DVD Included! Trial versions of AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 Drawings for the exercises, add-on programs, and more Videos on the big new features Parametric Constraints and Mesh Solids Ellen Finkelstein AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 10th Anniversary Edition of the AutoCAD Bible Start drawing today with the Quick Start tutorial Create sophisticated 2D and 3D models Learn how to customize and program AutoCAD The book you need to succeed!
AutoCAD AutoCAD LT 2010 & 2010 Bible
AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible Ellen Finkelstein
AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-43640-0 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748- 6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927851 Trademarks: Wiley and related trade dress are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Autodesk, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, DWF, DWG, and the DWG logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S.A. and/or certain other countries. Certain content, including trial software, provided courtesy Autodesk, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
To MMY, for teaching me that there s more to life than meets the eye and that the deeper levels of life are the most intelligent, powerful, and blissful. v
About the Author Ellen Finkelstein learned AutoCAD in Israel, where she always got to pore over the manual because it was in English. After returning to the United States, she started consulting and teaching AutoCAD as well as other computer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. She has also taught courses on Web writing and usability. Her Web site, www.ellenfinkelstein.com, contains tips and techniques for AutoCAD, PowerPoint, and presenting, and she publishes the AutoCAD Tips Blog, and a monthly AutoCAD Tips Newsletter. Ellen has written extensively on AutoCAD, including articles for Autodesk s Web site and features for AutoCAD s Help system. Ellen s first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference. Since then, she has written books on PowerPoint, OpenOffice.org (OpenOffice. org For Dummies), Flash (such as Flash CS4 For Dummies), and Web technologies (Syndicating Web Sites with RSS Feeds For Dummies). You re holding the tenth edition (wow!) of this book, which previously appeared for AutoCAD releases 14, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. vi
Credits Senior Acquisitions Editor Stephanie McComb Project Editor Jade L. Williams Technical Editors Lee Ambrosius, Darren Young Copy Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Director Robyn Siesky Editorial Manager Cricket Krengel Business Manager Amy Knies Senior Marketing Manager Sandy Smith Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Project Coordinator Kristie Rees Graphics and Production Specialists Samantha K. Allen Ana Carrillo Carrie A. Cesavice Andrea Hornberger Jennifer Mayberry Ronald Terry Proofreading Bonnie Mikkelson Indexing BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services Media Development Project Manager Laura Moss Media Development Assistant Project Manager Jenny Swisher Media Development Associate Producer Joshua Frank Vice President and Executive Publisher Barry Pruett vii
Foreword...xxxvii Acknowledgments...xxxviii Introduction...xxxix Part I: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Basics.................1 Quick Start: Drawing a Window... 3 Chapter 1: Starting to Draw... 15 Chapter 2: Opening a Drawing... 29 Chapter 3: Using Commands... 37 Chapter 4: Specifying Coordinates... 61 Chapter 5: Setting Up a Drawing... 97 Part II: Drawing in Two Dimensions................... 113 Chapter 6: Drawing Simple Lines... 115 Chapter 7: Drawing Curves and Points... 123 Chapter 8: Viewing Your Drawing... 139 Chapter 9: Editing Your Drawing with Basic Tools... 169 Chapter 10: Editing Your Drawing with Advanced Tools... 193 Chapter 11: Organizing Drawings with Layers, Colors, Linetypes, and Lineweights... 255 Chapter 12: Obtaining Information from Your Drawing... 289 Chapter 13: Creating Text... 309 Chapter 14: Drawing Dimensions... 361 Chapter 15: Creating Dimension Styles... 411 Chapter 16: Drawing Complex Objects... 443 Chapter 17: Plotting and Printing Your Drawing... 487 Part III: Working with Data.......................... 523 Chapter 18: Working with Blocks and Attributes... 525 Chapter 19: Referencing Other Drawings... 591 Chapter 20: Working with External Databases... 613 Part IV: Drawing in Three Dimensions................. 643 Chapter 21: Specifying 3D Coordinates... 645 Chapter 22: Viewing 3D Drawings... 671 Chapter 23: Creating 3D Surfaces... 717 Chapter 24: Creating Solids and Editing in 3D... 757 Chapter 25: Rendering in 3D... 831 viii
