AutoCAD I Week 1 abbreviated notes

Section 020: Tuesday 2pm-5pm Class CA303.

1) Welcome message and introduction

2) Class list and attendance (sign in procedure)

To login to the College Network (to login to any computer at the college) you require a network
account consisting of a username, sometimes called your userID and a password.

4) Brightspace information:

double-click on the Brightspace icon on the desktop.

CAD8400 course menu:

Announcements (home page): check often

Course information:
- Course Section Information (CSI) (includes week by week
schedule)
- Course Outline
Contact your professor: - my contact information
Notes and Handouts: - Weekly abbreviated notes
- Handouts

Submit Tests and Assignments

Send e-mail: send e-mail to classmates, professor or all
View my Grades: To view your grades on Tests and assignments

5) Course Outline (see Brightspace)

o As an Algonquin student, you may download Autocad 2022 or 2023 for free.
 Course Section Information (CSI) (see document on BS under Course Information tab)

6) Launch Autocad 2023

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To Start a new drawing:

Click here

Select New

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 Select the drop-down arrow

Select Imperial or Metric

either one will do for the moment

From Status bar (bottom of your screen under the command prompt) click Workspace arrow for
options and pick ‘Architecture’. If you don’t want or need the vertical tool bars, you may select “Interior
Design’.

Workspace switching

If you are working on a ‘metric’ drawing, the drawing units will remain in ‘Decimal’ format

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If you are working on an ‘imperial’ drawing, the drawing units must be changed to ‘Architectural’ to
display measurements in feet and inches.

7) The Autocad screen layout (overview of drawing area, quick access toolbar, ribbons
(Autocad tools), status bar, cursor)

The Command Line:

This is how Autocad communicates with you. Autocad will usually prompt you for what it is expecting
of you next … so always read the command line. From the Command line, you can access
commands, select options and input requested information (values/measurements).

8) A few commands to start off with:

LINE command
 To access the command just type the first letter (L), the command line will then display a
list of commands that begin with the letter ‘L’, select the Line command.
 You may also access the Line command by clicking on the Line tool on the Home/Draw
Ribbon:

 Line command options:

- Specify first point, specify next point, …, enter key to end command
- c for Close (type ‘c’ then ‘enter’ key or just click on the option)
- u for Undo
- Ortho mode (Toggle switch on Status bar or F8 key)
- enter key: to terminate the command
enter key or space bar: to repeat the previous command
enter key: at the “specify first point” prompt to continue from last
point of previous line command.
CIRCLE command:
 Type in ‘C’ and select circle at the Command line or go to the Home/Draw Ribbon and
click on Circle tool:

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 At the command line: Ignore the options for now, the default is to specify ‘centre point of
circle’ so just click anywhere in the drawing area (this will be the centre of your circle) then
drag the cursor till you get the size that you want, left click on the mouse will terminate the
command. Later we will be entering a specific value for the radius or the diameter.

ERASE command:
 Type in ‘E’ and select erase at the Command line or go the Home/Modify Ribbon and click
on the Erase tool:

 At the “select objects:” pick an object. Repeat until all desired objects have been
selected. When your selection set is complete, hit enter to erase the objects and
terminate the command.

“Select objects:” prompt … creating a selection set for any modify command
 Options used to create a selection set:
- pick individual objects (or shift + left mouse button to deselect)
- window box (blue box) … may also use shift + window box to deselect)
- crossing box (green box) … may also use shift + crossing box to deselect)

 create several objects and practice the Erase command using several of the select object
options. You can use any of the options and as often as you want for the same selection
set and then hit the Enter key when you are done selecting objects, Autocad will then
continue with the Modify command you requested on that selection set.

Esc (escape key on keyboard):

 Some commands require several steps and input from you before the command can be
executed. If a command is in progress and you want to start over (FUBAR), the Esc key
(top left corner of your keyboard) will cancel the Command in progress (click once or twice
till you get a blank Command line prompt)

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Short but very useful commands:

 u (Undo) within a command

 u (Undo) outside a command

 redo (redoing the undone)

 oops, I made a mistake!

Zoom and Pan

Zooming In and Out of your drawing is like looking through a camera lens and moving closer
to the object to view in more detail or moving further away from the object to see more of the
object and its surroundings. When zooming in, the object will be magnified on your screen but
always remember that the actual size of the object has not changed! No matter how much you
zoom in or out, a 3’ door is still a 3’ door no matter how big or small it looks on the screen.

