TO WELCOME AUTOCAD A BEGINNER'S GUIDE
by Stacy A. Metzger Reviewed by Kane C. Bennett Don J. DeGroot Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA 01003 August 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.1 3.2 4.0 5.0 6.0 6.1 6.2 7.0 8.0 9.0 FOREWARD.............................................................................3 FAIR WARNING........................................................................3 ACCESSING AUTOCAD.............................................................4 AutoCAD vs. AutoCAD LT............................................................4 Acquiring and ECS Account............................................................5 OPENING AUTOCAD................................................................5 BEFORE YOU BEGIN DRAWING................................................5 THE SET UP.............................................................................6 Drawing Units............................................................................6 Drawing Area.............................................................................6 CREATING LABELS..................................................................8 DRAWING...............................................................................8 PRINTING...............................................................................9 APPENDIX A: SAMPLE DRAWINGS...........................................10 APPENDIX B: EXERCISES........................................................12 APPENDIX C: SAMPLE FIELD NOTES.......................................13
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Welcome to AutoCAD A Beginner's Guide (This guide is based on AutoCAD 2005) 1.0 FOREWARD AutoCAD is a design and drafting application utilized by Architects, Engineers and various Professionals to create detailed renderings of site plans, layouts and plan view drawings to scale. While it may seem daunting at first, do not get frustrated because it is an investment in both a tool and a skill. Prospective employers will appreciate your familiarity with this program, guaranteed. Once you get the basics of AutoCAD you can begin to explore some of the program's more advanced resources. If you put the time into thoroughly learning the fundamentals of AutoCAD you will have a much more enjoyable time down the road. The best thing that you can do is to allocate a good chunk of time, sit down in front of the computer, and play with the program. The intention of this guide is to help you learn AutoCAD in an efficient and timely manner. I had to learn AutoCAD for the first time while taking CEE121 Civil and Environmental Engineering Measurements during the Spring 2006 semester. I had to teach myself how to utilize the program and wished I had a beginner's guide. 2.0 FAIR WARNING AutoCAD is not like MS Word where you can open up the program and begin typing. AutoCAD can better be compared to a laboratory experiment. The actual testing may only take a fraction of the total time it took to complete the entire project. The setup is both the most critical and the most time consuming portion of the project. Also take note that there are many ways to do one thing in AutoCAD and I am proposing merely what worked for me.
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3.0 ACCESSING AUTOCAD There are basically three options available to Engineering and non-Engineering students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. summary of each of these options. Table 1 AutoCAD Accessibility Options for Students
Method Engineering Computer Services (ECS) Purchase Student Edition Purchase Student Edition Purchase Student Edition Purchase Student Edition Version 2005 Cost* No cost to use in lab with ECS account $379.98 Location ECS computer labs- Marston 112 Drawbacks Have to work in computer lab. Every drawing will be watermarked with `student edition'. License only last two years. Every drawing will be watermarked with `student edition'. License only last two years. Every drawing will be watermarked with `student edition'. License only last two years. Every drawing will be watermarked with `student edition'. License only last two years. Expensive Expensive Expensive
You may use the program on a lab
computer, purchase a student version or purchase the entire program. Table 1 presents a
2007 2007, one year 2007LT 2006
www.efollet.com
$169.98 $149.98 $149.98 $3395.00 $819.99 $825.00
www.efollet.com www.efollet.com www.efollet.com Various online vendors Various online vendors Various online vendors
Purchase Professional 2007 Edition Purchase Professional 2007LT Edition Purchase Professional 2006LT Edition *As of August 2006
3.1 AutoCAD vs. AutoCAD LT (Lite) [Lite is sufficient for the needs of CEE121] AutoCAD Lite is simply a less extensive version of AutoCAD. additional capabilities: -conceptual design -sheet set management -advanced customization w/LISP, ARX, and VBA -presentation graphics -CAD standards management -network licensing According to the Autodesk website (www.autodesk.com), the full version of AutoCAD has the following
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3.2 Acquiring an ECS Account Most students in the College of Engineering are assigned an Engineering Computer Services (ECS) account. If you do not have an account you can go to the ECS office located at 100 Marcus Hall. You can also access the form online by following this link (http://www.ecs.umass.edu). Go to: Services and Programs Engineering Computer Services Computer Services Forms. Download the "New Student Account Request" form, fill it out and return it to the ECS office. 4.0 OPENING AUTOCAD If you are in an ECS computer lab you will need to sign on to the computer using your ECS (not OIT) username and password. You can either double-click the AutoCAD icon located on the desktop or go to: START Programs Autodesk AutoCAD 2005 AutoCAD 2005. Now that the program is open you have your first glance at what lays ahead, a black screen with white lines. When you begin, it is critical that you establish the parameters you wish to utilize. By parameters, I am specifically referring to: drawing area (related to paper size), drawing limits, drawing scale, units, and angles. 