Part V: Organizing and Managing Drawings............. 863 Chapter 26: Keeping Control of Your Drawings... 865 Chapter 27: Working with Other Applications... 923 Chapter 28: Creating Electronic Output... 947 Part VI: Customizing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT......... 971 Chapter 29: Customizing Commands, Toolbars, and Tool Palettes... 973 Chapter 30: Creating Macros and Slide Shows... 995 Chapter 31: Creating Your Own Linetypes and Hatch Patterns... 1007 Chapter 32: Creating Shapes and Fonts... 1019 Chapter 33: Customizing the Ribbon and Menus... 1031 Part VII: Programming AutoCAD.................... 1059 Chapter 34: Understanding AutoLISP and Visual LISP Basics... 1061 Chapter 35: Exploring AutoLISP Further... 1075 Chapter 36: Exploring Advanced AutoLISP Topics... 1099 Chapter 37: Programming with Visual Basic for Applications... 1115 Part VIII: Appendixes............................. 1143 Appendix A: Installing and Configuring AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT... 1145 Appendix B: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Resources... 1177 Appendix C: What s on the DVD-ROM... 1183 Index... 1191 ix
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Foreword.............................................. xxxvii Acknowledgments.......................................xxxviii Introduction.............................................xxxix Part I: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Basics 1 Quick Start: Drawing a Window.................................3 Summary... 13 Chapter 1: Starting to Draw................................... 15 AutoCAD s Advantages... 15 Comparing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT... 16 Starting AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT... 17 Creating a New Drawing... 17 Using the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface... 17 The drawing area... 18 The UCS icon... 19 The crosshairs... 20 The ribbon and Quick Access toolbar... 20 Using the Application menu... 21 The command line and dynamic input tooltip... 22 The status bar... 22 Creating a New Folder... 22 Using the Interface... 23 Saving a Drawing... 25 Closing a Drawing and Exiting from AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT... 27 Summary... 28 Chapter 2: Opening a Drawing................................. 29 Creating a New Drawing from a Template... 29 Working with Templates... 31 Customizing the default template... 32 Creating your own templates... 32 Creating a Drawing with Default Settings... 33 Opening an Existing Drawing... 33 Using other ways to open drawings... 34 Switching among open drawings... 34 Saving a Drawing under a New Name... 35 Summary... 36 xi
Chapter 3: Using Commands.................................. 37 The AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface... 37 Using the ribbon... 38 Using menus...39 Using shortcut menus... 39 Using dialog boxes... 40 Using toolbars... 40 Using palettes... 41 Tool palettes... 41 The Command Line and Dynamic Input... 42 Using Dynamic Input... 43 Understanding command names... 44 Responding to commands... 45 Command Techniques... 47 Repeating commands... 47 Using recent input... 48 Canceling commands... 48 Undoing a command... 49 Redoing a command... 50 Using one command within another command... 51 Of Mice and Pucks... 52 Getting Help... 54 Getting help on a command... 54 Finding help with Quickstart links... 54 Using the main Help system... 55 The tab... 55 The Index tab... 55 The Search tab... 55 Working with Help screens... 56 Using the InfoCenter... 57 Search Help... 57 The Communication Center... 57 Favorites... 57 Summary... 58 Chapter 4: Specifying Coordinates.............................. 61 Understanding the X,Y Coordinate System... 61 Drawing units... 62 Types of measurement notation... 62 Typing Coordinates... 62 Using the Dynamic Input tooltip to enter coordinates... 63 Typing coordinates in the Dynamic Input tooltip... 63 Specifying Dynamic Input settings... 63 Overriding Dynamic Input settings... 66 Absolute Cartesian coordinates... 66 Relative Cartesian coordinates... 68 Polar coordinates...69 xii
