TECHNICAL DRAFTING

People in manufacturing understand the importance of technical drawings.

Good technical drawings can often reduce the risk of significant delays in production
as well as guard against the danger of ending up with an inaccurate gear. Technical
drawings must be accurate, and drafted according to industry standards.

Drawing is the principal / universal language that everyone could understand.

Drawing or illustrating techniques vary in style. However, a standard method of
drawing is observed in making industry grade illustrations for constructions,
manufacture and architectural purposes. This is called Computer-Aided Drafting.

In this modern age, Technical Drafting is produced with the use of different
computer aided design software such as : AutoCAD, Solid Works, and CATIA .
These are commercial software that are generally available in the market but there
are also similar software available for free like Google SketchUp.
Know

Lesson 1: Introduction to AutoCAD: the Interface

Being proficient with AutoCAD and its user interface can help make drafting
tasks easier based on how familiar you are with all the tools that are just a click
away. The exercises in this chapter give you an understanding of how to use the
various interface elements that AutoCAD has to offer to make sure you have the
tools available when you need them.

Computer-aided design (CAD), also known as computer-aided drafting (CAD)

or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), is the use of computer systems to
assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. Computer-
aided drafting describes the process of creating a technical drawing with the use of
computer software. CAD software is used to increase the productivity of the
designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through
documentation and to create a database for manufacturing. CAD output is often in
the form of electronic files for print or machining operations. CAD software uses
either vector based graphics to depict the objects of traditional drafting, or may also
produce raster graphics showing the overall appearance of designed objects.

CAD often involves more than just shapes. As in the manual drafting of
technical and engineering drawings, the output of CAD must convey information,
such as : materials, processes, dimensions, and tolerances, according to application-
specific conventions.

CAD may be used to design curves and figures in two-dimensional (2D)

space; or curves, surfaces, and solids in three-dimensional (3D) space. CAD is an
important industrial art extensively used in many applications, including automotive,
shipbuilding, and aerospace industries; industrial and architectural design;
prosthetics; and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce computer
animation for special effects in movies, advertising and technical manuals. The
modern ubiquity and power of computers means that even perfume bottles and
shampoo dispensers are designed using techniques unheard of by engineers of the
1960s. Because of its enormous economic importance, CAD has been a major
driving force for research in computational geometry, computer graphics (both
hardware and software) and discrete differential geometry.

Modern electronic drafting tools are often specialized computer-aided design

packages. Basic drafting tools are included in all CAD programs, but some offer
advanced automation specifically designed for drafting and architectural design. The
tools that are right for you will depend on your budget. AutoCAD Architecture is the
most capable, but also the most expensive.
AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a commercial product made by

Autodesk, with many versions, including one called
AutoCAD Architecture. AutoCAD Architecture has purpose-
built features specifically designed for architectural drafting.
In addition to design tools for initial architectural
conceptualization, it offers tools to make building
renovations faster and easier. Productivity tools include
those that reflect the actual design of walls and other
structures. AutoCAD is able to maintain precise
dimensional spacing among components such as walls, beams, columns, and doors.
AutoCAD Architecture offers a library of pre-built components to help speed up and
automate the design and construction process.

The AutoCAD Interface

Let’s start your AutoCAD and get familiar with the AutoCAD interface
elements, what they do, and where you can access them. Look at the figure at the
bottom of this page. You can see where are the interface elements by clicking the
next/previous button on the menu. If you can’t see the image, you need to install
flash player for your browser.

Launching AutoCAD

AutoCAD is one of the most popular computer-aided drafting applications on

the markettoday. You can use it to design plans for residential homes and complex
drawings such as paper-converting machines and circuit boards. To become efficient
with AutoCAD, you should get to know as many methods of launching the program
as possible.

