Beginning AutoCAD 2015. Cheryl R. Shrock

the cursor on the tool to remove and press the right mouse button. Select Remove from Quick Access Toolbar.

       RIBBON

      The RIBBON provides access to the AutoCAD tools.

      The TABS contain multiple PANELS. Each PANEL contains multiple tools.

      When you select a TAB a new set of PANELS will appear.

      Additional Tools: If you select the symbol, at the bottom of the panel, the panel will expand to access additional tools.

       Control the display of Tabs and Panels

      Right click on the Ribbon and select which Tabs or Panels you choose to display. The check mark confirms the tab or panel is already displayed.

       Control the TAB order

      If you would like to change the order of the tabs, click and drag the tab horizontally to the new location.

       Floating PANELS

      If you prefer to separate a Panel from the Ribbon you may drag the panel off the Ribbon to a new location on the screen.

STATUS BAR

      The Status Bar is located on the bottom of the screen. It displays the current settings. These settings can be turned ON or OFF by clicking on one of the buttons or by pressing a corresponding function key, F2, F3 etc.

      When an icon is turned on it will display a neon blue in color.

       Status Bar Icons

      The status bar provides you with a set of commonly used drawing tools like grid display, snap, object snap and isometric drafting. You can choose to remove some or all of them, or you can choose to add more tools.

       To add or remove tools from the Status Bar.

      1.Select and click on the Customization button.

      2.Check or uncheck the tools you want to remove or add from the list.

      3.Left click in the main drawing area to close the list.

      Note: The tools on the status bar may change depending on whether you are in Model Space or Paper Space.

      A brief description of each tool will be shown on the next five pages. Each tool will be discussed in more detail in future lessons.

STATUS BAR TOOL BUTTON DESCRIPTIONS

      I have enabled all the tool buttons and broken them down into two sections starting from the left-hand side.

      COORDINATES

      The coordinates display the location of the cursor in reference to the Origin. The Origin is currently in the lower left corner of the drawing area. These numbers will change as you move the cursor.

      First set of numbers represents the horizontal movement of the cursor (X-axis).

      Second set of numbers represents the vertical movement of the cursor (Y-axis).

      Third set of numbers represents the Z-axis which is used for 3D and not discussed.

      MODEL

      The MODEL / PAPER button allows you to work in either model space or paper space without leaving the layout tab. When you switch to a layout tab this button automatically switches to PAPER.

      GRID (You may also use F7 to toggle ON or OFF)

      The criss-cross lines in the Drawing Area are called the Grid. It is only a drawing aid and will not print. The default spacing is 1 unit of measurement. You may change the Grid spacing at any time by typing DS then press <enter>, then select the Snap and Grid tab from the Drafting Settings dialog box.

      SNAP MODE (You may also use F9 to toggle ON or OFF) Increment Snap controls the incremental movement of the cursor. If it is ON the cursor will “snap” in an incremental movement. If it is OFF the cursor will move smoothly. You may set the increments by clicking on the down arrow and selecting Snap Settings.

      INFER CONSTRAINTS (Note: Not used in this workbook)

      Inferred Geometric Constraints automatically applies coincident constraints for Endpoint, Midpoint, Center, Node, and Insertion object snaps.

DYNAMIC INPUT (You may also use F12 to toggle ON or OFF)

      When Dynamic Input is ON, you can enter coordinate values in tooltips near the cursor. More on this in Lesson 11.

      ORTHO MODE (You may also use F8 to toggle ON or OFF)

      Ortho restricts the movement of the cursor to Horizontal or Vertical. When Ortho is ON the cursor moves only in the horizontally or vertically. When Ortho is OFF the cursor moves freely in any direction.

      POLAR TRACKING (You may also use F10 to toggle ON or OFF)

      Polar Tracking restricts cursor movement to specified increments along a polar angle. More on this in Lesson 11.

      ISOMETRIC DRAFTING

      Isometric