Cad Level1.Docx3.3

1
COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING
1
Lecturer : Eng HAOULASSA HAMAN Fabrice
2
SOMMAIRE
Part One: Working in 2D
CHAPTER I: USER INTERFACE
I.1 discovering and handling the interface
I.2 presentation of the interface
I.3 the main menu
I.4 the ribbon
I.5 the command line
I.6 the viewcube
I.7 object space - paper space
I.8 the system parameters startup and filedia
I.9 reduce what is likely to generate the display
I.10 changing the background color
I.11 choosing the menu bar display
I. 12 save changes to the workspace
CHAPTER II: DRAWING TOOLS
Ii.1 introduction
Ii.2 the precision tools
Ii.3 drawing tools
Ii.4 object selection
Ii.5 tools for transforming objects
Ii.6 tools for manipulating objects
CHAPTER III: CONCEPTS OF SCALE
Iii.1 introduction
Iii.2 object scaling
Iii.3 plan scale
Iii.4 annotations scale
CHAPTER IV: THE CONSTRAINTS
IV.1 Definition
IV.2 the state of constraint
IV.3 Geometric constraints
IV.4 Dimensional constraints
CHAPTER V: CONSTANTS, VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
V.1 Definition
2
3
V.2 User variables

V.3 Predefined functions
CHAPITRE VI: LES BLOCS
VI.1 The block editor
VI.2 Creating a block
VI.3 deleting a block reference
VI.4 dynamic blocks: parameters
VI.5 dynamic blocks: actions
VI.6 the block libraries
VI.7 the tools palette
EXERCISES
Part 2: working in 3D
3
4
PART 1: Working in 2D
CHAPTER I : USER INETERFACE
I.3 The Main Menu
The main menu of AutoCAD is accessible via the icon:

This is equivalent to the "File" menu in other applications. From here you can create a new file, open, save, export
your drawings in various formats, publish them in order to publish them to a 3D printing service or why not prepare
them for inclusion in your website!
Next to it is the quick access bar:

The commands you use most often are grouped here. The drop-down menu on the left allows you to select your
design environment.
I.4 The Ribbon
The Ribbon consists of several tabs (Start, Render, insert...) which contain the main commands which you will need
to edit or modify your design. It appears when you create a new document. It is from here that we will select our
drawing tools for example.
The ribbon is fully customizable and can be docked, floating, displayed horizontally or vertically. But we are not
there yet.
I.5 The Command Line
As its name suggests, the command line will allow you to issue text commands to access different tools, dialog
boxes, environment variables, etc.
It should be noted that some AutoCAD commands are only accessible through the command line.
We will therefore go through here.
I.6 The ViewCube
The ViewCube is located in the drawing area (in black). It is a handy tool which you can use to orientate your design
from various angles. You will have access to front, profile, top, bottom, isometric, dimetric, etc. views,
and so on.
4
5
I.7 Object Space - Paper Space

Let's take a closer look at our interface. You will notice under the drawing area (in black) the presence of tabs:
an object tab and two presentation tabs.
1.7.1 Object Space
The tab we are in is called "Object". It is in this area that we will create all our drawings.
We don't see it yet, but it is a multidimensional space which will allow us to draw in both 2D and 3D, as well as
and 3D, maybe we'll add a 4th dimension when we see the chapter on animation.
1.7.2 Paper Space
Let's move on to the other tabs:
Presentation 1;
Presentation 2.
In this area, a sheet of paper is shown in the middle of the screen. This is where we prepare our designs for plotting
(plotting = printing). In fact, layouts are always done here.
Of course, you can create as many "paper" (or "layout") areas as you like (unlike the "Object" space). So, to recap,
the "Object" area will be used to hold our drawings and the "Presentation" area will be used to layout our drawings.
Of course, we will see how to do this later.
I.8 The system parameters startup and filedia
STARTUP and FILEDIA are the names of 2 system variables which manage certain options when creating a new
drawing. The STARTUP variable allows you to choose which start-up dialogue box will be displayed when the
"New" command is executed in the main menu. In order to determine this, it can be given two values: 0 or 1.
 Click "startup" and validate with the Enter key then enter the value 0 and validate again.
 Do the same operation with the FILEDIA variable but indicate the value 1. When FILEDIA is set to 0, none
of the dialog boxes are displayed.
 Create a new drawing by clicking on "New". This is what is displayed:
5
6
6
7
Setting STARTUP to 0 opens the dialog box that lists all AutoCAD template files. A template is a kind of model that
allows us not to recreate the same thing or to indicate the same information each time. the same information each
time. We will have the opportunity to create our own drawing templates later on. For now, our STARTUP variable
is set to 0. You can set it to 1 to see the difference
This dialogue box gives us more start-up options. We can either:

