MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

LAB 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

Introduction

CAD Lab 1 covers the following:

 drawing lines and writing text,
 modifying objects using erase, copy, move, trim, and extend
functions,
 pan and zoom functions,
 making title blocks and annotation, and
 scale setting

1.1 Line
Menu: Draw | Line
Toolbar (Draw):
Command line: line Shortcut: l

There are two common methods of drawing a line.

Method 1:
A line can be drawn by entering the coordinates of the points connecting the
line. AutoCAD follows the Cartesian coordinate system. In 2D drawing, the x
and y coordinates have to be specified. An example of drawing a series of
lines with coordinates of (0, 0), (5, 5), and (10, 0) is given below.

Once the line to be drawn is complete, the enter or the esc keys on the
keyboard can be used to terminate the command. Alternatively, the line
command can be stopped by a right-click on the screen and then clicking
on either enter or cancel.
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025
An important point to note is that the coordinates should not be entered in
brackets. As an example, for the first coordinate (0, 0), only 0,0 should be
entered on the command line.

The steps for these methods would be as follows:

 Specify the line command using one of the methods given above.
 Enter the first coordinate on the command line: 0,0.
 Enter the second coordinate on the command line: 5,5.
 Enter the final coordinate on the command line: 10,0.
 End the command by pressing enter of esc.

If the drawing is not visible on the screen then click on View | Zoom |
Extents on the menu bar. This command will zoom on the contents of the
entire drawing. More on the zoom function is explained later.

Method 2:
Alternatively, a line can be drawn simply by specifying endpoints of the
line by clicking in the drawing area. This method mainly has the ORTHO
mode turned on. The procedure for this is as follows:
 Specify the line command using one of the methods given above.
 An arbitrary first point is specified in the drawing area, that is, left-
click anywhere in the drawing area.
 The next points are specified by their distance, either in the
horizontal or vertical direction, by moving the cursor so that the line
is pointing in the direction of interest and then entering the length
of the line.

As an example, drawing a series of line with 5 units upwards, 10 units

towards right hand side, and 5 units downwards is shown below.

10

start point

The Close option when drawing a line can be used to join the endpoint of
two lines by a line and the Undo option can be used to erase the most
recent sequence of a line segment.
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.2 Text
Menu: Draw | Text | Multiline Text…

Toolbar
(Draw):

Command line: mtext Shortcut: mt

The text command allows a text to be inserted on a drawing. Text can be

either single line or multiline. The steps for writing a multiline text, which
can also be used for a single line text, are as follows:
 Specify the text command.
 Specify the first corner (top left) of the text
box.

 Specify the opposite corner (bottom right) and the text formatting
window will come up on the screen.

 Write the required text. Select all the text and then change the
character style and height of the text according to the standards.
For this course use the Times New Roman character style and font
size of 3mm

 The characters can also be made bold, italic, or underlined.

Symbols can also be inserted if needed through the menu option.

 Click OK or click anywhere in the drawing area to exit. The written

text is shown below.
MM101

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.3 Erase
Menu: Modify | Erase
Toolbar (Modify):
Command line: erase Shortcut: e
Shortcut menu: Select (left-click) the object(s) to erase, right-click in the
drawing area, and click erase.

The procedure to erase an object or multiple objects is as follows:

 Specify the erase command.
 Select the object(s) to erase and press
enter.

1.4 Copy
Menu: Modify | Copy
Toolbar (Modify):

Command line: copy Shortcut: cp, co

Shortcut menu: Select the object(s) to copy, right-click in the drawing
area, and then click on copy selection.
The copy function allows duplicates of objects to be created.The steps for
copying objects are as follows:
 Specify the copy command.
 Select the object(s) to copy, left-click and drag the mouse from one
corner to the other, and then press enter.
1

 Select the base point to copy the object from (have the OSNAP
mode turned on for ease of specifying base point).

base point

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

 Specify the first displacement

point.
First point displacement

 Specify the second displacement point or exit.

 Specify the next displacement point

or exit.

Note: The alternative way to the above method is to select the object to
copy first and then start the copy command. After selecting the object to
copy, the copy command can also be started by accessing copy selection
with a right-click on the screen.

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.5 Move
Menu: Modify | Move
Toolbar (Modify):

Command line: move Shortcut: m

Shortcut menu: Select the object(s) to move, right-click in the drawing

area, and then click on move.

The move function allows an object to be moved from one location to

another. The steps for moving an object are as follows:
 Specify the move command.
 Select the object(s) to move, left-click and drag the mouse from
one corner to the other, and then press enter.

 Specify the base point.

base point

 Specify the displacement point.

displacement
point

Note: The alternative way to the above method is to select the object
to move first and then start the move command. After selecting the
object to move, the move command can also be started by accessing
move with a right-click on the screen.

