- •Foreword
- •Preface
- •Is This Book for You?
- •How This Book Is Organized
- •How to Use This Book
- •Doing the Exercises
- •Conventions Used in This Book
- •What the Icons Mean
- •About the CD-ROM
- •Other Information
- •Contacting the Author
- •Acknowledgments
- •Contents at a Glance
- •Contents
- •Getting Acquainted with AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
- •Starting AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
- •Creating a New Drawing
- •Using the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface
- •Creating Your First Drawing
- •Saving a Drawing
- •Summary
- •Creating a New Drawing from a Template
- •Working with Templates
- •Opening a Drawing with Default Settings
- •Opening an Existing Drawing
- •Using an Existing Drawing as a Prototype
- •Saving a Drawing Under a New Name
- •Summary
- •The Command Line
- •Command Techniques
- •Of Mice and Pucks
- •Getting Help
- •Summary
- •Typing Coordinates
- •Displaying Coordinates
- •Picking Coordinates on the Screen
- •Locating Points
- •Summary
- •Unit Types
- •Drawing Limits
- •Understanding Scales
- •Inserting a Title Block
- •Common Setup Options
- •The MVSETUP Command
- •Summary
- •Using the LINE Command
- •Drawing Rectangles
- •Drawing Polygons
- •Creating Construction Lines
- •Creating Rays
- •Summary
- •Drawing Circles
- •Drawing Arcs
- •Creating Ellipses and Elliptical Arcs
- •Making Donuts
- •Placing Points
- •Summary
- •Panning
- •The ZOOM Command
- •Aerial View
- •Named Views
- •Tiled Viewports
- •Snap Rotation
- •User Coordinate Systems
- •Isometric Drawing
- •Summary
- •Editing a Drawing
- •Selecting Objects
- •Summary
- •Copying and Moving Objects
- •Using Construction Commands
- •Creating a Revision Cloud
- •Hiding Objects with a Wipeout
- •Double-Clicking to Edit Objects
- •Grips
- •Editing with the Properties Palette
- •Selection Filters
- •Groups
- •Summary
- •Working with Layers
- •Changing Object Color, Linetype, and Lineweight
- •Working with Linetype Scales
- •Importing Layers and Linetypes from Other Drawings
- •Matching Properties
- •Summary
- •Drawing-Level Information
- •Object-Level Information
- •Measurement Commands
- •AutoCAD’s Calculator
- •Summary
- •Creating Single-Line Text
- •Understanding Text Styles
- •Creating Multiline Text
- •Creating Tables
- •Inserting Fields
- •Managing Text
- •Finding Text in Your Drawing
- •Checking Your Spelling
- •Summary
- •Working with Dimensions
- •Drawing Linear Dimensions
- •Drawing Aligned Dimensions
- •Creating Baseline and Continued Dimensions
- •Dimensioning Arcs and Circles
- •Dimensioning Angles
- •Creating Ordinate Dimensions
- •Drawing Leaders
- •Using Quick Dimension
- •Editing Dimensions
- •Summary
- •Understanding Dimension Styles
- •Defining a New Dimension Style
- •Changing Dimension Styles
- •Creating Geometric Tolerances
- •Summary
- •Creating and Editing Polylines
- •Drawing and Editing Splines
- •Creating Regions
- •Creating Boundaries
- •Creating Hatches
- •Creating and Editing Multilines
- •Creating Dlines
- •Using the SKETCH Command
- •Digitizing Drawings with the TABLET Command
- •Summary
- •Preparing a Drawing for Plotting or Printing
- •Creating a Layout in Paper Space
- •Working with Plot Styles
- •Plotting a Drawing
- •Summary
- •Combining Objects into Blocks
- •Inserting Blocks and Files into Drawings
- •Managing Blocks
- •Using Windows Features
- •Working with Attributes
- •Summary
- •Understanding External References
- •Editing an Xref within Your Drawing
- •Controlling Xref Display
- •Managing Xrefs
- •Summary
- •Preparing for Database Connectivity
- •Connecting to Your Database
- •Linking Data to Drawing Objects
- •Creating Labels
- •Querying with the Query Editor
- •Working with Query Files
- •Summary
- •Working with 3D Coordinates
- •Using Elevation and Thickness
- •Working with the User Coordinate System
- •Summary
- •Working with the Standard Viewpoints
- •Using DDVPOINT
- •Working with the Tripod and Compass
- •Getting a Quick Plan View
- •Shading Your Drawing
- •Using 3D Orbit
- •Using Tiled Viewports
- •Defining a Perspective View
- •Laying Out 3D Drawings
- •Summary
- •Drawing Surfaces with 3DFACE
- •Drawing Surfaces with PFACE
- •Creating Polygon Meshes with 3DMESH
- •Drawing Standard 3D Shapes
- •Drawing a Revolved Surface
- •Drawing an Extruded Surface
- •Drawing Ruled Surfaces
- •Drawing Edge Surfaces
- •Summary
- •Drawing Standard Shapes
- •Creating Extruded Solids
- •Drawing Revolved Solids
- •Creating Complex Solids
- •Sectioning and Slicing Solids
- •Using Editing Commands in 3D
- •Editing Solids
- •Listing Solid Properties
- •Summary
- •Understanding Rendering
- •Creating Lights
- •Creating Scenes
- •Working with Materials
- •Using Backgrounds
- •Doing the Final Render
- •Summary
- •Accessing Drawing Components with the DesignCenter
