Text

 It is good practice to use layers for different types of text (e.g. labels, notes, etc.) so you
can change the appearance of them without affecting other text and in case you only want to plot graphics.

 Text styles – stores text size and appearance properties.

Setup a text style: Home tab > Annotation pane drop-down arrow > Text Style icon.
You can now select the style in the Text Style drop-down list.

 Annotation scale and text

1. Set the annotation scale of the drawing before adding text.
2. Select an annotative text style then proceed to add text.

 Background Mask – give text a background to make it more readable.

Double click on text > Text Editor tab > Style panel > Mask button.

 Add frame to text: right-click on text > select Properties > under Text section look for Text Frame.

 Indents and Tabs

o Indent markers let you control the indentation of the first line
and the rest of the paragraph.
o Tab markers let you control tab spacing. For new text tab makers
don’t appear until you add them by clicking the ruler.

 Check spelling: Annotate tab > Text panel > click ABC icon.

Fields
 A special type of dynamic text that automatically updates to reflect changes in the drawing properties.
 Field text has a grey background to notify you that it is a field text but the background does not plot.

 Associate text with drawing properties :

1. Create a normal single / multiline text.
2. Double click then right click on the text and select Insert Field.
3. Fill out Field dialog box to get the dynamic text you want displayed and click OK.
4. Type command RENAME to change the name of an associative property of the field text.
5. After renaming, type command REGEN to regenerate the drawing so that the field text will now update.

 Associate field name with shape or object :

1. Create a normal single / multiline text.
2. Double click then right click on the text and select Insert Field.
3. Select Object in the Field category.
4. Click the Select Object button next to the Object type box to select object being referenced.
5. Select the Property and Format to use in the field text, then click OK.
6. Type command REGEN to regenerate the drawing and update the field text when the object property changes.
Tables
 Similar to spreadsheets, you can add formulas to cells.
 Location: Home tab > Annotation panel > Table button.
 Type command: TB or TABLE
 Rotate text: select cell(s) > right click and select Properties > under Content section, specify Text
rotation angle.
 Border: select cell(s) or table > right click and select Borders.
 Adding formulas to cells: double-click on cell and start with equal sign "=" to enter formula.
E.g. =A2+D4. You can also click cell and insert Formula using Field dialog box.
Add a range of cells along with a separate single cell : =Sum(A1:B5,C6)

Units

 You can’t use spaces when specifying a dimension because AutoCAD will interpret the space as
ENTER. Instead use a hyphen e.g. 8'4-1/2".

 Enter a distance and angle together (say 107mm at 30deg) by typing @107<30 or @107<0.523599r
(radians).


Layout tabs

 Page Setup
o
o Paper size – If you choose a metric sheet size like A4 or A5, AutoCAD assumes you want the dimensions
of the layout in metric and adjusts the dialog box settings to suit.
 Create a custom paper size:
right click on layout tab > page setup manager > Modify > under Printer/Plotter section, click
Properties > Device and Document Settings tab > User-defined Paper Sizes & Calibration > Custom Paper
Sizes.

o Plot scale – set the units (inches/mm) and a global scaling factor to be used in the layout tab.
 Upper number – represents the scale applied to the objects inside the model.
 Lower number – represents the units displayed in the layout tab.

Let's say you set the scaling factor to 1:10. If you draw a line that is 10 units long in the model, it
will appear as 1 unit long in the layout. This means that for every unit displayed in the layout (lower
number), the objects in the model (upper number) will be scaled down by a factor of 10.

Hence scaling factor is layout unit : model unit .

Add custom scale to drop down scale list:
go to Options dialog box located in AutoCAD drop down menu > User Preferences > Default Scale List > Add.

