Title Details

Donnie Gladfelter is a highly visible and respected thought leader in the CAD community. He is well known for the CAD Geek blog (www.thecadgeek.com), has written many articles for the popular AUGIWorld magazine, and is a popular speaker at Autodesk University and other industry events. He has worked with the development team at Autodesk to help shape future versions of AutoCAD, and the company has featured him in numerous video interviews, including their popular ''Ask the Expert" series. Donnie also helps empower CAD professionals locally and across the world as a Business Development Manager for CADD Microsystems, an Autodesk Platinum Partner and Autodesk's 2010 Reseller of the Year.

Chapter 1 Get ting to Know AutoCAD 1

Starting AutoCAD 2

Accessing the Welcome Screen 2

Understanding the Customer Involvement Program 5

Exploring the User Interface  5

Introducing the Application Window 9

Working in the Command-Line Interface 17

Using the Ribbon 18

Displaying the Ribbon Tools  20

Using the Ribbon Tools  22

Using the Application Menu 24

Opening a Drawing with the Application Menu 25

Switching Between Open Drawings  29

Using the Drop-Down Menus 30

Using the Toolbars  31

Saving Workspaces  33

Using the Keyboard 34

Using the Mouse  34

Are You Experienced? 35

Now you can… 35

Chapter 2 Learning Basic Commands to Get Started 37

Using the Line Command 38

Using Coordinates  45

Using Relative Coordinates  48

Using the Direct Distance Method  50

Drawing the Shape  51

Using Relative Cartesian Coordinates 51

Erasing Lines  52

Controlling How the Selection Tools Are Displayed 54

Using Relative Polar Coordinates  55

Using Direct Input  55

Using the Offset Command  57

Using the Fillet Command 60

Completing the Shape  64

Offsetting Lines to Mark an Opening  64

Extending Lines 65

Trimming Lines  67

If You Would Like More Practice…  71

Are You Experienced? 72

Now you can… 72

Chapter 3 Set ting Up a Drawing 73

Setting Up the Drawing Units  74

Setting Up the Drawing Size  79

Using the Grid  79

Setting Up Drawing Limits  83

Drawing with Grid and Snap  87

Taking a Closer Look at Dynamic Input  90

Saving Your Work 93

Saving Drawings to Your Hard Drive or Network Drive 93

Saving Drawings to Autodesk 360 Storage 96

Understanding AutoCAD Units 98

Linear Units  98

Angular Units 99

Are You Experienced? 100

Now you can… 100

Chapter 4 Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 1 101

Laying Out the Walls  102

Creating Polylines from Existing Objects 103

Creating and Editing Polylines  106

Creating the Exterior Wall Lines 109

Creating the Interior Walls  112

Cutting Openings in the Walls  125

Creating Doors  134

Drawing Swinging Doors 135

Copying Objects 144

Mirroring Objects 147

Scaling the Bathroom Door  150

Drawing a Sliding Glass Door  153

Drawing the Bifold Doors  163

If You Would Like More Practice…  170

An Alternative Sliding Glass Door 170

An Addition to the Cabin 170

Three Views of a Block 171

Are You Experienced? 173

Now you can… 173

Chapter 5 Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 2 175

Starting and Running Commands 176

Drawing the Thresholds 178

Drawing the Front Threshold  179

Drawing the Back Threshold 184

Drawing the Decks and Stairs  186

Drawing the Front Deck  186

Drawing the Deck Posts 189

Drawing the Stairs 194

Mirroring the Post and Railing  194

Drawing the Back Deck and Stairs  199

Using Point Filters to Finish the Deck  204

Laying Out the Kitchen  208

Drawing the Counter 209

Drawing the Stove and Refrigerator  213

Completing the Stove with Parametrics 215

Drawing the Kitchen Sink 228

Constructing the Bathroom 231

Setting Running Object Snaps  231

Drawing a Shower Unit  233

Drawing the Bathroom Sink and Mirror 235

Positioning the Toilet and Shelves  239

Drawing the Hot Tub 242

If You Would Like More Practice…  246

Drawing the Cabin Again 246

Drawing Something Else 246

Drawing Some Furniture for the Cabin  246

Drawing a Gasket 247

Drawing a Parking Lot 249

Are You Experienced? 251

Now you can… 251

Chapter 6 Using Layers to Organize Your Drawing 253

Using Layers as an Organizing Tool 254

Setting Up Layers 255

Assigning Linetypes to Layers 269

Assigning Objects to Layers 276

Turning Off and Freezing Layers 291

Drawing the Headers 294

Drawing the Roof 298

Setting a Linetype Scale Factor 304

Drawing the Ridgeline 306

Using the Layer Walk Tool 308

Setting Properties of Layers and Objects 310

Selecting Colors for Layers and Objects  310

Assigning a Color or a Linetype to an Object Instead of a Layer 310

Making a Color or a Linetype Current  311

Using the Action Recorder  312