- •Accessing Drawing Content with Tool Palettes
- •Setting Standards for Drawings
- •Organizing Your Drawings
- •Working with Sheet Sets
- •Maintaining Security
- •Keeping Track of Referenced Files
- •Handling Errors and Crashes
- •Managing Drawings from Prior Releases
- •Summary
- •Importing and Exporting Other File Formats
- •Working with Raster Images
- •Pasting, Linking, and Embedding Objects
- •Summary
- •Sending Drawings
- •Opening Drawings from the Web
- •Creating Object Hyperlinks
- •Publishing Drawings
- •Summary
- •Working with Customizable Files
- •Creating Keyboard Shortcuts for Commands
- •Customizing Toolbars
- •Customizing Tool Palettes
- •Summary
- •Creating Macros with Script Files
- •Creating Slide Shows
- •Creating Slide Libraries
- •Summary
- •Creating Linetypes
- •Creating Hatch Patterns
- •Summary
- •Creating Shapes
- •Creating Fonts
- •Summary
- •Working with Menu Files
- •Customizing a Menu
- •Summary
- •Introducing Visual LISP
- •Getting Help in Visual LISP
- •Working with AutoLISP Expressions
- •Using AutoLISP on the Command Line
- •Creating AutoLISP Files
- •Summary
- •Creating Variables
- •Working with AutoCAD Commands
- •Working with Lists
- •Setting Conditions
- •Managing Drawing Objects
- •Getting Input from the User
- •Putting on the Finishing Touches
- •Summary
- •Understanding Local and Global Variables
- •Working with Visual LISP ActiveX Functions
- •Debugging Code
- •Summary
- •Starting to Work with VBA
- •Writing VBA Code
- •Getting User Input
- •Creating Dialog Boxes
- •Modifying Objects
- •Debugging and Trapping Errors
- •Moving to Advanced Programming
- •A Final Word
- •Installing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
- •Configuring AutoCAD
- •Starting AutoCAD Your Way
- •Configuring a Plotter
- •System Requirements
- •Using the CD with Microsoft Windows
- •What’s on the CD
- •Troubleshooting
- •Index
100%
O N E H U N D R E D P E R C E N T
C O M P R E H E N S I V E A U T H O R I T A T I V E W H A T Y O U N E E D
O N E H U N D R E D P E R C E N T
“To“To getget maximummaximum valuevalue andand performanceperformance fromfrom AutoCADAutoCAD andand AutoCADAutoCAD LT,LT, youyou shouldshould havehave thethe AutoCADAutoCAD 20052005 andand AutoCADAutoCAD LTLT 20052005 BibleBible rightright atat youryour fingertipsfingertips..””
——fromfrom thethe forewordforeword byby WayneWayne Hodgins,Hodgins, StrategicStrategic Futurist,Futurist, DirectorDirector ofof WorldwideWorldwide LearningLearning Strategies,Strategies, Autodesk,Autodesk, IncInc..
Discover the new features in both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT and make upgrading easy
Learn drawing basics, how to program and customize AutoCAD, and everything in between
Create a simple drawing right away with the Chapter 1
tutorial A
utoCAD® 2005 and AutoCAD LT® 2005
BONUS
CD-ROM
Includes real-world drawings
for the exercises, bonus chapters, freeware and shareware programs, a 30-day trial version of AutoCAD software, and more
Ellen Finkelstein
AutoCAD® 2005 and
AutoCAD LT® 2005
Bible
AutoCAD® 2005 and
AutoCAD LT® 2005
Bible
Ellen Finkelstein
AutoCAD® 2005 and AutoCAD® LT 2005 Bible
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004108617
ISBN: 0-7645-6989-9
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1B/QZ/QX/QU/IN
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, E-Mail:brandreview@ wiley.com.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
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Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Design Web Format, and DWF are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S.A. and/or certain other countries. Certain content, including trial software, provided courtesy Autodesk, Inc., © 2003. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
About the Author
Ellen Finkelstein learned AutoCAD in Israel, where she always got to pore over the manual because it was in English. After returning to the United States, she started consulting and teaching AutoCAD as well as other computer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. She also teaches courses on Web writing and usability. Her Web site, www. ellenfinkelstein.com, contains tips and techniques for AutoCAD, PowerPoint, and Flash. Ellen has written many articles on AutoCAD and PowerPoint and has written books on Word, PowerPoint, OpenOffice.org, and Flash (such as Flash MX 2004 For Dummies, published by
Wiley). Her first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference. You’re holding the fifth edition of this book, which previously appeared for AutoCAD releases 14, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
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To MMY for teaching me that there’s more to life than meets the eye and that the deeper levels of life are the most powerful and blissful.