 Draw border 10mm from edge of page:

1. In Plot dialog box, under Plot offset section, make sure X and Y are set to 0,0 as the origin and the
printable area extends to the edge of the page.
2. Draw line with starting coordinate at 10,10.
3. Draw another line starting at coordinate (paper width – 10mm), (paper height – 10mm).
4. Draw a box to connect both coordinates.
Miscellaneous

 Copy items from one DWG file to another: type command ADC to enter the Design Center dialog box.
The drawing you want to copy from must be opened in order navigate to items you want to copy to current file.
 Lineweight settings: Type command LW. You can set default lineweight and if to display lineweight.

myTemplate

 Print layout
 Symbols and objects
 Layers
 Units
 Table styles
 Text styles (Text, Dimensions, etc.)
User Coordinate System (UCS)
 Allows the user to create and work on a desired plane by defining the x, y and z axes. X-y is the ground plane
and z points upward. USC options can be found in the Home tab > Coordinates section.
There are 3 ways to create a new UCS:
o Manipulating the existing UCS icon – move it to a new location and align the axes to the desire plane you
wish to work on. Click the origin of the UCS icon and select “World” to return the USC icon to
its default position.
o UCS commands located in Coordinates section of the Home tab.
o DUCS (Dynamic UCS) – UCS icon moves automatically when you hover over the face of an object.
1. Activate DUCS at status bar:

2. Hover over face of object and when it highlights, AutoCAD has picked this face as a
plane to draw on.
3. When your done drawing, UCS will be restored to its previous position.

Save new UCS: Select “UCS, Named UCS..." button or type UCSMAN
View cube also shows the current UCS being used.
Boolean functions
 Home tab > Solid Editing section
 The 3 boolean functions are:
o Union – combine selected solids/surfaces into a single object.
o Subtract – remove the shape of a selected object from and existing object.
Pick the existing object first [ENTER], then the object shapes you want removed from the existing object.

o Intersect – leaves behind the shared volume between two or more objects and removes everything else.

 Solid History – remember the original shape before modification.

1. Before modifying shape, turn on Solid History: Solid tab > Primitive section.
2. Select all objects being modified, right click and go to Solid History properties and set:
History: Record
Show History: Yes
3. To modify the objects that were removed, hold [Ctrl] and hover where the original objects were located.

 Presspull
o Hold [Shift] to select multiple objects .
o Create a 3D surface by using Presspull on an opened 2D shape.
o Hold [Ctrl] to change the direction of Presspull from it being perpendicular to the face of the object.
Gizmo, Filter and Culling

 Home tab > Selection section

Located in the
 Subobject – any part of an object such as its vertex, edge, or face.
 Gizmo – a gadget used to Move, Rotate, or Scale the selected vertices, edges, or faces of an object.
o After selecting Gizmo, move to desired subobject and stay for a couple of seconds (without clicking) and
the Gizmo will appear. Right-click for Gizmo menu.
 Filter – used to select specific subobjects.
 Culling – allows you to select only subobjects that are visible in the view (does not work with wireframe
Visual Style as you can see through a wireframe).

 Selection cycling – a small window showing objects that exist in the same space of your click/selection.
o Activate: Go to Drafting settings dialog box (DSETTINGS) > Selection Cycling tab.

Meshes

 A tessellation (the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called
tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps) used to form a face.
 Mesh tab
Located in the
 Toshow internal edges, set VSEDGES to 1.
 Change tessellation divisions: Mesh tab > Mesh Primitive Options
 Revolved Surface – create a mesh from an open/closed 2D object by
revolving it around an axis using an angle.
 Edge Surface – create a mesh from 4 2D open shapes which touch each other
to form a closed 4 edged shape.
 Ruled Surface – creates a mesh between two lines or curves.
 Tabulated Surface – creates a mesh from a 2D shape that is swept along a straight path.

 SURFTAB1 – the number of tabulation lines drawn in the direction of revolution.

 SURFTAB2 – the number of tabulation lines drawn to divide SURFTAB1 lines into equal intervals.
 SURFTAB1 and SURFTAB2 must be specified before mesh creation. Ruled and Tabulated Surface meshes will only be
affected by SURFTAB1.

 Smooth Object – convert 3D object to mesh object. You can change the mesh tessellation via the Mesh
Tessellation Options (diagonal down arrow in Mesh section or MESHOPTIONS).
 4 levels of smoothness:
Meshes have Mesh tab > Mesh section
 Refine Mesh – make the mesh smoother by increasing the number of mesh faces. A smoothness level of 1 or
more should be applied.
 Add Crease – the opposite of smoothening mesh, as you can add sharpness to the mesh faces, edges, or
vertices. Crease value sets the level of creasing. <Always> retains the crease at all levels of
smoothness.