 Start with a drawing template.
 Start with a metric or Anglo-Saxon draft file.
 Start with an assistant.
This dialogue box also opens when AutoCAD is started. At this point you will have an additional option to choose
an existing drawing file (the folder icon in the top left).
For the time being, I recommend that you leave STARTUP and FILEDIA at 1 and start all your drawings in draft
metric.
I.9 Reducing what may interfere with the display
We will start by reducing the size of the View Cube a little; but before we do that, we will switch to the 2D workspace.
Click on the drop-down menu in the quick access bar (top left), then choose the space: "2D Drawing and Annotation".
Right click on the View Cube tool and select "View Cube Settings...". A dialog box appears:
Set the size of the View Cube tool to "small" and click Ok. The size of the tool will be reduced, which gives us
The size of the tool will be reduced, giving us a little more space in the drawing area.
7
8
I.10 Changing the background color

On the command bar, type: options and press enter; This command opens the AutoCAD options dialogue box.
This command opens the AutoCAD options dialogue box.
Go directly to the "Drawing" tab and click on the "Colors..." button. A second dialogue box opens. A second dialogue
box opens and it is from here that you can change all the colors in your drawing environment. A preview is available
so that you can see the background color you select
8
9
Choose "2D Object Space" from the list on the left and "Uniform Background" from the list on the right. Select the
color of your choice in the drop-down menu at the top right.
For reasons of visibility, I advise you to stay in a rather neutral background color (from white to black). Your design
will be much more readable than with an exotic background color.
Click on "Apply and close" and then in the "Options" dialogue box, click on "Ok". For user-friendliness reasons, a
black background is strongly recommended.
I.11 Choosing to display the menu bar
You can choose whether or not to display the menu bar by right-clicking the on the Quick Access Bar.
I. 12 Saving changes to the workspace

After all these modifications, we need to save the changes. Go to the "Tools" menu, then "Workspace" and "Save
current and "Save current space as...".
9
10
Choose, "2D drawing and annotation" then "Save". Confirm by clicking on "Replace». That’s it, you have just
saved your own 2D drawing space. You can reuse it at will by selecting it in the quick access bar.
This first chapter is coming to an end. I hope that it has made your mouth water for the rest of the chapter because
We are now going to look at the different tools that AutoCAD offers us and learn how to use them. Hold on tight
because you will have to remember a lot of notions in the next chapter.
10
11
CHAPTER II: DRAWING TOOLS
INTRODUCTION
this chapter, you will learn about the main tools that will allow you to create and modify your
In drawings quickly and accurately. Your drawings with speed and precision.
There are three main categories of tools in AutoCAD:
 Precision tools;
 Tools for drawing;
 Tools for editing.
We will learn how to recognize and use them.
II.2 PRECISION TOOLS
These are tools which allow us to achieve levels of precision which respect the geometric and
dimensional restrictions of engineering drawings, such as the grid, dynamic input, snap to dynamic
input, object snapping, dynamic input, line thickness display, etc.
Dynamic input, for example, is a very useful function that allows us to concentrate on the drawing
area while typing commands. You may have noticed small orange geometric symbols appearing
when you move of the pointer over certain parts of your objects, and you may also have noticed
that the cursor was These orange symbols are an integral part of the AutoCAD drawing aid. They
are called AutoSnap markers. They make it much easier for us to design complex drawings. Each
symbol corresponds to a geometric situation. For example, orange squares indicate the ends of
objects, triangles indicate the middle and so on. To set up the drawing aid system, we need to open
the appropriate dialogue box. Here is the command to type: ‘’_dsettings’’
2.1 The grid
2.1.1 Overview and configuration
In order to draw even more efficiently, you have the possibility to set up and activate a rectangular
grid in your grid in your workspace. You can set the spacing, alignment, boundaries and display
11
12
style. We will open the dialogue box containing the grid setting information using command:
AutoCAD Code :_dsettings
You can fully customise your grid. You can adjust the spacing of the grid lines on the X and Y
axis in the "Grid Style" area. The current configuration allows you to display squares of 10 by 10.
A long line will also be drawn every 5 squares (i.e. every 50 units). When the grid display style is
set to a certain axis value, the snap to the grid will not necessarily be the same. not necessarily the
same. We can draw our grid with a distance of 10 by 10 and set the snap to every 2 by 2 for
example.
The values for the snapping are found in the "Snapping Spacing" area. Here, the parameters are
This means that the snapping will take place between each tile. You can change these settings to
see the difference. You also have the option of displaying the grid without snapping and vice versa.
To switch to the mode, press the F9 key. This will enable or disable the snapping mode.
12
13
If you want to show or hide the grid, press F7.
If you are not familiar with keyboard shortcuts, you can do all this with the buttons below:
The left-hand button activates snapping and the right-hand button activates the grid display. You
can also zoom in a little to see how the cursor is hooked to the snap of the cursor to the grid. I
remind you that here our grid is configured with a spacing of 10x10.
Let's recap:
To snap the cursor to the grid, use F9 or the left button.
To show or hide the grid, use F7 or the right button.
You do not have to display the grid as a "grid", in fact the grid can also be displayed as points. In
the "Drawing parameters" dialogue box, under the "Grid spacing " area, check the box" 2D
object space". The grid will be displayed as a point in this space
If you also want to display it in this form in the block editor or in the layout areas, simply check
the appropriate boxes
2.1.2 Attaching to objects

