POLYTECHNI

C
COMPUTER AIDED
DESIGN

By
Prof jhop
 OBJECTIVES

• At the end of this lesson you

should be able to:
• Describe the CAD
• Explain the CAD software
• Apply basic drawing commands
• Create drawings and models

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 Introduction to CAD

Originally CAD includes any techniques that use

computers in the design process including drafting,
stress analysis and motion analysis.
But over the last 35 years, CAD has come to refer
more specifically to Computer Aided Design and
Drafting.
With CAD, parts or components can be modeled,
visualized, revised, and improve on the computer
screen before any engineering drawings have been
created.

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 INTRODUCTION

What is CAD?
• Computer-aided design is the use of computers to
aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or
optimization of a design.
• CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for
print, machining, or other manufacturing operations
NOTE:
• Computer drawings are neat, clean, highly presentable, and can be modified easily.

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 INTRODUCTION

the use and Advantage of CAD

1) Presentations
- You can create fine drawings with presentation
symbols and text styles.
2) Flexibility in editing
- CAD provides the flexibility to make quick alterations to
drawings
- Some of the editing capabilities are such as; move or
copy drawing elements, enlarge or reduce size of a drawing,
make multiple copies of a drawing, change units of measure
and etc.
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 INTRODUCTION

3) Units and accuracy level

- CAD program allows you to work with great
accuracy. You can also work with different
units of measure, such as architectural units,
engineering units, scientific units and surveyor
units.
4) Storage and access of drawings
- It is quick and convenient to organize CAD
drawings. You can have thousands of drawings on
a computer’s hard disk and you can open any
one of them within seconds.

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 INTRODUCTION
5) Sharing CAD drawings
- The drawings can be shared by a number of users,
allowing them to coordinate projects and work as a
team.
-This is accomplished by connecting different
computers via a network.
-You can also publish your drawings on the Internet
and collaborate CAD projects using a web site.
6) Project reporting
- The computer can be used to prepare project reports

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 INTRODUCTION
7) Engineering analysis
- There is a separate category of programs called
CAE that can use CAD drawings for engineering
analysis.
8) Computer aided manufacturing (CAM)
- CAM is a common method of manufacturing used
by large corporations.
- These systems import CAD drawings into CAM
programs to automate the manufacturing process.

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 INTRODUCTION
other……..
• It saves a lot of time and money.
• We can analyze the strength of materials
using stress tools and improve the design
for durability.
• We can animate and simulate to check the
functionality.
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 The Benefits/importance of CAD
• Increases Productivity
– CAD software allows designers to lower production costs, work faster
and smarter, and ultimately leads to quicker completion.
– CAD software allows designers to visualize their designs and test them against
real-world variables. If something need to be changed, they can easily alter the
same file.

• Higher Quality Designs

– Traditionally, when a design didn’t function as expected, the team had
to go back to the drawing board.
– The use of CAD allows design teams to control the quality of the final
engineered product. It’s easy to investigate an error, diagnose the
problem, and solve it all using the software before any prototypes are
made. This not only saves time, but also money

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 The Benefits/importance of CAD

• Easier to Read
– A common problem that designers face is communicating their vision
through drawings.
– Paper and pencil drawings tend to be unclear, and team members
without a background in industrial design or engineering have a hard
time understanding them.
– CAD drawings are easily read, as they’re standardized and organized.

• Simplified Sharing
– CAD software makes it easy to collaborate with team members. One
person can work on the design and send it to another, where they can
view the design history to see exactly what was done and how.
– CAD makes collaborating easy, even for remote teams.

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 The Limitations of CAD
• they are only as useful as the one handling them. While a
computer can tell you what a design will look like when
you use either steel or wood, the user is the one who
makes the decision, which inevitably affects function.
• CAD software also can’t tell you which design is more
aesthetically pleasing, and in some industries, that
overrides function.
• The designer who only creates things virtually will have
less of an understanding of the product and the actual
process.

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 CAD Models

• A CAD model is a computer representation of an object

or part .
• It contains all of the design information including
geometry, dimensions, tolerances, materials and
manufacturing information.
• CAD models replace the paper blueprints and
engineering drawings

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 CAD Models
• The simplest model used
in CAD is a 2D model.
– This model is essentially the computer graphics
equivalent to an orthographic projection.
• A 3D model is the most general model used in
CAD software.
– This model is equivalent to an isometric view
– 2 basic types of 3D models are :
• wire frame and
• surface models.

