Overview

An easy-to-read and up-to-date collection of resources explaining the most recent versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT In the brand-new second edition of AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One For Dummies, consultant and industry expert with more than 30 years of experience using and extending AutoCAD along with being a 20-year veteran of AutoCAD education, Lee Ambrosius, walks you through the fundamentals of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT. He explains the most useful features of both AutoCAD and the more budget-friendly AutoCAD LT, showing you how to choose the right tools and workflows for your projects. From creating architectural drawings, floor plans, and building designs to constructing precise designs, layouts, and technical drawings and blueprints, this all-in collection of easy-to-read guides covers how to set up drawings, draw and modify 2D and 3D designs, annotate your drawings, and perform advanced drafting techniques. AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One For Dummies contains several mini-books you can tackle in order and in their entirety or as convenient references that help you get up to speed on specific tasks and projects you're working on in the moment. You'll also find: Step-by-step walkthroughs of popular and useful AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT features, like working with blocks and the electronic sharing and distribution of drawings Detailed discussions of the differences between AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and how to customize each one to suit your needs Explanations of AutoCAD utilities for a variety of use cases Perfect for drafters, engineers, architects, programmers, and trainers interested in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-in-One For Dummies is an accessible and handy reference for beginning and experienced users of AutoCAD that includes all the latest features, tools, and workflows you need to help you with your projects.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lee Ambrosius (HyperPics LLC, WI)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   For Dummies
Edition:   2nd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 18.80cm , Height: 4.80cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.975kg
ISBN:  

9781394376568

ISBN 10:   1394376561
Pages:   768
Publication Date:   09 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 1 Conventions Used in This Book 1 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Book 1: Autocad Basics 5 Chapter 1: One-on-One Time with AutoCAD 7 Starting AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT 8 Creating a new drawing 9 What is created should be saved 10 Accessing the right tools for the right job 11 Getting Familiar with the User Interface 11 Application menu access 12 Ribbon access 13 Toolbar access 15 Setting Up Drafting Aids and Layers 16 Getting snappy and griddy 16 Establishing the limits 17 Organizing objects with layers 19 Drawing, Viewing, and Editing Objects 21 Walking the straight and curved 21 Getting up close with objects 28 Modifying objects 29 Annotating with Text and Dimensions 32 Expressing yourself through text 32 Entering the drafting dimension 34 Fast Track to Plotting 36 Chapter 2: Drawing on and in AutoCAD 37 Understanding AutoCAD Files and Formats 38 Seeing the Light (or LT) 39 Using AutoCAD’s Latest-and-Greatest Feature Set 40 Chapter 3: Navigating the AutoCAD Interface 43 Starting the Application 43 Pinning AutoCAD to the Start menu 44 Pinning AutoCAD to the taskbar 45 Using desktop shortcuts 45 Accessing files from File Explorer 46 Welcome Home: The Start Tab 47 Touring the AutoCAD Interface 47 Title bars 47 Application menu 49 Quick Access toolbar 50 Ribbon 50 Palettes 51 Drawing File tabs 54 Drawing area 55 Crosshairs 56 The floating Command Line window 57 The status bar 57 “Legacy” menus and toolbars 61 Communicating with Your Software 63 The command line 63 Dynamic input 64 Starting AutoCAD Commands 65 Grasping the AutoCAD difference 65 Repeating a command 65 Canceling a running command 65 Undoing and redoing commands 66 Reaching for AutoCAD Help 67 Tooltips 67 My Insights 68 Using online HELP and the UI Finder 69 Autodesk Assistant 70 Finding online resources 70 Analyzing AutoCAD performance 71 Chapter 4: All about Files 73 Learning about the File Types in AutoCAD 74 Starting a New Drawing 77 Starting from scratch 79 Using a wizard 79 Using a drawing template 80 