1. How can you start AutoCAD?

A. From the Start menu
B. From a shortcut on the desktop,
taskbar,
or Quick Launch toolbar
C. Insert the product CD/DVD into the
CD/DVD-ROM
D. By opening a drawing file

Fig . 1-1 AutoCad drawing window

Navigating the User Interface

The AutoCAD user interface — or UI as it’s often referred to — can be very

overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. All you need is some understanding of how
things are laid out and what the various UI elements are. AutoCAD, like other
Windows-based applications, has pull-down menus, toolbars, a document area, and
a status bar area. However AutoCAD also has some unique user interface elements
that aren’t found in a lot of other applications. Some of the unique interface elements
are a Command Line window, dynamic input tooltips and dockable windows.(Figure
1-2)

Different user interface elements that are found in AutoCAD.

Fig 1-2 AutoCad user interface

Drawing window
The drawing window (see Figure 1-3) is the main area in the middle of
AutoCAD where you add and modify objects in the designs that you create. When
you create a new drawing or open an existing drawing, a drawing window appears.
Each open drawing has its own drawing window. Along the bottom of each drawing
window, you find these items:

A series of tabs similar to those found in a spreadsheet program. These

tabs represent where you create your model (Model tab) and the layouts used for
plotting different views of your model.
 You can turn off the Model tab and layout tabs if you don’t want them
displayed. In their place are two buttons that allow you to switch to a different layout
tab.

To the left of the tabs are navigation controls that allow you to scroll to the
first, last, next, or previous layout tab if all the tabs can’t be displayed along the
bottom of the drawing window at a time.

The drawing status bar along the bottom displays settings specific to the
drawing, such as the current annotation scale. If you disable the drawing status bar,
the options are displayed in the status bar area of the application window instead.

Fig 1 -3 Drawing Area (for V 2006)

Auto CAD
Command Line window

The Command Line window by

default is displayed between the
drawing window and the status bar
 area. If you don’t like its position, you
can dock it above or along the left or
right side of the drawing window. The
Command Line window plays a key
role in inputting commands, options,
and values to create and modify
objects. It also displays command
prompts and messages to let you
know what AutoCAD is waiting for.

If you want to gain additional

room in the AutoCAD application
window, you can close the Command
Line window. Press Ctrl+9 to toggle
the display of the Command Line
window on and off. When the
Command Line window is hidden,
command prompts and options are
displayed in dynamic tooltips. Press
F12 to toggle the display of dynamic
tooltips.
Fig 1-4 Drawing area of AutoCAD

Text window

The Text window displays a running

history of the commands and options that
you previously entered in the Command
Line window or at the dynamic input
tooltip. You won’t need the Text window
very often, but if you need to see what you
did a few commands ago, press F2 to
bring up the Text window.

Fig 1 – 5. Text Window

 Status bar

The status bar allows you

to quickly access drafting settings
and other settings that are used
for some of the features. Most of
the settings on the status bar
allow you to toggle drafting
settings on or off without opening
a dialog box or remembering a
shortcut key combination. Also,
you can right-click most buttons to
access options that allow you to
change the behavior of the
draftingsettings.

Fig 1 – 6. Status Bar

Process

You are nearly coming to the last lap of this module. The next activities will
refine your understanding about the AutoCAD user interface. Readings and insights
are provided to enhance the existing knowledge brought by the series of activities
since you started this module. So keep going!

Activity 1 : The Auto CAD user interface

Label the Parts of the Auto Cad Windows

II. Label the parts of the drawing window / area
Activity 2 : Hands-on time

1. Launch the program in different ways as discussed in this module. Take turns
with your classmates to maximize the experience.
2. Browse and explore the different parts to get / become familiar with the
autoCAD window.

Reflect and Understand

Now that you already know the AutoCAD user interface and drawing area, watch a
video presentation to have a more interactive understanding of the program.

Watch the video and try to observe the AutoCad user interface

Autocad 2012 Tutorial 1.1 - The User Interface - Tour the User Interface

– AutoCAD 2012 by Autodesk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbLacjW90
Answer the following questions:
1. What are the tools used in the video that will help you in using
Autocad?

2. Cite the importance of the element shown in the video.

3. Why is it important , especially for beginners like you , to get
to know the AutoCAD user interface well?