AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Essentials: Autodesk Official Press

Step-by-step instructions for the AutoCAD fundamentals AutoCAD 2015 Essentials contains 400 pages of full-color, comprehensive instruction on the world's top drafting and architecture software. This 2015 edition features architectural, manufacturing, and landscape architecture examples. And like previous editions, the detailed guide introduces core concepts using interactive tutorials and open-ended projects, which can be completed in any order, thanks to downloadable data sets (an especially useful feature for students and professionals studying for Autodesk AutoCAD certification). Unlike many other guides, which are organized around conceptual themes or task categories, AutoCAD 2015 Essentials takes a start-to-finish approach that mirrors how you will work with the program in the real world. Starting with basic 2D drawing and progressing through organizing objects with groups and blocks, creating and editing text, and 3D modeling, the process you'll learn in this book is ready to take to work. Inside, each chapter follows an intuitive structure: Quick discussions of concepts and learning goals Hands-on drafting tutorials for active learning and confidence building Open-ended projects to reinforce new drafting skills Downloadable end files, so you can check your work AutoCAD 2015 Essentials is great for professionals and students who need to quickly and effectively learn the most common features of 2D and 3D design. With over 12 years of experience teaching and writing about this formidable design program, Scott Onstott provides you with everything you'll need to leverage the full capabilities of AutoCAD.

Table of Contents:
Introduction xiii Chapter 1 Getting Started 1 Sign In to Autodesk 360 on the Dashboard 1 Explore the AutoCAD 2015 for Windows User Interface 4 Set Drawing Units 12 Chapter 2 Basic Drawing Skills 15 Navigate 2D Drawings 15 Draw Lines and Rectangles  19 Cancel, Erase, and Undo 23 Use Coordinate Systems 24 Draw Circles, Arcs, and Polygons 30 Use Fillet and Chamfer 36 Chapter 3 Using Drawing Aids 41 Use Grid and Snap 41 Employ Ortho and Polar Tracking 45 Use PolarSnap 46 Select Running Object Snaps 48 Harness the From Snap 51 Apply Object Snap Tracking 52 Chapter 4 Editing Entities 57 Create Selection Sets 57 Move and Copy 64 Rotate and Scale 68 Work with Arrays 71 Trim and Extend 74 Lengthen and Stretch 76 Offset and Mirror 77 Edit with Grips 79 Chapter 5 Shaping Curves 83 Draw and Edit Curved Polylines 83 Draw Ellipses 89 Shape Splines 92 Blend Between Objects with Splines 99 Chapter 6 Controlling Object Visibility and Appearance 103 Change Object Properties 103 Set the Current Layer 107 Alter the Layer Assignments of Objects 111 Control Layer Visibility 113 Apply Linetype 119 Assign Properties by Object or by Layer 122 Manage Layer Properties 124 Isolate Objects 126 Chapter 7 Organizing Objects 129 Define Blocks 129 Insert Blocks 135 Edit Blocks 139 Redefine Blocks 145 Work with Groups 148 Chapter 8 Hatching and Gradients 151 Specify Hatch Areas 151 Associate Hatches with Boundaries 157 Hatch with Patterns 160 Hatch with Gradients 164 Chapter 9 Working with Blocks and Xrefs 167 Work with Global Blocks 167 Access Content Globally 175 Store Content on Tool Palettes 180 Reference External Drawings and Images 182 Chapter 10 Creating and Editing Text 187 Style Text 187 Write Lines of Text 189 Write and Format Paragraphs Using MTEXT 194 Edit Text 197 Chapter 11 Dimensioning 201 Style Dimensions 201 Add Dimensions 207 Edit Dimensions 215 Chapter 12 Keeping In Control with Constraints 219 Work with Geometric Constraints 219 Apply Dimensional Constraints 222 Constrain Objects Simultaneously with Geometry and Dimensions 226 Make Parametric Changes to Constrained Objects 229 Chapter 13 Working with Layouts and Annotative Objects 233 Create Annotative Styles and Objects 233 Create Layouts 239 Adjust Floating Viewports 242 Override Layer Properties in Layout Viewports 248 Draw on Layouts 250 Chapter 14 Printing and Plotting 255 Configure Output Devices 255 Create Plot Style Tables 259 Use Plot Style Tables 260 Plot in Model Space 266 Plot Layouts in Paper Space 270 Export to an Electronic Format 273 Chapter 15 Working with Data 277 Geolocate Projects 277 Import SketchUp Models 281 Define Attributes and Blocks 284 Insert Attributed Blocks 287 Edit Table Styles and Create Tables 289 Use Fields in Table Cells 294 Edit Table Data 297 Chapter 16 Navigating 3D Models 303 Use Visual Styles 303 Work with Tiled Viewports 308 Navigate with the ViewCube 309 Orbit in 3D 311 Use Cameras 313 Navigate with SteeringWheels 316 Learn to Save Views 318 Chapter 17 Modeling in 3D 321 Create Surface Models 321 Edit Surface Models 328 Create Solid Models 334 Edit Solid Models 340 Smooth Mesh Models 347 Chapter 18 Presenting and Documenting 3D Design 351 Assign Materials 351 Place and Adjust Lights 357 Create Renderings 364 Document Models with Drawings 368 Appendix Autodesk® AutoCAD 2015 Certification 375 Index 383

About the Author :
Scott Onstott is a consultant, lecturer, author, and independent video producer with 16 years of experience teaching and writing about design and visualization software. He is the author of Enhancing Architectural Drawings and Models with Photoshop and many other software training books from Sybex.