Saving a Drawing 81 Using the SAVE command 82 Using QSAVE (Quick Save) 82 Using the Save As Command 84 Opening an Existing Drawing 85 Using the OPEN command 85 Accessing recent drawings 87 Using File Explorer 87 Exploring the Multiple-Drawing Environment 89 Closing a Drawing 90 File Management for AutoCAD 91 Naming drawing files 91 Storing your files 92 Backing Up Is Hard to Do 92 Chapter 5: Setting Up Drawings 95 Choosing Units of Measurement 95 AutoCAD units 98 Imperial or metric 98 System variables 99 Setting units in your drawing 99 Setting Limits for Your Drawings 101 Understanding Drawing Scale 102 Scaling on paper (or on a drawing board) 102 Scaling in AutoCAD 103 Scale factors 104 Using scale factors to establish drawing settings 105 Lost in Space: Model or Paper? 106 Taking a Layered Approach 107 Creating layers 108 Defining layer properties 109 Setting layer modes 111 Modifying layer settings 113 The Layer Control drop-down list 118 Layer tools 119 General Object Properties 121 Using AutoCAD’s color systems 122 Using linetypes 122 Setting Up Standards 124 Book 2: 2d Drafting 125 Chapter 1: Drawing Objects 127 Locating and Using the Drawing Tools 127 Let’s Get Primitive 130 Keeping to the straight and narrow 130 Going around in circles 132 Arcs of triumph 134 The point of the exercise 137 Creating Construction Geometry 138 Xlines for X-men 138 A little ray of sunshine 140 A Bit Sketchy 140 Drawing Parallel Lines 141 Creating Complex Curves 143 Lucy, you have some splining to do! 143 Solar ellipses 145 Constructing Complex Objects and Shapes 148 2D solids 148 Rectang(le), polygon, and donut 148 Polylines 150 Cloudy with a chance of revision 152 Ahhhh wipeout 153 Chapter 2: Precision Tools 155 Understanding Precision and Accuracy 156 Understanding Coordinate Systems 157 The world coordinate system 158 Entering coordinates 159 Direct distance entry 167 Dynamic input and coordinate entry 168 Setting Grid and Snap 173 Understanding Ortho and Polar Tracking 175 Using ortho mode 176 Using polar tracking 176 Working with Object Snaps 179 Using Point Filters 184 Working with Object Snap Tracking Mode 185 Temporarily Overriding Drafting Aids 187 Chapter 3: Modifying Objects 189 Setting Selection Options 189 Selecting Objects 191 Selecting multiple objects 192 Object selection modes 194 Selection preview 196 Object groups 196 AutoCAD’s Editing Commands 199 Removing stuff 202 Unerasing objects 203 Relocating and replicating 204 Rotating and resizing 212 Breaking, mending, and blowing up real good 214 Double-barrel commands 216 Specialized commands 217 Changing properties 219 Coming to Grips with Grips 221 Chapter 4: Managing Views 223 A Zoom of One’s Own 226 Wheeling through your drawing 228 Realtime zooming 229 Panning in a Flash 231 Grabbing the Wheel and Hanging On 233 Naming That View 235 Creating named views 236 Other named view options 238 Having AutoCAD Put on a Show 239 To Redraw or to Regen That Is the Question 241 Book 3: Annotating Drawings 243 Chapter 1: Text: When Pictures Just Won’t Do 245 Adding Text in AutoCAD 245 Getting familiar with text terminology 246 Will that be one or two lines? 247 Justification 248 Where should text go? 250 Futzing with Fonts 252 Working with Text Styles 253 Creating Single Line Text 257 Working with Multiline Text 260 Creating Multiline Text 261 Formatting options 263 Numbered and bulleted lists 263 Controlling the flow of text 265 Fields, masks, and other multiline text delights 265 Editing Text 267 Editing single-line text 267 Editing multiline text 268 Leading the Way 269 Making way for multiple leaders 270 Legacy leaders 273 Turning the Tables 274 Setting the table with styles 274 Creating and editing tables 276 Link me up Scotty 278 Finding Text and Spell Checking 279 Chapter 2: Dimensioning 281 Understanding What a Dimension Is Made Of 282 Understanding the Types of Dimensions 283 Associative dimensions 283 Non-associative dimensions 284 Exploded dimensions 284 Creating New Dimensions as Associative 284 Using and Creating Dimension Styles 285 Working with the Dimension Style Manager 286 Creating a dimension style 286 Styling dimensions 288 Defining the scale for dimensions 292 Dimension variables 294 Setting a dimension style as current 295 Modifying a dimension style 295 Renaming a dimension style 297 Deleting a dimension style 298 Comparing dimension styles 298 Importing a dimension style 298 Creating Dimensions 298 Linear and aligned dimensions 301 Baseline and continued dimensions 302 Angular dimensions 303 