 Split Face – split a single face in a mesh into two faces using two points or vertices, or both.
 Extrude Face – extrude a face of the mesh perpendicular to the face plane.
 Merge Face – merge two or more adjacent mesh faces.
 Close Hole – select all the edges of the hole and press enter to create a mesh face to close the hole.
 To delete a mesh face, simply select the face and press Delete key.
 Collapse Face or edge – merge vertices of selected face or edge.
 Spin Triangular Face – spin the shared edge of two triangular shared faces.
Surfaces

 In AutoCAD, there aretwo types of surfaces:

o Procedural – surface is created using mathematical formulas.
o NURBS – (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) surface is created using a set of control points.

 Blend – creates a surface to join two existing surface edges.

o Surface tab > Create section > Blend button.
o Continuity – two surfaces that touch have continuity and two surfaces that don’t touch has none.
The smoothness at the junctions where the two surface edges connect can be described using the
term ‘G’ (stands for Geometry):
 G0 – flat surface (no curvature at junctions)
 G1 – new surface is tangent to the two existing surface edges.
 G2 – best fit curvature.
o Bulging – the swell of the curve of the smoothness at the junctions.

 Patch – creates a new surface to close an open edge or an existing surface.

o Guides – select objects to constrain the patch to.

 Offset – create a parallel copy of existing surface.

o Flip direction – flip direction of offset.
o Both sides – offset on both sides of surface.
o Solid – create solid object from offset.
o Connect – connect multiple offset surface.

 Fillet – create a curved surface from selected edges.

 Trim – trim surfaces (make openings) using a 2D object or another surface.
1. Select the surface you want to trim, [Enter].
2. Select the cutting 2D object / surface, [Enter].
3. Select the area you wish to trim.

Extend surfaces option allows the cutting 2D object / surface to extend

 Extend – lengths a surface by its edges.

o Modes
 Extend – increase length of surface and try to replicate the surface
shape.
 Stretch – increase length of surface and will NOT try to replicate the
surface shape.

 Sculpt – convert a surface to a solid.

Surfaces vs Meshes
 Surface – 3D object that defines its shape using mathematical formulas or by defining a set of control points.
 Mesh – a collection of vertices, edges, and faces used to define a 3D object.
 Surfaces are smoother and more accurate than meshes but can be more complex to create and edit.
 Surfaces are usually used to create complex shapes such as car bodies, while meshes are used for simpler
shapes such as cylinders.

Solid editing
 Command: SOLIDEDIT
 Location: Home tab > solid Editing panel
 Extrude Faces – you can use height, path and taper angle to push or pull a face of a solid.

 Taper Faces – incline face using two points to define the axis of tapering and a taper angle. +ve angle
means face will incline inward, -ve angle will incline outward.
 Move Faces – move face of solid from a base point to displacement point.

 Copy Faces – copy face of solid.

 Offset Faces – +ve offset distance increases volume of solid while –ve offset distance decreases it.

 Delete Faces – this may not always work because AutoCAD may not be able to close its gap.

 Rotate Faces – rotate the face of a solid. +ve rotation angle in the direction of curling fingers of your
right hand, while your thumb is pointing to the +ve axis of rotation. If you specified 2 points as the axis of
rotation, then from point 1 to point 2 is the positive direction.

 Color Faces – assign a colour to a face of a solid.

 Extract Edges – extract edges of solid to create a wireframe of lines.

 Extract Isolines – extract isoline curves from solids or surface.
o Surface tab > Curves panel > Extract Isolines button
o Options
 Chain – create a continuous series of isolines that follow the curvature of the surface for e.g.
generating contours on topographic maps.
 Direction – change direction of isolines from U (horizontal) to V (vertical) or vice versa.
 Spine points – draw a spline on the curved surface.

 Imprint – imprint a 2D geometry onto a 3D solid or surface.

 Color Edges – assign colours to edges of solid.

 Copy Edges – select edges to produce a 2D object. Similar to Extract Edges command but gives you the
freedom to select the edges you want.

