AutoCAD I

EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

AGENDA:

1. Start Tab in AutoCAD

2. The Default AutoCAD Interface
3. AutoCAD Workspaces
4. Online Help System
5. File Utilities – Starting and Saving a drawing, Opening an existing drawing, File management
6. Entering, Canceling, and Repeating Commands
7. Undo and Redo
8. Basic Draw Commands – Line, Polyline, Polygon, Rectangle, Arc, Circle

1. AutoCAD – Start Tab Window

AutoCAD displays a Start tab at startup which provides access to the Help system, online resources and
services, new features demo videos, and options for starting new files or opening recent files. The Learn
and Create options at the bottom of the window will toggle the available tools. The Notifications section
will highlight if any updates are available for your version of AutoCAD.

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2. The AutoCAD Interface

This image shows the 2D Drafting and Annotation interface with some of the most important elements
highlighted. The current drawing name is always displayed at the top. The Ribbon Control Panels, Quick
Access Toolbar and Command window provide access to commands.

The Layout tabs allow you to switch between the drawing and plotting environments. The Status bar
provides access to drawing aids and text scaling options, and the InfoCenter on the right side of the title
bar allows you to search the Help resources by keywords for information on any commands or
procedures.

Right-clicking with or without a command active, will provide access to an extensive assortment of
options and other commands. The Application Menu, under the letter “A” in the top left corner,
provides access to all commands and interface elements as well as plotting and file utility options.
Exporting and Drawing Utilities are also found in the Application menu.

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EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

3. AutoCAD Workspaces and Custom Workspaces

AutoCAD allows us to select from three separate drawing

environments, saved as Workspaces, when starting or working on
a drawing. The workspace Switching control window on the
Status Bar and also available from the Quick Access toolbar, lets
us easily choose from one of the available workspaces.

Drafting and Annotation is the default starting workspace in

AutoCAD. This workspace uses a series of 2D control panels
available through a dockable palette called the Ribbon.

3D Modeling workspace is a working environment that displays all of the 3D related panels with all
major 3D commands and options in addition to the most common 2D Control Panels.

3D Basics workspace provides a streamlined version of the 3D modeling workspace. It hides the Surface
and Mesh modeling tools as well as some of the more advanced 2D panels.

Custom Workspaces may also be easily defined by opening and closing various interface elements, such
as Ribbon Tabs, Control Panels, Palettes, as well as traditional toolbars if preferred. When you have set
up the interface in the desired manner, you can use the "Save Current As" option from the Workspace
Switching control window, and
then give a name to your
custom workspace. Named
Workspaces allow you to easily
change the interface elements
to a specific configuration with
only the tools required for your
style of work.

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EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

The Quick Access Toolbar located beside the Application Menu (Red letter A) in the upper left corner of
the interface, contains
icons for starting new files,
opening files, saving files,
Undoing and Redoing
commands, and Plotting
your drawing.

If you choose the

triangular arrow at the
right end of the Quick
Access toolbar, you can
add and remove
commands from this interface element.

The Classic Workspace with traditional toolbars has been removed in the latest versions of AutoCAD but
toolbars are still available and can be accessed by enabling the Show Menu Bar Quick Access option.

From the Tools menu, choose Toolbars / AutoCAD, to display the entire list of available traditional style
toolbars. Pick a toolbar name such as Draw, Modify, Layers, etc. to open that toolbar. Move the toolbars
and dock them around the edges of your screen to provide additional options for accessing commands.

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The Ribbon is the main graphical interface element for accessing commands in AutoCAD. It groups
common commands required for the current workspace in a series of tabbed control panels which
resembles the interface in Microsoft Office products such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The
workspace controls which tabs which will be visible and which will be hidden.

The Ribbon can display up to twelve control panels in each of seventeen different tabs or groups of
panels. You can hide the control panels that are not currently in use. Right-click over any tab and you
can select the tabs and panels you wish to display.