Arc length dimensions 304 Radius, diameter, and jogged dimensions 305 Ordinate dimensions 306 One dimension command to rule them all 307 Quickly place dimensions 307 Trans-spatial dimensions 307 Editing Dimensions 308 Adding overrides to a dimension 308 Editing the dimension text 308 Using grips to edit dimensions 309 Associating dimensions 309 Breaking and spacing dimensions 310 Inspecting dimensions 310 Marking the Center of Objects 311 Using centerlines 311 Using center marks 312 Using “legacy” center marks 312 Editing and associating centerlines and center marks 313 Working with Geometric Tolerances 313 Chapter 3: Hatching Your Drawings 315 Adding Hatch Patterns and Fills 316 Adding hatches to a drawing 317 Hatching and DesignCenter 320 Advanced settings for additional control 320 Working with Hatch Patterns and Solid Fills 322 Predefined patterns 322 User-defined patterns 322 Custom hatch patterns 322 Using Gradient Fills 323 Editing Hatch Patterns and Fills 324 Chapter 4: Scaling Mt Annotation 325 The What, Why, and How of Annotation Scaling 326 Making Styles and Objects Annotative 327 Annotative styles and block definitions 327 Annotative objects 328 Adding and Removing Annotation Scales 330 Controlling the Annotation Scale for Output 332 Book 4: Advanced Drafting 333 Chapter 1: Playing with Blocks 335 Working with Reusable Content 335 Creating Blocks 336 Accessing the Block Definition dialog box 337 Converting repetitive geometry into blocks 339 Inserting Blocks 341 Counting Blocks 344 Replacing Blocks 345 Managing Blocks 346 Renaming a block definition 346 Redefining a block definition 346 Purging a block definition 347 Exporting a block definition 348 Enhancing Blocks with Attributes 348 Adding an attribute to a block definition 348 Using block placeholder fields 351 Inserting a block with attributes 352 Editing an attribute’s value in a block 352 Managing attributes in blocks 353 Extracting attribute data from blocks 353 Chapter 2: Going Dynamic with Blocks 355 What Makes a Block Dynamic? 355 Investigating the Block Editor Environment 357 Components of the Block Editor 357 Editing a block definition 360 Going Dynamic 361 Adding parameters 363 Adding actions 364 Using parameter sets 366 Defining visibility states 366 Storing custom property values with attributes 369 Using Dynamic Blocks 370 Inserting a dynamic block 370 Modifying a dynamic block 370 Using Dynamic Blocks in Earlier Releases 371 Chapter 3: Referencing External Drawings and Files 373 Blocks versus External References 374 Working with External References 374 Path to success with xrefs 375 Attaching an xref 377 External reference notification 380 Comparing xrefs (or drawings) for changes 381 Editing an xref 381 Clipping an xref 384 Increasing the performance of xrefs 386 Binding an xref 387 Referencing Raster Images 388 Attaching a raster image 389 Clipping a raster image 390 Controlling the appearance of a raster image 391 Attaching PDFs, DGNs, and DWFs as Underlays 392 Attaching a PDF, DGN, or DWF file 393 Snapping to the geometry of an underlay 395 Clipping an underlay 395 Controlling the appearance of an underlay 396 Binding a DGN underlay 397 Importing a PDF or DGN file 397 Determining Draw Order 397 Incorporating Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 398 Referencing and Using Other Types of Files 400 Chapter 4: Organizing Your Drawings 401 Why Bother Organizing Drawings? 401 Using the Windows Clipboard 402 Copying objects from a drawing 402 Cutting objects from a drawing 403 Pasting objects into a drawing 403 Managing Blocks with Libraries 404 x Autocad & Autocad Lt All-in-one for Dummies Using AutoCAD DesignCenter 406 Locating resources in drawings 407 Adding resources to drawings 409 Inserting hatches and loading linetypes 410 Using the Tool Palettes Window 410 Blocks, xrefs, images, tables, and hatches 411 Command and flyouts tools 412 Modifying tools on a tool palette 412 Customizing and organizing tool palettes 412 Book 5: Publishing Drawings 415 Chapter 1: Laying It All Out There 417 Preparing for Output with Page Setups 418 Options of a page setup 419 Working with page setups 420 Organizing a Drawing with Layouts 424 Working with layouts 425 Changing the appearance of layouts 429 Looking at a Model Through Layout Viewports 431 Defining a viewport’s shape 431 Controlling scale 436 Controlling the display within a viewport 437 Modifying a viewport 439 Chapter 2: Print, Plot, Publish 441 You Say Printing, I Say Plotting, They Say Publishing 441 Working with drivers 