Creating Layer States  316

If You Would Like More Practice…  320

Experimenting with Linetypes and Linetype Scales  320

Setting Up Layers for Your Own Trade or Profession 321

Are You Experienced? 322

Now you can… 322

Chapter 7 Combining Objects into Blocks 323

Making a Block for a Door  324

Inserting the Door Block 331

Using Dynamic Blocks 337

Understanding and Using Groups  339

Finding Blocks in a Drawing  342

Using Grips to Detect a Block  342

Using the List Command to Detect a Block  344

Using the Properties Palette to Examine a Block 346

Creating a Window Block 347

Inserting the Window Block 352

Rotating a Block during Insertion  353

Using Snap Tracking to Set the Insertion Point 356

Changing a Block’s Scale Factor by Using Object Properties  358

Finishing the Windows  360

Revising a Block  365

Sharing Information between Drawings 367

Dragging and Dropping between Two Open Drawings  368

Copying Objects between Drawings  371

Using the AutoCAD DesignCenter 372

Using Other Ways to Share Information between Drawings  379

If You Would Like More Practice…  387

Are You Experienced? 390

Now you can… 390

Chapter 8 Controlling Text in a Drawing 391

Setting Up Text Styles 392

Determining Text and Drawing Scale 393

Defining a Text Style for View Titles 394

Placing Titles of Views in the Drawing  398

Using Annotative Text 403

Defining an Annotative Text Style 404

Placing Room Labels in the Floor Plan 406

Using Text in a Grid  417

Creating a Title Block and Border 428

Using Multiline Text  445

Finishing the Title Block 446

Using Mtext for General Notes 450

Using the Spell-Check Feature  459

Exploring Other Aspects of Multiline Text  463

If You Would Like More Practice…  468

Are You Experienced? 469

Now you can… 469

Chapter 9 Using Dynamic Blocks and Tables 471

Using Attributes for a Grid  472

Defining Blocks with Attributes  477

Inserting Blocks with Attributes 479

Editing Attribute Text  481

Setting Up Multiple Attributes in a Block  483

Defining a Block with Multiple Attributes  488

Calculating Areas 490

Inserting the Room Information Block  494

Editing Attributes  499

Controlling the Visibility of Attributes  503

Exploring Other Uses for Attributes  507

Creating a Dynamic Block  508

Setting Up Parameters and Actions  509

Fine-Tuning the Dynamic Block with the Properties Palette  513

Inserting a Dynamic Block  516

Creating a Table  522

Defining a Table Style  523

Designing a Table 527

Creating Tables from Attributes  535

Modifying the Table Display 541

If You Would Like More Practice…  543

Are You Experienced? 543

Now you can… 543

Chapter 10 Generating Elevations 545

Drawing the South Elevation 546

Creating the South Elevation  546

Setting Up Lines for the Heights 549

Using Construction Lines to Project Elevation Points 550

Copying Objects by Using Grips  551

Trimming Lines in the Elevation  555

Assigning Elevation Layers  561

Drawing the Decks in Elevation  562

Generating the Other Elevations 577

Making the Opposite Elevation 577

Revising the New South Elevation  581

Making the Front and Back Elevations 587

Considering Drawing Scale Issues 598

Drawing Interior Elevations 599

If You Would Like More Practice…  599

Are You Experienced? 601

Now you can… 601

Chapter 11 Working with Hatches, Gradients, and Tool Palettes 603

Hatching the South Elevation  604

Looking at Hatch Patterns 608

Hatching the Rest of the South Elevation  610

Adding Special Effects 617

Using Hatches in the Floor Plan  623

Creating the User-Defined Hatch Pattern 624

Controlling the Origin of the Hatch Pattern  626

Finishing the Hatches for the Floors  628

Modifying the Shape of Hatch Patterns 631

Creating and Managing Tool Palettes  633

Creating a New Tool Palette 633

Setting Up a Palette for Hatches  636

Creating a Palette for Commands 638

If You Would Like More Practice…  641

Creating the Hatch Patterns for the Other Elevations 641

Creating Your Hatch Palette  642

Are You Experienced? 644

Now you can… 644

Chapter 12 Dimensioning a Drawing 645

Introducing Dimension Styles  646

Preparing for Dimensioning  647

Making a New Dimension Style 649

Setting Up the Symbols And Arrows Tab  651

Making Changes in the Text Tab 652

Working with Settings on the Fit Tab 654

Setting Up the Primary Units Tab (Architectural)  655

Setting Up the Primary Units Tab (Metric) 657

Completing the Dimension Style Setup  658

Exploring the Alternate Units Tab 660

Exploring the Tolerances Tab  663

Placing Dimensions on the Drawing  668

Placing Horizontal Dimensions 668

Using the Dimension Continue Command 671

Using the Dimension Baseline Command  674

Setting Up Vertical Dimensions  675

