AutoCAD 2013 Interface The AutoCAD interface has several important features that you should get familiar

with. There are hundreds of individual features but for this paper we will address only some of them as major groups.

Application Menu This menu is a close replacement for the old File pulldown many programs still use. It contains commands like Open Recent Drawings, Plot, Drawing Properties, etc. At the very top off the opened menu is a search bar to help you locate commands and program settings. Quick Access Toolbar The Quick Access Toolbar contains some basic program functions. New, Open & Save Files, Plot (Plot is the AutoCAD Print command), and Undo/Redo. Ribbon (Toolbar/Command Panels) The Ribbon is a set of command panels that replaced the tool bars used in AutoCAD 2008 and previous versions. At the top of the ribbon is a set of tabs that when selected switch the command panels to display different sets of commands. If you select anything on the Ribbon with a small black triangle next to it, AutoCAD will display a drop down menu with additional command options.

Drawing Area The drawing area is where the work is performed. Everything is drawn full scale so the drawing area can be enormous. The Zoom and Pan commands are used to navigate in and out so that you can see your entire drawing or just the small portion that you want to work with. Command Prompt The command prompt is one of the most important features of AutoCAD, especially for new users. ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO THE COMMAND PROMPT. In this text area AutoCAD will display information about what command is currently active and what the command needs you to do. For example if you are erasing an object it will display the prompt Select Objects but if you are drawing a line it will prompt you to Select a point. Many commands have multiple options and the command prompt will display them as text options. For example the Zoom command looks like this ZOOM Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or [All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window/Object] <real time>: The Words in the [ ] brackets are additional options for that command. You can zoom to see All of the drawing, to the Center to the Extents, etc. To choose one of these options you only need to type in the capitalized letters not the whole word. Note: An easier way to select command options is to right click in the drawing area and the pop up menu will display the options there also. You can also click the options directly on the command line. Additionally anything you type will automatically be entered on the command prompt even if the cursor isnt on the command prompt at the time, however this will not happen if a dialog box is open. This is important because you can actually type in a command if you cannot find it on the Ribbon. As you type, the command line auto-searches & displays commands above the command line to assist you in finding commands. Drafting Tools/Options The Drafting Tools/Options are tools that assist you in drawing faster and more accurately. They are described in greater detail later in this handout along with the function keys. Model/ Layout Tabs The drawing is created on the Model tab and arranged to print on the layout tabs. Each layout tab becomes a sheet in the finished project. For example you would create an entire house drawing on the model tab and then use that drawing to create the electrical plan, plumbing plan, floor plan, etc. on separate layout tabs.

Several important features of the interface. 1. If you pause the cursor over an item or icon AutoCAD will display what the icon or item is. If you pause a few seconds more over a command icon, AutoCAD will display instructions on how the command is used. 2. Esc is your friend. If you find a command not working hit ESC several times to escape from the command and try again while paying attention to the command prompt. 3. The Spacebar is the same as hitting enter on the keyboard. No AutoCAD commands have spaces in them. The only time the spacebar is actually a space is when you are in the text commands typing text. 4. The last command used can be reissued simply by hitting enter, the spacebar, or right clicking and selecting the command from the top of the popup menu. To Cancel a command simply hit esc.

Drafting Tools/Options & Function Keys Function keys are shortcuts to drawing aids. F1 Opens the AutoCAD help screen. The Help page displayed is based on the command you are in. If you are in the line command and press F1, help for the line command is displayed. F2 Opens the command prompt to a separate window. F2 again closes it.

F3

Turns selected Object snaps on and off. Object Snaps allow you to snap to specific places on an object. Right click on the icon then select Settings to change the selected snaps all at once or right click and select the individual snaps from the popup to turn a single snap on or off. Note: Turn on only the ones you need. Turning them all on can create problems selecting the one you want to use over all the others. Turns 3D Object Snap on and off. Just like the above object snaps except these snaps are specific to 3D objects like vertices and faces. Alternates between the 3 isometric drawing planes (Top, Left, Right) when drawing in isometric mode.

F4

F5

F6

Toggles the Dynamic UCS on and off. When turned on this automatically moves the drawing plane to a selected object. Useful in 3D design & drafting.

F7

Turns the Grid On or Off (The grid is a visual reference tool and does not print). The grid only extends as far as the limits. If you didnt set your drawing limits and you are outside the limits the grid may not display.

F8

Turns Orthographic mode On or Off. Orthographic mode forces AutoCAD to draw only horizontal or vertical lines.

F9

Turns Snap to Grid option On or Off. This forces your cursor to move or snap only to specific increments. Right click on the icon then select Settings to change the snap distance.