442 Configuring a printer or plotter 443 Putting style in your plots 448 Output Made Easy 452 Plotting the Model tab 453 Plotting a paper space layout 456 Scaling your drawing 457 More plotting options 458 Publishing Drawings 459 Chapter 3: Sheet Sets without Regret 463 Overview of a Sheet Set 463 Using the Sheet Set Manager 464 Creating a Sheet Set 465 Starting from scratch 466 Starting from an existing sheet set 470 Starting from a cloud example sheet set 471 Managing Drawings with a Sheet Set 471 Opening a sheet set 471 Importing existing drawings as sheets 472 Organizing with subsets 474 Setting up a sheet set and subset for adding new sheets 476 Adding a new sheet 478 Opening a sheet 479 Removing, renaming, and renumbering a sheet 479 Managing sheet set and sheet properties 480 Inserting a list of all sheets in a sheet set 483 Setting up advanced features 484 Publishing, eTransmitting, and Archiving a Sheet Set 486 Book 6: Lt Differences 487 Chapter 1: The LT Difference 489 Understanding the Boundaries and Limitations of AutoCAD LT 489 Determining Which Product Is Best for You 495 Chapter 2: Extending AutoCAD LT 497 Customizing and Programming AutoCAD LT 497 Linetype and hatch patterns 498 Blocks and DesignCenter 498 Tool palettes 498 Changing the user interface with the CUI Editor 499 Diesel 500 Command aliases 500 Desktop icons 500 It’s all in the script 500 Conversing with AutoCAD LT using AutoLISP 501 Object Enabler Technology 502 Additional Utilities Available from Autodesk 502 DWG TrueView 503 Viewers 503 Companion Products from Autodesk 503 Autodesk AutoCAD Web 504 Autodesk 3ds Max 504 Third-Party Custom Solutions 505 Block utilities/libraries 505 Viewers 506 Chapter 3: Mixed Environments 507 Using AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD in the Same Office 507 Budgeting 507 Training 508 Communication 508 Environment 509 Customization and programming 509 Installation and deployment 509 Making the Trip from AutoCAD to AutoCAD LT 510 2D drafting 510 3D modeling 511 Annotation 512 Viewing 512 Visualization 512 CAD Standards feature 513 Collaboration and sharing 513 Book 7: Collaboration 515 Chapter 1: CAD Management: The Necessary Evil. 517 Getting a Handle on the Basics of CAD Management 518 Managing the Drafting Environment 519 Creating a Good Foundation 520 Creating a drawing template file 522 Using a drawing template file 524 Specifying a drawing template file for use with QNEW 524 Specifying the location of drawing template files 525 Chapter 2: Adopting CAD Standards 527 CAD Standards Overview 527 Using AutoCAD’s CAD Standards Tools 529 Drawing standards (DWS) files 529 Managing standards 530 Checking batches of drawings 536 Translating layers 537 Chapter 3: Managing Drawing Files 541 It’s All in the Name: File-Naming Conventions 542 Part of a Drawing Can Be a Good Thing: Working with Partial Open 542 Controlling What Happens During a Save 546 Getting a handle on drawing file formats 546 Indexing the contents of a drawing 547 Signing Your Drawings Digitally 549 Obtaining a digital certificate 549 Digitally signing a drawing file 550 Opening a digitally signed drawing file 551 Digitally signing a batch of drawings 553 Understanding Past Changes to a Drawing 555 Chapter 4: Sharing and Reviewing Electronic Files 557 Sharing Drawings with Non-AutoCAD Products 558 Taking Drawings to the Internet 559 Using an FTP site 560 Utilizing cloud-based storage providers 561 Using web-based project sites 562 Reviewing and Marking Up Drawings 563 Viewing drawings without AutoCAD 564 Working with and importing markups into Traces 566 Emulating Paper Digitally 571 Portable Document Format (PDF) 572 Design Web Format (DWF and DWFx) 572 Head-to-head comparison 573 Working with DWF and DWFx Files 574 Creating and viewing a DWF or DWFx file 574 Electronically marking up a DWF or DWFx file 576 Book 8: 3d Modeling 577 Chapter 1: Introducing the Third Dimension 579 Understanding the Different Types of 3D Models 580 Entering Coordinates Above the x,y Plane 583 Manually inputting coordinates 583 Using point filters 585 Snapping to objects 586 Tracking with object snaps and moving orthogonally 587 Specifying elevation going up 588 Chapter 2: Using the 3D Environment 589 Setting Up AutoCAD for 3D 590 Orienting yourself in the drawing window 590 Customizing crosshairs and dynamic input 592 Using workspaces to switch between 2D drafting and 3D modeling 592 Accelerating your hardware 593 Understanding What the UCS Icon Is Telling You 594 Orientating yourself with