AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Essentials

Scott Onstott is a consultant, lecturer, author, and independent video producer with 16 years of experience teaching and writing about design and visualization software. He is the author of Enhancing Architectural Drawings and Models with Photoshop and many other software training books from Sybex.

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 12


Chapter 2 Basic Drawing Skills 15


Navigate 2D Drawings 15


Draw Lines and Rectangles  19


Cancel, Erase, and Undo 23


Use Coordinate Systems 24


Draw Circles, Arcs, and Polygons 30


Use Fillet and Chamfer 36


Chapter 3 Using Drawing Aids 41


Use Grid and Snap 41


Employ Ortho and Polar Tracking 45


Use PolarSnap 46


Select Running Object Snaps 48


Harness the From Snap 51


Apply Object Snap Tracking 52


Chapter 4 Editing Entities 57


Create Selection Sets 57


Move and Copy 64


Rotate and Scale 68


Work with Arrays 71


Trim and Extend 74


Lengthen and Stretch 76


Offset and Mirror 77


Edit with Grips 79


Chapter 5 Shaping Curves 83


Draw and Edit Curved Polylines 83


Draw Ellipses 89


Shape Splines 92


Blend Between Objects with Splines 99


Chapter 6 Controlling Object Visibility and Appearance
103


Change Object Properties 103


Set the Current Layer 107


Alter the Layer Assignments of Objects 111


Control Layer Visibility 113


Apply Linetype 119


Assign Properties by Object or by Layer 122


Manage Layer Properties 124


Isolate Objects 126


Chapter 7 Organizing Objects 129


Define Blocks 129


Insert Blocks 135


Edit Blocks 139


Redefine Blocks 145


Work with Groups 148


Chapter 8 Hatching and Gradients 151


Specify Hatch Areas 151


Associate Hatches with Boundaries 157


Hatch with Patterns 160


Hatch with Gradients 164


Chapter 9 Working with Blocks and Xrefs 167


Work with Global Blocks 167


Access Content Globally 175


Store Content on Tool Palettes 180


Reference External Drawings and Images 182


Chapter 10 Creating and Editing Text 187


Style Text 187


Write Lines of Text 189


Write and Format Paragraphs Using MTEXT 194


Edit Text 197


Chapter 11 Dimensioning 201


Style Dimensions 201


Add Dimensions 207


Edit Dimensions 215


Chapter 12 Keeping In Control with Constraints 219


Work with Geometric Constraints 219


Apply Dimensional Constraints 222


Constrain Objects Simultaneously with Geometry and Dimensions
226


Make Parametric Changes to Constrained Objects 229


Chapter 13 Working with Layouts and Annotative Objects
233


Create Annotative Styles and Objects 233


Create Layouts 239


Adjust Floating Viewports 242


Override Layer Properties in Layout Viewports 248


Draw on Layouts 250


Chapter 14 Printing and Plotting 255


Configure Output Devices 255


Create Plot Style Tables 259


Use Plot Style Tables 260


Plot in Model Space 266


Plot Layouts in Paper Space 270


Export to an Electronic Format 273


Chapter 15 Working with Data 277


Geolocate Projects 277


Import SketchUp Models 281


Define Attributes and Blocks 284


Insert Attributed Blocks 287


Edit Table Styles and Create Tables 289


Use Fields in Table Cells 294


Edit Table Data 297


Chapter 16 Navigating 3D Models 303


Use Visual Styles 303


Work with Tiled Viewports 308


Navigate with the ViewCube 309


Orbit in 3D 311


Use Cameras 313


Navigate with SteeringWheels 316


Learn to Save Views 318


Chapter 17 Modeling in 3D 321


Create Surface Models 321


Edit Surface Models 328


Create Solid Models 334


Edit Solid Models 340


Smooth Mesh Models 347


Chapter 18 Presenting and Documenting 3D Design 351


Assign Materials 351


Place and Adjust Lights 357


Create Renderings 364


Document Models with Drawings 368


Appendix Autodesk® AutoCAD 2015 Certification 375


Index 383