Direct distance entry... 71 Orthogonal mode... 71 Polar tracking... 72 Setting polar tracking angles... 72 Using polar tracking... 73 Displaying Coordinates... 75 Picking Coordinates on the Screen... 76 Snap settings... 76 Snapping to a grid... 77 Snapping at polar angles... 78 The grid... 78 Object snaps... 81 Running object snaps and Object Snap mode... 85 Overriding Coordinate Settings... 86 Locating Points... 89 Object snap tracking... 89 Using the temporary tracking feature... 93 Point filters... 93 From feature... 94 Summary... 95 Chapter 5: Setting Up a Drawing............................... 97 Choosing Unit Types... 97 Setting the drawing units... 98 Setting the angle type... 99 Setting the angle measure and direction... 100 Drawing Limits... 101 Understanding Scales... 102 Working with scale formats... 103 Using annotative scales... 104 Customizing the scale list... 106 Deciding on a scale and sheet size... 107 Creating a Titleblock... 107 Specifying Common Setup Options... 108 Customizing with the MVSETUP Command and Setup Wizards... 110 Summary... 111 Part II: Drawing in Two Dimensions 113 Chapter 6: Drawing Simple Lines.............................. 115 Using the LINE Command... 115 Drawing Rectangles... 117 Drawing Polygons... 117 Creating Construction Lines... 120 Creating Rays... 121 Summary... 122 xiii
Chapter 7: Drawing Curves and Points.......................... 123 Drawing Circles... 123 Understanding the circle options... 123 Drawing circles... 124 Drawing Arcs... 126 Understanding arc options... 126 Drawing arcs... 127 Creating Ellipses and Elliptical Arcs... 130 Understanding ellipse options... 130 Creating ellipses... 130 Creating elliptical arcs... 131 Drawing ellipses... 131 Making Donuts... 133 Understanding DONUT options... 133 Drawing donuts... 134 Placing Points... 134 Changing the point style... 134 Creating points... 135 Summary... 137 Chapter 8: Viewing Your Drawing............................. 139 Regenerating and Redrawing the Display... 139 Panning... 140 Using the PAN command... 140 Using the scroll bars... 140 Using the ZOOM Command... 140 Understanding ZOOM options... 141 Using ZOOM Dynamic... 142 Using the SteeringWheel... 145 Creating Named Views... 146 Saving a view... 146 Displaying a view... 150 Managing named views... 150 Creating animated presentations from named views... 150 Using named views to manage a drawing... 153 A drawing with a view... 154 Partially opening a drawing... 154 Using named views with sheet sets... 155 Working with Tiled Viewports... 155 Configuring tiled viewports... 156 Creating tiled viewports... 156 Removing tiled viewports... 157 Using tiled viewports... 158 Saving and restoring viewport configurations... 158 Using Snap Rotation... 160 Understanding User Coordinate Systems... 161 Understanding UCS options... 162 Saving and restoring a custom UCS... 163 xiv
Controlling the UCS icon... 164 Using a custom UCS... 165 Creating Isometric Drawings... 166 Understanding isometric planes... 167 Drawing in Isometric mode... 167 Summary... 168 Chapter 9: Editing Your Drawing with Basic Tools................. 169 Editing a Drawing... 169 Understanding object-selection basics... 170 Erasing objects... 170 Moving objects... 172 Copying objects... 174 Copying and moving objects from one drawing to another... 177 Rotating objects... 177 Scaling objects... 180 Using the CHANGE command... 182 Changing lines... 182 Changing circles... 183 Selecting Objects... 184 Selecting objects after choosing a command... 184 Cycling through objects... 187 Selecting objects before choosing a command... 187 Implied windowing... 187 Customizing the selection process... 189 Pickbox Size... 189 Selection Preview... 190 Noun/verb selection... 190 Use Shift to Add to Selection... 190 Press and Drag... 190 Implied windowing... 191 Object grouping... 191 Associative Hatch... 191 Summary... 191 Chapter 10: Editing Your Drawing with Advanced Tools............. 193 Copying and Moving Objects... 193 Mirroring objects... 194 Using the ARRAY command... 195 Rectangular arrays... 195 Polar (circular) arrays... 197 Offsetting objects... 200 Aligning objects... 203 Using the ALIGN command... 203 Using the 3DALIGN command... 204 Resizing Commands... 206 Trimming objects... 206 Extending objects... 210 Lengthening objects... 212 Stretching objects... 214 xv