Go directly to the "Attachment to objects" tab and configure the help as follows:
13
14
Note that you can view the symbol corresponding to the marker you wish to have when
designing a drawing.
2.1.3 Dynamic input
Dynamic input displays a command entry system near the cursor which helps you to concentrate
on your drawing area. Here is an example:
14
15
You can choose at any time whether or not to activate dynamic input. In the example above, you
can enter the length of the line, the angle or simply cancel by pressing the Esc key. In order to
toggle between the length and angle settings, use the Tab key. Dynamic input also allows you to
display the geometric information of your drawing objects. To do this, simply click on one of the
objects in the scene to select it and place the cursor on one of the square handles at the ends.
15
16
II.3 DRAWING TOOLS

We will learn how to use the drawing tools. These tools are located in the "Start" tab of the Ribbon.
To display all the tools, click on "Drawing" in the "Start" tab.
3.1 Drawing lines and polylines
The tool most often used is the "Line" tool. Here is how to use it:
1. Click on the "Line" tool.
16
17
2. Go to the object space and click again to snap the line.
3. Move the cursor to form a line and click to end it.
4. Press the Esc key.
Tip: If you click several times, the lines will be drawn one after the other. When you have
finished, press the Escape key.
If you want to create a single object, use the "Polyline" tool . The use of this tool is similar to
that of the "Line" tool.
We have just seen how to draw our first lines, but we do not yet know how to be precise when
connecting these lines to other objects. And this is where the role of the precision tools is
appreciated.
3.2 Drawing Circles and Ellipses
The second most used tool is the "Circle" tool.
17
18
1. Click on the "Circle" tool ;
2. Move to the object space and click again to indicate the center of the circle.
3. Move the cursor to form the circle and click to complete it.
4. Press the Esc key
3.4 Drawing arcs and splines
These two tools will be used to draw curves. Their use is a little more complex than in the
previously.
1. Click on the "Arc" tool:
2. Go to the object space and click in three different places to create the arc.
There are several methods of drawing an arc, circle or ellipse; these methods should be chosen
depending on the context. As in the case of the arc below, one can notice a small arrow pointing
downwards, this is a menu for selecting the plotting methods specific to the tool.
18
19
In this menu you can select a plotting method that is most suitable for the context. The 3-point
method is the default method, but you can choose a completely different method.
For example, the "start, center, end" method.
1. Click on the menu of the "Arc" tool and choose "start, center, end".
2. Go to the object space and click to indicate the start of the arc.
3. Click to specify the center of the arc (i.e. the starting point of the ray).
4. Click one last time to indicate the position of the opposite end of the arc (the end).
19
20
This is another way of doing things (specific to certain situations); there are no better methods.
You just have to adapt to the situation by asking the question: “What is the most practical method
for this situation?”
To create splines, there are only two editing methods. The "Spline" tool creates curves that are
called: NURBS. The advantage of these curves is that they facilitate the approximation of complex
shapes while keeping a harmonious representation of their geometry.
1. Click on the "Spline" tool.
2. Move to the object space and click in several different places to form a spline.
3. When finished, press Enter.
Draw your first spline, select it and see what happens. You can see blue handles and a small blue
arrow. First of all, the blue handles represent the points you clicked on You can move them to
change the geometry of your spline and you can also delete them or create new ones.
20
21
You can move them to change the geometry of your spline and you can also delete them or
create new ones.
Let us choose editing by displaying the control vertices.
21
22
Editing with control summits is another method of modifying the object. You can choose the one
that suits you best.
3.5 Drawing rectangles and polygons
Drawing rectangles and polygons is simplified with these two tools. They are tools which create a
series of lines in the form of a polyline:
 1 polyline of 4 lines for rectangles.

