AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT Essentials

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3 AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Essentials

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5 AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Essentials Scott Onstott

6 Senior Acquisitions Editor: Willem Knibbe Development Editor: Candace English Technical Editor: Ian le Cheminant Production Editor: Christine O Connor Copy Editor: Elizabeth Welch Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley Associate Publisher: Chris Webb Book Designer: Happenstance Type-O-Rama Compositor: Kate Kaminski, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreader: Josh Chase, Word One New York Indexer: Robert Swanson Project Coordinator, Cover: Todd Klemme Cover Design: Wiley Cover Images: istockphoto.com/nikada Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: ISBN: (ebk.) ISBN: (ebk.) 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) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at 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 Web site 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 Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites 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) , outside the U.S. at (317) or fax (317) Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at For more information about Wiley products, visit Library of Congress Control Number: TRADEMARKS: Wiley and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book

7 Dear Reader, Thank you for choosing AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Essentials. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching. Sybex was founded in More than 30 years later, we re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available. I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an at [email protected]. If you think you ve found a technical error in this book, please visit Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex. Best regards, Chris Webb Associate Publisher, Sybex

8 Acknowledgments A team of people has been instrumental in making this book you are holding in your hands or reading onscreen a reality. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the professional team at Sybex (an imprint of Wiley) for all their hard work. It has been a pleasure working with my acquisitions editor, Willem Knibbe; developmental editor, Candace English; technical editor, Ian le Cheminant; and members of the editorial staff, including Pete Gaughan, Connor O Brien, and Jenni Housh.

9 About the Author Scott Onstott has published ten books with Sybex prior to the present title: AutoCAD 2014 and AutoCAD LT 2014 Essentials, AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD LT 2013 Essentials, AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD LT 2012 Essentials, Adobe Photoshop CS6 Essentials, Enhancing Architectural Drawings and Models with Photoshop, AutoCAD : Professional Tips and Techniques (with Lynn Allen), Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop, Mastering Autodesk VIZ 2007 (with George Omura and Jon McFarland), Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006, and Autodesk VIZ 2005 (with George Omura). Scott has worked on some 20 other technical books as contributing author, reviser, compilation editor, and/or technical editor. He has also written, narrated, and produced the Secrets in Plain Sight film series (Volumes 1 and 2); written Taking Measure: Explorations in Number, Architecture, and Consciousness; and contributed a chapter to The Sync Book 2 (edited by Alan Abbadessa-Green). Scott has a Bachelor s degree in Architecture from University of California, Berkeley, and is a former university instructor who now serves as a consultant and independent video producer. He has written a column in Photoshop User Magazine since You can contact him through his website at

10 Contents at a Glance Introduction xiii Chapter 1 Getting Started 1 Chapter 2 Basic Drawing Skills 15 Chapter 3 Using Drawing Aids 41 Chapter 4 Editing Entities 57 Chapter 5 Shaping Curves 83 Chapter 6 Controlling Object Visibility and Appearance 103 Chapter 7 Organizing Objects 129 Chapter 8 Hatching and Gradients 151 Chapter 9 Working with Blocks and Xrefs 167 Chapter 10 Creating and Editing Text 187 Chapter 11 Dimensioning 201 Chapter 12 Keeping In Control with Constraints 219 Chapter 13 Working with Layouts and Annotative Objects 233 Chapter 14 Printing and Plotting 255 Chapter 15 Working with Data 277 Chapter 16 Navigating 3D Models 303 Chapter 17 Modeling in 3D 321 Chapter 18 Presenting and Documenting 3D Design 351 Appendix Autodesk AutoCAD 2015 Certification 375 Index 383

11 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 Chapter 2 Basic Drawing Skills 15 Navigate 2D Drawings Draw Lines and Rectangles Cancel, Erase, and Undo Use Coordinate Systems Draw Circles, Arcs, and Polygons Use Fillet and Chamfer Chapter 3 Using Drawing Aids 41 Use Grid and Snap Employ Ortho and Polar Tracking Use PolarSnap Select Running Object Snaps Harness the From Snap Apply Object Snap Tracking Chapter 4 Editing Entities 57 Create Selection Sets Move and Copy Rotate and Scale Work with Arrays Trim and Extend Lengthen and Stretch Offset and Mirror Edit with Grips

