped on different layers, (Example: Electrical wiring might be on one layer, while plumbing information might be on a different layer, and framing information on yet another layer

Mechanical, Civil, Architectural and Electronic drawings will all be organized with different types of layersFor example, on a mechanical drawing object lines might be black 6mm thick and locatedlines might be black, .6mm thick and located on a layer named Object. Hidden lines might be green, .3mm thick and located on a layer named Hidden.

Architectural and Civil Engineering drawings may contain hundreds of layers.

Separate layers might be designated for plumbing systems HVAC systems site plansplumbing systems, HVAC systems, site plans, plumbing fixtures, etc…

Different firms will have different conventions.

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Properties to include:◦ Color◦ Line Type◦ Line weight◦ Name◦ On / Off (Frozen)

Use to access Layer Properties dialogue box Layer Properties

◦ On / Off (Frozen)◦ Locked

New Layer Button

Set LayerCurrent

DeleteLayer

Once a new layer is created the layer properties dialogue box will appear and the new layer may be named the line type

New Layers will by default be named Layer 1, Layer 2, etc… Layer Properties

named, the line type and color chosen.By default new layers will be on, unlocked and unfrozen.

A yellow light bulb indicates that the layer is on and the layers contents may be viewed.The gray light bulb

On/ Off Layer toggle

The gray light bulb indicates that layer is off and the contents may not be viewed.

The sun icon indicates that a layer is unfrozen and it may be made current, and objects within it maybe selected and modified.

Freeze/ Thaw Toggle

The snow flake icon indicates that the layer is frozen. The layer may not be set to current, and the objects contained within the layer may not be selected and modified

The objects created will be contained within the layer that was current at the time they were created.

Layers may be made current from within theLayers may be made current from within the layer properties dialogue box, by selecting the layer and clicking on the green check box.

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Green Check will indicate which layer is currentwhich layer is current

The Layer control pull down box may be used to change the current layer and change its properties.

Layer Control Pull Down Box

Simply select the layer that is to be current from the pull down menu

The default layer color is blackDifferent colors to allow the user to easily distinguish which objects

Select a Color

which objects belong on a given layer To change the color simply click on the black color icon and select a new color

Click on Line type listed for layer

Select load from the select Line type

Click on Load Button to select a different line type

dialogue box.

Note: All of the line types used in the drawing will be listed in the select line type dialogue box

The standard hidden, dashed, phantom, fence, center lines are all available within the

Default Selection of Line Types

standard installation.

Customized sets of line types are available for special applications

To select a line weight click on the line weight icon, and choose the appropriate weight line from Lineweight dialogue box

Note : Typing Lineweight, Lweight,or LW at the command prompt will also open the lineweight dialogue box.

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The Line weight scale option is used to increase or decrease the number of dashes or spaces for a particular layerThe default line weight scale is 1.Values for line weight scale greater than 1 will g gresult in larger dashes and longer spacesValues for line weight scale less than 1 will result in shorter dashes and shorter spaces.Line Type Scale may be changed by typing LTSCALE at the command prompt or accessing the objects properties

The Line weight settings may be accessed by typing Lineweight, or Lweight at the command prompt.Units for line weight are usually millimetere, but can be set to inches.Typically the lines displayed in the Autocad work area are not shown to the true lineweight, but are plotted to the set line weight.The line weight settings can be set to display the true line weight in the Autocad work area or to a percentage of the line weight

Create a new drawing◦ Create a new layer named object, black - .6mm object◦ Create a new layer named hidden line, blue - .3mm hidden◦ Create a new layer named center line, red - .3mm center line◦ Create a new layer named phantom line, green - .3mm

phantom line

The plot style column of the layer properties dialogue box lists the poly style that is assigned to the layer.By default the plot style setting is disabled and all lines will b plottedand all lines will b plotted.The Autocad user may set a given layer to “no plot”, to prevent it from being plotted.To set the layer to not plot double click on the printer icon in the Plot Style column.

Plot Icon

No Plot Icon

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By default new layers are named Layer 1, Layer 2, etc.It is helpful to name the new layers appropriately, (Wall, Electrical, etc…)It is also helpful to provide a layerIt is also helpful to provide a layer description.To provide a description double click on the space provided under the description columnWhen the description area becomes highlighted type in the description.

Note: The description may be changed at anytime by double clicking on the existing description and replacing the text.

The layer’s name may also be changed at any time, by double clickinon the existing name and typing the replacement text.

The width of the columns in the layer properties dialogue box, are narrow, and often cut off a portion of the layer description or name

Layer Properties Dialogue Box

To resize the columns,move the cursor over the vertical line dividing the columns and drag to resize and widen the column

To maximize a column, right click on the column heading and select maximize column from the short cut menu

Drawing Templates may be used to save time, by providing the needed drawing limits, layers, units, line weight symbols, and title information.To create a custom template simply save theTo create a custom template, simply save the drawing with the correct layer settings, limits and text as an Autocad *.dwt fileWhen starting the next new drawing simply browse for the template file.

The Design Center will be found at the far right of the Blocks and Reference Tab

May also be accessed by typing ADCENTER, or ADC

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The Design Center is used to access blocks, line weights, layers, and dimensioning styles from other drawings. This is a time saving tool.

Open New DrawingAccess Design Center◦ Browse for Autocad File created in last activity◦ Select Layers folder◦ Select each layer seperatly to add ot too the newlySelect each layer seperatly to add ot too the newly

created drawing.

When a drawing contains many layers it may be difficult to display the long list and quickly view all of the informationA filter may be used to limit the amount of information displayedinformation displayed.Filters are created to group related information together

New Group Filter Button, Accessed from the Layer Properties Dialogue Box

New Layer Filter Properties Icon

Click in each category to set the status for the layer to bethe layer to be

included

To create a group filter, click the new group filter button and name the new filter. Add the required layers to the group.

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The layer’s state is used to determine if a layer may be viewed, plotted or edited To create a new layer state clickon the Layer States Manager IconThe new layer state will be represented in aThe new layer state will be represented in a column

Typically the designer will draw in model space, but plot from paper space.The Autocad user may toggle from model to paper space by clicking the model buttononthe status barthe status barPaper Space will allow the Autocad user to view the title block, and border. It also allow the user to scale the object in the paper space so it is to correct scale and centered.

Drawing Problems, Page 171, Problems 5.1,5.3 and 5.9