xvi Using Construction Commands... 218 Breaking objects... 218 Joining objects... 218 Creating chamfered corners... 221 Creating rounded corners... 223 Creating a Revision Cloud... 226 Hiding Objects with a Wipeout... 227 Constraining Objects with Parameters... 228 Using geometric constraints... 228 Auto-constraining objects... 230 Using dimensional constraints... 230 Working with the Parameters Manager... 231 Double-Clicking to Edit Objects... 233 Grips... 234 Stretching with grips... 236 Stretching one line... 236 Stretching multiple lines... 236 Moving with grips... 237 Rotating with grips... 237 Scaling with grips... 237 Mirroring with grips... 238 Customizing grips... 240 Editing with the Quick Properties Palette and the Properties Palette... 241 Using the Quick Properties palette... 241 Using the Properties palette... 243 Selection Filters... 245 Using Quick Select to select objects... 245 Using the FILTER command... 247 Creating a single filter... 247 Adding a second filter... 248 Naming and editing filters... 249 Using filters... 249 Groups... 251 Creating and modifying groups in AutoCAD... 251 Creating a new group... 252 Changing a group... 252 Creating and modifying groups in AutoCAD LT... 253 Creating a new group... 253 Changing a group in AutoCAD LT... 253 Using groups... 254 Summary... 254 Chapter 11: Organizing Drawings with Layers, Colors, Linetypes, and Lineweights................................... 255 Working with Layers... 255 Understanding layers... 256 Creating new layers... 256 Naming the layer... 258 Assigning a color... 258 Assigning a linetype... 261 Assigning a lineweight... 262
Using layers... 264 Switching the current layer... 265 Changing a layer s state... 265 Saving layer states... 267 Changing an existing object s layer... 269 Making an object s layer current... 269 Using special layer tools... 269 Modifying layers... 272 Managing columns... 272 Filtering the layer list... 273 Changing a layer s color, linetype, and lineweight... 274 Renaming layers... 275 Deleting layers... 275 Purging layers and linetypes... 275 Changing Object Color, Linetype, and Lineweight... 277 Changing an object s color... 277 Changing the current color... 278 Changing an object s linetype... 278 Changing the current linetype... 279 Changing an object s lineweight... 279 Changing the current lineweight... 280 Working with Linetype Scales... 282 Changing linetype spacing by using a different linetype... 282 Changing linetype spacing by changing the global linetype scale... 282 Changing linetype spacing by changing the object linetype scale... 284 Changing the current object linetype scale... 284 Changing an existing object s linetype scale... 284 Importing Layers and Linetypes from Other Drawings... 286 Matching Properties... 287 Summary... 288 Chapter 12: Obtaining Information from Your Drawing............. 289 Drawing-Level Information... 289 Listing the status of your drawing... 289 Listing system variables... 290 Tracking drawing time... 291 Object-Level Information... 293 Listing objects... 293 Finding coordinates... 294 Measuring objects... 294 Getting information from the Properties palette... 297 Getting information from the Quick Properties panel... 297 Dividing and Spacing Commands... 298 Dividing objects... 298 Measuring objects... 299 AutoCAD s Calculator... 300 Calculating numbers... 301 Using coordinates... 302 Using object snaps... 303 Using the scientific calculator... 303 xvii
