Mastering AutoCAD 2018 and AutoCAD LT 2018

Introduction xxv Part 1 The Basics 1 Chapter 1 Exploring the Interface 3 Taking a Guided Tour 3 Working with AutoCAD 16 The Bottom Line 28 Chapter 2 Creating Your First Drawing 31 Getting to Know the Home Tab’s Draw and Modify Panels 31 Starting Your First Drawing 34 Specifying Exact Distances with Coordinates 38 Interpreting the Cursor Modes and Understanding Prompts 43 Selecting Objects 50 Editing with Grips 61 Understanding Dynamic Input 66 Displaying Data in a Text Window 71 Displaying the Properties of an Object 72 Getting Help 75 The Bottom Line 77 Chapter 3 Setting Up and Using the Drafting Tools 79 Setting Up a Work Area 79 Exploring the Drawing Process 90 Planning and Laying Out a Drawing 95 Using the AutoCAD Modes as Drafting Tools 113 The Bottom Line 117 Chapter 4 Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups 119 Creating and Using a Symbol 119 Modifying a Block 130 Understanding the Annotation Scale 135 Grouping Objects 138 The Bottom Line 147 Chapter 5 Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks 149 Organizing Information with Layers 149 Keeping Track of Blocks and Layers 177 The Bottom Line 179 Part 2 Mastering Intermediate Skills 181 Chapter 6 Editing and Reusing Data to Work Efficiently 183 Creating and Using Templates 184 Copying an Object Multiple Times 186 Developing Your Drawing 198 Finding an Exact Distance Along a Curve 218 Changing the Length of Objects 220 Creating a New Drawing by Using Parts from Another Drawing 221 The Bottom Line 224 Chapter 7 Mastering Viewing Tools, Hatches, and External References 225 Assembling the Parts 225 Taking Control of the AutoCAD Display 229 Using Hatch Patterns in Your Drawings 235 Understanding the Boundary Hatch Options 245 Using External References 254 Editing Xrefs in Place 265 The Bottom Line 272 Chapter 8 Introducing Printing, Plotting, and Layouts 273 Plotting the Plan 273 Understanding the Plotter Settings 277 Plotting Using Layout Views 286 Adding an Output Device 291 Storing a Page Setup 295 Using Electronic Plots 299 The Bottom Line 302 Chapter 9 Adding Text to Drawings 305 Preparing a Drawing for Text 305 Setting the Annotation Scale and Adding Text 308 Understanding the Text Style Dialog Box Options 313 Exploring Text Formatting in AutoCAD 315 What Do the Fonts Look Like? 324 Adding Simple Single-Line Text Objects 326 Using the Check Spelling Feature 331 Substituting Fonts 334 Finding and Replacing Text 335 The Bottom Line 339 Chapter 10 Using Fields and Tables 341 Using Fields to Associate Text with Drawing Properties 341 Adding Tables to Your Drawing 345 Editing the Table Line Work 351 Adding Formulas to Cells 354 Importing and Exporting Tables 356 Creating Table Styles 359 The Bottom Line 361 Chapter 11 Using Dimensions 363 Understanding the Components of a Dimension 363 Creating a Dimension Style 364 Drawing Linear Dimensions 376 Editing Dimensions 383 Dimensioning Nonorthogonal Objects 394 Using the Dimension Tool 401 Adding a Note with a Leader Arrow 404 Applying Ordinate Dimensions 410 Adding Tolerance Notation 411 The Bottom Line 414 Part 3 Mastering Advanced Skills 415 Chapter 12 Using Attributes 417 Creating Attributes 418 Editing Attributes 428 Extracting and Exporting Attribute Information 436 The Bottom Line 443 Chapter 13 Copying Existing Drawings from Other Sources 445 Methods for Converting Paper Drawings to AutoCAD Files 445 Importing a Raster Image 446 Working with a Raster Image 449 Working with PDF Files 458 Coordinating Geographic Locations 466 The Bottom Line 472 Chapter 14 Advanced Editing and Organizing 473 Using External References 473 Managing Layers 486 Using Advanced Tools: Filter and Quick Select 492 Using the QuickCalc Calculator 499 The Bottom Line 515 Chapter 15 Laying Out Your Printer Output 517 Understanding Model Space and Paper Space 517 Working with Paper Space Viewports 524 Creating Odd-Shaped Viewports 532 Understanding Lineweights, Linetypes, and Dimensions in Paper Space 535 The Bottom Line 541 Chapter 16 Making “Smart” Drawings with Parametric Tools 543 Why Use Parametric Drawing Tools? 