AutoCAD interface. Menu commands

is a computer-aided design tool created by developers from Autodesk. Software component is an element of a CAD system equipped with special tools for creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional models. In this lesson we will try to understand in detail the main interface of AutoCAD using the 2014 version as an example.

To create a new working file, you must press the corresponding key. Then a window should appear on the screen asking you to select the required template, which will act as an interface design. You should take into account the fact that the functionality of the AutoCAD software allows you to simultaneously use not only flat, but also volumetric parts or various grouped objects in 3D format in one working document. No other 2D or 3D modeling program can boast of this advantage. According to the current default settings, the design type in AutoCad is selected as acadiso. The program interface contains the following:

Quick Access Toolbar Elements.
Work tape.
A string indicating the status.
View panel.
Command line.
Working field.

1. Quick Access Toolbar Elements

As a rule, such a panel consists of a standard set of working commands: create, open, save, print, cancel and repeat. However, the designer can independently come up with commands and create the necessary tools at his own discretion, as well as store them on the quick access panel.

2. Working belt

On this working panel tabs are presented, which in turn contain all the necessary management elements and working tools. As a rule, it is displayed at the top of the working field. The AutoCAD program allows the designer, at his discretion, to edit the image of the work tape or enable a floating mode for it. The main elements are shown in the picture below:

Tab – consists primarily of grouped panels. The user himself decides what order the tabs will be arranged on the work ribbon.
Panel – represented by a set of tools.
Expand key – expands a panel that displays additional work tools.
Working panel in full size.
Pin - If the default mode is set, the pin is usually disabled. Hovering the cursor authorizes automatic minimization of the work panel. When it is turned on, no manipulations with the panel will change it appearance.
Name of the working panel.

3. Line displaying status

Here the user can find drawing management tools and quick access items. The context menu, launched by right-clicking on the corresponding line, allows you to present the type of object display - in the form of characters or text.

Model – representation of a drawing on the working field.

View sheets in fast mode– display of all project pages and accelerated transition between them.

View drawings in fast mode - displays all available drawings, as well as accelerated switching between all drawings and their elements

Annotation scale – indicates the current scale of the presented annotations. Has a direct connection with the viewport scale.

Annotation visibility – mode of presentation of annotation objects.

Auto-scaling – changing the representation of annotation objects while changing their scales.

Workspaces – transition from one workspace to another, as well as selection of the required parameters.

Lock display - Use lock mode to fix a specified position of windows or toolbars.

Navigation wheel – changing the position of the view in space. The function is equipped with a cursor menu.

Palm – a fixed left mouse button allows you to change the position of the viewport in the plane of the working environment.

Zoom – reducing and enlarging the view display, implies several zoom operating modes, which are displayed in a special submenu.

Orbit is a function for rotating the working screen around an axis. There are several types of spins from the submenu.

Enable animation.

Above are descriptions of the main status bar tools. The left side of the tools view shows the AutoCAD icons, and the right side shows their designations.

4. View panel.

The View Panel is a management module of the working window, which consists of the following components:

Gizmo box - used to change the location of an object or rotate it in different planes. The designer can choose from many projection views.
Coordinate system selection menu.
View working tools menu.

5. Command line

The text format of the command line display shows all the functions and operations that the designer uses. In addition, here you can enter new commands, as well as use the text mode of the submenu. So we got acquainted with the standard working interface of the AutoCAD software environment. You can learn more about this product in the following lessons with detailed examples.

AutoCAD "File" menu.

Here are AutoCAD commands for working with files (creating, opening, saving, publishing on the Internet, importing files, exporting to other formats) and managers of parameters for sheets, plotters, and plotting styles.

The most commonly used items in the "File" submenu are:

“Create” - by selecting this item, you can create a new drawing document without closing the previous one. AutoCAD can work with multiple documents;

“Open” - using this item, previously saved AutoCAD drawing documents in *.dwg format are opened;

"Close" - closes the current drawing;

"Save" - saves changes in the current AutoCAD drawing;

"Save as..." - saves the drawing with the ability to set a new name;

"Sheet Settings Manager" - used to layout the drawing in sheet space and configure printing parameters;

"Plotter Manager" - allows you to select, install and configure plotters for printing drawings from AutoCAD;

“Preview” - gives the user an idea of how the drawing will look on paper after printing;

“Print” - through this item, drawings are printed, and printing parameters are also configured.

AutoCAD "Edit" menu.

Here are tools for editing parts of the graphic field of the AutoCAD desktop and working with the clipboard.

"Cancel" - cancels the last action;

“Repeat” - returns the canceled action;

"Copy" - copies selected objects to the clipboard for subsequent insertion into another AutoCAD drawing document;

“Copy with base point” - allows you to copy selected objects for insertion into another drawing with an exact indication of the copy and insertion point;

"Paste" - allows you to paste objects from the clipboard into a drawing;

"Erase" - deletes objects from the drawing;

“Select All” - selects all objects in the drawing.