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 CAD Models
• In a 3D wire frame model:-
– only edges of the object are represented.

• A 3D surface model
– defines the object in terms of surfaces such as plates
(flat) and shells (curved) in addition to edges.

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 SOLID MODELING
• The current state of the art in CAD, is the most
sophisticated method of representing an object.
• Unlike wire frame or surface models, a solids model
represents an object in the virtual environment just as it
exists in reality, having volume as well as surfaces and
edges.
• In this way, the interior of the object is represented in
the model as well as the outer surfaces.

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 Use of solid models
• Can be used for stress analysis, heat transfer
analysis, fluid flow analysis, and computer aided
manufacturing.
• In the manufacturing process to automatically
generate machine tool paths to machine an object.
• To simulate the removal of material from an initial
block of material on the computer
• Can be linked to Computer Numerical Control CNC)
machine to carry out the removal of material
automatically allowing many identical parts to be
machined based directly on the solid models.
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 CAD program/software
is an electronic tool that enables you to
make quick and accurate drawings with the
use of a computer.
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
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 EXAMPLES OF CAD SOFTWARE

• COMMERCIAL • FREE
• Alibre Design • ProgeCAD Alibre Design
• AllyCAD • AllyCAD
Space Claim
• AutoCAD Autodesk
• PunchCAD AutoCAD
• Autodesk Invent
or • Rhinoceros 3 Autodesk Invento
• AxSTREAM D r
ENGINE • VariCAD AxSTREAM
• T-FLEX CAD Pro/ENGINEER)
• Cobalt
• Modelur T-FLEX CAD
•
• RoutCad Trimble SketchUp
TurboCAD
• IRONCAD • SketchUp AgiliCity Modelur
• MEDUSA • Onshape TurboCAD

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 AUTO CAD 2007

• OBJECTIVE
– AUTO CAD 2007 OVERVIEW
– BASIC COMMANDS
– BASIC SAVING
– BASIC PRINTING

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 AutoCAD overview
• AutoCAD is a computer aided design software developed
by Autodesk Inc.
• AutoCAD was first introduced in 1982. By the year 2000,
it is estimated that there were over 4 million AutoCAD
users worldwide.
• Why use AutoCAD?
– learning AutoCAD will give you the basics for learning other
CAD packages
– because many commands, terms and concepts are used
universally.

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 WHAT IS AUTOCAD?
• AutoCAD is a 2-D and 3-D computer-aided drafting
software application used in architecture, construction,
and manufacturing to assist in the preparation of
blueprints and other engineering plans.
• Professionals who use AutoCAD are often referred to as
drafters.

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 WHAT IS AUTOCAD?
• AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer
Aided Drafting) software application for 2D and 3D
design and drafting.
• Design is the process of creating a real product from an
idea.
• Drafting is the production of the drawings that are used
to document a design

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 AutoCAD 2007 system requirements

• Operating system:
– Windows NT 4.0, ME, 2000, XP (Windows 95 and 98 can’t be used)
• RAM and Hard Disk Space
– 512 MB of RAM minimum
– 3gb of hard disk space
– 100MB free disk space in system folder
• Hardware (required)
– Pentium III or later with 800 MHz processor or better
– Mouse or other pointing device
– 1024 x 768 video graphics display with true color
– CD-ROM drive for initial installation only

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 Start Up AutoCAD 2007
• it’s time to start AutoCAD so we can take the
grand tour.
• Like most Windows programs, there are
multiple ways to start AutoCAD.
• The three most popular methods are:-
– Using the Start Menu.
– Using the AutoCAD Program Icon.
– Double-Clicking on a Drawing File.

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 Start Up AutoCAD 2007
(Using the Start Menu)
• select the Start button on the Windows task bar
• select all Programs
• Autodesk folder
• AutoCAD 2007
• AutoCAD 2007.
NOTE:-
• If a green dialogue box appears, select AutoCAD
Default or AutoCAD Classic and click Ok.
• If it then asks to show you new features, select No and
click Ok.
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 Start Up AutoCAD 2007
(Using the Start Menu)

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 Start Up AutoCAD 2007
(Using the Program Icon)

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 Start Up AutoCAD 2007
(Double-Clicking on a Drawing File)

 When you install a new

program, Windows
associates the
program’s three-letter
file extension
(i.e., .DWG) with the
program so that you can
double-click.
 Double-clicking on
a .DWG file in Explorer
will start AutoCAD and
open the drawing.
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 The AutoCAD User Interface

