COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

UNIT 1
Objectives

INTRODUCTION

At the end of the lab student should be able to : i. ii. iii. Explain CAD. Launching CAD. Identify Functions and Accelerator keys.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
CAD is the short term for Computer Aided Designing or sometimes spelled as CADD which refers to Computer Aided Designing and Drafting. Its the process of conversion of design data into digital format that enable the data handling easier, quic er and safer. !hrough CAD technolog", almost an" t"pe of designs and drawings can be done. Designers from various fields such as #ngineering, Architecture, $ashion, !e%tile, and &raphics are now da"s highl" dependent on CAD technologies. CAD is a computer'assisted technolog", used for ma ing various t"pes of graphics designs. It has inherited its base technolog" from Co'ordinate &eometr" and (athematics. $urther developments have been made to suit different domains and their related design requirements. !he basic entities used in an" CAD environment are point, line, pol"gon and te%t. !hese entities have been further modified to create circle, ellipse, parabola, h"perbola, mesh and )D ob*ects li e +phere, rhombus, cube, c"linder and so on.

1.1 LAUNCHING AUTOCAD

,. Choose +tart from the -indows program manager. .. Choose /rograms, Autodes , AutoCAD .00.. ). Click the AutoCAD .00. for -indows icon. or 1. Choose the AutoCAD 2004 icon from the des top.

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1.2 TE T AND GRA!HIC" "CREEN"

!he graphics screen and the te%t screen are two different screens available in the drawing editor. ,. !ress $unction e" #2 on the e"board.

TIPS: 2e sure the (odel !ab is highlighted at the bottom of the drawing window. 3a"outs will be covered in a later session. !he Cursor must be in the drawing window in order to select ob*ects. (a%imi4e the AutoCAD windows to be full screen. !his will ma e the drawings bigger and easier to read. 5se A3! 6 !A2 to move between -indows applications

1.$ CUR"OR
Controls the si4e of the crosshair. !he allowable range is from , to ,00 percent of the total screen. At ,007 the ends of the crosshair are never visible. -hen the si4e is decreased to 887 or below, the crosshairs have a finite si4e, and the crosshairs ends are visible when moved to the edge of the graphics area. !he default si4e is 97. ,. Choose !ools, :ptions. .. Dr%& the slider bar in the lower left corner of the dialog to set the cursor si4e.
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1.4 CANCELING A CO''AND

,. /ress the E"CA!E (E"C) e" on the e"board. TI!* !ressin& E"C t+ice cle%rs neste, co--%n,s.

1.. 'ENU" AND COLOR"

!ull,o+n 'enus ,. Click :n the desired /ulldown menu. .. Click :n the command to be e%ecuted from the pulldown. C%sc%,in& !ull,o+n 'enus ,. Click :n a command that has a cascading menu ;menus with an arrow to the right of the menu< .. Click :n the command to be e%ecuted.

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Cascading Pulldown

1./ TOOL0AR"
!oolbars can be doc ed on the screen or the" can float about the screen. To #lo%t % Tool1%r* ,. Choose the gra" border surrounding each tool. .. Dr%& the toolbar to an" area on the screen. To Dock % Tool1%r* ,. Choose the title or gra" border of the toolbar. .. Dr%& the toolbar to the top, bottom, left, or right area of the graphics displa".

Docked Toolbars Floating Toolbars

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TI!"* '=olding the C!>3 e" while dragging will prevent doc ing. '!oolbars are often a faster wa" of accessing a command. 'Clic ing on an icon with the right mouse button will show a list of all available toolbars.

1.2 LOADING TOOL0AR"

,. Choose ?iew, !oolbar... or .. T34e !::32A> at the command prompt Command@ TOOL0AR ). Choose the desired toolbar to load.

1.5 "TATU" 0AR AND CO''AND !RO'!T

!he +tatus 2ar is the area below the command line that shows messages as well as coordinates, modes, and the current time. !o activate +AA/, &>ID, :>!=:, :+AA/, (+/AC#, /+/AC#, and !I3#, "ou must double'clic on the mode to change. TI!*B >ight clic on the status bar to see or setting the drafting setting.

Status Bar

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1.6 T7!ING" CO''AND 8 ALIA"E"

T34in& % Co--%n, All AutoCAD commands can be t"ped in at the command line. (an" commands also have one or two letter aliases that can also be t"ped as shortcuts to the commands. ,. T34e the desired command at the command prompt. Command @ LINE or .. T34e the commands alias. Command@ L ). !ress ENTER. 1. T34e an option at the command prompt. TI!@ (an" AutoCAD commands require "ou to press #A!#> to complete the command. Cou now "ou are no longer in an AutoCAD command when "ou see a blan command line. Ti4 * Reissuin& the L%st Co--%n, !he last used AutoCAD command can be re'entered b" one of the following three methods of #A!#>. !he #A!#> e" on the e"board will alwa"s act
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Command Prompt

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as #A!#>, the +/AC#2A> and >I&=! (:5+# will act as enter most of the time ;e%ceptions include placing !#E!<. ,. !ress the #A!#> e" on the e"board or .. !ress the +pace bar on the e"board. or ). Click the right mouse button.