To change the display of the Ribbon, select the arrow at the right end of the tab titles. You can minimize
the ribbon so it displays only the tab and panel titles until you move your cursor over one of the panels.
You can also open and close the Ribbon.

Some of the Ribbon panels display triangular dropdown arrows which allow you to access less
commonly used commands and options in that panel category. Selecting these expand arrows displays a
drop down list of commands that won’t fit within default control panel area. The expanded panel may
be pinned to keep it from auto-closing when you move your cursor away from the panel.

There are also black diagonal arrows at the lower right corner of the some of the ribbon panels. These
arrows open or close related dialog boxes or windows such as the Properties Panel.

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3. The Online Help System

The AutoCAD Help system contains complete information about using AutoCAD. There are a number of
options available for opening the Help system. In the upper right of the title bar is the InfoCenter bar,
containing a search field, in addition to a few other help related icons.

In the InfoCenter search bar, you can type one or more keywords (recommended), or alternatively, ask a
question and AutoCAD will open the Help window as shown in the image below and display the most
relevant help topic at the top along with a list of related help topics. The Refine By pane on the left
allows you to narrow down the search results by specifying a category.

There are a few other options on the InfoCenter bar: The Sign In option lets you log in to an Autodesk
360 account which may be used for cloud services such as storage, rendering, and maps. The X icon will
open the Apps Exchange window where you can access free and paid apps to help you customize the
AutoCAD software. The Connect icon lets you access the Subscription page as well as Autodesk’s social
media pages. The Question Mark icon at the right side provides access to all Help related options.

If you start a command and then hit F1, it will open the help topics for that command.

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EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

4. File Utilities

Starting a New Drawing - There are several methods for starting a new drawing. You can press CTRL-
N on your keyboard, select the New icon from the Quick Access toolbar, or you can choose the New
Drawing flyout from the Application menu. You can also choose the Templates option at the bottom of
the Start Drawing element of the New Tab window.

All of these methods

will prompt you to
select a Drawing
Template and
starting a new
drawing will take
you directly to the
templates folder
where you can
select from a list of
templates, some
containing title
blocks conforming to various international standards. If you want to start a 2D drawing with Imperial
units, (inches), select the ACAD – Named Plot Styles.dwt template. If you want to work with Metric
units, select the ACADISO-Named Plot Styles.dwt template. Ensure you choose the correct template for
the system of measure you will be using as many default options will be controlled by the template.

It is possible to use the Start Drawing element of the New Tab window to begin a new drawing without
selecting a template but this is NOT usually recommended as you do not have an opportunity to choose
your system of measurement. This method will start a drawing with the last template accessed.

All Drawing template files have a .dwt file extension. Custom template drawings can be created by
saving any drawing with a .dwt extension. To start a drawing with a custom template file that is not
located in the default templates folder, just browse to the template and double-click it.

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Saving a Drawing - You save drawing files for later use just as you do with any other computer
application. AutoCAD provides an automatic saving feature, backup files, and other options for saving.
When you are working on a drawing, you should save it frequently. Saving protects you from losing
work in the event of a power failure or other unexpected event.

To save a drawing: On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Save icon. (If you previously saved and named
the drawing, AutoCAD does a quick save. If you have never saved the drawing, the Save Drawing As
dialog box is displayed. You can also use the shortcut CTRL-S to save your drawing.

In the Save Drawing As dialog box under File Name, browse to the folder where you want to save the
file, enter the new drawing name;(the file extension is not required), and then click Save. You can also
use the shortcut CTRL-SHIFT-S to open the SAVE Drawing As dialog box.

If you want to create a new version of a drawing without affecting the original drawing, you can save it
under another name with the SAVEAS command. The file extension for AutoCAD drawing files is .dwg,
and unless you change the default file format in which drawings are saved, drawings are saved in the
latest drawing-file format. You can use the Files of Type dropdown to save the file to an older format.

