Discovering AutoCAD 2020

Designed for introductory AutoCAD users, Discovering AutoCAD 2020 presents a hands-on, activity-based approach to the use of AutoCAD 2020 as a drafting tool—complete with techniques, tips, shortcuts, and insights that improve efficiency. Topics and tasks are carefully grouped to lead students logically through the AutoCAD command set, with the level of difficulty increasing steadily as skills are acquired through experience and practice. Straightforward explanations focus on what is relevant to actual drawing procedures, and illustrations show exactly what to expect on the computer screen. This edition features updates for the latest release of AutoCAD 2020, projects, and test questions for each chapter. Lessons are broken down into tasks listed at the beginning of each section, introducing students to the AutoCAD commands using a structured, intuitive approach and helping students anticipate what information will be needed at each new phase of the learning process. General Procedure boxes appear as new commands are introduced, providing a simple overview of basic command sequences in a step-by-step format. Detailed graphics appear throughout the text, demonstrating what students should expect to see on their screens and encouraging self-paced study. Drawing problems appear at the end of each chapter, helping students apply newly learned techniques immediately to realistic drawing situations. This includes drawing suggestions, timesaving tips, and explanations of how to use techniques in actual situations. Working drawings accompany the end-of-chapter drawing problems, appearing in a large, clearly dimensioned format on each right-hand page, with drawing suggestions on the accompanying left-hand page. This includes mechanical, architectural, civil, and electrical drawings. End-of-chapter review questions to test the student’s knowledge. Discovering AutoCAD 2020 will be a valuable resource for any student wanting to learn drafting skills.

Table of Contents:
PART ONE:  BASIC TWO-DIMENSIONAL ENTITIES Chapter 1  Lines and Essential Tools     1 Introduction     1 Creating a New Drawing     2 Exploring the Drawing Window     5 Interacting with the Drawing Window     7 Exploring Command Entry Methods     13 Drawing, Undoing, and Erasing Lines     19 Saving and Opening Your Drawings     30 Getting Started     32 Chapter Summary     36 Chapter Test Questions     36 Chapter Drawing Projects     38 Chapter 2  Circles and Drawing Aids     51 Introduction     51 Changing the Grid Setting     52 Changing the Snap Setting     53 Changing Units     55 Drawing Circles by Specifying a Center Point and a Radius     58 Drawing Circles by Specifying a Center Point and a Diameter     60 Accessing AutoCAD Online Help Features     63 Using the ERASE Command     65 Using Single-Point Object Snap     72 Using the RECTANG Command     74 Customizing Your Workspace     76 Plotting or Printing a Drawing     78 Chapter Summary     82 Chapter Test Questions     82 Chapter Drawing Projects     84 Chapter 3  Layers, Colors, and Linetypes     97 Introduction     97 Creating New Layers     98 Assigning Colors to Layers     100 Assigning Linetypes     102 Assigning Lineweights     103 Changing the Current Layer     105 Changing Linetype Scale     107 Editing Corners Using FILLET     108 Editing Corners Using CHAMFER     110 Zooming and Panning with the Scroll Wheel     111 Using the ZOOM Command     113 Entering Single-Line Text     115 Chapter Summary     117 Chapter Test Questions     117 Chapter Drawing Projects     120 Chapter 4  Templates, Copies, and Arrays     133 Introduction     133 Setting Limits     134 Creating a Template     137 Saving a Template Drawing     138 Using the MOVE Command     140 Using the COPY Command     144 Using the ARRAY Command–Rectangular Arrays     147 Creating Center Marks     153 Changing Plot Settings     154 Chapter Summary     158 Chapter Test Questions     158 Chapter Drawing Projects     162 Chapter 5  Arcs and Polar Arrays     177 Introduction     177 Creating Polar Arrays     177 Drawing Arcs     181 Using the ROTATE Command     185 Using Polar Tracking at Any Angle     188 Creating Mirror Images of Objects on the Screen     189 Creating Page Setups     192 Chapter Summary     197 Chapter Test Questions     197 Chapter Drawing Projects     200 Chapter 6  Object Snap     213 Introduction     213 Selecting Points with Object Snap (Single-Point Override)     214 Selecting Points with Running Object Snap     215 Object Snap Tracking     219 Using the OFFSET Command (Creating Parallel Objects with OFFSET)     223 Shortening Objects with the TRIM Command     224 Extending