Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Mastering™

AutoCAD®

2007

and AutoCAD LT®

2007

George Omura

8768ffirs.fm Page iii Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

8768ffirs.fm Page ii Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

8768ffirs.fm Page ii Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

Mastering™

AutoCAD®

2007

and AutoCAD LT®

2007

8768ffirs.fm Page i Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Mastering™

AutoCAD®

2007

and AutoCAD LT®

2007

George Omura

8768ffirs.fm Page iii Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

Acquisitions Editor: Willem Knibbe

Development Editor: Heather O’Connor

Technical Editor: Jon McFarland

Production Editor: Martine Dardignac

Copy Editor: Pat Coleman

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert

Vice President and Publisher: Dan Brodnitz

Media Development Specialist: Steven Kudirka

Permissions Specialist: Shannon Walters

Book Designers: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama; Judy Fung

Illustrator: Jeffrey Wilson, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Compositor: Craig Woods, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Nancy Riddiough

Indexer: Ted Laux

Cover Designer: Design Site

Cover Image: Jack T. Myers, Design Site

Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN-13: 978-0-470-00876-8

ISBN-10: 0-470-00876-8

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States

Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per￾copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to

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or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for

a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein

may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,

accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be

sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred

to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the

information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet

Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Depart￾ment within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

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TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, Mastering, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons,

Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. AutoCAD and

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Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

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8768ffirs.fm Page iv Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Mastering AutoCAD 2007and AutoCAD LT 2007. This book is part of a

family of premium quality Sybex graphics books, all written by outstanding authors who combine

practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. Thirty years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently

exceptional books. With each of our graphics titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for the

industry. From the paper we print on, to the writers and CAD professionals we work with, our goal

is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get

your feedback on how we’re doing. To let us know what you think about this or any other Sybex book,

please send me an email at: [email protected]. Please also visit us at www.sybex.com to

learn more about the rest of our growing graphics line.

Best regards,

Dan Brodnitz

Vice President and Publisher

Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley

8768ffirs.fm Page v Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

To my two wonderful sons, Arthur and Charles, and to

Susan, who helps me to laugh when I most need it.

8768ffirs.fm Page vi Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:36 AM

Acknowledgments

Many talented and hardworking folks gave their best effort to produce Mastering AutoCAD 2007

and AutoCAD 2007 LT. I offer my sincerest gratitude to those people who helped bring this book

to you.

Heartfelt thanks go to the editorial and production teams at Sybex for their efforts. Willem

Knibbe made sure things got off to a great start and was always there for support. Martine Dardig￾nac kept a watchful eye on the progress of the book and offered some great assistance with sched￾uling. Heather O’Connor kept things running smoothly and always had a positive attitude. Pat

Coleman made sure I wasn’t trying out new uses of the English language. Jon McFarland did an

excellent job of ensuring that I didn’t make any glaring mistakes and offered suggestions based on

his own training experience.

You can see the handiwork of Paul Richardson and Christine Merredith of Technical Pub￾lications in the sidebars that discuss the San Francisco Main Library. Thanks also go to the

architectural firms of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Morris

Associated Architects for generously granting permission to reproduce drawings from their

design of the San Francisco Main Library.

At Autodesk, a special thanks goes to Eric Stover for taking the time from his busy schedule

to write the foreword. Thanks for the kind words, Eric. Thanks also go to Denis Cadu, who has

always given his steadfast support of my efforts over many projects. Jim Quanci, as usual, gave

his generous and thoughtful assistance to us author types. Finally, a big thanks to Shaan Hurley

for generously allowing us to have a look at the pre-release software.

And as usual, a great big thank you to my family and friends, who have always been a source

of inspiration and support.

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Foreword

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are the world’s top-selling computer-aided design applications. As a user,

you belong to special club of designers, drafters, engineers, and teachers numbering in the millions

worldwide. You speak a special “AutoCAD” language with your colleagues and are passionate about

your work. You’ve made this product line the success it is today, and we continually strive to make it

better each year. As product manager, my role is to listen to AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT customers like

you to help shape each new release. Autodesk is focused on improving day-to-day productivity of

AutoCAD customers while at the same time making the software more flexible and easier to learn.