F10

Turns Polar Snap option On or Off. The polar snap helps the cursor to snap to specific angles as you draw. Right click on the icon then select Settings to change the snap to angles. Or choose one of the defaults on the popup list.

F11

Turns Object Tracking option On or Off. Object tracking works in conjunction with object snaps to track points on objects and aid in drawing.

F12

This turns Dynamic mode On or Off. Dynamic mode is the on screen prompts that follow the cursor around AND it swaps the absolute & relative coordinate input modes. The Dynamic Mode is discussed in more detail later in this handout.

Infer Constraints. A parametric tool used to constrain objects while drawing. When turned on AutoCAD automatically constrains objects if they meet the correct criteria. The criteria are determined by the Object Snap and Polar Snap.

Display Line Weight, Toggles On/Off the display of line weights on screen. It has no effect on printing line weights.

Display Object Transparency. Toggles On/Off the display of an Objects transparency on screen. It has no effect on the plotting of transparent objects. Plotting objects with transparency is controlled in the plot settings.

Display Quick Properties. Toggles On/Off the display of the quick properties palette when an object(s) is selected.

Selection Cycling. Toggles On/Off the Selection Cycling display. When On it assists you in selecting one object from several that overlap. When more than one object is in the selection pick box area an icon with two blue squares appears near the cursor . When you click, a box will appear with a list of all objects in the selection pick box area. Moving your cursor over the names in list will highlight that object on the screen. When you find the desired object select it on the list. Dynamic Mode. When dynamic mode is turned on the cursor is more visual. Anything you type in will appear at the cursor and on the command prompt. When it is turned off the cursor displays less information. It also swaps the way Absolute & Relative coordinate input is entered which makes a major difference in the way you input X,Y values while drafting. Since it effects the way you have to input coordinates it is very important to get a firm grasp of Absolute vs Relative points and how Dynamic mode effects them. AutoCAD uses X,Y values to define where objects are placed. Absolute Coordinates are fixed coordinates. If you are in a command and type in the absolute coordinate 3,4 you will go to the point 3,4 on the XY plane. Absolute 3,4 is always 3,4 so it is an absolute coordinate and doesnt move or change. Much like the corner of 4th and Main is always the same, it doesnt move. Relative coordinates are relative to the last point you were at. For example if you type in 2,2 as a relative point you will move 2 over and 2 up in the XY plane from where you are currently at. This is like going 2 block east then two blocks north. Where you end up is different depending on where you start. The relative point of 2,2 will place you at point 6,6 if you are currently at 4,4 and 8,9 if you are at 6,7 etc. You add the relative point to the current point to find where you will be. The effect of Dynamic mode on points when it is turned on or off is as below. When Dynamic mode is ON: Typing @2,2 or 2,2 will be a relative point. Typing #2,2 will be an absolute point. When Dynamic mode is OFF: Typing @2,2 will be a relative point. Typing 2,2 will be an absolute point. (#2,2 will result in an error when Dynamic mode is off)

Navigating in a drawing. The Zoom and Pan commands allow you to move in and out of a drawing to see areas you need to work on. The zoom command has many options but the easiest method is to is a two-step method. 1. Zoom-> All This shows you the entire drawing. 2. Zoom in by rolling the wheel mouse with the cursor over the area you want to see. These two steps make all the other zoom commands almost unnecessary. Pan is activated by Pressing and holding the center wheel down into the mouse as if it were a button. The cursor will change to a hand and you slide the mouse in the direction you want to pan the Drawing area. There is also a Navigation Bar on the right side of the screen, as shown below. It contains the most common tools for navigating both the 2D and 3D environment. Steering Wheel, The steering wheel is an on screen view tool. Pan Zoom Orbit 3D view rotating tool Show Motion, creates slideshows from on screen display.

View Cube is a 3D Navigation tool.

Selecting objects There are many ways to select objects. The three most useful and common are picking the object directly, selecting by Window and selecting by Crossing window. If you want to select 1 or 2 objects you can simply pick on the lines of the object. If you want to select more objects you can drag a rectangle around them. If you pick in an area where no objects are and drag a rectangular window to the left (Crossing Window) any objects inside the rectangle or touched by it are selected. A Crossing Window will be light green and always surrounded by a dashed line. If you pick in an empty area and drag a rectangle to the right you will create a Selection Window. Only objects completely inside the Selection Window will be selected. If the edge of the Selection Window touches an object, then that object will NOT be selected. A powerful option is if you hold shift down while making a selection it will deselect the item(s). So if you wanted to pick 4 items and got 5 hold down shift and select the one you didnt want to select and it will be deselected. You may select objects and then issue the command or start the command and then select the objects. Because it works both ways the Crossing and Window selection options are always available. Many new users think they are drawing a rectangle when the windows appear but it wont take long to get used to them.