AutoCAD "View" menu.

Here you will find tools for controlling the screen, zooming (i.e. bringing objects closer and further away), panning (i.e. shifting the drawing in any direction for viewing), installing three-dimensional 3D views, creating viewports and named views,

The most commonly used items in the View submenu are:

“Regen all” - restores the correct display of objects in the drawing. (You may need to use this AutoCAD command frequently because zooming too much causes some objects to appear incorrectly, such as circles appearing as polygons. This is done to save computer memory resources.)

“Zoom” - when you select this item, a list of tools opens AutoCAD zoom, with which you can zoom in and out of objects. But in practice, in most cases, it is much more convenient to zoom by turning the mouse wheel forward to zoom in, or back to zoom out.

“Panning” - if you select this item, a list of panning tools will open, with which you can move around the drawing. (But in practice, panning is conveniently done by moving the mouse, pressing and holding the wheel, which in no case should be rotated, otherwise zooming will occur.)

“Orbit” - when you select this item, a list of three AutoCAD tools opens, used to view three-dimensional objects from any side, at any angle.

“Viewports” are tools for “cutting” windows from paper space into model space, for selecting and scaling objects from the model that the user wants to see on the sheet when printed.

"3d views" - tools for displaying three-dimensional objects in certain view projections.

"Visual styles" - here you can select the style for displaying objects in AutoCAD. This function is often used in 3D modeling.

AutoCAD "Insert" menu.

Here you can find commands for inserting blocks, external objects, and objects from other applications.

The most commonly used items in the Insert submenu are:

"Block" - used to insert drawing elements, converted and saved as a special object - a block.

“Insertion of a raster image” - using this item, a raster image is inserted into the drawing.

"Sheet" - through this item you can add new sheets to the AutoCAD drawing document.

AutoCAD "Format" menu.

Here are the commands for working with layers; color, line types; text and dimensional styles; multilines, tables, AutoCAD drawing boundaries and units of measurement.

The most commonly used items in the Edit submenu are:

"Layer..." - this item opens the layer properties manager window through which you can create and delete layers, turn off, freeze and lock them, adjust the color, thickness and line type for each layer, disable output to print objects of any layer.

"Text Style..." - opens the window for setting up text styles in the AutoCAD program. In this window you can select the font type, set the height of the characters in millimeters, the degree of their stretching and the angle of inclination. It is best to use the font "simplex.shx" with a stretch of 0.7 and an inclination of letters (numbers) of 15 degrees. The font with these settings is very similar to GOST.

"Dimension Style..." - opens the window for setting up dimensional styles. This window contains several tabs with many different settings for arranging dimensions in the drawing.

"Table Style..." - when selecting this item, a window opens for setting up tables, which often need to be added to a drawing, for example, to compile explications of rooms in construction drawings in AutoCAD.

AutoCAD "Tools" menu.

This submenu contains tools for managing workspaces and palettes; setting the order of drawing objects and obtaining information about them; working with blocks and their attributes; working with the AutoLISP language; working with a custom coordinate system; settings of design standards; management of various kinds of Masters; setting drawing parameters and object snaps using dialog boxes.

The most frequently used items in the "Service" submenu are:

"Workspaces" - through this item you can select previously saved AutoCAD program interface settings. The default workspace is "Classic AutoCAD". You can customize your own workspace: enable, for example, additional toolbars and save the workspace under a different name by selecting the corresponding sub-item from the list that opens when you select the “Workspaces” item.

“Palettes” - here you can display the tool palettes needed for work on the desktop.

"Command Line" - turns the command line on and off. If you are careless and close the command line, you can always return it to its place through this item.

"Spelling" - opens the spell check dialog box. Should be applied this function AutoCAD, if there is a lot of text in the drawing (specification, legend, etc.).

"Inquiry" - I use this item to obtain information about the geometric parameters of objects, such as distance and area. This information is shown to the user in the command line window when selecting the appropriate sub-items and indicating the required points in the drawing.

"Macros" - this item is for experienced users. Through it you can create macros - sequences of commands to automate routine work processes in AutoCAD.

"New UCS" - here are commands for working with a custom coordinate system. You can shift the origin of coordinates and change the position of the coordinate axes (x, y, z) in space.

"Drawing Modes" - ("Drafting Settings...") - opens the drawing modes window, the same window that appears when you right-click on any button on the status bar and select "Settings..." from the list that appears.

“Adaptation” - I use this item to adapt and customize the AutoCAD program interface and its elements.

"Settings..." - opens a dialog box with many tabs for configuring AutoCAD operating parameters.

AutoCAD "Draw" menu.

Here are commands for creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects.

Basic 2D modeling commands:

"Line" - creates a straight line of a given length. The user is required to specify the coordinates of the start and end points of the segment in any way.