Lab 1
 MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.6 Trim
Menu: Modify | Trim
Toolbar (Modify):

Command line: trim Shortcut: tr

The trim function is used to trim/delete certain portions of an object within

another object. There are a number of object trimming methods. A simple
one is given in steps below:
 Specify the trim command.
 Select the object to trim. Either select the cutting edges or select all
the objects for potential cutting edges and then press enter.
1

 Click on the portion(s) of the object that has to be trimmed.

1.7 Extend
Menu: Modify | Extend
Toolbar (Modify):

Command line: extend Shortcut: ex

The trim mode is used to trim an object while the extend command allows
the extension of objects. The steps for extending an object are as follows:
 Enter the extend command.
 Select the object to which an object has to be extended or select all
objects and press enter.

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

 Select the object to extend (or select other options).

1.8 Pan
Menu: View | Pan | Realtime
Toolbar (Standard):

Command line: pan Shortcut: p

The pan mode allows the drawing to be moved around in the current
viewport. An alternative method to pan a drawing is by using the scroll button
of the mouse. Press and hold the scroll button and then drag the mouse to
move the drawing around.

1.9 Zoom
Menu: View | Zoom | Realtime

Toolbar (Standard):

Command line: zoom Shortcut: z

The zoom mode allows the user to zoom in and zoom out of a drawing. There
are many options for zooming such as Zoom All, Center, Dynamic, Extents,
Previous, Scale, Window, Object, and Realtime.

The scroll button of the mouse can also be used for scrolling in realtime.

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.10 Drawing title block

1.10.1 Layout

Title blocks are mostly made in the Layout template rather then the Model
space, although drawings are made in the latter. Hence, for making a title
block, click on the Layout tab, if the Model tab is initially activated. The
Layout and Model tabs are located on the bottom left hand corner of the
screen.

The Layout template shows the paper size (in white), the print area
(represented by the dashed line), and the view port (rectangular area on
the paper which houses the actual drawing in the model space).

Lab 1
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.10.2 Page Setup Manager

Menu: File | Page Setup Manager
Command line: pagesetup

The first thing that should be done after switching to the Layout tab for the first
time is to setup the page. Steps for getting this done are given below (refer to
the following figure):

1. Right click on the Layout tab and then choose Page Setup Manager or access
it through the File menu.
2. Click on Modify to change the properties of the layout.
3. Select the printer, under the Name menu, if you would like to print out your
drawing (NOT REQUIRED IN THIS COURSE – Leave printer name as None).
4. Select the Paper size as ISO full bleed A4
5. Under the Plot Scale menu, set the Scale: 1:1 (1 mm = 1 unit).
6. Ensure that the Drawing orientation is selected as Landscape.
7. Go through other settings to see if there are any changes and then click OK.
8. Click Close
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

The page size may now appear to be much bigger, then the size of the viewport,
and may be located on the bottom left corner of the page. The size of the
viewport can be changed by clicking on a line representing the viewport and
then moving the corners to the preferred location as shown.

Model or Paper Space

Since the drawing is made in the model space, which is inside the viewport, changes
can only be made to the drawing by going to the model space. This is done by double
clicking inside the viewport (the lines representing the viewport will become bold).
Likewise, to go outside the viewport, double click in the region outside the viewport.
Alternatively, the Model/Paper space tab, at the bottom-center of the screen can be
used for switching between the two modes.
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.10.3 Drawing the Title Block

The title block is drawn in the region outside the view port and then moved
on top of the page. There are some custom sheet sets available in AutoCAD
2025. However, new title blocks can also be created. The title block to be
used for this course is given below with the dimensions for an A4 size paper.
The height of the TITLE text should be 6mm in Times New Roman font type.
The line and text commands are used to draw the title block.

After the title block has been drawn, it needs to be moved on top of the page.
To ensure that the title block is in the center of the page, the title block can
be moved (using the move command) from the center of a line drawn across
the title block to the center of a line drawn across the page print area, which
is represented by the dashed lines. The two diagonal lines can then be
deleted and the viewport resized.
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025
MM101 Engineering Graphics & Design 2025

1.11 Scale Setting

The scale of a drawing can only be set in the model space, that is, inside the
view port. Access the Annotation Scale menu on the lower right-hand side of the
screen and select the appropriate scale.

The drawing will be automatically set to this scale. If there are no suitable scales
then one can be set by choosing the Custom option and then the Add Scale
option. The added scale will also appear in the list of scales.

A scale can also be edited through this option with the condition that the scale
is not is use. Note that zooming in or out of the drawing after setting the scale
will change the scale. Hence, move out of the model space after setting the
scale.