Foreword
We are delighted to see Wiley’s latest update to the very successful AutoCAD Bible by Ellen Finkelstein. Autodesk software gives you the tools to manage and deliver
your digital design data and content. Autodesk understands that our value proposition is to constantly deliver performance and productivity improvements to you, the users of our
products. Fulfilling this proposition requires more than great software — such as the recently released AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005. True productivity improvement also means having available the necessary resources, services, and support. These additional resources make you more productive as you apply Autodesk products to solve your design challenges. The new AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible is a noteworthy addition to this pool of resources you will want at your fingertips.
Almost everything we do assumes a collaborative partnership-based approach. Indeed, “none of us is as smart as all of us” is a principle upon which Autodesk was founded. To augment our great software products, Autodesk offers Autodesk Consulting to meet your need for training, eLearning, custom content development, and consulting. Our commitment to further increase your productivity includes our ongoing work with the “virtual” Autodesk enterprise — including publishers such as Wiley and experts such as Ellen Finkelstein — to bring you impressive resources that support your Autodesk software.
AutoCAD is a powerful 2D and 3D design and drafting platform that automates your design tasks and provides digital tools so you can focus on the design rather than the software itself. Architects, engineers, drafters, and design-related professionals use AutoCAD to create, view, manage, plot, share, and reuse accurate, information-rich drawings. To deliver better results, you need to use the best technology. AutoCAD 2005 automates the process of managing and delivering an entire set of coordinated drawings. You can quickly output the full set of sheets as compact, easy-to-view DWF (Design Web Format files or hard-copy plots. The new fields enable you to mine your data by, for example, filling in table blocks for you. The new tables make creating schedules a breeze, and enhanced tool palettes simplify drafting tasks. Sharing design data is now easier with the DWF Composer that allows electronic markup of DWF files. These new timesaving tools minimize the number of steps you have to take, freeing you and your team to explore more design options — and create even more outstanding designs.
By providing full coverage of AutoCAD LT in her book for the first time, Ellen Finkelstein makes the book useful to an even wider range of professionals. Many organizations use both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and they will find this book to be an invaluable reference. AutoCAD LT 2005 now includes new table objects and enhanced tool palettes. In addition, fields created in AutoCAD are accurately displayed in AutoCAD LT.
After 20 years we can say, to paraphrase on old marketing line, “This isn’t your father’s AutoCAD!” Your work today is not just about powering great designs with AutoCAD’s
and AutoCAD LT’s productivity and performance tools. Both programs enable you to collaborate with others to extend the value of your designs — and maximize the value of your design data across your entire organization. You also need to easily acquire, integrate, deploy, and manage your software assets to increase workflow and improve your bottom line.
x Foreword
However, you can only benefit from what you know and use. Introducing these innovations also poses new challenges, namely learning how to apply these enhancements to the jobs you face. We have done much to address these challenges within AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, yet the full solution must be more than what Autodesk alone can provide — hence, the critical role of the Autodesk virtual community.
We are, therefore, particularly grateful to Ellen Finkelstein for having written such a comprehensive and reliable guide to AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and to the people at Wiley for making it so widely available. Following on the great success of the AutoCAD 2004 Bible, this new version draws upon reader feedback. To get maximum value and performance from AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, you should have the AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible right at your fingertips. It will enable you to respond to the unexpected, which is the norm on the job these days. Use it to augment the digital-learning resources that come with your software: AutoCAD Learning Assistance, the Help system, the new Info palette, and the online resources of Autodesk, which are seamlessly integrated into AutoCAD. If you use the AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible, you will discover the myriad capabilities of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, some that you probably weren’t aware even existed. However you use it, when you combine the features in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT with the support of the AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 Bible, you will discover daily breakthroughs and productivity boosters as you use AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT to power your designs.
Wayne Hodgins
Strategic Futurist
Director of Worldwide Learning Strategies
Autodesk Consulting
www.autodesk.com and www.discreet.com