"Ray" - creates a straight line that has a starting point, but does not have an end (the end goes to infinity). The end can be trimmed (there is a special command for this in AutoCAD), for example, at the point of intersection with another object. After cutting, the beam will become a segment, and the endless “stub” will be removed.

"Straight" ("Construction Line") - creates an endless straight line.

"Polyline" - creates a single object that can consist of any number of sequentially connected segments and arcs (circle fragments).

"Polygon" - creates regular polygons in AutoCAD with a specified number of sides. Regular polygons are those in which all sides and angles are equal.

"Rectangle" - creates a rectangle using the coordinates of the points of two opposite corners. A rectangle in AutoCAD is constructed in such a way that its sides are parallel to the x and y axes. But after construction, if really necessary, the rectangle can be rotated using the appropriate editing command.

"Circle" - creates a circle that is constructed, indicating the center and radius, or the center and diameter, or three points on the circle.

"Arc" - creates an arc (a fragment of a circle).

"Spline" - creates a smooth curved line.

"Ellipse" - creates an ellipse of the correct shape.

"Block" - converts selected objects in the drawing into a special AutoCAD object - a block.

"Point" - creates a point on the drawing.

"Hatch" - opens the hatch creation dialog box. In this window you can select the type and configure the hatch parameters.

"Gradient" - opens a dialog box that allows you to customize and create an object that represents something like a colored fill in which the colors fade into each other smoothly. I used a gradient to cast shadows on the glass windows on the facade of a building in an architectural drawing.

"Region" - converts closed lines into a single flat AutoCAD object that looks like a line, but in fact it is more than a line, it also includes all the many points that are inside the closed path.

"Text" - allows you to create text (multi-line and single-line) in the drawing.

AutoCAD "Dimension" menu.

Here are the commands for setting dimensions and managing the parameters of dimension styles.

The most commonly used items in the Dimensions submenu are:

"Linear" - allows you to create horizontal and vertical linear dimensions in AutoCAD.

"Parallel" ("Aligned") - creates a dimension construction parallel to any segment.

"Radius" - sets the size of the radius of the circle.

"Diameter" - sets the size of the diameter of the circle.

"Angular" - sets the angular size.

"Baseline" - allows you to arrange dimensions in AutoCAD from a common base size.

“Chain” (“Continue”) - applies a chain of successive sizes.

"Dimension style..." - opens the Dimension Style Manager dialog box for configuring dimensioning parameters.

AutoCAD "Modify" menu.

This submenu contains commands with which you can edit objects in the drawing.

The most commonly used items in the Edit submenu are:

"Properties" - opens the properties panel for editing the parameters of the selected object.

"Erase" - deletes an object from an AutoCAD drawing.

"Copy" - runs the copy command. The user needs to specify the base point (where we take it from) and the insertion point (where we put the copy).

"Mirror" - runs the mirror copy command. The user needs to select an object, specify two points on the reflection axis, press "enter", and the object will be "mirrored".

"Offset" - launches the command for constructing concentric circles, parallel segments and curves. The user specifies the copying distance and the side on which such a copy will be placed in relation to the original.

"Array" - allows you to create multiple copies of objects. Copies can be placed along a straight line, in several rows, or in a circle.

"Move" - calls a command to move an object from one place in the drawing to another. The user selects an object, indicates the base point (from where we take it) and the second point (where we put it).

"Rotate" - calls a command to rotate objects. The user selects an object, specifies the rotation center point, and sets the angle in degrees by which the object should be rotated.

"Scale" - runs an AutoCAD command that enlarges or reduces an object by a specified number of times.

"Trim" - launches a command to trim an object to the specified boundaries.

"Extend" - call a command to extend an object to the specified boundaries.

"Break" - tears away from the object and removes a piece of line between two specified points lying on the original object.

"Join" - converts two disconnected linear objects that converge at a common vertex into a single object - a polyline.

"Chamfer" - chamfers a corner when there are two segments with a common vertex.

"Fillet" - removes the mate from a corner when there are two segments with a common vertex.

"Expload" - breaks single complex objects into component parts that become completely independent. In fact, the word "Expload" means "Explode", not "Dismember", there is a translation error here.

AutoCAD "Window" menu.

I only use two sub-items from this sub-menu:

"Close" - closes the window of the current AutoCAD drawing;

"Close All" - closes the windows of all drawings open in AutoCAD.

AutoCAD "Help" menu.

The Help submenu allows the user to use the help service to successfully solve problems that arise when using the AutoCAD program.

The drop-down menu line can be changed by adding or removing certain items. To do this, you need to select Tools > Customize > Interface… in the drop-down menu, in the Customize User Interface settings dialog box that appears, on the Customize tab in the Customizatios in All CUI Files area, open the Menus item (Fig. 2.3). Next, place the mouse pointer on one of the menu items and, by right-clicking, call up the context menu in which you can select the appropriate item to delete existing drop-down menus or create new ones.