Several ways to access the Zoom feature (the following is just 2 different ways):

1. Type Z and select Zoom from the command line, click on the option you want:

Practice the following options: <real time> this is the default if you don’t pick another option,
Window, Previous, Extents, All

2. Use the middle scroll button on your mouse. Up or away from you to Zoom In and down
or towards you to Zoom out. More fun and quicker but using the command line is more
accurate.

Using the Pan feature does not change the current magnification of your drawing but allows
you to move to another portion of your drawing to do some work (no need to zoom out from
your current location, find new area of your drawing, then zoom in again).

There are several ways to access the Pan feature (the following is just 3 different ways):

1. Type P and select Pan from the command line: a hand appears on the screen, hold down
the left mouse button and do not release, move mouse to navigate
where you want to go, right-click on the mouse and select ‘exit’ when
done with the Pan feature

2. Hold down the middle scroll button on your mouse to Pan across your drawing.

3. Right-click anywhere in the drawing area to view ‘shortcut menu’ and select Pan. Use the
hand symbol as per no.1 above.

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 Object Snap (Osnap modes): To snap to an exact location on your drawing
(note: turn off Osnap button on status bar till after the exercise)

List of Osnap modes (most popular ones):

center, endpoint, intersection, midpoint, nearest, perpendicular, quadrant and
tangent

Invoking OSNAP modes:

- At the specify point prompt: type in the first 3 letters of the

mode, then the enter key, then pick close to that point

- Shift + right click anywhere in the drawing area and select an

Osnap mode, then back to your screen and pick somewhere
near the desired location.

- Make object snap toolbar visible on your screen (right-click on

any existing toolbar, select ‘object snap’)

 Practice exercise: Draw the

following diagram

8 11 3

1
Use Osnap modes to draw these
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lines passing through the numbered
10
points:
5 6

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4

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Running OSNAP modes:

o To set your Running Osnaps: right-click on “OSNAP” button from status bar and click on
“settings”. Select modes (suggested: int, end and cen) and close dialog box. With OSNAP
button at the status bar turned ON, at the specify point prompt: just pick near desired point.
You may override the running osnaps by specifying a different mode.

2. Units:

Refer to week 1 notes pages 2 and 3 for ‘Starting a new drawing’. This is where you make a
decision if you will be using Imperial units (feet and inches) or Metric units (mm). For the next
4 weeks we will be working in imperial units and then after test 1 we will use metric units. For
today, select ‘No Template – Imperial’

Imperial units: by default, Autocad will read any number entered at the keyboard as “inches”.
For example if you type the value 4 you automatically get 4”. If you type 43, you get 43”. At
the moment, Autocad does not know that the ‘ symbol represents feet. So, if you need to enter
a distance of 22’-4” you need to type a value of 268 (to get 268”).

You need to change the drawing units to ‘Architectural’.

Now, when you type in 32’, Autocad will read this as 32 feet. If you just type 32, Autocad will
read this as 32”. Now for a dimension of 22’-4” you can type in 22’4 (no need to type in the
hyphen (-) or the inches symbol (“) but you must type in the foot symbol (‘)).

You may also type in Units at the Command line and change the setting from the Drawing
Units dialog box.

3. Setting Drawing limits:

o Type in limits at the command prompt (or just ‘L’ and select limits) or Go to format
pull-down menu, select drawing limits
o The default size of the drawing area is about 12” wide by 9” high
o Limits are expressed in ‘absolute coordinates’ or X and Y values separated by a
comma (X,Y). You must enter the coordinates for the lower-left corner of the drawing
area and the coordinates for the upper-right corner.
o Always accept the default of (0’-0”,0’-0”) for the lower-left corner by hitting the “enter”
key
o Reset upper-right corner of drawing area to the size you need for your entire drawing +
a bit more in case you want to add notes and dimensions beyond the drawing.
o You must Zoom All (type in Z (enter), A (enter)) to reset your drawing area to the new
drawing limits

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4. Drawing the “basement plan”:

11'-2" 11'-2"
6'-8"

16'-8"
10'-0"

22'-4"

C :\Autocad\Lectu reNo tes\BasicB asem entDiag1.dwg

 Set up new drawing:

o Start a new drawing (Imperial units)
o Set workspace to Architecture (optional)
o Set units to Architectural (not optional)
o Set drawing limits to (28’, 21’) and then Zoom All

 Draw outside perimeter of foundation wall:

o Use line command with direct distance entry (make sure ortho mode is on)

 Draw inside face of the 12” foundation wall using Offset command
Type ‘O’ and select Offset at the command line
or go to Home/Modify panel and click on Offset tool:

First, set the offset distance followed by ‘Enter’, pick object to offset, then pick side to
offset. If the offset distance is the same, pick other objects to offset before terminating
the command.