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 The AutoCAD User Interface

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 The AutoCAD user interface
• The Drawing Window.
– As mentioned, the drawing window is where you create your drawing.
• Mouse Crosshairs.
– The mouse pointer crosshairs in the drawing window are used for locating
points and selecting objects when you are working in a drawing.
– The mouse crosshairs switch back to a pointer when the mouse is outside of the
drawing window.
• The Model Tab.
– The Model tab represents the 3D model space environment that is used to create
the drawing model, or 3D representation, of your design.
• The Layout Tabs.
– The Layout tabs represent the 2D paper space environment that is used for
laying out different views of the model space information for plotting purposes.
– Layout1 and Layout2 are the default layouts in a new drawing.

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 User Coordinate System
• A CAD file, which is the electronic version of the design,
contains data that describes the entities created in the
CAD system.
• Information such as the coordinate values in world
space for all endpoints, center points, etc., along with
the descriptions of the types of entities are all stored in
the file.
• Knowing that AutoCAD stores designs by keeping
coordinate data helps us understand the inputs required
to create entities.

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 User Coordinate System
• Designs and drawings created in a CAD system are usually defined and
stored using sets of points in what is called world space.
• In most CAD systems,the world space is defined using a three-
dimensional
Cartesian coordinate system.
• Three mutually perpendicular axes, usually referred to as the X-, Y-,
and Z-axes, define this system.
• The intersection ofthe three coordinate axes forms a point called the
origin. Any point in world space can then be defined as the distance
from the origin in the X-, Y- and Zdirections.
• In most CAD systems, the directions of
the arrows shown on the axes identify the positive
sides of the coordinates.
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 User Coordinate System
• In AutoCAD, the coordinate system that is used to create entities is
called the user coordinate system (UCS).
• By default, the user coordinate system is aligned to the world
coordinate system (WCS).
• The world coordinate system is a coordinate system used by
AutoCAD as the basis for defining all objects and other coordinate
systems defined by the users.
• We can think of the origin of the world coordinate system as a
fixed point being used as a reference for all measurements.
• The default orientation of the Z-axis can be considered as positive
values in front of the monitor and negative values inside the
monitor.

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 Cartesian and Polar Coordinate Systems

• In a two-dimensional space, a point can be represented

using different coordinate
systems.
• The point can be located, using a Cartesian coordinate
system, as X and Y units away from the origin.
• The same point can also be located using the polar
coordinate system, as r and θ units away from the origin.

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 Absolute and Relative Coordinates

• Absolute coordinatevalues are measured from the current

coordinate system's origin point.
• Relative coordinate values are specified in relation to
previous coordinates.
• the absolute coordinates and the relative coordinates can be
used in conjunction with the Cartesian and polar coordinate
systems.
Note :that the coordinate display area can also be used as a
toggle switch; each leftmouse-click will toggle the coordinate
display on or off

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 Absolute and Relative Coordinates
• By default, AutoCAD expects us to enter values in absolute
Cartesian coordinates, distances measured from the current
coordinate system's origin point.
• We can switch to using the relative coordinates by using the
@ symbol.
• The @ symbol is used as the relative coordinates specifier,
which means that we can specify the position of a point in
relation to the previous point.
• The rule for creating CAD designs and drawings is that they
should be created at full size using real-world units.

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 Defining Positions

• In AutoCAD, there are five methods for specifying the locations of points when we
create planar geometric entities.
• Interactive method: Use the cursor to select on the screen.
• Absolute coordinates (Format: X,Y): Type the X and Y coordinates to locate the
point on the current coordinate system relative to the origin.
• Relative rectangular coordinates (Format: @X,Y): Type the X and Y coordinates
relative to the last point.
• Relative polar coordinates (Format: @Distance<angle): Type a distance and angle
relative to the last point.
• Direct Distance entry technique: Specify a second point by first moving the
cursor to indicate direction and then entering a distance.

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 2d and 3d axis

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 The AutoCAD user interface
• Workspaces.
– The Workspaces toolbar allows you to set the
current workspace.
– Workspaces control the current pull-down menu,
toolbar, and palette settings.
NOTE:-
The AutoCAD Classic workspace is the default
workspace for working in the traditional 2D
environment.