Rice. 2.3. Customize Menu Dialog Box

The default drop-down menu bar contains the following items:

File – commands for working with files: creating, opening, saving, publishing on the Internet, printing, exporting files to other formats, as well as managers of parameters for sheets, plotters, print styles, etc.;

Edit – tools for editing parts of the graphic field of the program desktop, working with the clipboard, etc.;

View – screen control, zooming, panning, setting a three-dimensional point of view, creating viewports and named views, setting visual styles, shading, moving path animation, installing the necessary toolbars;

Insert – commands for inserting blocks, external objects, objects of other applications;

Format – commands for working with layers and their tools; color, line types; management of text styles, sizes, multilines, tables; view of the point marker, setting units of measurement, drawing boundaries;

Tools – workspace management; palettes; setting the order of drawing objects and obtaining information about them; working with blocks and their attributes; working with AutoLISP language; working with a custom coordinate system; setting design standards; managing Wizards (publishing on the Internet, installing plotters, creating plot style tables, color-dependent plot styles, sheet layout, creating a binder, importing print parameters); setting drawing parameters and bindings using dialog boxes, etc.;

Draw – two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawing commands;

Dimension – commands for setting dimensions and managing parameters of dimension styles;

Modify – commands for editing drawing elements;

Window – multi-window mode for working with drawings;

Help – displays a hypertext help system on the screen.

Toolbars

AutoCAD commands on toolbars are represented as icons. If you hold the mouse pointer over an icon, the name of the corresponding command appears next to it, placed in a small rectangle.

If there is a small black triangle in the lower right corner of the icon, this means that it contains a submenu with a set of related commands. To call a submenu, you need to hold the mouse pointer on the icon for a while by pressing its left button.

Toolbars can be floating (float) or docked (docked), with a fixed location. It is possible to change the size of floating panels, as well as move them along the graphic field (Fig. 2.4). A floating panel can be made docked by dragging it outside the graphics area with the mouse. Conversely, as soon as a docked panel enters the graphics field area, it becomes floating.

Rice. 2.4. Floating Toolbar

If necessary, the required toolbar can be displayed on the desktop by left-clicking on its name in the list context menu. To get this context menu, you need to right-click the mouse, placing its pointer on any icon of the toolbars (Fig. 2.5).

Rice. 2.5. List of toolbars

To remove a toolbar, you need to make it floating if it is docked and click on the close button located in the upper right corner of the toolbar title.

If a set of necessary panels and windows are organized on the desktop, the user can lock their position to prevent them from being accidentally moved or deleted. To do this, call the context menu by right-clicking on the tool representing a lock in the right corner of the status bar and fix the position of the panels:

Floating Toolbars/Panels – floating toolbars;

Docked Toolbars/Panels – docked toolbars;

Floating Windows – floating windows;

Docked Windows – docked windows;

All – all tools: Locked – locked, Unlocked – unlocked;

Help - help.

To temporarily unlock toolbars, you must hold down the Ctrl key.

Training system
Complete exercises N2 and N3 from section 1.

The Standard panel is shown in Fig. 2.6.

Rice. 2.6. Standard toolbar

It contains the following tools:

QNew – creating a new drawing file;

Save (Ctrl+S) – saves the current file;

Plot... (Ctrl+P) – output the drawing to a plotter, printer or file;

Plot Preview – preview of the drawing before printing, allowing you to see the placement of the drawing on a sheet of paper;

Publish… – publishing drawing sheets in Design Web Format (DWF) file format, loading the Publish dialog box;

3DDWF – export of a three-dimensional model in Design Web Format (DWF) file format;

Cut (Ctrl+X) – copying objects to the clipboard and deleting them from the drawing;

Copy (Ctrl+C) – copying selected drawing elements to the Windows clipboard without deleting them from the source document;

Paste (Ctrl+V) – paste data from the Windows buffer;

Match Properties – copying the properties of a given object to another object;

Block Editor – editing blocks;

Undo (Ctrl+Z) – undoes the last action;

Redo (Ctrl+Y) – restore a just canceled action;

Pan Realtime – moving the image on the current viewport in real time;

Zoom Realtime – increases or decreases the visible size of objects on the current viewport in real time;

Zoom submenu – a drop-down set of tools in which you can set various ways increasing or decreasing the visible size of objects in the current viewport;

Zoom Previous – return to display of the previous view;

Properties (Ctrl+1) – loads the palette for managing object properties;

DesignCenter (Ctrl+2) – a dialog interface that allows you to quickly find, view, call, transfer previously created drawings to the current drawing, manage block occurrences, external links and other drawing elements, such as layers, sheets and text styles;

Tool Palettes Window (Ctrl+3) – tool palettes in the form of separate tabs in a special window that serve as an effective means of storing/inserting blocks and shading. Palettes may contain tools provided by third parties;

Sheet Set Manager (Ctrl+4) – manager of sheet sets of sheets, allowing you to organize the placement of sheet packages depending on the type of drawings and with the ability to effectively create, manage and sharing sets of logically related drawings;

Markup Set Manager (Ctrl+7) – manager of sets of marks, allowing you to organize work with drawings in DWF format;

QuickCalc (Ctrl+8) – calculator;

Help – call the help system.

