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Diploma in Mechanical Engineering: Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology

The document provides information about starting and using AutoCAD, including: - AutoCAD is a commercial CAD software first released in 1982 that allowed CAD work to be done on personal computers rather than just mainframes. - To start a new drawing, click "Start New Drawing" on the Start tab or right click a file tab and select "New" then choose a template. - The main AutoCAD interface elements are the Application Menu, Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Viewport controls, ViewCube, Navigation bar, Status Bar, File and Layout Tabs, Drop-down Menus, Toolbars, and Command Line. Understanding these elements is important for effective use of AutoCAD.

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Ibrahim Abdulaziz
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65 views8 pages

Diploma in Mechanical Engineering: Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology

The document provides information about starting and using AutoCAD, including: - AutoCAD is a commercial CAD software first released in 1982 that allowed CAD work to be done on personal computers rather than just mainframes. - To start a new drawing, click "Start New Drawing" on the Start tab or right click a file tab and select "New" then choose a template. - The main AutoCAD interface elements are the Application Menu, Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Viewport controls, ViewCube, Navigation bar, Status Bar, File and Layout Tabs, Drop-down Menus, Toolbars, and Command Line. Understanding these elements is important for effective use of AutoCAD.

Uploaded by

Ibrahim Abdulaziz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DAR ES SALAAM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DIPLOMA IN MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
NTA LEVEL 5
(ASSIGNMENT No.1)
MET 05213 BASIC CAD
(OD18ME-1)
Name ; Elia Frank Dugilo
Reg. ; 180520520503
Introduction of AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software


application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk,[1] AutoCAD was first released in
December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics
controllers.[2] Before AutoCAD was introduced, most commercial CAD programs ran
on mainframe computers or minicomputers, with each CAD operator (user) working at a
separate graphics terminal.[3] Since 2010, AutoCAD was released as a mobile- and web
app as well, marketed as AutoCAD 360.

AutoCAD

How to start AutoCAD


Use one of the following methods to start a drawing.

 On the Start tab, click Start New Drawing. This opens a new drawing based on the
default drawing template file. If a default drawing template file is not specified, the Select
Template dialog box is displayed, from which you can choose an appropriate drawing
template file.
 Right-click a file tab, and choose New to display the Select Template dialog box.
 Click Application menu   New   Drawing

Understanding AutoCAD User Interface


Whether you just started using AutoCAD, or you are already an experienced user,
you are likely not fully aware of all user interface elements. The same applies to
AutoCAD commands. Let us review the user interface elements in AutoCAD 2018 as
well as some AutoCAD commands that can give you a shortcuts that will improve
your workflow.
AutoCAD Interface
Application Menu
This is the first thing you see on launching AutoCAD, located in the far left corner at
the top of the screen. It is represented by a big red “A” button with a downward
facing black arrow. Single-clicking this button opens a drop-down menu which
contains some number of the same options in the quick access toolbar, and more.
Double-clicking the application menu is not advised unless you mean to close
AutoCAD application.

Another feature of the Application Menu is the Search Commands part. Here you
may type the full name or partial name of AutoCAD commands you are not sure of,
and AutoCAD will carry out a search for related commands in the menu. The figure
below shows the results you get when you type ‘poly’ in the Search Commands part.
Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)
This is next to the application menu at the top of the screen in the title bar. The quick
access toolbar (QAT), by default, contains icons for a number of commands, such as
New, Open, Save, Save As, Undo, Plot and Redo. Like most user interface elements
it can be customized to meet the user’s desires. The figure below shows a
highlighted QAT.
Ribbon
The ribbon is a user interface element that  contains various AutoCAD commands
arranged in panels and tabs . The tabs are quite powerful.  They have panels of
commands as well as options that relate to any task at hand. For instance, if you
select a HATCH object, a contextual tab appears. The tab contains a Hatch editing
command that appears automatically.

In-Editor elements
These are elements found inside the drawing panel. The user can control their
visibility. In the upper left corner are the view port controls that allow the user to alter
the view and visual styles. The ViewCube, Navigation bar and the UCS icon are
positioned as shown in the figure below.
Status Bar

At the bottom of the screen, is the Status Bar.  It contains only icons. Several icons,
by default, are not enabled, but the user can decide to turn on some of them.

The figure below shows a status bar, with an expanded control icon on the far right,
to show you the other available icons.

When you hover the cursor over any icon, you will find out its purpose. The gray
ones mean the toggle is off, and blue means the toggle it on.

File Tabs
File tabs give access to all open documents. Each document that is open has a tab.
Left-clicking on a tab makes it the current open document. Right-clicking on a tab
gives access to more options, including Save As and Close. The tab that has a plus
sign allows the user to open a new document. File Tabs are located just below the
Ribbon. The figure below shows three File Tabs.

Layout Tabs
Layout tabs give access to different Model Spaces of each Layout in any given
document. Left-clicking on a tab to makes it the current open layout. Right-clicking
on a tab gives you access to more options that include Print, Move, or Rename. The
tab that has a plus sign allows the user to create a new layout. Layout Tabs, by
default, are located at the bottom of the drawing panel below the command line, in
the area around status bar.

Drop-Down Menus
A drop-down menu is a top level name that is clickable. On left-clicking the menu
reveals a list of  commands or sub menus below it. When a command is selected,
the menu vanishes. An example of a drop-down menu is shown in the figure below.

Toolbars
Toolbars are flat panels containing buttons or drop-down lists. Each button has an
icon and macro that performs a either a command or a macro. The figure below
shows two toolbars.

Command Line
This is a palette in which you can input command names. When docked, it has some
fixed number of visible lines. When floating, the command line can expand to show
more data. The figure below shows an example of a floating command line:

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