 Fix the corners using the Trim and Extend commands. On the Home/Modify panel,
the Trim and the Extend button is actually the same button. Use the arrow to switch the
button from Trim to Extend or, from Extend
to Trim.
You may also access these commands by typing in ‘T’ or ‘E’ at the command line.
The Trim command is used to trim an object to a cutting edge (must select cutting
edge(s) first then select the object(s) you want to trim). The Extend command is used
to extend an object to a boundary (must select boundary(ies) first then select the
object(s) you want to extend).

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 o Additional options/features under the Trim command:

- At the ‘select cutting edges’ prompt, hit the ‘Enter’ key (activating the <select
all> default option) and make everything on the drawing a possible cutting
edge, then you can go on a ‘trim binge’. This option also exists under the
Extend command.

- While in the Trim command, hold down the shift key while making your next
pick to temporarily activate the Extend command. Releasing the shift key
will return you to the Trim command (now you can go on a Trim and Extend
binge at the same time). This also works (in reverse) if you are using the
Extend command (the shift key then temporarily activates the Trim
command).

- While in the Trim command, you may also erase entire objects by picking
the ‘eRase’ option at the command line. Next object(s) that you pick will be
erased, hit the ‘Enter’ key to return to the Trim command

 Undo the fixed corners. Fix the corners again this time using the Fillet command:
Go to the Home/Modify panel for the Fillet tool:

You can also type ‘F’ and the command line and select the Fillet command.

The Radius must be set at 0’-0” if you want the corners to intersect at 90 degrees. If
the current setting is not correct, pick the ‘Radius’ option at the command line, set the
correct radius, then return to drawing to select your two lines to fillet. The Fillet
command will automatically close after you fillet one corner. If you know that you have
several corners to Fillet, pick the ‘Multiple’ option at the command line then go on a
‘Fillet binge’ to fix all your corners.

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  Add the following window openings using Offset and Trim commands:

3'-0" 4'-0" 5'-0" 3'-0"

3'-0" 4'-0"
C :\Auto cad\Lecture Notes\BasicB asem entD iag 2.dw g
D raw n b y C ynth ia Poulin

5. Another “basement plan”…. using plines:

11'-2" 11'-2"

3'-0" 5'-0" 5'-0" 3'-0"

6'-8"

16'-8"
10'-0"

22'-4"

C:\Autocad\LectureNotes\BasicBasementDiag6.dwg

 Create a new drawing:

o Use Imperial units, set workspace (Architecture or Interior Design), set units to
“architectural” and set drawing limits to (36’, 24’), don’t forget to Zoom (All)

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 Pline (Polyline) command:
o Discussion: line command versus the pline command
o Use the pline command with direct distance entry to create outside perimeter of
foundation. Type ‘P’ and select Pline at the Command line or the Pline tool can be
found in the Home/Draw panel:

o
o
o
o
o
 Use the offset command to get inside lines for 12 “ foundation wall.
… I know, probably best feature so far, Plines rock!

 Add the window openings:

o Use the Explode command to turn plines into individual line segments.

( or, to access the Explode

command at the Command line,
Type in ‘X’ and select Explode)

Alternative: Instead of ‘exploding’ your beautiful plines, add temporary additional

lines to offset for window openings … then erase the temporary lines.

o pedit (Polyline edit) command: used to turn individual line segments into single
pline:

Type ‘PE’ and select Pedit command:

At the ‘select polyline’ prompt, select Line. You will get this next prompt:

Hit the ‘Enter’ key to accept the <Y> default.

You will then get a list of options:

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 Click on the Join option then select all the lines to be joined together to form
one Pline. Hit the ‘Enter’ key when done selecting lines and the ‘Enter’ key
again if you do not want to use another option on the same gang of objects.

10) Things to do for next class:

o Check Announcements (often) for this course on Brightspace.
o Download free software to your laptop
o Get familiar with the different components of the Autocad standard screen layout
o Purchase USB device
o Practice commands and features seen today
o Download summary notes for week 3 from Brightspace (and print before class)

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