 Offset Edge – offset edge of solid to create a closed polyline or spline.

o Location: Solid tab > Solid Editing panel > Offset Edge button.

 Separate – sometimes after using the subtract command, you may get two or more non-continuous single solids
which are still linked to each other. You can use this command to separate that link between them.

 Shell – converts solid into a hollow shell having a specified wall thickness.

 Clean – remove any redundant edges/vertices on a solid.

 Check – check if objects are solids or any other 3D object.
 Interfere – shows the common volume between two or more solid objects.
 Rectangular, Polar and Path Array – create a 3D array. Location: Home tab > Modify panel.

 3D Align – align 3D objects using one, two, or three source points to align them to one, two, or three
destination points.
o Location: Home tab > Modify panel.
1. Select source object.
 2. Select base point(s) on source object then Continue.
3. Select destination point(s) on destination object.

 Thicken – convert a surface to a 3D solid using a specified thickness.

 Convert to Surface – convert solids and meshes to surfaces.

Location: Home tab > Solid Editing panel > Dropdown arrow.

 Conversion table
To Solid To surface To Mesh
From 2D Extrude, Extrude,
Loft, Loft,
objects Revolve, Revolve, -
Sweep, Sweep,
Presspull
From Mesh Convert to Solid Convert to Surface,
-
Convert to NURBS
From Solid Convert to Surface, Smooth
Convert to NURBS,
-
Explode (some
objects only)
From Surface Sculpt, Smooth
Thicken, -
Convert to Solid

 Sectioning in 3D
o Slice – create a 3D slice of a 3D solid or surface. This command will not work on meshes.
o Section Plane – create a 2D/3D section from any 3D object.
Options:
 Select face – select one of the faces to consider as a section plane.

 Draw Section – draw a section plane using OSNAPs.

  Orthographic – draw a section plane parallel to one of the six orthographic planes relative to the
current UCS.

 Type – select the section plane type.

 Plane – shows only the section plane.
 Slice – slice the 3D object to show it with default thickness.
 Boundary – sets a 2D range for what will be affected by the section plane.
 Volume – sets a 3D range for what will be affected by the section plane.

 Jog – refers to a small, abrupt change in direction or

alignment in a drawing or model.
Location: Home tab > Section panel down arrow > Add
Jog.

 Generate Section – create a 2D/3D section and

insert it as a block in your drawing.
Location: Home tab > Section panel down arrow >
Generate Section.
2D Section 3D Section
 Flatshot – create a 2D block representing a 3D view.
 Location: Home tab > Section panel down arrow > Flatshot.
 Make the desired view then click the Flatshot button.
 Make sure you are in Parallel mode and not Perspective
mode.

Views and Viewports

 Save a View: Visualize tab > Named Views panel > New View.

 Layout tab – used to create orthographic projections of model. Tab is only visible in layout space.

 Base view – a 2D representation of a 3D object, typically used to create orthographic projections or other
types of views that show different sides or sections of an object.

 Create a section view – Layout Space > Layout tab > Create View panel > Section.
Section view style – Layout tab > Styles and Standards panel > Section View Style button.
 Drafting Standard – control the drawing views.
Location: Layout tab > Styles and Standards panel down arrow.
 First angle – top views are placed below the base view.
 Third angle – top views are placed above the base view.

 Create custom shape viewport – Layout space > Layout tab > Layout Viewports panel > Polygon.

Cameras
 FOV – Field of View
 Location: Visualize tab > Camera panel > Create Camera button.
 Front and Back Clipping Planes – the camera only shows what is between the front and back planes.
This can be turned on by right clicking on camera, go to properties under Clipping section.
 Predefined Cameras – you can use these cameras for normal to wide angle views.
Location: type TOOLPALETTES > select Cameras tab.

Lights
 AutoCAD has two default distant light sources. If you add a light, it asks you to turn these off.
 Set lighting units before adding a light:
o Location: Visualize tab > Lights panel down arrow.
o Lighting units quantify the amount of light produced by the source light. These units can be:
 American lighting units – measured in foot candles, which is the amount of light produced by a
candle at a distance of one foot.
 International lighting units – measured in lux, which is the amount of light that falls on a surface
per unit area.