Objects with the EXTEND Command     226 Using STRETCH to Alter Objects Connected to Other Objects     228 Creating Plot Layouts     232 Chapter Summary     242 Chapter Test Questions     242 Chapter Drawing Projects     244 PART TWO:  TEXT, DIMENSIONS, AND OTHER COMPLEX ENTITIES Chapter 7  Text     259 Introduction     259 Entering Single-Line Text with Justification Options     259 Entering Text on an Angle and Text Using Character Codes     264 Entering Multiline Text Using MTEXT     265 Editing Text in Place with TEXTEDIT     268 Modifying Text with the Quick Properties Palette     270 Using the SPELL Command     273 Changing Fonts and Styles     274 Changing Properties with MATCHPROP     278 Scaling Previously Drawn Entities     280 Creating Tables and Fields     283 Using AutoCAD Templates, Borders, and Title Blocks     289 Chapter Summary     292 Chapter Test Questions     292 Chapter Drawing Projects     294 Chapter 8  Dimensions     307 Introduction     307 Creating and Saving a Dimension Style     307 Drawing Linear Dimensions     312 Drawing Multiple Linear Dimensions Using QDIM     316 Drawing Ordinate Dimensions     319 Drawing Angular Dimensions     324 Dimensioning Arcs and Circles     326 Dimensioning with Multileaders     328 Changing Dimension Text     335 Using Associative Dimensions     337 Using the HATCH Command     340 Scaling Dimensions Between Paper Space and Model Space     344 Chapter Summary     353 Chapter Test Questions     353 Chapter Drawing Projects     356 Chapter 9  Polylines     373 Introduction     373 Drawing Polygons     374 Drawing Donuts     376 Using the FILL Command     377 Drawing Straight Polyline Segments     378 Drawing Polyline Arc Segments     381 Editing Polylines with PEDIT     382 Drawing Splines     384 Creating Path Arrays     387 Drawing Revision Clouds     388 Drawing Points     390 Using Constraint Parameters     392 Using AutoConstrain and Inferred Constraints     398 Chapter Summary     401 Chapter Test Questions     401 Chapter Drawing Projects     404 Chapter 10  Blocks, Attributes, and External References     419 Introduction     419 Creating Groups     420 Creating Blocks     422 Inserting Blocks into the Current Drawing     425 Creating Dynamic Blocks     428 Adding Constraints to Dynamic Blocks     436 Accessing Data in a Block Table     439 Using the Windows Clipboard     443 Inserting Blocks and External References into Other Drawings     445 Using the AutoCAD DesignCenter     449 Defining Attributes     455 Working with External References     461 Extracting Data from Attributes     463 Creating Tool Palettes     467 Exploding Blocks     468 Chapter Summary     470 Chapter Test Questions     470 Chapter Drawing Projects     474 PART THREE:  ISOMETRIC DRAWING AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELING Chapter 11  Isometric Drawing     485 Introduction     485 Using Isometric Snap     485 Switching Isometric Planes     487 Using COPY and Other Edit Commands     488 Drawing Isometric Circles with ELLIPSE     490 Drawing Text Aligned with Isometric Planes     492 Drawing Ellipses in Orthographic Views     494 Saving and Restoring Displays with VIEW     497 Chapter Summary     501 Chapter Test Questions     501 Chapter Drawing Projects     504 Chapter 12  3D Modeling     519 Introduction     519 Creating and Viewing a 3D Wireframe Box     520 Defining User Coordinate Systems     525 Exploring the 3D Basics Workspace     530 Creating Solid Boxes and Wedges     532 Accessing Different Visual Styles     535 Creating the Union of Two Solids     536 Working with DUCS     537 Creating Composite Solids with SUBTRACT     539 Creating Chamfers and Fillets on Solid Objects     543 Practicing 3D Gizmo Editing     546 Rendering Solid Models     548 Changing Viewpoints with the ViewCube     562 Creating Layouts with Multiple Views     564 Chapter Summary     568 Chapter Test Questions     568 Chapter Drawing Projects     572 Chapter 13  More Modeling Techniques and Commands     581 Introduction     581 Drawing Polysolids     581 Drawing Cones     586 Drawing Pyramids     588 Drawing Torus     589 Slicing and Sectioning Solids     590 Mesh Modeling     595 Adjusting Viewpoints with 3DORBIT     605 Creating 3D Solids from 2D Outlines     612 Walking Through a 3D Landscape     618 Creating an Animated Walk-Through     621 Chapter Summary     625 Chapter Test Questions     625 Chapter Drawing Projects     628 Appendix A  Drawing Projects     645 Appendix B  Creating Customized Panels     667 Appendix C  Menus, Macros, and the CUI Dialog Box     677 Index     681 Appendix D (Online only)  Additional Tools for Collaboration Glossary (Online only)