 1 polyline of 3 or more lines for a polygon.
Let's start by drawing a rectangular shape:
1. Click on the "Rectangle" tool:
2. Click in the object space to indicate the first corner of the rectangle.
You have just drawn a rectangle in 2 clicks. Now we are going to draw this rectangle in a more
precise way.
We will give it a length and a width:
1. Click on the "Rectangle" tool.
22
23
2. Click in the object space to indicate the first corner of the rectangle.
3. Press the down arrow on the keyboard until you select "Dimensions".
4. Press Enter then specify a rectangle length of 100 units and enter again.
5. Now specify a width of 50 units and press Enter.
6. Left click to complete the rectangle.
7. Move the mouse and click a second time to indicate the second corner of the rectangle.
You can check for yourself, you have just drawn a rectangle 100 units long by 50 units
units wide.
Tip: Be aware that you can specify a very precise dimension with all AutoCAD drawing tools. In
most cases, you simply type the desired dimension just after snapping one of the tool's points and
press Enter. If you want to enter a decimal value, you must replace the decimal point with a dot.
For example: 1254.689
With the "Polygon" tool you can draw an equilateral triangle, a square or a polygon with more
than 4 sides.
To do this, you must specify the number of sides you want in your figure.
23
24
1. Click on the "Polygon" tool:
2. Specify the number of sides your polygon will have and press Enter.
3. Click to position the center of your polygon and then choose the "Inscribed in a circle" option.
4. Move your mouse to the right and click to complete the figure. (You can also type a length
before the last click to be more precise).
Let's look at these two plotting options in more detail. The option "Inscribed in a circle" indicates
that the whole polygon will be drawn inside an imaginary circle, the radius of which you may or
may not have specified. Here is a small example of a polygon that has been drawn inside a circle:
24
25
For the option "Circumscribed around a circle", it is the opposite. The polygon will this time be
drawn around the imaginary circle.
In all cases you will need to specify the number of sides of the polygon and the radius of the
imaginary circle.
3.6 Filling areas with hatching or gradients
We are going to fill our geometric figures with hatching and gradients. A gradient is the filling of
an area with one or more colors in a gradient. For hatching, the filling is done using a pattern.
25
26
1. Draw a square.
2. Select the "Hatch" tool: The ribbon changes and displays the "Hatch Creation" tab.
3. Specify the same parameters as in the image below.
4. Place the mouse cursor inside your square and click.
5. Press the Escape key to finish.
The "Hatch Creation" tab offers several settings to change the style of the hatch. You can change
the pattern, the scale of the pattern, its color, its transparency or its slant. Here is
what it looks like gives for my square:
The "Gradient" tool is used in the same way. Only the "Hatch Creation" tab changes a little.
In this tab you can choose the gradient style, the colors, the inclination, the type of fill (solid or
gradient), the transparency or the dominant hue.
1. Select the previously created hatch and press the Delete key to delete it.
2. Click on the "Gradient" tool:
26
27
3. Place the cursor in the square then clicks and press Esc.
3.7 Drawing revision clouds, rings and helices

Let's start by drawing a revision cloud. In industry, this tool is used to enclose drawing areas on
drawings that have undergone one or more on drawings that have undergone one or more
changes. This allows the manufacturing workshop that follows the drawing to better
This allows the shop floor following the drawing to better locate the areas that have been
changed.
1. Click on the "Revision Cloud" tool.
2. Click to specify the starting point of the cloud.
3. Draw a circle with the mouse to the starting point.
3.8 Drawing rings

This tool is useful when designing an electronic circuit, for example. It is a tool which draws two
27
28
It is a tool which draws two concentric circles of different diameters and fills in the area between
these two circles. Instead of using the tool to draw two circles of different diameters and fill the
area between them, use the "Circle" and "Gradient" tools.
Instead of using the "Circle" and "Gradient" tools to draw two circles of different diameters each
and fill the area between the two circles, use the "Ring" tool which does all this in one go.
1. Click on the "Ring" tool.
2. Specify the inner diameter of the ring and confirm with Enter.
3. Specify the outer diameter of the ring and press Enter again.
4. Click as many times as you want to create rings and then press Esc.
Do not click in the same place otherwise the rings will overlap.
It is up to you to add the paths that will trace your circuit.

3.9 Drawing helices.
This tool is mainly used in spring design. It can represent spirals in 2D but also springs in 3D.
springs in 3D. To do this, 3 parameters must be specified:
1 start radius.
1 end radius.
1 height (in the case of a 3D spring).
For our 2D spiral, we will obviously indicate a height h =0.
1. Click on the "Helix" tool.
2. Click to snap the first point, then specify a base radius and press Enter.
3. Move your mouse in the direction of your choice then indicate a radius twice as large as the
first and validate.
28
29
4. Specify a height of 0 and press Enter.
This method is precise, but nothing prevents you from drawing your spiral at random, with
simple mouse clicks. Be careful with the height parameter if you want your spiral to be in 2D. It
is indeed It is preferable in this case to always specify 0 for the height.
3.10 Writing Text
There are two types of text in AutoCAD:
 Multiline text.
 Single line text.
Single-line texts are generally used when the text written does not require the use of the second
type.
Single-line texts represent a single object and can be modified independently of each other.
independently of each other. Multiline texts allow line breaks and can contain several
paragraphs.
To write a simple text, such as a note, we will use the "Single Line" tool
29
30
3.11 Making tables