12 x Contents Chapter 5 Shaping Curves 83 Draw and Edit Curved Polylines Draw Ellipses Shape Splines Blend Between Objects with Splines Chapter 6 Controlling Object Visibility and Appearance 103 Change Object Properties Set the Current Layer Alter the Layer Assignments of Objects Control Layer Visibility Apply Linetype Assign Properties by Object or by Layer Manage Layer Properties Isolate Objects Chapter 7 Organizing Objects 129 Define Blocks Insert Blocks Edit Blocks Redefine Blocks Work with Groups Chapter 8 Hatching and Gradients 151 Specify Hatch Areas Associate Hatches with Boundaries Hatch with Patterns Hatch with Gradients Chapter 9 Working with Blocks and Xrefs 167 Work with Global Blocks Access Content Globally Store Content on Tool Palettes Reference External Drawings and Images

13 Contents xi Chapter 10 Creating and Editing Text 187 Style Text Write Lines of Text Write and Format Paragraphs Using MTEXT Edit Text Chapter 11 Dimensioning 201 Style Dimensions Add Dimensions Edit Dimensions Chapter 12 Keeping In Control with Constraints 219 Work with Geometric Constraints Apply Dimensional Constraints Constrain Objects Simultaneously with Geometry and Dimensions Make Parametric Changes to Constrained Objects Chapter 13 Working with Layouts and Annotative Objects 233 Create Annotative Styles and Objects Create Layouts Adjust Floating Viewports Override Layer Properties in Layout Viewports Draw on Layouts Chapter 14 Printing and Plotting 255 Configure Output Devices Create Plot Style Tables Use Plot Style Tables Plot in Model Space Plot Layouts in Paper Space Export to an Electronic Format Chapter 15 Working with Data 277 Geolocate Projects Import SketchUp Models

14 xii Contents Define Attributes and Blocks Insert Attributed Blocks Edit Table Styles and Create Tables Use Fields in Table Cells Edit Table Data Chapter 16 Navigating 3D Models 303 Use Visual Styles Work with Tiled Viewports Navigate with the ViewCube Orbit in 3D Use Cameras Navigate with SteeringWheels Learn to Save Views Chapter 17 Modeling in 3D 321 Create Surface Models Edit Surface Models Create Solid Models Edit Solid Models Smooth Mesh Models Chapter 18 Presenting and Documenting 3D Design 351 Assign Materials Place and Adjust Lights Create Renderings Document Models with Drawings Appendix Autodesk AutoCAD 2015 Certification 375 Index 383

15 Introduction The staying power of AutoCAD is legendary in the ever-changing software industry, having been around for 33 years by the 2015 release. You can rest assured that spending your time learning AutoCAD will be a wise investment, and the skills you obtain in this book will be useful for years to come. I wish to welcome you in beginning the process of learning AutoCAD. It will give you great satisfaction to learn such a complex program and use it to design and document whatever you dream up. You ll find step-by-step tutorials that reveal a wide variety of techniques built on many years of real-world experience. The first 14 chapters apply to both AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT AutoCAD LT is Autodesk s lower-cost version of AutoCAD, and it has reduced capabilities. Chapters 15 through 18 are for full AutoCAD users only, as they cover advanced tools not available in AutoCAD LT, including attributes, 3D navigation, 3D modeling, and rendering. Who Should Read This Book This book is for students, hobbyists, professional architects, industrial designers, engineers, builders, landscape architects, or anyone who communicates through technical drawings as part of their work. If you re interested in certification for AutoCAD 2015, this book can be a great resource to help you prepare. See for more certification information and resources. This book also features an appendix that can help you focus your studies on the skills you will need for the certification exams. What You Will Learn You ll gain a solid understanding of the features of AutoCAD in this book. Each chapter features multiple exercises that take you step by step through the many complex procedures of AutoCAD. The goal of performing these steps on your own is to develop skills that you can apply to many different real-world situations. Although each project presents different obstacles and opportunities, I urge you to focus on the concepts and techniques presented rather than memorizing the specific steps used to achieve the desired result. The actual steps performed may vary in each geometric situation.