Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Let’s take a look at some basic commands I might use as I create a drawing.
I’ll begin by looking at layers. Layers allow you to organize objects in your
drawing. You can group similar objects so you can easily turn them off or on for displaying
or printing, and you can lock layers to prevent unwanted
changes. I’ll expand the Layers palette. This is
where you create and manage your layers. I’m going to add a new layer called Objects to
this drawing. Now I’ll double-click to make it the current
layer, so that the objects I draw are added to it automatically.
I’ll start drawing using the LINE command. Typically, when you start a command, you’ll
be prompted to input a value or specify an option. The input expected is displayed as
a prompt in the Command Line and as a tooltip near the cursor if Dynamic Input is turned
on. I’ll turn Dynamic Input off for now. To indicate the first point of my line, I
click in the drawing area. Now I’m prompted for the next point. I drag the cursor and
click again. The LINE command continues to prompt for additional
points until I end the command. To end the command I can press Esc, Enter, or the Spacebar,
or choose Enter from the Command shortcut menu.
To control drawing precision, I can choose from a variety of drafting aids.
For example, the Ortho Mode button constrains me to vertical and horizontal lines as I draw.
I’ll turn ortho mode off again. Object snaps (also known as osnaps) allow
me to easily place new objects in relation to existing objects. I’ll use the Endpoint
object snap to connect a new line to the endpoint of an existing line I’ve drawn. The AutoSnap
marker makes it easy to know which object snap is being used.
As you work on a design, you will likely need to modify some objects. Before you can modify
an object, you have to select it. To select an object, position your cursor
over the object and click. I can add or remove objects in the current
selection by holding the Shift key while I click the objects.
I’ll press Esc to clear the selection completely. Instead of selecting objects individually,
I can select multiple objects at once with a selection window.
I’ll drag the cursor from left to right to select objects that are completely enclosed
in the window. I’ll drag from right to left to create a
Crossing selection, which selects all objects crossed by or enclosed in the window.
Now let’s look at some Modify commands. I’ll use the ERASE command to remove objects
from my drawing. I’ll select the object I want to remove,
and either click the Erase tool or press Delete. If I make a mistake, I can choose Undo from
the Command shortcut menu. Let’s say I want to move this fence support
to the right. First, I zoom in. I can use the Zoom command, or I can position
my cursor and move two fingers apart on the trackpad to increase the magnification of
the drawing. If you have a mouse, position the cursor and scroll the wheel or slide one
finger vertically on Magic Mouse I’ll pan the drawing by holding the Spacebar
and dragging one finger on the trackpad, or by moving the mouse.
To move the fence support, I’ll select it and click the Move tool.
I’ll use an Endpoint object snap to move the support accurately from one fence board
to another. Finally, I’ll use the Zoom command with
the Extents option to fit my design in the drawing area.
In this video, we’ll look at creating annotation on the front view in this drawing.
Annotation can be used to communicate measurements, call out features, and provide information
about your design. Text and dimensions are types of annotation.
You control the appearance of annotation using styles.
From the Format menu, I’ll select Text Style. I’ll select the user-defined text style,
Titles, from the Styles list, which contains both user-defined and the default text styles.
Now when I create text objects, they’ll be assigned the Title text style.
Now from the Format menu, I’ll select Dimension Style and select Main as the current dimension
style. After defining which styles to use for text
and dimensions, I’m ready to annotate my drawing. In the Layers palette, I’ll set
the Text layer current. The MTEXT command is used to create multiline
text. MTEXT prompts you to specify two points in the drawing to determine the width of the
multiline text object. I can use the Text Editor visor to specify text formatting, or
accept the default formatting and start typing in the in-place editor. I’ll click Save
after I finish adding my text. I’ll return to the Layers palette and set
the Dimension layer current. You can create different types of dimensions,
such as linear, radial, or angular. One way to dimension objects is to select
a Dimension command, press Enter, and select the object you want to dimension. This is
an efficient way to dimension lines or polyline segments.
If I want more control over which points are used to create the dimension, I can use object
snaps to specify start and end points in the drawing.
To dimension this arc, I’ll select Radius. Next I’ll select the arc and click here
to place the dimension. Adding text and dimensions to your drawing
finalizes your design.