Presentation
The AutoCAD tables allow the creation of a nomenclature and other indicators. A bill of material
is a list of parts or elements that make up the drawing(s). It can also be a list of drawings
but globally, it remains a list containing various information such as:
Manufacturing references.
 The numbers of the drawings.
 The numbers of the markers on the drawings.
 The weights of each element.
 The dates on which the drawings were published.
 Surface treatment to be applied to parts.
 The quantities to be manufactured.
 The materials to be used.
In short, bills of material are a means of indicating all the information required to complete a
project. AutoCAD's tables will help us achieve this goal.
1.Click on "table".
2. The "Insert Table" dialogue box appears.
3. Set the number of rows and columns you want to have and click "Ok".
30
31
3.12 Customizing a table

Let's say our table has 1 row for the title, 2 for the data spread over 5 columns. We want to fill in
the cell where the title of my table is located. Double-click in the cell that will contain your title
and write it down. For example, "Nomenclature". Click outside the table. Click in the title cell to
select it.
Click in the title cell to select it, right click and choose "Fill Background". This is what you
should have:
Choose a color and validate. Your cell has just been filled with the chosen color.
31
32
It is possible to add or delete rows or columns in an existing table. To do this, click on a cell in
the row or column to be modified and observe the ribbon:
Merge cells, align text, insert blocks, insert fields, change the data type and create formulas.
create formulas.
Practise making beautiful tables for your future nomenclatures.
3.13 Data linking with Microsoft Excel
When linking data with Excel, you should assume that the 2 linked tables should be identical.
This is not entirely true in every case, but for the moment let's look at the principle.
Let's start by creating a new document in Excel. Let's assume that you know how to use Excel,
Fill in the cells as below:
Save the file as "link" for example and close it.

If you have followed correctly, we have edited 9 cells. From cell A1 to cell C3 (3 rows and 3
columns).
In AutoCAD, you will therefore create a table with 3 rows and 3 columns and then select all the
cells (except for the title cells). Right-click inside the selection and choose "Data link...". In
the dialogue box choose "Create an Excel data link". Give a name to your link then validate
A second dialogue box opens :
32
33
You must indicate the location of your Excel file using the button. Once this is done, click on
"Ok". A preview of the linked file is displayed:
33
34
You can leave the default settings. Validate it and observe the result:
34
35
Now, every time you change the data in the Excel file, everything will update automatically in
your AutoCAD table.
II.4 OBJECT SELECTION
4.1 Object selection methods
In AutoCAD there are 3 types of object selection:
 Click selection: Simply click on the objects to select them.
 Area selection: All objects that are entirely within this area are selected.
 Selection by extended area: All the objects which are in this area or which are cut by this
area are selected.
Note: When a tool is selected, pressing the Escape key returns the focus to the selection modes.
When none of the tools are selected, selection remains the default tool.
4.1.1 Area Selection
Selection by area is applied by clicking in the object space and moving the cursor to the right.
35
36
You will notice that the selection frame has a continuous white outline and a transparent blue fill
transparent blue: This is the area selection mode. In this figure, only line 2 will be selected.
4. 1. 2 Selection by extended area
Selection by extended area is applied by clicking in the object area and moving the cursor to the
left.
This time the selection frame has a white broken contour line and a transparent green fill.
transparent fill. This is the extended area selection mode. Here lines 1 and 2 will be selected.
II.5 TOOLS FOR MODIFYING OBJECTS
This is the second part of learning about AutoCAD's 2D drawing tools. This time I will teach
you how to manipulate and transform your drawings. These are some of the additional tools
that I want to teach you before moving on to the next chapter:
Still from the "Start" tab, I will introduce you to the main tools used to transform objects into
drawings
5.1 Cuts and joins
We can cut an object at a given point to divide it into several distinct parts. There are two main
tools for this. There are two main tools for this, which I will describe in more detail below. We
can also join several objects (under certain conditions) so that they become one.To cut an object,
we use either the "Cut" tool or the "Cut at point" tool.
1. Draw a horizontal line with the "Line" tool.
2. Click on the "Cut" tool.
3. Click to select the object to be transformed then move the cursor to the centre of the line and
click again.
Our line has been separated into two different pieces. The separation is done from the point
where you select the object to the second point of the line.
36
37
the object to the second point you specify. It is not very precise, I grant you, but it allows you to
separate an object quickly.
Now do the same operation with the 'Cut at point' tool. Look at the difference.
This time the line has been cut in half, but the pieces have not been separated. This method is
much more precise than the previous one. You can indicate a break without separating
the two entities.
Let's imagine for a moment that you have made a mistake. You can easily join the two pieces as
long as they are on the same axis.
they are on the same axis. Unfortunately, if they are not, it does not work.
1. Click on the "Join" tool.
2. Select one line and then the other.
The two pieces have been joined and now form one object. In this case, this tool saves us from
rebuilding our initial line and is much more practical.
5.2 Extend, Fit and Stretch
We want to remove the part of the line inside the circle. We could select the line, click
the handle inside the circle on the end of that line and then move the end to the perimeter
boundary of the circle. But this involves a lot of work for very little. We will therefore use
the "Shorten" tool to do this kind of operation.
1. Create a circle and a line as in the example above and select the "fit" tool.
2. Press Enter and click on the piece of line you want to disappear.
3. Press Escape.
37
38
The part of the line that was in the circle has been deleted. Select the line and click on the handle
touching the circle. Reduce the line so that it no longer touches the circle and press Esc. We will
extend this line.
1. Click on the "Extend" tool.
2. Press Enter and click on the side of the line you want to extend.
3. Press Escape.
We will see how to stretch a figure to make it longer or shorter. To do this, we will use another to
tool, but first draw a square of 100 units by 100 units with the 'Line' tool.
38
39
1. Click on the "Stretch" tool.