Converting units... 304 Working with QuickCalc variables... 304 Using QuickCalc in the Properties palette... 305 Summary... 308 Chapter 13: Creating Text.................................... 309 Creating Single-Line Text... 309 Justifying single-line text... 310 Setting the height... 311 Setting the rotation angle... 312 Adding special characters and formatting... 312 Editing single-line text... 314 Scaling text... 315 Justifying text... 316 Understanding Text Styles... 317 Creating a new text style... 318 Font... 318 Size... 319 Effects... 319 Renaming and deleting text styles... 320 Modifying a text style... 321 Making a style current or changing a text object s style... 321 Importing a text style... 322 Creating Multiline Text... 322 Using the In-Place Text Editor... 322 Specifying and changing line spacing... 329 Specifying width and rotation... 330 Creating text for different scales... 330 Editing paragraph text... 332 Importing text... 333 Creating Tables... 335 Inserting a table... 335 Specifying a table style... 336 General properties... 338 Text properties... 338 Border properties... 338 Completing the table style... 339 Adding data to a table... 339 Entering data into a table... 339 Linking to external data... 340 Extracting data from drawing objects... 342 Modifying a table... 345 Changing the text... 345 Changing table properties... 345 Changing cell properties... 345 Breaking a table into sections... 347 Inserting Fields... 350 Creating fields... 350 Editing and updating fields... 352 xviii
Managing Text... 354 Using Quicktext... 354 Using AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT fonts... 354 Freezing text layers... 354 Using MIRRTEXT... 354 Finding Text in Your Drawing... 356 Checking Your Spelling... 357 Summary... 359 Chapter 14: Drawing Dimensions.............................. 361 Working with Dimensions... 361 The elements of a dimension... 361 Preparing to dimension... 363 Drawing Linear Dimensions... 363 Specifying the dimensioned object... 364 Using dimension options... 366 MText... 366 Text... 367 Angle... 367 Horizontal/vertical... 367 Rotated... 368 Creating jogged dimension lines... 368 Drawing Aligned Dimensions... 369 Specifying the dimensioned object... 369 Using the options... 370 Creating Baseline and Continued Dimensions... 371 Drawing baseline dimensions... 371 Drawing continued dimensions... 372 Dimensioning Arcs and Circles... 374 Marking arc and circle centers... 375 Dimensioning arc lengths... 375 Creating radial dimensions... 376 Creating diameter dimensions... 376 Dimensioning Angles... 377 Creating Ordinate Dimensions... 380 Drawing Leaders... 383 Creating a multileader... 383 Editing multileaders... 384 Creating a multileader style... 384 Aligning and combining leaders... 387 Using Quick Dimension... 391 Creating Inspection Dimensions... 394 Creating Geometric Tolerances... 395 Starting the tolerance frame... 396 Inserting the tolerance frame... 398 Editing a tolerance frame... 398 xix
Editing Dimensions... 400 Editing associativity... 400 DIMREASSOCIATE... 400 DIMDISASSOCIATE... 401 DIMREGEN... 401 Using the DIMEDIT command... 402 Using the DIMTEDIT command... 402 Flipping dimension arrows... 404 Editing dimension text... 404 Using the Properties palette to edit dimensions... 404 Changing annotative scales... 404 Spacing dimensions equally apart... 405 Breaking dimensions... 405 Using Quick Dimension to edit dimensions... 406 Using grips to edit dimensions... 407 Editing objects and dimensions together... 407 Summary... 409 Chapter 15: Creating Dimension Styles......................... 411 Understanding Dimension Styles... 411 Defining a New Dimension Style... 413 Managing dimension lines... 413 Dimension lines... 414 Extension lines... 415 Defining symbols and arrows... 416 Defining arrowheads... 416 Defining symbols... 418 Managing dimension text... 420 Text appearance... 420 Text placement... 421 Text alignment... 422 Fitting dimensions into tight spaces... 423 Fit Options... 424 Text Placement... 426 Scale for Dimension Features... 427 Defining primary units... 428 Linear Dimensions... 430 Angular Dimensions... 431 Defining alternate units... 431 Formatting tolerances... 434 Changing Dimension Styles... 436 Choosing a new current dimension style... 436 Creating a variant of a dimension style... 436 Modifying a dimension to use a new dimension style... 437 Modifying dimension styles... 437 Overriding a dimension style... 437 Updating dimensions... 438 Comparing dimension styles... 438 Copying dimension styles from other drawings... 439 Summary... 442 xx