2.0 !OINTING DE9ICE ('OU"E)

AutoCAD uses either a mouse or digiti4ing tablet to select ob*ects in a drawing. Le:t 'ouse 0utton 5sed to pic or select ob*ects ,. Click the left mouse button to select an ob*ect area in the drawing. .. !ress #+C twice to deselect an ob*ect ;or to cancel a command<. Ri&ht 'ouse 0utton 5sed to enter a command, repeat last command, or access shortcut menus. ,. Click the right mouse button.

!FT "OUS!

RI#$T "OUS!

; TI!"* B +=I$! 6 the right mouse button brings up the ob*ect snap menus. B ?arious screen locations for the mouse brings up different menus.

2.1 UNDO AND REDO

Un,o >everses the last action. ,. Choose #dit, 5ndo. or 2. Click the 5ndo icon. or ). !ress C!>3 6 F. 1. T34e 5 at the command prompt to undo the last command. Command@ U
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Re,o >everses the effects of a single 5AD: or 5 command. ,. Choose #dit, >edo. or .. Click the >edo icon. or ). T34e >#D: at the command prompt to redo the last undo command. Command@ REDO TI!"* 85AD: has no effect on some commands and s"stem variables, including those that open, close, or save a window or a drawing, displa" information, change the graphics displa", regenerate the drawing, or e%port the drawing in a different format. '>#D: must immediatel" follow the 5 or 5AD: command.

2.2 #UNCTION AND ACCELERATOR <E7"

#1 :nline =elp #2 $lipscreen #$ :snap :AH:$$ #4 !ablet :nH:ff #. Isoplane !oggle #/ Coords :nH:ff #2 &rid :nH:ff #5 :rtho :nH:ff #6 +nap :nH:ff #10 /olar :nH:ff #11 :b*ect +nap !rac ing :AH:$$ !ress C!>3 6 F to 5AD:

2.$ HEL!
,. Choose =elp, AutoCAD =elp. or .. Click the =elp icon. or ). T34e =#3/ at the command prompt Command@ HEL! or 1. !ress $unction Ie" #1

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2.4 O!EN E I"TING DRA=ING"

,. Choose $ile, :/#A. or .. !ress C!>3 6 :. or ). Click the :/#A icon. or 1. T34e :/#A at the command prompt. Command@ O!EN 9. !ress #A!#> D. Dou1le Click the desired director" to find the drawing to open. G. Click the drawing name to open. J. Click !he :I button.

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Ti48 /review shows a bitmap image of the drawing selected. !his image is the view that was last saved in the drawing. It will not show a preview of drawings saved before >,) AutoCAD.

2.. CREATING A NE= DRA=ING

NE= Co--%n, Creates a new drawing file. ,. Choose $ile, Aew. or .. !ress C!>3 6 A or ). Click the Aew icon. or 1. T34e A#- at the Command prompt. Command@ NE= 9. Choose :ne of the options for creating a new drawing. D. Click !he :I button. G. "%>e the drawing as another name.

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!I/@ Aew drawings can also be created from !emplate $iles.

2./ "A9ING DRA=ING"

+aves the most recent changes to a drawing. !he first time an unnamed drawing is saved the +ave As dialog bo% appears. AutoCAD saves its drawings as files with e%tensions ending in .D-&. ,. Choose #ile? "%>e or "%>e As. or .. T34e +A?# or +A?#A+ at the command prompt. Command@ "A9E or "A9E A" ). !ress ENTER 1. T34e A new drawing name or eep the e%isting drawing name. 9. Click !he :I button.

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%arious &ile t'pes t(e dra)ings can be sa*ed as

TI!* Clic ing the dropdown list for $ile t"pe changes the format that the drawing can be saved in.

2.2 @uick "%>e

!he K+A?# command is equivalent to clic ing +ave on the $ile menu. If the drawing is named, AutoCAD saves the drawing using the file format specified on the :pen and +ave tab of the :ptions dialog bo% and does not request a file name. If the drawing is unnamed, AutoCAD displa"s the +ave Drawing As dialog bo% ;see +A?#A+< and saves the drawing with the file name and format "ou specif". ,. !ress C!>3 6 +. or .. Click the +ave icon. or ). T34e K+A?# at the command prompt, Command@@"A9E !I/+@ Drawings can be saved as different versions of AutoCAD ;e.g. >,), >,1, > .000, etc.<

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Auto+ave settings under !ools, :ptionsL

2.5 E ITING AUTOCAD

,. Choose $ile, #%it. or .. T34e K5I! at the command prompt. Command@ @UIT ). !ress #A!#> 1. Click Ces to save changes or Ao to discard changes.

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