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 The AutoCAD user interface
• Pull-Down Menus.
• The pull-down menus across the top of the AutoCAD
window provide access to most of the AutoCAD
commands. You’ll notice that the menus are
organized in the same order from left to right as
other Windows programs like Word and Excel.
• Most of these menus contain similar commands and
behavior.
• Cascading Menus.
– Menu items with an arrow on the right indicate a
cascading submenu. Simply placing your cursor
over a menu item with an arrow will display the
cascade menu.

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 The AutoCAD user interface
• Toolbars.
– Toolbars provide an easy-to-use
graphical interface to most of the
AutoCAD commands by using
pictures called toolbar icons to
represent different commands.
– You will probably recognize
Toolbar buttons provide the
quickest access to a command
because they only require one
click of the mouse.
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 The AutoCAD user interface

• Toolbar Flyouts.
– A toolbar flyout button
displays a sub toolbar with
additional buttons when it
is selected.
– It is the toolbar equivalent
of a cascading menu. E.G
the Zoom toolbar flyout is
shown.

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 Turning Toolbars On and Off.
• AutoCAD has almost thirty toolbars that can be
turned on and off as needed.
• By default, the first time you start AutoCAD the
following toolbars are turned on:
 Standard toolbar—Contains standard commands
 Layers toolbar—Used to manage layers in a drawing
 Properties toolbar—Used to manage object
properties
 Styles toolbar—Used to manage styles in a drawing
 Draw toolbar—Contains drawing commands
 Modify toolbar—Contains modify commands

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 The Command Line Window.
• The Command Line window provides access to the
AutoCAD command line.
• The AutoCAD command line allows you to enter
AutoCAD commands by typing them on the
keyboard.
• It is also one of the ways AutoCAD communicates
with you via command prompts and messages.

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 Entering Commands via the Keyboard.
• In addition to entering commands using the
pulldown menus and toolbars explained earlier.
• AutoCAD commands can also be entered by typing
them at the keyboard. For instance, the command to
draw a line can be entered by typing Line at the
command line as follows:
• Command: Line<Enter ↵>
• AutoCAD commands are not case sensitive so you
can enter any combination of uppercase and
lowercase characters with the same result.

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 CONT……
• AutoCAD also provides a feature called AutoComplete that
allows you to begin typing a command and then press the <Tab>
key to cycle through all the commands and system variables that
start with the letters you typed.
• For example, type DIM<Tab> at the command prompt to cycle
through all the commands and system variables related to
dimensioning.
• Most commands can also be abbreviated to speed up their
entry. The abbreviated version of a command is known as a
command alias.
• Typically, the command alias is the first one or two letters of the
full command. The abbreviation for the line command is L:
• Command: L<Enter ↵>
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 CONT……
NOTE:-
 system variable: -
A named setting maintained by Auto-CAD that
controls an aspect of a drawing or the drawing
environment.
 command alias: -
An abbreviated definition of a command name
that enables you to enter commands faster at the
keyboard by typing the first one or two letters of the
command.
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 Layers

• Layers are a way of managing, tidying and

also controlling the visual layout of a drawing.
• In Auto CAD, we make individual layers for
things like
• Hidden lines
• Center lines
• Section lines
• Break lines

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 Cont…
• When drawing in Autocad, everything is
drawn on the default layer which is set
current. Only the objects you are drawing are
visible on the layer, the layer itself can never
be seen - it is invisible.
• Layers are controlled by the layer
properties manager button which is
located on the object properties toolbar:
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 Cont..
• Each new layer is created by you, the user.
Normally, it is acceptable to have a layer for
each different part of a drawing

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 Layer property manger
• Add a New Layer - Press the New button to create a
new layer.
• Delete a Layer - Press the delete button to delete the
selected layer.
• Set Current layer - Press the current button to set the
selected layer current. All objects drawn will then be
drawn on this current layer.
• Show Details - Press the show details button to see
more detailed information about the selected layer.

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 Layer property manger

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 Each layer also has the following options
against it:
• Name - Displays the layer name.
• On - Controls if the layer is on or off. Select the light bulb to
turn the layer off on the drawing.
• Freeze in all VP - Pressing this will freeze the layer in all
viewports as well as the current model view (see lesson 10 to
learn about viewports)
• Lock - This handy feature locks a layer preventing any content
of the layer from being modified.
• Colour - Change this to whichever colour you like. All objects
drawn on the layer will display the chosen colour provided
that the objects colour setting in the object properties
toolbar (shown above) is set to 'By Layer'.

