Introduction to ZWCADDrawing plane figures

This presentation gives some hints for starting the use of ZWCAD for plane drawings.

Only very essential elements are pointed out. Practice is necessary.

We first explain setting up, some switches and pull down menus.

First set up the window:

TOOLS>OPTIONS>DISPLAY

COLORS

Choose color, apply and close

Drafting aids:TOOLS>DRAFT SETTING

GRID and SNAP

Most times we want to draw an object starting from the end of a given object, mid-point of a line, from or to the intersection of two objects, tangent to a curve, or normal to a line. This is achieved by what is called Snapping to Object or Object Snap for short.

Drafting aids:TOOLS>DRAFT SETTING

OBJECT SNAP

Snaps to mid point

Snaps to end point

Examples of Object Snap

Turns object snap on or off

Turns ORTHO on or off

Turns grid on or off

Turns SNAP (to grid points) on or off

Some useful switches near the bottom

These can be turned off and on even in the middle of a command depending upon the requirements

Set up necessary toolbars

View > ToolbarsPull-down menusTypical required tool-bars

Layers:AutoCAD permits drawing in overlapping layers. These layers can be of different colours, each colour of different line thickness, and a layer could be viewed or not viewed.

This is invoked also from the pull-down menu FORMAT>LAYERMore convenient there

PRESS

Press this button to set up a new layer.

Use this button to set up a different colour for this layer

This controls the visibility of the layer. Press this button to change the Sun into a snowflake. The layer is invisible if it is a snow flake.

DRAW

Can be used to draw various objects

Drawing a line:We can start by selecting line fron the pull-down menu DRAW>LINE or pressing the line button on the DRAW toolbar

Lin

e

Ray

Poly

line

Poly

gon

Rec

tang

le

Arc

Cir

cle

Spli

ne

Ell

ipse

Click at the point you want to start, then at the next point for next segment, and so on. Stop by right-clicking

TOOLBAR: MODIFY

ERASECOPYMIRROROFFSETARRAYMOVE ROTATESCALEEDIT LENGTH

STRETCHTRIMEXTENDBREAK AT POINTBREAKJOINCHAMFERFILLETEXPLODEPURGE

1. OFFSET Command: Offset is parallel to the objectOffset distance: Select Object: Direction of Offset

2. MOVE Command: Select Object(s): Base Point: Second point

3. COPY Command: Select Object(s): Base Point: Second point

4. MIRROR Command: Select Object(s): First Point of mirror line: second Point; Delete old object Y/N?

5. ARRAY Command: Select Object: Rectangular or Polar Array? Base/Centre Pt. of Array: Number of items: Angle to fill: Rotate objects as they are copied

6. ROTATE Command: Select Object(s): Base point of rotation: angle (reference)

EXAMPLE: Draw a regular pentagon of side 40 mm. Offset out all lines by 10 mm and inscribe a circle. Also Dimension it.

1. Turn ON GRID, SNAP, OSNAP2. Select ENDPOINT, MIDPOINT, INTERSECTION, TANGENT & CENTRE3. Select LINE in DRAW toolbar, go to a point of grid, click, go horizontally 4 grid points (40 mm), click.4. At command line To Point: type @40<72 [@ for relative distance, < for angle measure, 72 being the angle through which a line turns in a pentagon.

Next: To point: @ 40 <144To point: @ 40 <216To point: @ 40 <288To point: c [for close]

Next: Offset it outwards 10 units

Close the outer pentagon using EXTEND and TRIM commands

Inscribe circle using DRAW> CIRCLE> 3 POINT command, using the aid of midpoint OSNAP

Zoom in using command. Before dimensioning set up a new layer for dimensioning

Press this button to set up a new layer. Call it Dimensions

Use this button to set up a different colour for this layer

FORMAT> DIMENSION STYLE> MODIFY

Next, Set up Dimension Style

FORMAT> LINETYPE

LOAD

CURRENT

Switch to Dimension layer: by choosing in the pull-down layer list

Dimension using , and commands.

Explore the properties of command.

Drawing CENTRELINEDraw centreline by adding ESNAP at Tangent and Centre. Draw line between apex and tangent point at base.Draw horizontal line through centre (Ortho setting is useful.Extend the lines appropriately.

Change line to Centreline linetype. For this first format linetypes

Modify linetype by:selecting a line, right clicking it

click

Changes to

click

To get

Notice that on freezing Dimensions layer, all dimensions disappear

Snowflake represents frozen layer

FILE>PLOT

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