543 Connecting Objects with Geometric Constraints 544 Controlling Sizes with Dimensional Constraints 550 Using Formulas to Control and Link Dimensions 554 Editing the Constraint Options 559 Putting Constraints to Use 561 The Bottom Line 562 Chapter 17 Using Dynamic Blocks 563 Exploring the Block Editor 563 Creating a Dynamic Block 566 Using Constraints in Dynamic Blocks 574 Adding a List of Predefined Options 578 Creating Multiple Shapes in One Block 582 Rotating Objects in Unison 586 Filling in a Space Automatically with Objects 590 Including Block Information with Data Extraction 591 The Bottom Line 594 Chapter 18 Drawing Curves 595 Introducing Polylines 595 Editing Polylines 598 Creating a Polyline Spline Curve 613 Using True Spline Curves 615 Marking Divisions on Curves 621 The Bottom Line 625 Chapter 19 Getting and Exchanging Data from Drawings 627 Finding the Area of Closed Boundaries 627 Getting General Information 634 Using the DXF File Format to Exchange CAD Data with Other Programs 642 Using AutoCAD Drawings in Page Layout Programs 646 Using OLE to Import Data 652 The Bottom Line 658 Part 4 3D Modeling and Imaging 659 Chapter 20 Creating 3D Drawings 661 Getting to Know the 3D Modeling Workspace 661 Drawing in 3D Using Solids 663 Creating 3D Forms from 2D Shapes 676 Isolating Coordinates with Point Filters 681 Moving Around Your Model 684 Getting a Visual Effect 692 Turning a 3D View into a 2D AutoCAD Drawing 696 Using the Point Cloud Feature 699 The Bottom Line 700 Chapter 21 Using Advanced 3D Features 703 Setting Up AutoCAD for this Chapter 703 Mastering the User Coordinate System 704 Understanding the UCS Options 712 Using Viewports to Aid in 3D Drawing 719 Using the Array Tools 723 Creating Complex 3D Surfaces 724 Creating Spiral Forms 742 Creating Surface Models 745 Moving Objects in 3D Space 754 The Bottom Line 758 Chapter 22 Editing and Visualizing 3D Solids 759 Understanding Solid Modeling 759 Creating Solid Forms 762 Creating Complex Solids 766 Editing Solids 771 Streamlining the 2D Drawing Process 784 Visualizing Solids 794 The Bottom Line 804 Chapter 23 Exploring 3D Mesh and Surface Modeling 805 Creating a Simple 3D Mesh 805 Editing Faces and Edges 809 Creating Mesh Surfaces 825 Converting Meshes to Solids 829 Understanding 3D Surfaces 830 Editing Surfaces 832 The Bottom Line 852 Part 5 Customization and Integration 853 Chapter 24 Customizing Toolbars, Menus, Linetypes, and Hatch Patterns 855 Using Workspaces 855 Customizing the User Interface 857 Creating Macros in Tools and Menus 873 Editing Keyboard Shortcuts 876 Saving, Loading, and Unloading Your Customizations 878 Understanding the DIESEL Macro Language 881 Creating Custom Linetypes 887 Creating Hatch Patterns 892 The Bottom Line 894 Chapter 25 Managing and Sharing Your Drawings 897 Sharing Drawings Online 897 Publishing Your Drawings 906 Sharing Files with A360 Drive 912 Adding Hyperlinks to Drawings 920 Creating Hyperlinks 920 Editing and Deleting Hyperlinks 922 Taking a Closer Look at the Hyperlink Options 922 Managing Your Drawings with DesignCenter and the Tool Palettes 923 Establishing Office Standards 936 Converting Multiple Layer Settings 942 The Bottom Line 945 Part 6 Appendixes 947 Appendix A The Bottom Line 949 Chapter 1: Exploring the Interface 949 Chapter 2: Creating Your First Drawing 950 Chapter 3: Setting Up and Using the Drafting Tools 951 Chapter 4: Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups 951 Chapter 5: Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks 952 Chapter 6: Editing and Reusing Data to Work Efficiently 953 Chapter 7: Mastering Viewing Tools, Hatches, and External References 954 Chapter 8: Introducing Printing, Plotting, and Layouts 954 Chapter 9: Adding Text to Drawings 955 Chapter 10: Using Fields and Tables 956 Chapter 11: Using Dimensions 957 Chapter 12: Using Attributes 958 Chapter 13: Copying Existing Drawings from Other Sources 959 Chapter 14: Advanced Editing and Organizing 960 Chapter 15: Laying Out Your Printer Output 960 Chapter 16: Making “Smart” Drawings with Parametric Tools 961 Chapter 17: Using Dynamic Blocks 962 Chapter 18: Drawing Curves 963 Chapter 19: Getting and Exchanging Data from Drawings 965 Chapter 20: Creating 3D Drawings 965 Chapter 21: Using Advanced 3D Features 966 Chapter 22: Editing and Visualizing 3D Solids 968 Chapter 23: Exploring 3D Mesh and Surface Modeling 969 Chapter 24: Customizing Toolbars, Menus, Linetypes, and Hatch Patterns 969 Chapter 25: Managing and Sharing Your Drawings 971 Appendix B Installing and Setting Up AutoCAD 973 Before Installing AutoCAD 973 Proceeding with the Installation 973 Configuring AutoCAD 974 Configuring the Tablet Menu Area 998 Turning On the Noun/Verb Selection Method 999 Turning on the Grips Feature 999 Setting Up the Tracking Vector Feature 999 Adjusting the AutoCAD 3D Graphics System 1000 Finding Folders That Contain AutoCAD Files 1001 Setting Up AutoCAD with a White Background 1001 Appendix C The Autodesk AutoCAD 2018 Certification 1003 Index 1007