Republic of the Philippines

BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College Of Education
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL
City of Malolos, Bulacan
Tel. No. (044) 919-7800 to 99 Local 1074

Neil Ivan G. Florencio 10-Kamagong

AUTOCAD GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

1. Quick Access Toolbar- In above window you are not able to See Quick Access
Toolbar(QAT) and Workspace tabs is because above window is not in Maximize
mode. So if you are unable to see Works space and QAT then press Maximize
window tab. By default this window have some tabs like: New, Open , Save ,
Save All, Plot , Undo and Redo. You can Customize this QAT by pressing down
key tab next to Workspace list .

2. Ribbon Tabs- Below QAT you will find all Ribbon Tabs available in this
WorkSpace. Default Works Space is ‘Drafting and Annotation’ .

3. Search- You can search any commands or information by entering any Keywords
or Phrase.
4. External Links- Help tabs link with help file you can search help content also
other information as below. You can change setting for display Welcome Screen
here.

5. Help- Help tabs link with help file you can search help content also other
information as below. You can change setting for display Welcome Screen here.

6. Title Bar- Here you will see your Drawing file name which is open currently.

7. Application Menu Button- This AutoCAD application menu offers different options
along with Default QAT options as below.

8. Ribbons- This is your main Toolbar area where you will find all Tabs in panel
format arranged as per their use . Ribbon is consists of panel. Some panel is
associated with Dialog boxes which can be used by pressing bottom right corner
arrow tab of panel.

9. File Tabs- You can add new Drawing Files by pressing [+] icon on File tabs or if
you want to switch between Model and Layout tabs then hover mouse cursor
over File tab name and a preview will be shown as below then select correct
Layout.

10. Viewport Controls- This is on Screen View port controls form where you can
change AutoCAD views and Visual Styles to different options as below.

11. View Cube- Through view Cube you can see Drawing Elements from Differnt
view direction and you can rotate view .

12. WCS- Below View Cube you can select WCS or Create new Co-coordinating
system,

13. Navigation Bar- This Navigation bar you can locate on different side of AutoCAD
window . This contains some additional tools like Pan.

14. Drawing/Graphics Area- This is main area of Model where you will create new
Drawing elements . This is infinite space area .

15. Command Line- Another way to use AutoCAD features is o run command from
Command line. This command line setting options trigger inputs and commands.

16. Model and Layout Tabs- This tabs used for Model and Layout tabs . You can
create Rename and Delete Layout tabs from here. Also you chnage location of
Model and Layout tabs to status bar by Right click and select option to hide.
17. Drawing Settings- This is application Station bar which consist of different
settings. You can toggle to on and off these icons.

18. Additional Settings- This contains Model s, Annotation and some additional
settings. This is available in Drawing window status bar.

19. Drawing Coordinates- This shows current location of Mouse cursor in Drawing
coordinates

20. Coordinates- This is Coordinated of Drawing.

21. Ribbon View- You can change ribbons Minimized to tabs, Panel Titles, Panel
Buttons or Cycle through all.
 FUNCTION KEYS IN AUTOCAD

Key Feature Description

F1 Help Displays Help for the active tooltip, command, palette or dialog box.

F2 Expanded history Displays an expanded command history in the Command window.

F3 Object snap Turns object snap on and off.

F4 3D object snap Turns additional object snaps for 3D on and off.

F5 Isoplane Cycles through 2D isoplane settings.

F6 Dynamic UCS Turns automatic UCS alignment with planar surfaces on and off.
(AutoCAD only)
F7 Grid display Turns the grid display on and off.

F8 Ortho Locks cursor movement to horizontal or vertical.

F9 Grid snap Restricts cursor movement to specified grid intervals.

F10 Polar tracking Guides cursor movement to specified angles.

F11 Object snap tracking Tracks the cursor horizontally and vertically from object snap
locations.
F12 Dynamic input Displays distances and angles near the cursor and accepts input as
you use Tab between fields.

LINES
Absolute Coordinate- Absolute coordinates are based on the UCS origin (0,0), which is the
intersection of the X and Y axes. Use absolute coordinates when you know the precise X and Y values of
the point.
With dynamic input, you specify absolute coordinates with the # prefix. If you enter coordinates on the
command line instead of in the tooltip, the # prefix is not used. For example, entering #3,4 specifies a
point 3 units along the X axis and 4 units along the Y axis from the UCS origin.

The following example draws a line beginning at an X value of -2, a Y value of 1, and an endpoint at 3,4.
Enter the following in the tooltip:

Command: line

From point: #-2,1

To point: #3,4

The line is located as follows:

Relative Coordinate- Relative coordinates are based on the last point entered. Use relative
coordinates when you know the location of a point in relation to the previous point.

To specify relative coordinates, precede the coordinate values with an @ sign. For example,
entering @3,4 specifies a point 3 units along the X axis and 4 units along the Y axis from the last point
specified.

The following example draws the sides of a triangle. The first side is a line starting at the absolute
coordinates -2,1 and ending at a point 5 units in the X direction and 0 units in the Y direction. The second
side is a line starting at the endpoint of the first line and ending at a point 0 units in the X direction and 3
units in the Y direction. The final line segment uses relative coordinates to return to the starting point.

Command: line

From point: #-2,1

To point: @5,0

To point: @0,3

To point: @-5,-3

Relative Polar Coordinates- Relative coordinates are based on the last point entered. Use
relative coordinates when you know the location of a point in relation to the previous point.

To specify relative coordinates, precede the coordinate values with an @ sign. For example,
entering @1<45 specifies a point at a distance of 1 unit from the last point specified at an angle of 45
degrees from the X axis.

The following example shows two lines drawn with relative polar coordinates. In each illustration, the
line begins at the location labeled as the previous point.

Command: line

From point: @3<45

To point: @5<285

Direct Distance Entry

With direct distance entry, you can quickly specify a point relative to the last point you entered.
At any prompt for a point location, you move the cursor first to specify the direction, and then
enter a numeric distance.

In the following example, the second point for the line will be located 5 units toward the direction
of the cursor. The direct distance that you enter is measured along the path from the last point
to the current location of the cursor. This feature is usually used with Ortho or Snap mode
turned on.

Example
Command: LINE

Specify first point: Specify a point

Specify next point: Move the cursor in the desired direction and enter 5

Note: The direct distance entry method is not available while you are using temporary override
keys for Ortho, object snap tracking, or polar tracking.