2. Select the right-hand side of the square as in the example above and click on a corner of the
square to indicate the base point of the stretch.
3. Move your mouse to the right and type "100" then Enter.
Our figure now measures 200 units by 100 units. We have stretched it 100 units to the right. We
could also have stretched it to the left (e.g. by 50 units) to make it smaller. This works both ways
of course.
5.3 Chamfer and connection
To give you a better idea of what a chamfer and a joint are in AutoCAD, here is a small
illustration.
39
40
Chamfers and fittings are often used in industry to round or "break" a sharp angle.
This can prevent serious injury if you accidentally bump into them. We will create a square of
50 units by 50 units with the "Line" tool.
1. Click on the "Chamfer" tool
2.Select "Gap" with the down arrow and type 5.
3. Press Enter twice. Click on the top line of your square and then on the right line.
40
41
We have just created a chamfer of 5 units by 5 units. Let's add the dimensioning to get a better
idea of the result.
Press Enter twice as AutoCAD will remember the last value entered. Type 5 then Enter to
validate this value. At this point, the dynamic input asks you to enter "chamfer deviation 2nd
<5.00> “. The second value is already set to 5. You only have to press Enter to validate it. You
can, of course, enter another value.
Once the gap values have been specified, you don't have to worry about them anymore, unless
you want to create chamfers that are different from the first one. AutoCAD keeps these values in
memory as long as you do not change them (this is AutoCAD keeps these values in memory
until you change them (this is also the case for circles). You could also have selected "Angle" to
specify the angle of the chamfer. You only need to type in the first chamfer distance and then the
angle of inclination on the second validation.
Concerning the fittings, it is roughly the same thing except that there is only the value of the
radius to type in. Redraw the same square and follow this procedure:
1. Click on the "Fitting" tool.
2. Select "Radius" with the down arrow and type 5.
3. Press Enter to confirm. Click on the top line of your square and then on the right line.
41
42
5.4 Decompose and modify blocks

Decomposing a figure allows the objects in it to be separated so that they can be selected one by
one.
To do this I will ask you to create a square with the Rectangle tool.
1. Select your square.
2. Click on the "Decompose" tool.
You can select the lines of your square one by one! I will show you how to recompose it.
To do this we will need to convert the lines into polylines and join them end to end.
1. Click on the "Edit Polyline" tool.
2. Type m, press Enter and select the whole square
3. Press Enter twice and select "Attach".
4. Press Enter 3 times to confirm.
We typed m to have a multiple object selection. Otherwise, we could have selected only one
object. Then we pressed Enter twice. The first time to validate the choice
The first time to confirm the choice of multiple selection and the second time to confirm the
conversion of the lines into polylines. We then selected "Join" to join all the converted lines into
a polyline to form a single object.
Finally, we validated the "Join" selection, validated the approximate distance at 0.00 and pressed
Enter a third time to exit the selection menu.
II.6 TOOLS FOR MODIFYING OBJECTS (CONTINUED)
6.1 Moving and aligning objects
42
43
To begin with, we will need to create two objects. In order to best illustrate this method, the
geometry of these 2 objects will be triangular.
Create two identical triangles using the "Polygon" tool. Here is what you need to have:
1. Select the left triangle and click on the "Align" tool.

2. Select the first point of your base triangle (1) and then select a point on the other triangle
(2) which will be glued to the first one.
3. Select the second point on your base triangle (3) and finally the point on the other triangle (4)
which
4. Select the second point on your base triangle (3) and then the point on the other triangle (4)
which should match the second point on the base triangle.
4. Press Enter.
To move one or more objects, you must first select them.