Opening a Drawing - To open an existing AutoCAD drawing, you can use the Open icon on the
Quick Access toolbar to display the Select File dialog box or type CTRL-O (letter, not zero). You
could also choose Open from the Application Menu or use the Open Files option in the Get
Started section of the Start Tab window.

If you use the Application Menu, AutoCAD will display a list of Recent Documents which can be
filtered by ordered list, access date, file size, etc. The drawings can also be displayed as
thumbnail images as well as filename. The Recent Documents list also appears on the Start Tab.

You can double-click a drawing file in Windows Explorer to launch AutoCAD and open that drawing. If
AutoCAD is already running, the drawing opens in the current session rather than in a second session. If
you have more than one Autodesk program or version installed, it is a good idea to start the program
you want to use before double-clicking the file name.

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EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

File Management with Windows Explorer – AutoCAD is excellent at creating drawings but is not a
sophisticated file management tool. It is very helpful to be able to use Windows Explorer to be able to
find and copy your files and organize them into folders. To open Windows Explorer, right-click on the
Windows start menu and choose “Open Windows Explorer”. The keyboard shortcut, Windows-E also
provides access to the utility.

The image to the

right shows
Windows
Explorer. It is
divided vertically
into two panes: a
browser and a
contents pane.
Use the left pane
to find drives and
folders, and
display their
contents, folders
and files, in the
right pane. If you
right click on a
file in the right
pane, you can
copy it to the Windows clipboard. When you right-click over a folder or in an empty area of the contents
pane you will see an option to paste the file from the clipboard. Another very useful operation to know
is how to create a folder: Right-Click in an empty area of the contents pane and choose New / Folder.
Give the folder a descriptive name.

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 AutoCAD I

EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

5. Entering, Cancelling, and Repeating Commands

There are several methods for entering commands in AutoCAD:

Toolbars – Provide access to most of the more commonly used

commands. This method is rarely used in recent versions of
AutoCAD, especially since the removal of the Classic workspace.

Command Line – Typing commands or command

shortcuts at the command line and hitting the
enter key or the space bar is probably the fastest
method for experienced users who are familiar
with the command shortcuts. I.e. L for line and C
for circle. Almost all commands can be accessed by
typing the first 1, 2, or 3 letters of the command
name. i.e. - C for Circle, CO for Copy, and CHA for Chamfer. In recent versions, an autocomplete feature
will display all available commands which start with the letters you type. See Appendix - Keyboard
Shortcuts at the end of these notes for examples.

Application Menu – Provide access

to all commands and command
options. Here, you can search for
commands by typing in the search
bar. You can also access common
tools for creating, saving, and
opening files.

Plotting and publishing tools as

well as drawing utilities and access
to the Options dialog may also be
found in the Application menu.

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Ribbon –The Ribbon, is the main interface element at the top of the screen, providing access to
commands through a series of Tabbed Control Panels populated with Tool buttons, Control windows
and Options.

The Ribbon will display different control panels depending on the currently selected Tab. The available
Tabs, in turn are dependent on the current workspace with the 3D modeling workspace including tabs
specific to 3D while the 2D Drafting and Annotation workspace hides all 3D related tabs and panels.

Right-click on the Ribbon title bar to access options for managing Tabs, opening and closing Panels,
displaying titles, and Undocking the Ribbon. When the ribbon is undocked you can float it in the middle
of the drawing area or dock it in a vertical orientation at either side of the screen.

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 AutoCAD I

EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

Cursor Menu - Shortcut menus give you quick access

to commands relevant to your current activity. You
can display different shortcut menus when you right-
click different areas of the screen, including:

1. Within the drawing area with one or

more objects selected
2. Within the drawing area without any
objects selected
3. Within the drawing area during a
command

Shortcut menus typically include options to

1. Repeat the last command entered

2. Cancel the current command
3. Cut and copy to the Clipboard and
paste from the Clipboard
4. Select a different command option
5. Display a dialog box, such as Options or
Customize
6. Undo the last command entered

Tool Palettes – Tool Palettes, accessed from the

Palettes panel on the View tab of the Ribbon provide
another means to access commands. Tabbed sections
within the Tool Palettes Window provide options for
accessing groups of tools such as blocks, hatches and
annotation symbols. This method will be covered in
more depth in the level two course.