 Light sources in AutoCAD:

o Point light – emits light in all directions.

o Target Point light – similar to point light but emits light to a specific target point.
Location: type LIGHT > select Targetpoint.
 o Spot light – projects a concentrated beam of light in a
specific direction.
 Hotspot cone – light intensity is the same in this region.
 Falloff cone – light intensity diminishes starting from
edge of Hotspot cone to perimeter of Falloff cone.

o Distant light – casts parallel light rays from source light to

target location and simulates the effect of sunlight.

o Weblight – produces light in a non-uniform fashion. It uses a

file from the manufacturer to define the distribution of light.
To select a file, right click on Weblight source and select
properties > under Photometric Web select file.

o Free weblight – similar to Weblight but does not have a target

point. Type LIGHT command and select freeweB.

o Sunlight – you can select a geolocation to see the effect of

sunlight on your model. You can set the location by either
using a map (from Autodesk) or a GIS file like .kmz or .kml. To turn on the sky effect, make sure the view
is Perspective and not Parallel.

o AutoCAD offers two palette groups (type TOOLPALETTES):

 Generic Lights
 Photometric Lights

 Intensity – the amount of light emitted in a specific direction. Units: lumen/degree or lumen/steradian.
 Flux – the total amount of light emitted in all directions. Units: lumen.
 Illuminance – the amount of light that falls on a surface per unit area. Units: lux or lumen/m 2.
 Attenuation – specify the amount of diminishing light over distance from light source.
Attenuation types:
 None – light will never diminish over distance.
 Inverse linear – light diminishes over distance using the formula: 1/distance.
 Inverse squared – light diminishes over distance using the formula: 1/distance 2.
 You can also use start and end limits for the light.

Material

 Materials Browser: Visualize tab > Materials panel > Materials Browser.

 Methods to assign material to objects and faces:

o Drag-and-drop it to desired object. To assign material to a single face , hold Ctrl when
assigning.
o Select object, then right click on material and select Assign to Selection option.
o Attach by Layer
 Location: Visualize tab > Materials panel down arrow > Attach By Layer.
1. You have to first add materials to the Document Materials section of the Materials Browser.
2. Select Attach By Layer option and a dialog box will appear.
3. Drag material over to the layer you want the material to be applied to.

 Remove assigned materials from objects:

o Location: Visualize tab > Materials panel drop down arrow > Remove Materials.
o To remove material from a single face , hold Ctrl when removing.
 Material Mapping – resize, move and rotate the material image.
Location: Visualize tab > Materials panel > Material Mapping.

 Create new materials library:

1. Go to Materials Browser and click folder icon in lowest left corner.
2. Create and save new material library (myMaterials.adsklib).
3. You can find this folder in the Materials Browser navigation section.
4. Drag-and-drop materials to the new library folder.
5. To create a category, right-click on folder and select Create Category.

 Create a new material:

o Go to Materials Browser and click circular icon in lowest left corner.
o You can either create a material from scratch (Generic material), based it on
Autodesk categories (Ceramic, Concrete, etc.) or duplicate an existing material.
o Reflectivity
 Direct – how much light is reflected by material when surface is directly facing the camera.
 Oblique – how much light is reflected by material when surface is at an angle to the camera.
o Transparency
 Amount: 0% = no transparency; 100% = fully transparent.
 Translucency – transmitting light, but also scatters some light within the object.
0 = non-translucent; 100 = fully translucent.
 Refraction – how distorted the object behind the material will be
Miscellaneous

 3D Object Snap – snap to points on a 3D object. Turn on at status bar.

 DELOBJ – when you use a 2D object to Extrude, Loft, etc. to produce a solid / surface object, this variable
decides if the 2D object will still exist after or if it will be deleted.
DELOBJ = 0, all defining 2D objects like profiles and cross-sections, paths, and guide curves will stay in the
drawing.

DELOBJ = 1, only profiles will be deleted, but paths and guide curves will remain in the drawing.

DELOBJ = 2, then profiles, paths, and guide curves will all be deleted from the drawing.

 Keyboard shortcuts
o Hold Ctrl to select faces.