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 Cont……
• Linetype - Set the default linetype for all objects drawn on
the layer. i.e continuous, dashed, dotted etc.
• Lineweight - Set the thickness a line appear,Default is no
thickness. This option can be toggled on/off on the display
by the LWT button above the command console.
• Plot - Select if the layer will be shown when the drawing is
plotted (printed).
• The current layer, layer colour, linetype and lineweight can
all be controlled outside of the layer properties manager
via the object properties toolbar.

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 Object Snaps
• The Object Snaps (Osnaps for short) are
drawing aids which are used in conjunction with
other commands to help you draw accurately
NOTE:
• When you are drawing, take a few moments to consider how
you will construct each part of the drawing and which Osnaps
you will use before starting work.
• There is always more than one way to draw anything in
AutoCAD but the quickest, most accurate and the most efficient
way always requires the use of one or more of the Osnap tools

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 Modify Commands

The modify tools (from left to right):

Erase, Copy, Mirror, Offset, Array, Move, Rotate, Scale, Stretch, Lengthen, Trim,
Extend, Break at point, Break, Chamfer, Fillet, Explode

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 Erase & Copy
• Erase -Select this button then a drawing
element to erase it permanently from the
drawing.
• Copy -The copy command will copy any
selected drawing elements and reposition
where specified by the user, without affecting
the original elements.

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 Mirror

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 Offset
• Offset will make
a copy of a line
or series of
selected lines by
a specified
distance in the
direction
specified.

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 Array
Rectangular Array
• The array
command
quickly creates
copies of a
selected
object(s) to a
specified
spacing..

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 Rectangular Array Polar Array

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 Move & Rotate
• The move command works exactly the same as the
copy command described above, except instead of
creating a copy of the selected objects, the second
objects are moved
• The rotate command rotates any selected objects
about a defined point by the angle specified.
– By default Autocad will rotate objects anticlockwise
when an angle is entered

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 Scale &Lengthen
• The scale command scales the size of a selected
object(s) by a defined scale factor from a selected
base point. The selected objects can be scaled up to
increase size or down to reduce the size.
• The lengthen command will lengthen a selected line.

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 Lengthen
• P - Percent: Autocad asks for a percent to lengthen by, then asks
you to select the line. Specifying 50% would reduce the size of the
line by half (The same effect as scaling by a factor of 0.5).
• Specifying 100% would result in no change in length. 200% would
double the length of the line.
• When specifying the percentage to Autocad only the numerical
figure has to be entered and not the percent (%) symbol

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 Lengthen
• DE - Delta: Autocad asks for a distance to
lengthen the line by, when the line is selected it
will then be lengthened by the specified
distance ONLY to the side of the line where the
line was selected.
• I.e If when you selected the line, you selected it
just to the left of centre, then the left side of
the line would be lengthened.

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 Lengthen

• T - Total: Autocad asks for the distance you

want the entire line to be, when you select
the line it will adjust the lines length to the
distance specified
• DY - Dynamic: Autocad adjusts the length of the
line as the mouse is moved in the direction the
line is to be lengthened. This is not an accurate
technique, although is useful for quickly
lengthening construction lines for example.
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 Trim
• The trim command is an extremely useful tool
which will erase all parts of an object beyond
or within its intersection with another object.

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 Extend
• The extend command is similar to the trim command
in how it functions, except it extends a selected line to
a point of intersection of another selected object.
Break at Point
• The break at point command enables the user to
break an object at a specific point, creating two
separate objects

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 Chamfer
• The chamfer command will chamfer the
intersection of two lines to a specified
distance.

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 Fillet
• The fillet command is very similar to the
chamfer command above, except instead of
creating a straight line chamfer, Autocad
creates a radius between the two points.

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 Explode
• The explode command is very straight
forward. It simply breaks down an object
down to its basic line entities.

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 Zoom real time and Pan
• While holding the left mouse button, pull the
mouse to the left, right, up or down. Notice
how the pan tool reflects these mouse
movements on screen so we can move around
the screen effortlessly.

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 Drawing Shapes:
• To Draw a Rectangle:
– In the vertical menu bar on the left, click on the
rectangle with points on two corners.
– In the drawing area, click the cursor once to begin
drawing a rectangle.
– Drag the mouse and then click to create the
desired rectangle.

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 Cont…….
• To Draw a Circle:
– In the vertical menu bar on the left, click the
button that shows a circle.
– In the drawing area, click the cursor once to begin
drawing a rectangle. Drag the mouse and then
click to create the desired circle.