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To cancel a command, hit the ESC key in the upper left corner of the keyboard or right-click your mouse
and select the cancel option from the cursor menu.

To repeat the last command, hit the space bar on the keyboard or right-click your mouse and select the
repeat command option from the cursor menu.

6. Undo and Redo

You can undo your recent actions using one of several methods.

Undo a Single Action - The simplest method of backtracking is to use Undo on the Standard toolbar or
the U command to undo a single action. Many commands include their own U (undo) option so that you
can correct mistakes without leaving the command. When you are creating lines and polylines, for
example, enter u to undo the last segment.

Undo Several Actions at Once -

You can undo several actions at
once with the Undo list on the
Quick Access toolbar.

Reverse the Effect of Undo - You

can reverse the effect of a single U
or UNDO command by REDO
immediately after using U or UNDO. You can also redo several actions at once with the Redo list on the
Quick Access toolbar.

OOPS – The OOPs command restores the last object deleted from the drawing and can be a valuable
alternative to the Undo command. If you accidentally erase an object and then perform several
additional commands, the Undo command would not be very useful to restore the deleted object as you
would also undo the additional work since the object was erased. OOPS will retain the last few
commands and simply restore the erased object. To access the OOPS command, type it at the command
line and hit enter.

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7. Basic Draw Commands

Line – Creates straight line segments. Start the command and then op pick points on the screen to draw
segments. To undo a single segment, type U and enter or right-click and choose “Undo”. To create a
closed shape draw 2 or more segments and then type C and hit enter or right-click and choose “Close”.
To continue a line from the endpoint of the last line segment added, start the command and then right-
click instead of picking a start point for the line.

Polyline – Creates line and arc segments that are end-connected and can be selected and modified as a
single entity. You can create straight line segments, arc segments, or a combination of the two. Right-
click and choose Arc or Line to switch between modes. There are several other options for polylines that
will be covered in a later class.

Polygon - Creates an equilateral closed polyline with 3-1024 segments that can be defined with a radius
fitting inside a circle (inscribed) or around a circle (circumscribed). Polygons may also be defined by
specifying the endpoints of the first edge. (Edge mode)

Rectangle – Creates a rectangular polyline that is defined by picking or specifying the locations of
diagonally opposite corners. The rectangle may optionally be created with chamfered or filleted corners.

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Arc – Creates a curved segment that, with the default method, passes through three user specified
points. Many other methods may be used to draw the arc depending on the data that is available.
Possibilities include the start, centre, and end points, the start, end, and radius of the arc, the start, end,
and included angle of the arc.

** To access sub options of a command, view the command line while the command is active and type
the capital letters of the options displayed within brackets. Another method would be to select the
specific sub option displayed from the dropdown options on the control panel. Most commands will also
display valid sub options in the cursor menu if you start the command and then right-click your mouse.
These allow you to switch from the initial command type.

Circle – Creates a circle that can be defined by various combinations of center, radius, diameter, points
on the circumference or points on other objects. The default method is to pick or specify a centre point
and a radius for the circle. Other methods include a circle that passes through 2 or 3 user specified
points, or is tangent to 2 or 3 other objects. As with the arc command, you can access options by typing,
right-clicking, or by choosing the desired method from the dropdown list on the control panel when you
start the command.

Revision Cloud – Creates a polyline of sequential arcs to form a cloud shape. These objects are used to
highlight specific areas of a drawing, usually for areas that requires a revision.

Spline – Creates a non-uniform rational Bezier Spline (NURBS) curve. A spline passes through or near a
given set of control points. Tangencies and tolerances further refine the shape of the spline. Splines may
be created with Fit Points or Control Vertices.

Ellipse – Creates an ellipse whose shape is derived from two axes defining the length and width of the
ellipse. The ellipse can be defined by specifying the endpoints of the axes or by choosing a Center point
and then the axis endpoints.