Chapter 16: Drawing Complex Objects......................... 443 Creating and Editing Polylines... 443 Using the PLINE command... 444 Editing polylines with the PEDIT command... 447 Editing polylines with the Properties palette or Quick Properties palette... 449 Drawing and Editing Splines... 450 Creating splines... 451 Editing splines... 452 Creating Regions... 455 Creating Boundaries... 457 Creating Hatches... 458 Understanding hatch patterns... 459 Defining a hatch... 460 Specifying the hatch type and pattern... 460 Setting the hatch angle and scale... 461 Setting the hatch origin... 463 Determining the hatch boundary... 463 Islands... 465 Other advanced options... 466 Dragging and dropping hatch patterns... 467 Creating gradient fills... 467 Editing hatches... 469 Using the SOLID command... 471 Creating and Editing Multilines... 471 Creating a multiline style... 472 Defining multiline style properties... 473 Saving a new multiline style... 474 Loading a multiline style... 474 Drawing multilines... 476 Editing multilines... 478 Creating Dlines in AutoCAD LT... 480 Using the SKETCH Command... 480 Digitizing Drawings with the TABLET Command... 483 Summary... 484 Chapter 17: Plotting and Printing Your Drawing................... 487 Preparing a Drawing for Plotting or Printing... 487 Doing a draft plot... 487 Plotting a drawing from model space... 488 Creating a Layout in Paper Space... 488 Entering paper space... 488 Using the Layout Wizard... 489 Laying out a drawing in paper space on your own... 491 Managing layouts... 492 Using the Page Setup Manager... 493 Preparing layers... 495 Inserting a titleblock... 495 Creating floating viewports... 495 Returning to model space while on a layout... 497 xxi
Setting viewport scale... 497 Locking the viewport... 498 Setting viewport size, placement, and display... 498 Controlling scale for noncontinuous linetypes... 498 Setting layer visibility and properties within a viewport... 499 Setting hidden and shaded views for viewports... 500 Annotating a layout... 501 Using annotation objects on a layout... 502 Adding text and dimensions in paper space... 504 Export a layout to model space of a new drawing... 505 Saving a layout template... 505 Working with Plot Styles... 509 Setting the plot-style mode... 509 Creating a plot-style table... 510 Creating a named plot-style table... 510 Editing a plot-style table... 512 Attaching a plot-style table to a layout... 514 Setting the plot-style property for a layer or object... 515 Plotting a Drawing... 517 Specifying plot settings... 518 Previewing your plot... 519 Creating a plot stamp... 519 Creating the plot... 520 Summary... 522 Part III: Working with Data 523 Chapter 18: Working with Blocks and Attributes.................. 525 Combining Objects into Blocks... 526 Understanding base points and insertion points... 526 Creating a block... 527 Redefining a block... 529 Saving blocks as files... 530 Replacing an existing file... 531 Inserting Blocks and Files into Drawings... 532 Using the Insert dialog box... 533 Using the DesignCenter... 535 Managing Blocks... 538 Working with layers... 538 Exploding blocks... 541 Using the XPLODE command... 542 Editing blocks... 543 Double-clicking to edit blocks... 543 Editing blocks with grips... 543 Updating blocks... 544 Substituting blocks... 544 xxii
Creating and Using Dynamic Blocks... 545 Understanding action-based parameters... 546 Understanding the work flow of dynamic blocks... 547 Defining a dynamic block with action-based parameters... 548 Adding a parameter... 550 Adding an action... 551 Adding visibility parameters... 554 Adding lookup parameters and actions... 556 Using parameter sets... 557 Using parametric constraints... 558 Creating a Block Table... 559 Saving and testing dynamic blocks... 560 Inserting and modifying dynamic blocks... 560 Using Windows Features to Copy Data... 569 Manipulating objects with the Windows Clipboard... 569 Using drag-and-drop... 569 Working with Attributes... 572 Creating attribute definitions... 573 Mode section... 573 Attribute section... 574 Text Settings section... 575 Insertion Point section... 575 Creating the block... 576 Inserting blocks with attributes... 578 Editing attributes... 578 Editing attribute properties in AutoCAD... 578 Editing attribute properties in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT... 581 Making global changes in attributes... 582 Redefining attributes... 583 Extracting a database from attributes... 585 Summary... 592 Chapter 19: Referencing Other Drawings....................... 591 Understanding External References... 591 Attaching an external reference... 592 Opening an xref... 593 Using the External References palette... 593 Editing an Xref within Your Drawing... 596 Choosing the xref or block to edit... 596 Editing the xref... 598 Controlling Xref Display... 600 Xrefs and dependent symbols... 600 Xrefs and layers... 600 The XBIND command... 600 Circular references... 601 Clipping xrefs... 601 xxiii