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 Cont..
• To Draw an Arbitrary Shape with Lines:
– In the vertical menu bar on the left, click line
(uppermost button).
– In the drawing area, click once to begin. Each click
makes a new line segment.
– When finished, press Esc.

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 Delete a Shape:
• Click and drag over the entire area to be
deleted.
• Or click on one line of a shape.
• Press the Delete key (not the backspace).

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 To Move a Shape:
• Select Move (four arrow icon) in the vertical
menu on the right.
• Select the item to be moved.
• Right click mouse.
• Select a point on the item to be moved. Left
click mouse.
• Move the object.
• Left click mouse.
NOTE:
To Return to Normal Drawing Mode: Press Esc
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 Saving and Printing to the Lasercutter:
• All pieces should be close together to
minimize waste and must fit in a 60 cm wide
by 30 cm tall rectangle.
• You will save even more material and money
if you can fit your work in a 15 x 30 cm
rectangle (any orientation).

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 SAVING…
• Select File > Save.
• Save your file on any directory as
name_number.dwg (e.g., simpson_3.dwg).

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 Printing a Paper Model:
• You can print paper models at any time and use them to
make quick prototypes.
• You can cut the paper models with a mat knife or scissors,
make folds, and tape the pieces together.
• Alternatively, you can glue the printed page to a piece of
chipboard and then cut it using a mat knife.

Note :
you may need to scale down your model fit it on a standard 8.5
x 11 page.

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 CONT….
• Select File > Plot. In the Plot-Model box,
select the printer in the pull-down menu.
• Under Plot Scale, unselect Fit to Paper. In the
pull-down menu, select mm. Next to units,
type in 1.
• Next to mm, type in 10.
• Now 1 grid unit on the screen will be 1 cm in
length when printed.

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 CONT…………
• If you want to scale down you work (to fit in a
page, for example), try typing in 5 next to mm,
for example.
• This would make 1 unit grid unit print as 0.5
cm (half the size).

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 • Under Plot Area, select Window from the
pull-down menu.
• When drawing window appears, click and
drag a rectangle that encloses all your work.
• On the lower menu bar, click Preview.
• If the page layout looks good, then close the
preview window using the red 'x'.
• To print, click Ok on the lower menu bar.

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 POLYTECHNI
C

LECTURE III
COMMON AUTOCAD DRAWING FUNCTIONS
 Common AutoCAD Drawing Functions

• New drawing setting up

• Drawing objects
• Editing objects
• Zooming objects
• Panning objects and
• Plotting

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 New Drawing Setting up

Before starting a new drawing it is recommended

to make setup of the following:
o Drawing units
o Drawing Limits

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 Drawing Units
• Pull-down
• Format
• Units…
• Keyboard UNITS

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 Drawing Units Dialogue Box

Here you
select the
units which
you want
to used.
Then ok

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 Precision
• One can chose the
precision level from the
Drawing Unit
• All these functions can
also be performed in the
Dimension Style Manager

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 DRAWING LIMIT SETUP

• Pull-down
• Format
• Limits…
• Keyboard LIMITS

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 Drawing Limits Setup for A3

• Specify lower left corner <0.0000,0. 0000>….

• Enter 0,0
• Specify upper right corner <420,297> …
• Enter 420,297
• Ready.

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 Drawing Aids Setting up

• AutoCAD provides some drawing aids to help

user to draw in a required precision and
accuracy;
– Snap,
– Grids,
– Ortho,
– Osnap etc.

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 Coordinate System

Entering Points in AutoCAD

You can enter points directly on the command line
using three different systems.
– Absolute Coordinates System
– Relative Coordinates System
– Polar Coordinates System

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 Absolute Coordinates System

• Using this method, you enter the points as they

relate to the origin of the WCS.
• To enter a point just enter in the exact point as X,Y.

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 Relative Coordinates System

• This allows you to enter points in relation to the

first point you have entered.
• After you have entered one point, the next would
be entered as @X,Y.
• This means that AutoCAD will draw a line from
the first point to another point X units over and Y
units up relative to the previous point.

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 Polar Coordinates System

• You would use this system if you know that you

want to draw a line a certain distance at a
particular angle.
• You would enter this as @D<A.
• In this case,
D is the distance and
A is the angle.
• Example: @10<90 will draw a line 10 units
straight up from the first point.

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 Selecting Objects in AutoCAD

There are two very different types of windows

you can use.
• One is a 'crossing window' and
• the other is a box.

