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From AutoCAD 2012 20 12 For Dummies by David David Byrnes AutoCAD AutoCAD has grown more complex over over the years, in p art to keep up with the increasing complexity of the design and drafting processes that AutoCAD 2012 is intended to serve. It’s not enough just to draw nice-looking lines anymore. If you want to play CAD with the big boys and girls, you need to carefully organize the objects you draw, their properties, and the files in which they reside. This guide provides the basic information and tools for doing all these things, without putting a T-square through your computer screen in frustration.
Drawing setup in AutoCAD 2012 can seem a little complicated before you get used to it. The following table lists ten fundamental AutoCAD setup commands in the order you probably use them, explains what they do, and tells you where to find them on the classic pull-down menu system as well as on the Ribbon and Application Menu. If you’d rather type than click, you can enter the full command name or its alias or keyboard shortcut (where available — shown in parentheses). Ribbon / Application Menu
Cl assic Menu
Command
Description
1. Application menu New Drawing
File
NEW (Ctrl +N)
Creates a new drawing based on a template drawing (DWT file)
2. Application menu Drawing Utilities Units
Format
Units
UNITS (UN)
Specifies linear and angular units
3. None
Format
Drawing Limits
LIMITS
Specifies working area
Mod el Space Space
→
New
→
→
→
→
→
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AutoCAD 2012 For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies
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4. View tab Navigate panel Zoom drop-down flyout Extents
View
5. None
Tools
→
Zoom
→
Extents
→
→
ZOOM (Z), Extents
Zooms to drawing extents
DSETTINGS (DS)
Specifies snap and grid spacings
→
Drafting Settings
→
6. Home tab Properties panel Linetype drop-down Other Show Details Global Scale Factor
Format Linetype Show Details Global Scale Factor
LTSCALE (LTS)
Sets linetype scale
7. Home tab Annotation slideout Dimension Style
Format Style
DIMSTYLE (D)
Sets dimension style
8. Application menu Drawing Utilities Drawing Properties
File Drawing Properties
DWGPROPS
Enters drawing informational properties
LAYOUTWIZARD
Creates a paper space layout
QSAVE (Ctrl+S)
Saves the drawing
→
→
→
→
→
→
→
→
→
→
→
Dimension
→
→
→
Paper Space
9. None
Tools Wizards Layout
10.Application Menu Save
File
→
Create
→
Save
→
→
Over AutoCAD’s 25-year existence, the one input method that’s remained constant is typing into the command line. Most experienced AutoCAD users find typing command aliases and entering Ctrl+key combinations to be the most efficient way of communicating with AutoCAD — and if you can find your way around a keyboard, you’ll probably find the same thing. The following table lists useful keyboard shortcuts.
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Keyboard Shortcut
Command
Purpose
Ctrl+S
QSAVE
Saves the drawing
Ctrl+O
OPEN
Displays the Select File dialog box
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Ctrl+P
PLOT
Displays the Plot dialog box
Ctrl+Tab
None
Switches to the next open drawing
Ctrl+PgUp/Ctrl+PgDn
None
Switches to the previous/next tab in the current drawing
F1
HELP
Displays AutoCAD’s Help in a Web browser window
F2
TEXTSCR
Toggles the AutoCAD Text Window on and off
F3
OSNAP
Toggles running object snap mode on and off
F7
GRID
Toggles grid mode on and off
F8
ORTHO
Toggles ortho mode on and off
F9
SNAP
Toggles snap mode on and off
F10
POLAR
Toggles polar mode on and off
F11
None
Toggles object snap tracking on and off
F12
DYNMODE
Toggles dynamic input mode on and off
It's not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD 2012 drawing. Limits in AutoCAD represent the rectangular working area that you'll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in whole feet or feet and inches of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales.
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Drawing Scale
8-1/2" x 11"
11" x 17"
24" x 36"
30" x 42"
36" x 48"
1/16" = 1'–0"
136' x 176'
176' x 272'
384' x 576'
480' x 672'
576' x 768'
1/8" = 1'–0"
68' x 88'
88' x 136'
192' x 288'
240' x 336'
288' x 384'
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1/4" = 1'–0"
34' x 44'
44' x 68'
96' x 144'
120' x 168'
144' x 192'
1/2" = 1'–0"
17' x 22'
22' x 34'
48' x 72'
60' x 84'
72' x 96'
3/4" = 1'–0"
11'–4" x 14'–8"
14'–8" x 22'–8"
32' x 48'
40' x 56'
48' x 64'
1" = 1'–0"
8'–6" x 11'
11' x 17'
24' x 36'
30' x 42'
36' x 48'
1-1/2" = 1'–0"
5'–8" x 7'–4"
7'–4" x 11'–4"
16' x 24'
20' x 28'
24' x 32'
3" = 1'–0"
2'–10" x 3'–8"
3'–8" x 5'–8"
8' x 12'
10' x 14'
12' x 16'
It’s not a bad idea to set limits for your AutoCAD drawing. The limits represent the rectangular working area that you’ll draw in, which usually corresponds to the paper size. Setting AutoCAD's limits correctly lets you display the drawing grid over your working area, use ZOOM All to display that working area, and plot your working area from model space. The following table sets out the dimensions in millimeters of work areas for different paper sizes at different drawing scales.
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Drawing Scale
210 x 297 mm
297 x 420 mm
420 x 594 mm
594 x 841 mm
841 x 1,189 mm
1:200
42,000 x 59,400 mm
59,400 x 84,000 mm
84,000 x 118,800 mm
118,800 x 168,200 mm
168,200 x 237,800 mm
1:100
21,000 x 29,700 mm
29,700 x 42,000 mm
42,000 x 59,400 mm
59,400 x 84,100 mm
84,100 x 118,900 mm
1:50
10,500 x 14,850 mm
14,850 x 21,000 mm
21,000 x 29,700 mm
29,700 x 42,050 mm
42,050 x 59,450 mm
1:20
4,200 x 5,940 mm
5,940 x 8,400 mm
8,400 x 11,880 mm
11,880 x 16,820 mm
16,820 x 23,780 mm
1:10
2,100 x 2,970
2,970 x 4,200
4,200 x 5,940 mm
5,940 x 8,410 mm
8,410 x 11,890 mm
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AutoCAD 2012 For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies
1:5
mm
mm
1,050 x 1,485 mm
1,485 x 2,100 mm
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2,100 x 2,970 mm
2,970 x 4,205 mm
4,205 x 5,945 mm
Copyright © 2012 & Trademark by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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