AutoCAD 2011 Drawing Setup Roadmap

Drawing setup in AutoCAD 2011 can seem a little complicated before you get used to it. The following table lists ten fundamental AutoCAD setup commands in the order you probably use them, explains what they do, and tells you where to find them on the classic pull-down menu system as well as on the Ribbon and Application Menu. If you d rather type than click, you can enter the full command name or its alias or keyboard shortcut (where available shown in parentheses). Ribbon / Application Menu Model Space 1. Application menu New Drawing File New NEW (Ctrl+N) Creates a new drawing based on a template drawing (DWT file) Specifies linear and angular units Specifies working area Zooms to drawing extents Classic Menu Command Description

2. Application menu Drawing Utilities Units 3. None

Format Units

UNITS (UN)

Format Drawing Limits

LIMITS

4. View tab Navigate panel Zoom drop-down flyout Extents 5. None

View Zoom Extents

ZOOM (Z), Extents

Tools Drafting Settings

DSETTINGS (DS)

Specifies snap and grid spacings Sets linetype scale

6. Home tab Properties panel Linetype dropdown Other Show Details Global Scale Factor 7. Home tab Annotation slideout Dimension Style 8. Application menu Drawing Utilities Drawing Properties

Format Linetype Show Details Global Scale Factor

LTSCALE (LTS)

Format Dimension Style

DIMSTYLE (D)

Sets dimension style

File Drawing Properties

DWGPROPS

Enters drawing informational properties

Paper Space 9. None Tools Wizards Create Layout File Save LAYOUTWIZARD Creates a paper space layout Saves the drawing

10. Application Menu Save

QSAVE (Ctrl+S)

AutoCAD 2011 s Top Keyboard Shortcuts

Over AutoCAD s 25-year existence, the one input method that s remained constant is typing into the command line. Most experienced AutoCAD users find typing command aliases and entering Ctrl+key combinations to be the most efficient way of communicating with AutoCAD and if you can find your way around a keyboard, you ll probably find the same thing. The following table lists useful keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl+S Ctrl+O Ctrl+P Ctrl+Tab Ctrl+PgUp/Ctrl+PgDn F1 F2 F3 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 Command QSAVE OPEN PLOT None None HELP TEXTSCR OSNAP GRID ORTHO SNAP POLAR None DYNMODE Purpose Saves the drawing Displays the Select File dialog box Displays the Plot dialog box Switches to the next open drawing Switches to the previous/next tab in the current drawing Displays AutoCAD s Help in a Web browser window Toggles the AutoCAD Text Window on and off Toggles running object snap mode on and off Toggles grid mode on and off Toggles ortho mode on and off Toggles snap mode on and off Toggles polar mode on and off Toggles object snap tracking on and off Toggles dynamic input mode on and off

AutoCAD 2011's Drawing Scale and Limits Chart: Feet and Inches

It's not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD 2011 drawing. 'Limits in AutoCAD represent the rectangular working area that you'll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in whole feet or feet and inches of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales.

Drawing Scale 1/16" = 1' 0" 1/8" = 1' 0" 1/4" = 1' 0" 1/2" = 1' 0" 3/4" = 1' 0" 1" = 1' 0" 1-1/2" = 1' 0" 3" = 1' 0"

8-1/2" x 11" 136' x 176' 68' x 88' 34' x 44' 17' x 22' 11' 4" x 14' 8" 8' 6" x 11' 5' 8" x 7' 4" 2' 10" x 3' 8"

11" x 17" 176' x 272' 88' x 136' 44' x 68' 22' x 34' 14' 8" x 22' 8" 11' x 17' 7' 4" x 11' 4" 3' 8" x 5' 8"

24" x 36" 384' x 576' 192' x 288' 96' x 144' 48' x 72' 32' x 48' 24' x 36' 16' x 24' 8' x 12'

30" x 42" 480' x 672' 240' x 336' 120' x 168' 60' x 84' 40' x 56' 30' x 42' 20' x 28' 10' x 14'

36" x 48" 576' x 768' 288' x 384' 144' x 192' 72' x 96' 48' x 64' 36' x 48' 24' x 32' 12' x 16'

AutoCAD 2011 s Drawing Scale and Limits Charts: Millimeters

It s not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD drawing. The limits represent the rectangular working area that you ll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting AutoCAD's limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in millimeters of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales.

Drawing Scale

210 x 297 mmA4 42,000 x 59,400 mm 21,000 x 29,700 mm 10,500 x 14,850 mm 4,200 x 5,940 mm 2,100 x 2,970 mm 1,050 x 1,485 mm

297 x 420 mmA3 59,400 x 84,000 mm 29,700 x 42,000 mm 14,850 x 21,000 mm 5,940 x 8,400 mm 2,970 x 4,200 mm 1,485 x 2,100 mm

420 x 594 mmA2 84,000 x 118,800 mm 42,000 x 59,400 mm 21,000 x 29,700 mm 8,400 x 11,880 mm 4,200 x 5,940 mm 2,100 x 2,970 mm

594 x 841 mmA1 118,800 x 168,200 mm 59,400 x 84,100 mm 29,700 x 42,050 mm 11,880 x 16,820 mm 5,940 x 8,410 mm 2,970 x 4,205 mm

841 x 1,189 mmA0 168,200 x 237,800 mm 84,100 x 118,900 mm 42,050 x 59,450 mm 16,820 x 23,780 mm 8,410 x 11,890 mm 4,205 x 5,945 mm

1:200

1:100

1:50

1:20

1:10

1:5