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 Selecting Objects in AutoCAD

• If you create the window from

right to left, you make a
crossing window.
• This means that any object that
crosses the border of the
window is added to the
selection set.
• This is shown as a dotted line
on the screen.
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 Selecting Objects in AutoCAD

• If you create the window

from left to right, you create
a box.
• This means that only the
items that are completely
within the box will be added.
• This is shown as a solid line
on the screen.

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 Selecting Objects in AutoCAD

DIRECTION CALLED DISPLAY EFFECT

GREEN SECLECTS ANY OBJECT

RIGHT TO CROSSING (with a THAT EITHER CROSSES
LEFT SELECTION dotted THE BOUNDARY OR IS
outline) INSIDE IT

SELECTS ON OBJECTS
LEFT TO WINDOW
BLUE THAT ARE COMPLETELY
RIGHT SELECTION
WITHIN THE BOX

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 Dimension Components

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 Dimension Tools

• Linear dimensions
• Aligned dimensions
• Radius dimensions
• Diameter dimensions
• Angular dimensions
• Baseline dimensions
• Continuous Dimensions.

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 Dimension tools
• Linear dimensions are used for dimensioning either
horizontal or vertical distances.

• Aligned dimensions will measure the actual length of an

angled line parallel.

– These are dimensions along inclined lines which cannot be

dimensioned with the DIMLINEAR dimension command
because that command will only give a measured dimension
in either a horizontal or vertical direction.

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 Dimension tools

• Radius dimensions will give you the radius of

either arcs or circles.
• Diameter dimensions are used on circles.
• Angular dimensions will measure the angle
between two lines that you pick.

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 Types of Dimension

• Continue Dimension

• Baseline dimensions are a special type that will

automatically stack dimensions along one plane
as you pick points.

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 Snap Tools
• ENDPOINT – This snap is used to get to the exact
endpoint of a line, arc or other object that has a def-
inite ending to it.
– The endpoint Osnap is indicated by a small
square.
• MIDPOINT – This is used to find the exact middle of
any object that has a beginning and an end.
– All lines and arcs have a midpoint.
– The midpoint Osnap is indicated by a small trian-
gle.

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 Snap Tools
• CENTER – The center Osnap is used to find the exact center
of circles, arc and ellipses.
– The center Osnap is indicated by a small circle.
• NODE – Nodes points in space.
– It is indicated by a circle with angled crosshairs in side.
• QUADRANT – Quadrants are the ‘corners' of circles and el-
lipses and Arcs
– It is indicated by a diamond.

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 Snap Tools
• INTERSECTION – The intersection Osnap appears wherever
two objects cross.
– An ‘X' indicates the intersection Osnap.
• INSERTION – will snap to the insertion of points of objects
such as blocks, text and attributes.
– It is shown as two small, offset squares.
• PERPENDICULAR – is used to draw a line from one point to
another point at a right angle (90degrees) to an object.
– It is indicated by a square with two extending lines.

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 Snap Tools
• TANGENT – Tangent Osnaps are used on circles, arcs, el-
lipses and splines.
– It is shown as a circle with a line across the top of it.
• NONE – This command is used to turn off any Osnaps that
may be on in running mode.
• NEAREST – it will find the closest point on an object relative
to where you started.
– It is indicated by a triangular hourglass.

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 Snap Tools
• APPARENT INTERSECTION – The Apparent Intersection Osnap
is used when two objects appear to intersect on the screen,
but do not truly intersect in 3-D space.
– It has different indicators depending on which mode is
needed at the time.
• QUICK – This Osnap is used in conjunction with the other Os-
naps that are turned on in running mode. It will find the clos-
est Osnap in the area where your cursor is.

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 Zoom Tools
AutoCAD's zoom command toolbar:

• Zoom Window : Select a window over the location to zoom

into. AutoCAD will zoom in close to the object including
everything within the selection box.
• Zoom Dynamic : Enables the user to set the size of a
standard zoom window type box, then use this box to select
zoom in views of the drawing with this box with clicks of the
mouse button.

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 Zoom Tools

• Zoom Scale : Enables the user to zoom into the

drawing to a known scale (referred to as an 'XP
value'). This type of zoom is not required until you
are ready to plot the drawing.
• Zoom Centre : Specify a centre point, then a
radius and AutoCAD will centre this view to
fit your screen.

