Beginning AutoCAD 2017. Cheryl R. Shrock

      The START page contains two sliding content pages called LEARN and CREATE.

      CREATE: The Create page (shown below) is displayed by default and allows you to start a New drawing, Open an existing drawing or template, Explore sample drawings, view Recent documents or access Online Services.

      You can access the LEARN page by clicking on LEARN at the bottom of the page or on the left-hand side of the page.

      You can start a new drawing using the default template by clicking on the Start Drawing tool, or you can access a list of available templates by clicking on the Templates down arrow.

      Note: The last template you use will become the new default template and is highlighted in the template dropdown list.

       Note:

      The drawing template acad.dwt is for inch measurements.

      The drawing template acadiso.dwt is for metric measurements.

Click on the Start Drawing tool to open the default template and to open the main AutoCAD drawing workspace.

      Note: If your screen does not appear as shown below go to the Intro section of this workbook and follow the steps for configuring AutoCAD to match the workbook configuration.

      The following pages will describe each area and element.

       I know you are anxious to start drawing but be patient and read the remainder of this lesson. It is very important that you understand and are familiar with AutoCAD’s interface.

AUTOCAD APPLICATION WINDOW

      The AutoCAD Application Window default workspace Drafting & Annotation, is shown below.

      Important: I have changed my 2D background color to white for this workbook. Yours may be another color.

      AutoCAD comes with new Dark and Light color themes. On some of the images within this book, you may see the ribbon color showing the Light theme, this is just for clarity. You may choose the Light theme if you wish.

      You may change the color of many areas using: Options / Display tab / Colors button

      If the remainder of your screen does not appear as shown below go to the Intro section of this workbook and follow the steps for configuring AutoCAD to match the workbook configuration.

      A description of each area is shown on the following pages.

APPLICATION WINDOW DESCRIPTIONS

       WORKSPACE

      Workspaces control the display of ribbons, tabs, menus, toolbars, and palettes. AutoCAD gives you the option of deciding how you would like them displayed.

      When you use a workspace, only the menus, toolbars, and palettes that are relevant to a task are displayed. For example if you selected the 3D Modeling workspace only 3D menus, toolbars and palettes would be displayed.

      There are 3 preset Workspaces.

      Drafting & Annotation (shown on the previous page)

      This workspace is the default display. It displays the necessary ribbons, tabs, menus, tools and palettes for 2D drafting. We will be using this workspace for all lessons within this workbook.

       3D Basics

      This 3D Basics workspace provides a simple workspace with the most basic tools for creating and visualizing 3D Models.

       3D Modeling

      The 3D Modeling workspace provides access to the vast array of 3D tools in AutoCAD.

       HOW TO SELECT A WORKSPACE

      1. Selecting a workspace is easy. Select the on the Workspace Switching icon located on the Status Bar at the bottom right corner of the screen.

      2. Select one of the workspace names displayed.

      Note: We will be using the “Drafting & Annotation” Workspace.

       APPLICATION MENU

      The Application Menu provides easy access to common tools Each of the tools will be discussed later in the workbook.

      1. Click on the Application Menu button in the upper left corner of the AutoCAD display screen. (The big “A”)

       Open Documents

      First let me emphasis this is not a method to “open” a drawing file.

      Open Documents is a list of all documents that are already open within AutoCAD.

      Display choice: The list of documents may be displayed as icons or images.

      If you hover the cursor over a document name a preview image will appear.

       View Recent Documents

      When you select Recent Documents a list of the recently viewed documents will appear.

      Display choices: This list may be displayed as icons or images and may be sorted in an ordered list or grouped by date or file type.

      If you hover the cursor over a document name a preview image will appear.

       Pinned Files

      You can keep a file listed regardless of files that you save later using the push pin button to the right. The file is displayed at the bottom of the list until you turn off the push pin button.

Quick Access Toolbar

      The Quick Access Toolbar is located in the top left corner of the AutoCAD window. It includes the most commonly used tools,