1. Select the right triangle and click on the "Move" tool.
43
44
2. Click anywhere in the "object space" and then move your mouse to the right.
3. Click to finish.
Here is the result of the move:
6.2 Copy, mirror and network

Copying objects in AutoCAD is very efficient! There are several methods. The fastest way to
copy one or more objects is to do a classic Ctrl + c and Ctrl + v.
For those who are not familiar with these keyboard shortcuts, you need to select the objects,
press Ctrl and C to copy and paste by pressing control and V.
The advantage of this method is that it is very fast. The disadvantage is that you cannot copy and
Paste objects with respect to a specific point. To do this, we need a special tool.
1. Select one (or both) of the triangles from earlier.
2. Click on the "Copy" tool.
3. Specify the point from which you want to paste the object(s).
4. Click to paste as many copied objects as you wish. Press Escape when finished.
Now we are going to do a symmetry! A symmetry in AutoCAD is like a copy and paste,
except that the paste is done in reverse. It is this special paste that forms the symmetry of the
copied object.
1. Delete all the triangles to leave one and select it.
44
45
2. Click on the "Mirror" tool.

3. Click to the right of the triangle and point the cursor downwards.
4. Click and press Enter.
Sometimes you need to create an alignment of a large number of objects. This alignment can be
linear or circular in nature. This is known as a network of objects.
The "Network" tool makes it possible to make this linear or circular copy of objects quite easily.
1. Start by creating a circle of about 20 units radius and select it.
2. Click on the "Grid" tool.
3. The network dialogue box appears. Specify the same parameters as in the image below.
4. Click on "Ok".
Let's take a look at the dialog box. At the top, you can choose to create a rectangular (linear) or a
polar (circular) network in relation to the selected object. The rectangular network will
allow copy the source object and paste it several times in the form of rows and columns. The
polar grid will perform the same operation, but in a circular form.
For a rectangular network, you can therefore indicate the number of rows and columns it will
have.
45
46
The offset distance between the rows and columns must also be specified. Since our circle has a
radius of 20 units (i.e. a diameter of 40), we will enter a value of 50 in the appropriate boxes.
This way we can be sure that our circles will not overlap. The distance from the center of one
circle to the center of another circle will be 50 units.
The offset is good, but the direction of the glue is just as important. We have put 50 in the
but we could have put -50. The difference is that with a negative value the circles would have
were copied below our original circle and not above. The same goes for the columns. With a
negative value our columns would have been placed to the left of our original circles. Here is a
small preview of what our circle network looks like our network of circles:
The circle in red is our original object. Now let's delete all the circles, we will create a
polar network.
To create a polar grid, we will need to create a circle with a radius of 20 units. Select your circle.
We will open the "Grid" dialogue box.
1. Click on the "Grid" tool and select "Polar Grid".
2. The dialog box changes its appearance.
3. Click on centre to choose the centre of the network. The distance between the centre of the
grid and your original object is the radius on which the objects will be copied.
4. Specify the total number of elements (8) and click on "Ok".
46
47
The circles are arranged in 360° at equal distance from the specified center. The further away the
center of the network is from the source object, the larger the radius of the arrangement of the
objects will be. The circles have been arranged trigonometrically (counter-clockwise). They are
all to the left of the source object. If we had wanted to draw them in the other direction, we
would have indicated a negative value in the angle to be described, i.e. -360°.
6.3 Rotation and layout

We can rotate objects with the "Rotate" tool. Let's delete our scene and create a rectangle.
47
48
1. Select the rectangle and click on the "Rotate" tool.

2. Specify the base point of the rotation (I chose the bottom left corner of the rectangle) and
move the mouse to rotate the rectangle.
3. Click to finish. You can also specify an angle value and press Enter to rotate the rectangle
precisely to the rectangle precisely instead of clicking.
The layout of objects in the scene is used to position these objects in front of each other. Click on
the menu of the "Layout" tool.
Notice that there are several very intuitive options in this menu! No need to describe them all
here. We will use them according to what we want to do. Look at this example:
You can clearly see that the circle is in the foreground! If you select this rectangle, pull down the
layout menu and choose the "Forward" option, the rectangle will move in front of the circle. See
instead
48
49
This method is used for large designs, to avoid a dimension line hiding a construction line for
example! construction line, for example! It is preferable to put the drawing lines forward rather
than the dimension lines. Of course, if you are drawing 3 circles and 2 lines, it may not be necessary
to use the layout. After that you can do what you like, I'm not stopping you.
49
50
CHAPTER III: NOTIONS OF SCALE