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 Zoom Tools

• Zoom In : Pretty simple, zooms into the

drawing slightly by each click! Quick 'n'
simple!
• Zoom Out : Same as above, but zoom out by
each click.
• Zoom All : Zooms to the extents of the
drawing limits.

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 Zoom Tools
• Zoom Extent : This is a very useful command. One
press will zoom to the extent of the entire drawing
enabling a very quick overview of the project and an
easy starting point to zoom into a more precise area of
the drawing with one of the above tools.
• Mouse Scroll: If you have a scrolling wheel on your
mouse, you can use it to zoom in and out of your
drawing.
• Scroll towards you to zoom out and away from you to
zoom in.

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 Pan

• Panning allows you to quickly move around

the drawing area at the same magnification
you currently have set.
• Type in PAN (or P) <ENTER> and a hand will
appear on the screen.
• Left click and hold to move around your
drawing.
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 Hatching

• Hatching in AutoCAD is a way of filling in

areas of your drawing with a pre-formatted
pattern to represent certain materials.
• It is usually used in sectional views.

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 Hatch Manager

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 Hatching
• Type - Custom hatch patterns can be created in
AutoCAD. Leave it set to predefined to use AutoCAD's
built in hatch patterns.
• Pattern - This is where you select a hatch pattern from
AutoCAD's default list. Select to view more patterns.
• Scale - This sets the size of the hatch pattern. A little
trial and error is required to obtain a suitable scale.
• Angle - This sets the angle of the hatch pattern, the
default value is 0.

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 Hatching

• There are two different methods of hatching an area.

• Pick Points - Using pick point, clicking inside an area
will result in the hatch pattern being applied to all
blank space within the boundary.
• Select object simply hatches within a selected object.
Note: Great care must be taken to ensure that the area to be hatched is closed, and all line endpoints are meeting
each other.

• Preview - Enables a quick preview of the hatch before

applying it.

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 Text

• Text can be added to an AutoCAD drawing to

create notes and labels on drawings.
• There are two different text commands used
to add text to drawings:
– Text (or Single line text) and
– Mtext (Multiline Text).

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 Single line text

• The text command is a simple way to add basic text

notes.
• The height and rotation of the text can be quickly
specified and the text can be viewed on the
drawing while being typed.
• This text type is called single line text.

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 Multiline Text
• Multiline text is the more advanced text tool
within AutoCAD.
• It can be chosen from the 'draw' toolbar by
this icon: .
• The multiline text command has its own
editor, with all the options available that
you'd expect to see in a word processing
program.

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 Symbols used in Drawing
To obtain the following symbol in AutoCAD type;
%%c for Diameter symbol ø
%%d for degree °
%%p for plus/minus ±

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 Model and Paper Space

There are two drawing areas within an Auto-

CAD drawing;
– model space and
– paper space.
• When AutoCAD is loaded, the drawing area
which we see is known as model space.
• All drawing or 'modeling' done within Auto-
CAD is drawn in model space.

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 Model and Paper Space

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 Model and Paper Space

• Paper space is an area used in AutoCAD to

plot (print) the drawing created in model
space.
• Paper space is actually a blank sheet, the
separate viewports showing different views
of the model are what creates a printable
drawing.

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 Viewports

There are two type of viewport;

• Rectangular Viewport and
• Polygonal viewport

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 Plotting

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 Plotting
• Plot device tab: - to select the printer you wish to plot to.
• Plot style is where we can choose the colour of the plot, based on
the on-screen colours.
• Full preview is where we can preview the print, but only after we
have chosen our plot setup in 'plot settings'.
• Partial preview provides a simplified preview of the drawing, useful
for previewing large drawings which would take a while to regener-
ate all the viewports for the preview.

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 Plotting

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 Plotting

Plot settings:
• Paper size - select the paper size of the print
out.
• Drawing Orientation - Simply landscape or
portrait.
• Plot scale - This is where the entire paper
space scale is set.

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 Plotting
Plot Area: select which part of the drawing we wish to plot.
• Layout - this will plot the current layout.
• Extents - Similar to zoom extents. The extents of the paper
space area will be plotted.
• Display - The current screen display will be plotted.
• Window - This is the most useful tool to select the plot area.
Plot window allows us to select the exact area to be plotted
by selecting a rectangle around the required area.

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 Plotting

• Plot offset - This enables us to select the po-

sition of the plot on the paper.
• Plot Options - these settings can be left as
they are.

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 TRAINNING
According to Malcom X…………………………………………………“education is the
passport to the future ,for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it
today”

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