Styles panel

The Styles panel, shown in Fig. 2.7, is designed for creating new text, dimension and table styles.

Rice. 2.7. Styles panel

The panel contains the following tools:

Text Style… – creating new and editing existing text styles;

Dimension Style... – creating new and editing existing dimensional styles;

Table Style… – creating new and editing existing table styles;

Multileader Style... – creates new and edits existing leader line styles.

Workspaces panel

The Workspaces panel shown in Fig. 2.8, allows you to set workspace parameters.

Rice. 2.8. Workspaces panel

Workspaces include only the necessary sets of menus, toolbars and palettes, grouped and organized according to the task at hand. Interface elements that are not necessary for solving the current task are hidden, freeing up the screen area available for work as much as possible.

The following workspaces are defined in AutoCAD:

2D Drafting & Annotation – two-dimensional modeling (Fig. 2.9);

3D Modeling – three-dimensional modeling (Fig. 2.10);

AutoCAD Classic – classic AutoCAD (see Fig. 2.1).

Rice. 2.9. Workspace for 2D modeling

In addition to the ability to set a workspace, the Workspaces panel includes the following items:

Save Current As... – opens the Save Workspace dialog box, allowing you to save the current workspace;

Workspace settings... – opens the Workspace Settings dialog box, which allows you to configure the current workspace settings for later use;

Rice. 2.10. Workspace for 3D modeling

Customize… – opens the Customize User Interface dialog box, allowing you to customize the user interface.

The Workspaces panel also contains the following tools:

Workspace Settings... – opens the Workspace Settings dialog box, allowing you to configure the current workspace settings for later use;

My Workspace – Returns the name of the current workspace to the command line interface and sets that space as current.

The 3D Modeling workspace includes a new control panel that provides easy access to new 3D modeling features. The drawing area displays the background color, ground plane or work surface, and a new rectangular grid, improving 3D visualization and making it easier to create spatial models. A new 3D cursor provides UCS direction guidance. The Model and Lauout tabs have been replaced with buttons on the status bar, resulting in an expanded drawing area. You can switch to tab display mode by right-clicking on the Model or Lauout button.

Training system
Complete exercise N1 from section 1.

Layers panel

The Layers panel shown in Fig. 2.11, provides work with layers.

Rice. 2.11. Layers panel

Layer Properties Manager – call the Layer Properties Manager;

Layer Control – Layer control drop-down list. Each line contains icons for controlling or displaying layer properties, as well as its name. These icons are listed below (from left to right):

Turn a layer On or Off – turn a layer on/off;

Freeze or thaw in ALL viewports – freezing/thawing on all viewports;

Freeze or thaw in current viewport – freezing/thawing on the current viewport;

Lock or Unlock a layer – lock/unlock a layer;

Color of layer – layer color;

Layer Control – name of the layer.

Make Object's Layer Current – setting the current layer in accordance with the layer of the selected primitive;

Layer Previous – return to previous state layers;

Layer States Manager – Loads the Layer States Manager dialog box.

Object Properties Panel

Properties panel of objects Properties, shown in Fig. 2.12, is designed to work with color, type and weight of lines.

Rice. 2.12. Object Properties Panel

It includes the following tools:

Color Control – drop-down list for setting the current color, as well as changing the color of selected objects;

Line Type Control – drop-down list for setting the current line type, as well as changing the line type for selected objects;

Line Weight Control – drop-down list for setting the current line weight (thickness), as well as changing the line thickness of selected objects;

Plot Styles Control – drop-down list for setting plot styles. Here you can change the appearance of the drawing drawn on the plotter. Plot styles redefine the colors, types, and line weights (thicknesses) of objects as needed. In addition, it is possible to specify the styles of line ends, joins and fills used when printing, as well as various output effects - blur, grayscale, pen assignments and intensity. By manipulating print styles, you can create different versions of the same design on paper. You can apply plot styles to objects or layers.

Status bar

The status bar (Fig. 2.13) is located at the bottom of the desktop.

Rice. 2.13. Status bar

It contains the current cursor coordinates, as well as buttons for turning on/off drawing modes:

Snap Mode – enable or disable cursor step snapping;

Grid Display – turn grid display on and off;

Ortho Mode – turn on or off the orthogonal mode;

Polar Tracking – enable or disable polar tracking mode;

Object Snap – enable or disable object snap modes;

Object Snap Tracking – enable or disable tracking mode for object snapping;

Allow/Disallow Dynamic UCS – enable or disable dynamic user system coordinates;

Dynamic Input – enable or disable dynamic input;

Show/Hide Lineweight – turn on and off the mode of displaying lines in accordance with weights (thicknesses);

Quick Properties – enable or disable object properties;

Model or Paper space – switching from model space to paper space;

Quick View Layouts – turn on and off viewing sheets;

Quick View Drawings – enable or disable viewing of drawings;

Pan – panning of the picture;

Zoom – zoom the picture;

SteeringWheel – enable the Wheel tool;

ShowMotion – enable the Motion tool.