Speeding up the display of large xrefs... 602 Demand loading... 603 Spatial indexes... 603 Layer indexes... 604 Managing Xrefs... 607 Xref notification... 608 DesignCenter... 608 The xref log file... 608 Working with DWF, DGN, and PDF Underlays... 609 Attaching a DWF underlay... 609 Attaching a DGN underlay... 610 Attaching a PDF underlay... 610 Modifying an underlay... 610 Adjusting the appearance of an underlay... 610 Clipping an underlay... 611 Displaying the frame of an underlay... 611 Using object snaps with underlays... 611 Control the layers of an underlay... 612 Summary... 612 Chapter 20: Working with External Databases.................... 613 Understanding External Database Access... 614 Preparing for Database Connectivity... 615 Organizing the database structure... 616 Configuring a data source... 616 Connecting to Your Database... 620 Connecting a database to a drawing... 620 Opening a data table... 621 Editing data in the Data View window... 624 Linking Data to Drawing Objects... 625 Creating a link template... 625 Creating a link... 627 Viewing linked objects and rows... 627 Editing links... 628 Exporting link information... 629 Creating Labels... 632 Creating label templates... 632 Creating attached labels... 633 Creating freestanding labels... 634 Querying with the Query Editor... 635 Using the Quick Query tab... 636 Using the Range Query tab... 636 Using the Query Builder tab... 637 Building a query with multiple criteria... 637 Specifying fields and sorting... 637 Using the SQL Query tab... 638 Creating selection sets with Link Select... 639 xxiv
Working with Query Files... 640 Storing queries... 640 Importing and exporting queries... 641 Summary... 641 Part IV: Drawing in Three Dimensions 643 Chapter 21: Specifying 3D Coordinates......................... 645 Working in a 3D Environment... 646 Using 3D Coordinates... 647 Absolute and relative Cartesian coordinates in 3D... 647 Cylindrical and spherical coordinates... 647 Using editing commands with 3D wireframes... 649 Using point filters, object snaps, object tracking, and grips in 3D... 652 Point filters... 652 Object snaps... 652 Object tracking... 653 Grips... 653 Creating 3D polylines... 655 Creating helixes... 656 Using Elevation and Thickness... 656 Creating surfaces with thickness... 657 Using the HIDE command... 658 Controlling the display of hidden lines and objects... 658 Adding elevation to objects... 660 Working with the User Coordinate System... 663 Using the UCS icon... 663 UCSs and viewpoints... 663 Using UCS options to change the UCS... 664 Changing the UCS dynamically... 665 Summary... 669 Chapter 22: Viewing 3D Drawings............................. 671 Working with the Standard Viewpoints... 672 Using the VPOINT command... 672 Looking at a drawing from the standard viewpoints... 672 Using DDVPOINT... 674 Using the ViewCube to View Your Drawing... 675 Creating a Named View with a Camera... 677 Creating a camera... 677 Editing a camera... 678 Adding a Background to a Named View... 681 Working with the Tripod and Compass... 682 Displaying a Quick Plan View... 684 Displaying Parallel and Perspective Projections... 684 xxv