Finishing the Dimensions 678

Using Other Types of Dimensions  678

Using Radial Dimensions 680

Adding a Diameter Dimension 681

Adding an Arc Length  682

Setting Up Parent and Child Dimensioning Styles 683

Using Aligned and Angular Dimensions 685

Using Ordinate Dimensions 687

Using Leader Lines 691

Modifying Dimensions  697

Editing Dimension Text Content 698

Moving Dimensions 701

Adjusting Space between Stacked Dimensions 703

Using Dimension Overrides 703

Dimensioning Short Distances 706

If You Would Like More Practice…  710

Dimensioning the Garage Addition 710

Dimensioning to a Centerline  710

Completing Further Exercises 714

Are You Experienced? 715

Now you can… 715

Chapter 13 Managing External References 717

Drawing a Site Plan 718

Using Surveyor’s Units 718

Drawing the Driveway  724

Setting Up an External Reference  731

Using the External References Palette  732

Organizing the Drawing Objects 738

Moving and Rotating an Xref 740

Modifying an Xref Drawing  741

Modifying an Xref by Making It the Current Drawing 741

Modifying an Xref from within the Host Drawing  744

Adding an Image to a Drawing  749

Putting Xrefs to Use  753

Exploring Additional Xref Features  754

Setting the Xref Path 754

Binding Xrefs  756

Exploring Further on Your Own  759

If You Would Like More Practice…  760

Building Architectural References  760

Comparing Reference Types  761

Are You Experienced? 761

Now you can… 761

Chapter 14 Using Layouts to Set Up a Print 763

Getting Ready  764

Preparing the Title Block  765

Creating the Title Block Reference  765

Defining the Attributes  769

Making the Sheet Information Block  774

Setting Up a Sheet Template  776

Setting the Layout Parameters  778

Finishing the Sheet Template  783

Creating Your First Plan Sheet 788

Using Sheet Set Manager  791

Creating a New Sheet Set  791

Adding Existing Drawings to a Sheet Set 796

Creating Drawings with Sheet Set Manager 801

Setting Up Layouts  805

Referencing the Model 805

Creating the Paper Space Viewport 808

Setting the Viewport Scale  811

Copying the Layouts  813

Adjusting a Viewport’s Contents  826

Setting the Linetype Scale 827

Managing the Floor Plan Sheet File  828

Managing the Elevations Sheet File  834

Setting Up the Site Plan Sheet  838

Defining a New Viewport Scale 841

Locking and Turning Off Viewports  844

If You Would Like More Practice…  846

Are You Experienced? 848

Now you can… 848

Chapter 15 Printing a Drawing 849

Using the Plot Dialog Box 850

Printer/Plotter  852

Paper Size and Number of Copies 853

Plot Area 853

Plot Scale  860

Plot Offset and Plot Options  861

The Expanded Plot Dialog Box  861

Applying Plot-Style Tables  864

Introducing Plot-Style Table Files 865

Understanding How Plot-Style Table Files Are Organized 866

Assigning Plot-Style Tables to Drawings 869

Printing a Drawing 875

Determining Lineweights for a Drawing 875

Setting Other Properties of Layers  881

Setting Up the Other Parameters for the Print  882

Previewing a Print  884

Viewing Plots in Design Review 886

Printing a Drawing Using Layouts 888

Updating Model File Layer Properties in Sheet Files  888

Plotting a Single Layout  891

Printing a Drawing with Multiple Viewports  893

Printing with a Large-Format Printer  893

Publishing Multiple Layouts  895

Publishing with Sheet Set Manager  897

Going Forward  901

If You Would Like More Practice…  901

Are You Experienced? 902

Now you can… 902

Chapter 16 Creating 3D Geometry 903

Modeling in 3D  904

Setting Up the 3D Workspace and Environment  904

Making the Walls  909

Creating the Door and Window Block-Outs 913

Moving and Rotating in 3D  917

Using the First Right-Hand Rule 918

Cutting the Openings  921

Creating the Floor, Foundation, and Thresholds  923

Creating the Foundation and Supports  925

Building the Windows  927

Navigating with the ViewCube  941

Adding the Sliding Door  943

Building the Decks 945

Putting a Roof on the Cabin  963

Getting Further Directions in 3D  976

Using Other Solid-Modeling Tools 976

Using Mesh-Modeling Tools 980

Using Surface-Modeling Tools 981

If You Would Like More Practice…  983

Are You Experienced? 983

Now you can… 983

Chapter 17 Rendering and Materials 985

Creating Cameras to Reproduce Views  986

Using the Loft Tool 986

Creating the Cameras  991

Creating a Lighting Scheme 994

Creating a Light Source 995

Enabling Shadows  999

Creating the First Render  1000

Controlling the Background of the Rendering 1005

Adding Materials 1008

Adjusting the Material Mapping  1013

Rendering to a File 1018

If You Would Like More Practice…  1021

Are You Experienced? 1022

Now you can… 1022

Index 1023