The display of buttons for turning on/off drawing modes in the status bar is set in the context menu (Fig. 2.14). To do this, you need to left or right click on the Application Status Bar Menu tool with the down arrow icon, which is located in the right corner of the status bar.

Rice. 2.14. Context menu for setting the status bar

The Tray Settings... option opens the Tray Settings dialog box (Fig. 2.15), which allows you to configure the notification area.

Display icons from services – show service icons.

Display notifications from services – show notifications from services:

· Display time – display time;

· Display until closed – until explicit closing.

Rice. 2.15. Notification Area Customization Dialog Box

Command Prompt Window

The command prompt window is usually located above the status bar; it is used to enter commands and display AutoCAD tooltips and messages. The size of the window, and therefore the number of output protocol lines, can be changed. If there is more than one line in a command window, you can move through the lines using the scroll bar.

By default, the command window is docked and equal in width to the AutoCAD window (Fig. 2.16). If a text line does not fit in the window, its full contents are displayed in a frame near the command line.

Rice. 2.16. Docked command prompt window

You can change the height of the window using the dividing strip located in its upper part (if it is fixed at the bottom) or at the bottom (if it is fixed at the top). To change the size, grab the divider strip with your mouse and drag it to the desired height.

The window can be either docked or floating. The docking is released by selecting the window frame anywhere and then dragging it outside the docking area until the window border appears as a wide outline line. If you release the window at this moment, it will become floating and return to the size it had before it was secured. A floating window can be moved to any position on the screen; at the same time, the user is allowed to change its width and height (Fig. 2.17).

Rice. 2.17. Floating command line window

Docks the command window by dragging it to the top or bottom docking area of the AutoCAD window.

In the Command Prompt window, you can scroll through text, edit it, and re-enter commands. For this, standard keys are used: ^, v, Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Backspace.

When repeating previously entered commands, it is convenient to use the key combination Ctrl+C to copy the selected text to the clipboard, and Ctrl+V to paste the contents of the buffer into a text window or command window.

Right-clicking in the AutoCAD command line or text window area brings up a context menu that includes the six most recently used commands, options for copying selected text or the entire command log, pasting text, and calling up the Options dialog box.

Text box

You can view most of the command log - the so-called command history - by switching to the text window shown in Fig. 2.18. It is called up by pressing the F2 function key or the TEXTSCR command, as well as from the View > Display > Text Window (F2) drop-down menu.

Rice. 2.18. Text box

The text window is similar to the command window; it also allows you to enter commands and see tooltips and messages from AutoCAD. To move around the window, use the scroll bar or the ^, v, Page Up, etc. keys.

The contents of the text box are read-only and cannot be modified. But the command log can be copied for later pasting into the command line or text editor.

Context menu

A pointing device, the mouse, is often used to select menu items and icons on the toolbar. When using a mouse, left-clicking in the drawing area is typically used to select and specify a point on the screen; right-clicking brings up a context menu that provides quick access to commands (Figure 2.19, and also see Figure 2.14). The form and content of the menu depend on the position of the mouse pointer and the state of the task.

Rice. 2.19. Context menu example

Tool palettes

Tool palettes are loaded with the command TOOLPALETTES from the drop-down menu Tools > Palettes > Tool Palettes (Ctrl+3) or by clicking the mouse button on the Tool Palettes Window icon (Ctrl+3) on standard panel tools.

Tool palettes are separate tabs combined in a special Tool Palettes window (Figure 2.20), and are an effective means of storing and inserting blocks and hatches, and can also contain tools provided by third-party developers.

In different areas of the tool palettes window, you can use context menus to change the following settings: automatically hide palettes from the screen, change their transparency, and change the style and size of the icons displayed on the palette.

Rice. 2.20. Tool palette

If necessary, the tool palette window can be docked at the right or left border of the program window. To avoid docking, hold down the Ctrl key while moving the window.

It is convenient to place frequently used blocks and hatches on palettes. In order to insert a block or hatch from the palette into a drawing, you need to “grab” the palette element with the mouse and drag it into the graphics area.

Blocks and hatches placed on the palette are called “tools”. Some tool properties, including scale, rotation angle, and layer, can be set individually for each tool.

Blocks inserted into a drawing from palettes often need to be scaled and rotated. You can use object snaps when dragging blocks from the palette, but step snaps are not in effect at this time.

When you drag a block from the tool palette onto a drawing, it is automatically scaled based on the ratio of the specified block units to the units of the current drawing. For example, if meters are used as the units of measurement for a given figure, and centimeters are used as the units of measurement for the block, then the conversion factor is 1:100. Accordingly, when dragging a block into a drawing, its dimensions change in a ratio of 1:100.