Elliptical Arc – The Elliptical Arc command is actually an option of the Ellipse command which allows you
to specify the start and end angle of the included portion of an ellipse.

Text – Creates a text object. Text is covered in depth in lesson 8.

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 AutoCAD I

EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

Exercise 1 – File Utilities

This first exercise can be done without AutoCAD and will simply involve some basic file utility
procedures. An understanding of how to manage your files is an essential skill to master.

Open Window s Explorer by selecting the Windows key and the letter E at the same time. You can also
open the File explorer by right-clicking on the Start menu and choosing “Explore”. The image above
shows the Windows Explorer from the Windows 7 operating system. If you are using Windows 8 or
Windows 10, you will have a slightly different interface but similar options. .

Browse to a location where you would like to save your files for this course. It could be in the My
Documents folder or another location. Create a new folder and name the Folder AutoCAD 1.

Double-click the new folder name to open it. Create two new folders inside the AutoCAD 1 folder. Name
the new folders Practice and Assignments. This is where you will save your drawings as you create them.

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It is always a good idea to back up your drawing files by saving them or copying them to a new location.
A typical system for storing and transporting files is a “USB Drive” commonly referred to as a “Flash
Drive”. If you are taking this class on campus, you should obtain one
of these drives for transporting your files from home to school. If
you are taking this class online, you can back up your drawing files
into a separate folder on your hard drive and make them part of
your regular backup regimen.

In the next step, you will copy your new folders to the windows
clipboard and then paste them to a removable drive. Start by
inserting your removable drive into an available USB port. Within a
few seconds, Windows will find the new hardware and display a
window with several options. Choose the Open Folder option and
pick OK.

The Explorer window should be similar to

the one shown at right although the drive
letters and options will vary depending on
your Operating System and the programs
that you have installed. In this image, the
Explorer window is the Windows XP style.
Expand the My Documents option to
display its contents and then right-click
over the AutoCAD 1 folder. Choose the
copy option, Right-click in the right pane
which should still be displaying the
contents of your removable drive. Choose
the paste option to place a copy of the
AutoCAD 1 folder on to your removable
drive.

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EXERCISE NOTES: CLASS 01

Exercise 2 – Creating and Saving Drawings

This exercise involves creating and saving several

drawings to separate drawing files. Although it would be
possible to create all of the drawings in a single file, the
exercise is meant to reinforce the concepts of file
management and saving files. Each time you complete a
drawing exercise, save and close the file. To start the next
drawing, start a new file.

The first 5 drawings are not dimensioned and are not

drawn to scale. They are merely quick sketches that will
serve to familiarize you with some of the most common
drawing tools. Do your best to replicate the drawings
while estimating the dimensions. Remember to create
separate files for each drawing.

Refer to the drawing samples at the end of the lecture

notes for this class and reproduce the drawings as shown.

Start a new file for each drawing. Use the

acad-named plot styles.dwt template to
start the files.

Always remember to choose a template

file when starting a new drawing. The
templates will affect many of the settings
and default values for drawing properties
such as linetypes, text, dimensions, etc.

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After you have started

creating the drawings you
should save them every 5 or
10 minutes. Use the shortcut
keys or open the File menu to
access the save options. After
you have created all five
drawings and saved them to
your Practice folder, use the
Open option from the File
menu to reopen the first
practice drawing.

Draw a few new objects and then use the Save As command to save the file with a new name. This
method of opening an existing file, editing it and saving it with a new name is a very common practice
and a great time-saver.

**TIP – There is a button on the

status bar called OSNAP that is very
powerful, very helpful and turned on
by default. In most cases you work
with it enabled, but in your first
practice drawings, it may interfere
with your progress by “snapping” to
the endpoints of lines or other
geometric points. Just pick the button
to disable it when you have trouble
selecting a desired point. Turn it back
on whenever possible as it will allow
you to draw more accurately.

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