the UCS icon 594 Controlling the display of the UCS icon 595 Using the Coordinate System for 3D Drafting 596 Understanding the coordinate system 597 Adjusting the UCS 598 Chapter 3: Viewing in 3D 601 Expressing Your Point of View 601 Using preset views 601 Finding your way with the compass and tripod 602 Cameras 603 Perspective versus parallel 605 Orbiting Around a 3D Model 605 Navigating a 3D Model 608 Hugging the Corners with the SteeringWheels 609 Cube with a View 610 Gaining a Sense of Control 611 Using Visual Styles in AutoCAD 612 Chapter 4: Moving from 2D to 3D 613 Working with Regions 614 Creating regions 614 Modifying regions 615 Getting more information about regions 616 3D Polylines and Helixes 616 3D polyline 617 Helix 617 Creating 3D Objects from 2D Objects 617 Thickness 618 Extrude 618 Loft 619 Sweep 619 Revolve 620 Creating 2D Objects from 3D Objects 620 Flatshot 621 Section Plane 621 Model documentation 622 Solid Draw, Solid View, and Solid Profile 623 3D Modify Commands 623 3D Move 624 3D Rotate 624 3D Scale 624 Align 625 3D Align 625 3D Mirror 625 3D Array 625 Selecting subobjects of a 3D object 626 Chapter 5: Working with 3D Solids 627 Creating 3D Solid Primitives 627 Polysolid 628 Box 629 Wedge 629 Cylinder 630 Cone 630 Sphere 631 Torus 631 Pyramid 632 Editing 3D Solids 632 3D solid editing 633 Using grips to edit 3D solids 634 Compound 3D solids 635 Filleting and chamfering 635 Scaling 635 Slicing 635 Chapter 6: Rendering: Lights, Camera, AutoCAD! 637 Lighting a Scene 637 Default lights 638 User-defined lights 638 Sunlight 642 Adjusting exposure and using image-based lighting (IBL) 642 Getting the Right Look with Materials 643 Setting Up a Backdrop 644 Rendering the Final Scene 645 Book 9: Customizing Autocad 649 Chapter 1: The Basics of Customizing AutoCAD 651 Why Customize AutoCAD? 652 Customizing the AutoCAD Startup Process 654 Startup options 654 Using command-line switches 655 Changing Options and Working with User Profiles 659 Launching the Options dialog box 661 Overview of the AutoCAD options 661 Working with user profiles 662 Creating and Managing Command Aliases 665 Editing the PGP file 665 Opening the PGP file 666 Adding a new command alias 666 Working with the AutoCAD Alias Editor 667 Chapter 2: Customizing the Interface 669 Influencing Your Status (Bar) 670 Toggling the display of a control on the status bars 671 Powering the status bar with DIESEL 672 Training Your Panels and Dockable Windows to Stay 673 Locking panels and dockable windows 674 Locking and unlocking panels and dockable windows 674 Controlling the Appearance of AutoCAD and the Drawing Window 675 Window elements 676 Layout elements 678 Size of the crosshairs 679 Other settings 679 Organizing Your Space 680 Using the Workspace Switching status bar control 681 Using the Customize User Interface Editor 683 Maximizing the drawing space 686 Chapter 3: Customizing the Tools 687 Getting to Know the Customize User Interface Editor 688 The Customizations In pane 689 The Command List pane 689 The Dynamic pane 690 Launching the CUI Editor 693 Commands in the CUI Editor 693 Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, and Shortcut Menus 697 The Quick Access toolbar 697 The Ribbon 699 The shortcut menus 702 The separator bars 706 Creating a New Shortcut Key 707 Customizing Double-Click Actions 708 Customizing the Quick Properties Panel and Rollover Tooltips 709 Accessing Suggested Macros 711 Migrating and Transferring Customizations 712 Working with Partial and Enterprise Customization Files 713 Loading an enterprise customization file 714 Loading a partial customization file 715 Chapter 4: Automating Repetitive Tasks 717 Working from a Script 717 What’s in a script? 718 Writing a script file 720 Loading and running a script file 721 Running a script file at startup 721 Actions and Action Recorder 722 Recording and Managing Action Macros 723 Recording actions 723 Managing and editing action macro files 727 Managing the location of action macro files 728 Editing Actions and Recorded Values 728 Just Press Play 729 Index 731

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Lee Ambrosius is a professional technical writer and consultant with decades of experience teaching others how to use and maximize the capabilities of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT software. He has authored numerous works on a wide range of AutoCAD-related topics and has presented many sessions at Autodesk University.

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