AutoCAD DesignCenter

In practical activities, it is very important to be able to use previously created developments: experience shows that most design and engineering projects are created on the basis of new combinations of elements that have long been known both in terms of functioning and execution. AutoCAD provides efficient reuse existing developments by inserting them into drawings in the form of blocks or external links. You can manage blocks, xrefs, bitmaps, and the contents of drawings in other sources (and even those created in other applications) using the AutoCAD DesignCenter.

Additionally, if you have multiple drawings open in a session, Control Center makes it easier to create things like descriptions of the same layers. The user creates a description in one picture and then simply copies it into the others.

The DesignCenter control center is designed to organize access to drawings and their elements and provides:

View drawing contents on local disk, network drive and web pages;

View and insert blocks, layers, text and dimension styles, line types, external references, hatch patterns and other drawing elements into the current drawing;

Access to bitmaps and third-party objects created in other applications;

Update block descriptions;

Drag drawing elements onto tool palettes.

The AutoCAD Control Center is loaded with the command ADCENTER, either from the Tools > Palettes > DesignCenter drop-down menu (Ctrl+2), or by clicking on the DesignCenter icon (Ctrl+2) on the standard toolbar (Fig. 2.21).

The Control Center has an intuitive interface and allows you to quickly find, view, call and apply specific components, such as blocks, layers, linetypes, etc. Moreover, these operations are carried out from open or closed AutoCAD files, regardless of where they are located: on local or remote disks. Simply select the components you need and drag them into the current drawing.

The toolbar, located at the top of the DesignCenter, provides access to a set of views and actions, as well as navigation within the window and viewing information in the structure and content areas. Region structures located on the left, it displays content sources. On the right is the area content, designed to add elements to a drawing or to a tool palette. The viewing area for the sample and its explanations is located at the bottom right of the window.

Rice. 2.21. DesignCenter

The Control Center includes the following tabs:

Folders – a tab displaying a tree of the hierarchical folder structure. If you select an element with the mouse on the left in the structure area, its contents will be displayed on the right;

Open Drawings – a tab displaying a list of drawings currently open. In order to display elements on the right, in the content area, you need to select a drawing file on the left, in the structure area, and then select one of the description tables from the list;

History – tab displaying a list latest files, opened using the Control Center. At double click opens in the list on the drawing file Folders folder with this drawing and its elements in the content area;

DC Online is a web-based Control Center module that provides access to content on web pages, including blocks, component libraries, developer libraries and online catalogs.

To add elements from the content area to the current drawing, simply drag the selected element into the graphics area of the drawing or use one of the options offered in the context menu. You can also drag drawings, blocks, and hatches from the Control Center content area onto the current tool palette.

AutoCAD provides the user with the ability to change the background color of the work window. By default, the work area is black. To change the color, follow these steps:

Let's look at the main elements of the program interface described above in more detail.

2.3. Menu bar

At the top of the AutoCAD window is menu bar. It should be noted that in the latest versions of the program, corresponding icons have appeared in the drop-down menus opposite most items (Fig. 2.10), which is visually more pleasant and definitely facilitates the work of users with insufficient good knowledge English language.

Rice. 2.10.

File

Let's look at the menu items available in the program.

Menu commands File(File) allow you to create a new drawing, a new binder, open a previously created drawing, binder, set print settings and print the drawing. Here you can access such useful utilities, like restoring and cleaning drawings.

Edit

Menu commands Edit(Edit) allow you to perform standard Windows operations with the clipboard (cut, copy, paste), perform special pastes, and also search for text in a drawing.

View

Menu commands View(View) allow you to control the display of objects on the screen. This menu contains items such as Zoom(Zoom) Pan(Pan), Render(Toning), etc.

Separately, it is necessary to note the point Clean Screen(Blank screen), the action of which duplicates the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+0. This function is useful for those users whose monitor has a small diagonal. Using this item, the user can temporarily hide the control panels and the AutoCAD window title, which will expand the working area of the graphic screen.

In version 2008 in the menu View(View) new commands for working with the camera and visual styles have been added.

Insert

Menu commands Insert(Insert) allow you to insert pre-created blocks and objects created in third-party applications into the drawing field, as well as import various files.

Format

Menu commands Format(Format) allows you to format and pre-setting many indicators (Fig. 2.11).

Rice. 2.11.

Yes, point Layer(Layer) allows the user to manage layers and their properties.

New feature Layer States Manager(Layer State Manager) opens a dialog box in which you can save, edit (control parameters such as color, line weight, etc.), rename and delete layer states.

When selecting an item Layer tools(Layer Tools) opens an additional menu that contains various layer management tools.

Paragraph Color(Color) sets colors for new objects. Using the item Linetype(Line Type) you can download and set line types, and the item Lineweight(Line Weight) allows you to set the current line weight.