In this section you will learn how to scale drawing and annotation objects. Scaling an object scale allows you to
establish a more appropriate representation (on a plane) in relation to its real size. We see how to adapt these objects
to an original scale (plan scale) in order to perceive them better and establish a representation convention.
We will see how to adapt these objects to an original scale (plan scale) in order to perceive them better and establish
a convention for representing the drawing.
III.1 INTRODUCTION
A scale is calculated from the actual dimensions of a part. For example, take a cube measuring 1
meter by 1 meter. If you want to represent it on a sheet of paper in full size (scale 1:1), you would need a very large
sheet of paper to achieve what you would expect. sheet of paper to achieve the desired effect. Such a piece can be
represented on an A4 paper and still retain its proportions. To do this, we will divide its actual dimensions by 10.
On the sheet of paper, our cube will only measure 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters. On the other
hand, the written dimension will be 1 meter by 1 meter. This method is much more economical! The cube will then
be represented at 1:10 scale
In contrast, you can enlarge a room. If you double the size of a small object, it will be represented at a scale of 2:1.
Scale calculations are based on multiples. These multiples are calculated from the scale indicated. Here are some
examples:
The result of this division gives you the multiple of the scale in question. You simply multiply the dimensions of the
object to be represented by this index.
III.2 SCALING OBJECTS
The "Scale" tool is used to multiply or divide the geometric value of one or more objects. This tool is generally used
to enlarge a geometric detail which cannot be correctly seen on a drawing.
plane.
1. Draw a square of 20 units by 20 units and click on the "Scale" tool.
2. Select the whole square and press Enter.
3. Click anywhere in the object space and type 2 and press Enter.
50
51
The dimensions of your square have changed. The square no longer measures 20 by 20 but 40 by 40. Its geometric
values have been multiplied by 2. You could have halved these values so that the square is only 10 by 10. To do this,
you would have to type 0.5 to halve it. All the dimensions of your objects are multiplied by the number you type. So
a 20 by 20 square multiplied by 0.5 equals to a 10 by 10 square.
III.3 SCALING PLANES
We are going to go to the "Presentation1" tab. But first we need a layer to draw our presentation windows. Presentation
windows are the views of the elements of the object space in the presentation space. You can create as many as you
like. This allows you to structure different views of the parts of your drawings. We will call this layer "Window" and
give it the color orange.
Go to the "Presentation 1" tab. Notice that there is a black frame in the middle of the sheet.
Select it and pass it to the window layer. Once you have done this, go back to the object space and draw a rectangle
51

Cad Level1.Docx3.3

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cad Level1.Docx3.3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

V.2 User variables

CHAPTER I : USER INETERFACE

I.3 The Main Menu

The main menu of AutoCAD is accessible via the icon:

Next to it is the quick access bar:

I.7 Object Space - Paper Space

This dialogue box gives us more start-up options. We can either:

I.10 Changing the background color

I. 12 Saving changes to the workspace

CHAPTER II: DRAWING TOOLS

There are three main categories of tools in AutoCAD:

We will learn how to recognize and use them.

II.2 PRECISION TOOLS

2.1 The grid

2.1.1 Overview and conﬁguration

If you want to show or hide the grid, press F7.

To snap the cursor to the grid, use F9 or the left button.

To show or hide the grid, use F7 or the right button.

2.1.2 Attaching to objects

II.3 DRAWING TOOLS

3.1 Drawing lines and polylines

1. Click on the "Line" tool.

2. Go to the object space and click again to snap the line.

3. Move the cursor to form a line and click to end it.

4. Press the Esc key.

ﬁnished, press the Escape key.

3.2 Drawing Circles and Ellipses

The second most used tool is the "Circle" tool.

1. Click on the "Circle" tool ;

4. Press the Esc key

3.4 Drawing arcs and splines

1. Click on the "Arc" tool:

For example, the "start, center, end" method.

1. Click on the "Spline" tool.

3. When ﬁnished, press Enter.

Let us choose editing by displaying the control vertices.

3.5 Drawing rectangles and polygons

 1 polyline of 4 lines for rectangles.

Let's start by drawing a rectangular shape:

1. Click on the "Rectangle" tool:

We will give it a length and a width:

1. Click on the "Rectangle" tool.

5. Now specify a width of 50 units and press Enter.

6. Left click to complete the rectangle.

1. Click on the "Polygon" tool:

3.7 Drawing revision clouds, rings and helices

3.8 Drawing rings

It is up to you to add the paths that will trace your circuit.

4. Specify a height of 0 and press Enter.

3.11 Making tables

3.12 Customizing a table

Save the ﬁle as "link" for example and close it.

1. Click on the "Stretch" tool.

5.4 Decompose and modify blocks

1. Select the left triangle and click on the "Align" tool.

To move one or more objects, you must ﬁrst select them.

6.2 Copy, mirror and network

2. Click on the "Mirror" tool.

6.3 Rotation and layout

1. Select the rectangle and click on the "Rotate" tool.

CHAPTER III: NOTIONS OF SCALE