As a development team, we work directly with thousands of customers to improve productivity in the

areas that count. I am sure you will agree that AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2007 are the most productive

AutoCADs yet.

I often get asked by customers what the best tool to help learn AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT

is, and after spending many years teaching AutoCAD to hundreds of new and experienced

users, I have seen a lot of approaches. Mastering AutoCAD is a fantastic way to learn no matter

what your skill level. It starts with the basics and progressively turns you into an AutoCAD or

AutoCAD LT expert. You can skip chapters you know and focus on what you need to learn

with in-depth explanations and step-by-step exercises. Whether you are learning the ropes

from scratch or getting up to speed on the latest product features such as 3D modeling, sheet

sets, or dynamic blocks, it’s all here in George’s new book, Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and

AutoCAD LT 2007.

Mastering AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 has been fully updated to cover all AutoCAD

2007 new or enhanced features, including modeling, visual styles, lights and materials, rendering

and animation, and changes you asked for in commonly used commands. This excellent revision

to the best-selling Mastering AutoCAD series features concise explanations, focused examples,

step-by-step instructions, and hands-on projects for both AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.

Award-winning author George Omura has been writing about AutoCAD almost as long as

we’ve been making it, and the depth of his knowledge shows.

—Eric Stover

AutoCAD Product Manager

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix

Part 1 • The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 • Exploring the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 • Creating Your First Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 3 • Setting Up and Using AutoCAD’s Drafting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 4 • Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Chapter 5 • Keeping Track of Layers, Blocks, and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Part 2 • Mastering Intermediate Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Chapter 6 • Editing and Reusing Data to Work Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Chapter 7 • Mastering Viewing Tools, Hatches, and External References . . . . . . . . . 225

Chapter 8 • Introducing Printing, Plotting, and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Chapter 9 • Understanding Plot Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Chapter 10 • Adding Text to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Chapter 11 • Using Fields and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Chapter 12 • Using Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Part 3 • Mastering Advanced Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .433

Chapter 13 • Using Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Chapter 14 • Copying Pre-existing Drawings into AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Chapter 15 • Advanced Editing and Organizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Chapter 16 • Laying Out Your Printer Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

Chapter 17 • Using Dynamic Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

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xi CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

Chapter 18 • Drawing Curves and Solid Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Chapter 19 • Getting and Exchanging Data from Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Part 4 • 3D Modeling and Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .665

Chapter 20 • Creating 3D Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667

Chapter 21 • Using Advanced 3D Features in AutoCAD 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

Chapter 22 • Rendering 3D Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Chapter 23 • Editing and Visualizing 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Part 5 • Customization and Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .857

Chapter 24 • Using the Express Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859

Chapter 25 • Exploring AutoLISP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885

Chapter 26 • Customizing Toolbars, Menus, Linetypes, and Hatch Patterns . . . . . . . 907

Chapter 27 • Managing and Sharing Your Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943

Chapter 28 • Keeping a Project Organized with Sheet Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983

Appendix A • Installing and Setting Up AutoCAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023

Appendix B • Hardware and Software Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1049

Appendix C • System and Dimension Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067

Appendix D • New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1141

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix

Part 1 • The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 • Exploring the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Taking a Guided Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The AutoCAD Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Drop-Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Working with AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Opening an Existing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Getting a Closer Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Saving a File as You Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Making Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Opening Multiple Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Adding a Pre-drawn Symbol with the Tool Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Closing AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

If You Want to Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter 2 • Creating Your First Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Getting to Know the Draw Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Starting Your First Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Specifying Distances with Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Specifying Polar Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Specifying Relative Cartesian Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Interpreting the Cursor Modes and Understanding Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Understanding Cursor Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Choosing Command Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Selecting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Selecting Objects in AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Using “Noun/Verb” Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Editing with Grips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Stretching Lines by Using Grips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Moving and Rotating with Grips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Using Dynamic Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Using the Search Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Using Context-Sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Finding Additional Sources of Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Staying Informed with the Communication Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Displaying Data in a Text Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Displaying the Properties of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

If You Want to Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

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