Using the item Scale List(List of scales) you can edit sets of scales.

When selecting items Text Style(Text Style) and Dimension Style(Dimension Style) allows you to create, set, and modify text and dimension styles, respectively.

You can set and change table styles using the item Table Style(Table style).

Multileader Style(Multileader Style) allows you to set and change the styles of multileaders, new objects introduced in AutoCAD 2008.

In the same menu you can select the appropriate item to set print styles - Plot Style(Print style), setting dot display modes - Point Style(Point style), multiline style controls - Multiline Style(Multiline style).

If you want to change the name of the object, you can use the item Rename(Rename).

Tools

Menu commands Tools(Service) allow you to customize the program itself, display various auxiliary windows, as well as download and manage external applications (Fig. 2.12).

Rice. 2.12.

This menu has changed quite a bit in this version of the program. Using the item Workspaces ( Workspaces) you can open the control menu workspaces.

The program palettes are formed into a separate menu that opens when you select the item Palettes(Palettes). IN new version this menu has expanded a lot. The following items were added to it: External References ( External links) - control palette external relations And Markup Set Manager(Marks Manager) - a palette for managing marks, as well as palettes for working with three-dimensional objects and databases.

Let's look at some menu commands Palettes(Palettes).

Palette Dashboard ( Dashboard) contains control panels with buttons and controls.
Using the item Properties(Properties) the user can manage the properties of objects.
Using the item Tool Palettes(Tool Palettes), you can display and hide the tool palettes window.
When selecting an item QuickCalc(Quick calculation) opens the palette of the engineering calculator (it can also be called by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+8).
Paragraph Sheet Set Manager(Sheet Set Manager) Shows or hides the Sheet Set Manager.
Design Center(Control Center) manages the contents of pictures.

Using the item Command Line(Command Line), you can hide the command line located at the bottom of the program window from the screen. To quickly call this command, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+9.

On the menu Tools(Service) there are items such as Spelling(Spelling), which allows you to check the spelling in the user-selected text; Quick Select(Quick Select) for quick creation groups of objects; Draw Order(Sequence order), which provides the ability to transfer objects to a given plan.

In the same menu there is a group of commands for working with macros created in the VBA programming language.

Using the item Drafting Settings(Drawing Settings) you can set the necessary settings for drawing modes, and the item Options(Options) calls up a dialog box of the same name to configure program parameters.

AutoCAD - a computer-aided design system developed by Autodesk, is a CAD system and includes 2D 3D modeling tools. This lesson is devoted to studying the program interface and is based on the most latest version AutoCAD 2014.

When creating a new working document, the program will prompt you to select an interface design template. It is worth considering that AutoCad in one working file can contain both flat and three-dimensional figures, as well as entire groups of 3D elements separate from each other, which gives it a certain advantage over other 2D and 3D modeling programs. In this lesson we will focus on the default design in AutoCAD - acadiso. The program interface consists of:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Working area

1. Quick Access Toolbar

By default, it includes a standard set of the most commonly used commands: New, Open, Save, Print, Undo, and Redo. Does the program provide the ability to independently define commands and tools displayed on the quick access panel?

2. Tape

The ribbon structure consists of tabs, each containing several panels, which in turn include tools and controls. By default, the ribbon is located at the top of the window. AutoCAD allows the user to independently edit the appearance of the ribbon, as well as make panels floating by detaching them from the ribbon. Basic elements of the Ribbon

Tab – includes grouped panels. The order of the tabs on the ribbon can be changed.
Panel – Contains a set of tools.
Expand Button – Expands the panel to display additional tools.
Expanded panel.
Pin – disabled by default; in this mode, the expanded panel automatically collapses when the cursor moves away from it. When the pin is enabled, the expanded panel does not collapse.
Panel name.

3. Status bar

The status bar includes icons for quick access and control of drawing tools. Using the context menu, opened by right-clicking on a line field, you can switch the type of line display - characters or text labels.

	Model – displays the model space drawing on the screen.
	Quick Sheet View - View and switch between sheets in a drawing.
	Quick view of drawings - view and switch between open drawings and sheets.
	Annotation Scale – The current scale of the displayed annotations. The viewport scale is tied to the annotation scale.
	Annotation visibility – display mode of annotative objects.
	Autoscale—updates the display of an annotative object when the scale changes.
	Workspaces – switch workspaces and adapt their settings.
	Lock display – locks the current position of toolbars and windows.
	Navigation wheel – moving and rotating the view in space. Includes cursor menu.
	Palm – with the LMB held down, it allows you to move the viewport in a plane with the mouse.
	Zoom – zoom in and out of the view, includes several types of zoom, selectable in the submenu.
	Orbit – rotation of the viewport around an axis, includes several types of rotation selected in the submenu.
	Running animation

? Below is a description of the main status bar tools On the left side of the line there are icons for managing and accessing drawing tools: “Snapping”, “Grid”, “Line weight”, “Dynamic input”.