5.0 BEFORE YOU BEGIN DRAWING Organize your information!!! I strongly suggest drawing a rough sketch of your overall drawing. Often times, we have information on more than one page in a lab notebook, or it has been written by someone else and is confusing. If you begin AutoCAD and you are unsure of what you are even drawing, you will be in for a very long and frustrating haul. It may take a few extra minutes initially, but it is better to sort this out with your lab mates around (if possible). The second key component of the preparation is to compute your dimensions. This simply means you should calculate the maximum length and width of your drawing if it is a rectangle (which most often it will be). You may have to compute more than that if it
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is a peculiar shape. If you can, try to fit it into a rectangle for your first few drawings. Now you have the drawing dimensions. 6.0 THE SET UP 6.1 Drawing Units At the bottom of your drawing you should see a dialog box with the term "command." After the "Command:" type "units" and press enter. A `drawing units' dialog box will appear which presents your various options. Select which units you wish to work with and press `OK'. It is advisable to choose the units that you used while surveying feet (e.g., or meters). As you will soon discover, AutoCAD automatically measures the length of the line as you are drawing it. Even if most of your measurements were made to the whole foot, I strongly suggest using inches because it will also display feet on the screen. If you choose feet, it won't display inches. 6.2 Drawing area Most Professors have assignment specifications that you should attempt to adhere to. When determining your drawing area it is important to take this into consideration. Rather than simply considering what dimensions the drawing may adopt, it is also important to think ahead and consider what kind of specifications are required. Furthermore, you will also want to consider leaving enough room for titles as well. For example, Professor `A' prefers that the AutoCAD drawing fit the dimensions of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper which appends nicely to the end of a report. He does not want to see an itty-bitty drawing scrunched onto the paper with wasted space. The first thing that I will do is to assume a drawing area of 8.5 x 11 if I want to print to a normal letter size piece of paper. At this point, you have already established the drawing units, so just make the total area some fraction of 8.5 x 11 for portrait mode or 11 x 8.5 for landscape mode. This way, when I go to print (a.k.a. "plot" in AutoCAD terms) I know that my figure will fit nicely onto the paper. In order to establish the drawing limits you will select `drawing limits' from the Format menu. If you look down to the
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command prompt line you will see that you have to enter values for your lower-left corner. Think of your drawing as a coordinate system. Calculate your drawing area by converting the 8.5 x 11 drawing area into your units. In the first command prompt, type "0,0" and press ENTER. Next you will be prompted for the coordinates of your top-right corner. You will enter something like "11, 8.5" and press ENTER. Now your drawing area has been established. It can sometimes be difficult to see your drawing area because it does not have an outline. I like to create an outline so that I can ensure I am working within my drawing limits. You may have to fiddle with zooming in and out for this next part. Along the very bottom of the AutoCAD display is a series of buttons that read: SNAP, GRID, ORTHO, etc.. Make sure the GRID button is selected which means that it appears to be pressed in. You should see little white dots on the screen. If you do not then either (1) your grid is too dense or (2) you are zoomed in or out too far or (3) both. To zoom in or out: Zoom in and zoom out are located under `View' in the toolbar that runs along the top of the display. You can also use the scroll button on your mouse to zoom in or out. To change the density of the grid field: Right-click the SNAP or GRID button along the very bottom panel and choose Settings. Make sure you are in the `Snap and Grid' area. Ensure that the grid is on (has a check). If your field is too dense then make your "Grid X spacing and Grid Y spacing" larger. Hit OK. You may have to repeat this step until you can see your grid. Once you can see your entire drawing limit on the screen and the grid you will want to draw a box around the perimeter of the drawing area to help you along the way. To draw a box, find the object that looks like a rectangle (this can be located in one of the vertical panels on either side of the drawing area) and draw a rectangle that encompasses the entire drawing area. If you do not see a rectangular object in one of the side panels then go to View Toolbars... and make sure the "Draw" box is checked.
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My next priority is to fit my drawing into this space. In order to ensure the proper dimensions I like to measure the area out using a series of lines and then fit a rectangle to those lines. I will again select the rectangle object and draw another rectangle which will represent the drawing area of my drawing. You should know the dimensions from a previous exercise (i.e., `rough sketch'). The remaining area will be used to label my drawing (see Figure 1). This will help me section the total drawing area into two areas. I will have the area in which I will create my drawing and the area in which I label my figure. *As with any computer program, be sure to periodically save your work. 7.0 CREATING LABELS You can type in text by selecting the `A' object that ...