Introduction to AutoCAD
Launching AutoCAD
Click on Start from the taskbar.
Click on All Programs, Autodesk and AutoCAD 2014 – English.
Click AutoCAD 2014 – English
General Screen
The figure above is the general screen when AutoCAD 2014 is opened.
Text and Graphics Screens
Two different screens are available in the drawing editor. The text screen is a window
allowing the viewing and editing of the commands and the graphics screen is used for the
drawing and selecting objects.
Press Function key F2 on the keyboard.
Cursor
The cursor is used to select objects and to enter commands.
Click on Tools and then on Options…
Choose Display
The crosshair size can be adjusted by dragging the slide bar resulting in the setting of the
cursor size.
Cancelling a Command
The Escape (Esc) key is pressed on the keyboard.
Menus and Colours
Menu Browser
Click on the desired pull-down menus.
Click on the command to be executed from the pull-down.
Quick Access Toolbar
The commands QNEW, OPEN, SAVE, SAVE AS, PLOT, and UNDO/REDO are quickly
accessed in the toolbar.
When the quick access toolbar is right-clicked and the customize button is clicked, an
Customization User Interface dialog is opened and a list of commands is displayed.
Afterwards, commands can be selected to appear in the quick access toolbar.
Info Centre
The info centre provides access to various sources of information, product updates and
announcements and save topics with info centre.
Workspaces
Workspaces contain preferences and settings about the working environment. There are
different types of workspaces. Workspaces can be switched among them by accessing the
menu browser. The workspaces are altered by clicking on either of those two example below.
or
The options for the different workspaces in the pull-down menu are shown in the figure
below.
AutoCAD Classic Workspace
AutoCAD Classic Toolbar
To Float a Toolbar
Click on the grey border of a toolbar.
Drag the toolbar to any place on the screen.
To Dock a Toolbar
Click on the grey border of a toolbar.
Then drag the toolbar to the top, left, right or bottom of the drawing display.
Docked Toolbar
Floating Toolbar
Loading Toolbar
Right- click on any toolbar.
A list of all available toolbars will appear.
Status Bar and Command Prompt
The status bar is found below the command line.
Status Bar
The status bar consists of SNAP, GRID, ORTHO, OSNAP, MSPACE, PSPACE, AND TILE
and those can be activated by double-click on them.
By right-clicking on the blank space on the status bar, a list of tools that are on or off is
shown.
Typing Commands
Typing a Command
All AutoCAD commands can be typed in the command line. One or two letter aliases are
used for most commands as a shortcut for the corresponding command. For example, if the
desired command is typed in the command prompt, the command’s shortcut can also be used.
Desired command typed in the command prompt - Command : LINE
Command’s shortcut is - Command : L and then press the ENTER key on the
keyboard.
Reissuing the Last Command
Press the ENTER key on the keyboard, or
Press the SPACEBAR key on the keyboard, or
Click the right mouse button.
Pointing Device (Mouse)
Left Mouse Button
The left mouse button is used to pick or select objects in the drawing region. The Escape
(Esc) key is press twice to deselect (or to cancel a command).
Right Mouse Button
The right mouse button is used to enter a command, repeat the last command, or to access the
shortcut menus.
Undo and Redo
Undo
Click Edit and Undo, or
Click on the Undo icon , or
Press Ctrl + Z, or
Type U in the command prompt to undo the last command – Command : U
Redo
Redo is the reverse action of an Undo.
Click Edit and then Redo, or
Click on the Redo icon , or
Type REDO in the command prompt in order to reverse the action of the last undo
command – Command : REDO
On-Line Help
Click Help in the Menu bar and then on Help, or
Click on the Help icon , or
Press the Function Key F1, or
Type HELP in the command prompt – Command : HELP
Open Existing File
Click File and then Open, or
Click on the Open icon , or
Press Ctrl + O, or
Type OPEN in the command prompt – Command : OPEN
Creating a New Drawing
Click File and New, or
Click on the New icon , or
Press Ctrl + N, or
Type NEW in the command prompt – Command : NEW
Saving Drawings
Click File and then Save or Save As, or
Type SAVE or SAVE AS in the command prompt.
Press ENTER.
Click on the OK button.
The drawing can be saved
as various file types.
Quick Save
Click on the Save icon , or
Press Ctrl + S, or
Type QSAVE in the command prompt.
AutoSave Settings under Tools, Options…
Exiting AutoCAD
Click File and Exit, or
Type QUIT at the command prompt.
Press ENTER.
Click Yes to save changes or No to discard changes.