Using 3D Orbit... 684 Starting 3D Orbit... 685 Navigating with 3D Orbit... 686 Using the 3D Orbit visual aids... 687 Creating a continuous orbit... 688 Resetting the view... 688 Refining your 3D Orbit view... 688 Panning in 3D Orbit... 688 Zooming in 3D Orbit... 688 Using Zoom options in 3D Orbit... 689 Adjusting the camera distance... 689 Controlling view properties... 689 Creating parallel and perspective views... 689 Using a preset view... 689 Using ShowMotion to Cycle Through Views... 690 Creating shots... 690 Displaying shots... 692 Walking Through a Model... 693 Navigating in Walk mode... 693 Specifying Walk mode settings... 695 Flying through a model... 696 Saving the walk as a movie file... 696 Using a motion path to save a movie file... 697 Navigating with the Wheel... 701 Using DVIEW to a Create a Perspective View... 703 Using DVIEW... 703 Understanding the DVIEW options... 703 Working with Visual Styles... 705 Displaying visual styles in AutoCAD... 705 Creating custom visual styles... 706 Using the shading options in AutoCAD LT... 708 Display materials, textures, and lights as you work... 709 Laying Out 3D Drawings... 711 Using SOLVIEW to lay out paper space viewports... 711 Using SOLDRAW to create hidden lines and hatching... 712 Using SOLPROF to create profiles... 713 Flattening 3D drawings... 714 Printing in 3D... 715 Summary... 716 Chapter 23: Creating 3D Surfaces.............................. 717 Drawing Surfaces with 3DFACE... 718 Using the 3DFACE command... 718 Making 3D face edges invisible... 719 Controlling visibility during 3D face creation... 719 Using the EDGE command... 719 Using the SPLFRAME system variable... 720 Drawing Surfaces with PFACE... 723 xxvi
Creating Plane Surfaces... 728 Creating Polygon Meshes with 3DMESH... 729 Drawing Standard 3D Shapes... 731 Box... 731 Wedge... 732 Pyramid... 733 Cone... 734 Sphere... 735 Dome... 735 Dish... 736 Torus... 737 Mesh... 738 Drawing Revolved Surfaces... 740 Understanding the REVSURF command... 740 Determining the angle of rotation... 741 Setting the number of segments... 742 Using the REVSURF command... 742 Working with the REVOLVE command... 744 Drawing an Extruded Surface... 744 Working with the TABSURF command... 744 Working with the EXTRUDE command... 747 Sweeping objects along a path... 747 Drawing Surfaces Between 2D Objects... 748 Creating ruled surfaces... 748 Lofting objects... 751 Drawing Edge Surfaces... 751 Working with Multiple Types of Objects... 753 Converting 2D objects to surfaces... 754 Converting meshes to smooth surfaces... 754 Thickening a surface into a solid... 754 Extracting edges from a surface or a region... 754 Summary... 755 Chapter 24: Creating Solids and Editing in 3D.................... 757 Drawing Basic Smooth Solids... 758 Drawing a box... 758 Drawing a wedge... 760 Drawing a cone... 760 Drawing a sphere... 761 Drawing a cylinder... 762 Drawing a torus... 763 Drawing a pyramid... 764 Creating Extruded Solids... 766 Managing objects used to make other objects... 767 Using the EXTRUDE command... 767 Drawing Swept Solids... 769 Drawing Revolved Solids... 770 Drawing Lofted Solids... 772 Drawing Polyline-Like Solids... 774 xxvii
Manipulating Solids... 777 Grip-editing solids... 777 Selecting sub-objects... 777 Moving, rotating, and scaling with the gizmos... 778 Using the Move gizmo and the 3DMOVE command... 778 Using the Rotate gizmo and the 3DROTATE command... 780 Using the Scale gizmo and the 3DSCALE command... 782 Working with Mesh Shapes... 783 Creating meshes... 784 Editing meshes... 784 Using grips and gizmos to edit meshes... 784 Adjusting mesh smoothness... 784 Refining a mesh... 785 Extruding a face... 785 Splitting a face... 785 Creasing a mesh... 786 Converting solids and meshes... 786 Converting smooth solids and surfaces to meshes... 786 Converting meshes to smooth solids... 788 Creating Complex Solids... 791 Combining solids... 791 Subtracting solids... 792 Creating a solid from the intersection of two solids... 792 Creating a new solid by using INTERFERE... 793 Pressing or pulling a region... 796 Using solid history... 797 Sectioning and Slicing Solids... 798 Using the SECTION command... 798 Creating an interactive section object... 800 Using the SLICE command... 801 Using Editing Commands in 3D... 803 Mirroring in 3D... 804 Arraying in 3D... 806 Creating 3D rectangular arrays... 806 Creating 3D polar arrays... 807 Rotating in 3D... 809 Aligning in 3D... 811 Trimming and extending in 3D... 813 Filleting in 3D... 815 Chamfering in 3D... 817 Exploding and converting 3D objects... 819 Using the SOLIDEDIT Command... 820 Editing faces... 821 Extruding faces... 821 Moving faces... 821 Offsetting faces... 821 Deleting faces... 822 Rotating faces... 822 Tapering faces... 822 Copying faces... 823 xxviii