AutoCAD® 2012 FOR DUMMIES®

AutoCAD® 2012 FOR DUMMIES®

Released May 2011
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118024409

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Book description

A full-color guide to the #1 architectural drafting program—AutoCAD 2012!

AutoCAD is the leading software used to create 2D and 3D technical drawings. Used by engineers, architects, and drafting professionals, it can be complex and is a perfect subject for the tried-and-true For Dummies format. Full-color illustrations make the instructions even easier to follow, because examples in the book appear exactly as they will on the screen.

  • Explains AutoCAD and gets readers quickly up to speed on the latest version

  • Features full-color illustrations that look the same as the AutoCAD 2012 screens, making the interface and the all-important Model view easier to understand

  • Covers all the new features, creating a basic layout, using AutoCAD DesignCenter, drawing and editing, working with dimensions, adding text, and more

Newcomers to AutoCAD will easily master the software with help from this full-color edition of AutoCAD 2012 For Dummies.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. About the Author
  5. Dedication
  6. Author's Acknowledgments
  7. Publisher's Acknowledgments
  8. Contents at a Glance
  9. Table of Contents
  10. Foreword
  11. Introduction
    1. What's Not (And What Is) in This Book
    2. Who Do I Think You Are?
    3. How This Book Is Organized
    4. Icons Used in This Book
    5. A Few Conventions — Just in Case
    6. Where to Go from Here
  12. Part I: AutoCAD 101
    1. 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
      1. Why AutoCAD?
      2. The Importance of Being DWG
      3. Seeing the LT
      4. Checking System Requirements
      5. Suddenly, It's 2012!
    2. 2: Le Tour de AutoCAD 2012
      1. AutoCAD Does Windows (And Office)
      2. And They're Off: AutoCAD's Opening Screens
      3. Getting with the Program
      4. Fun with F1
    3. 3: A Lap around the CAD Track
      1. A Simple Setup
      2. Drawing a (Base) Plate
      3. Getting a Closer Look with Zoom and Pan
      4. Modifying to Make It Merrier
      5. Following the Plot
    4. 4: Setup for Success
      1. A Setup Roadmap
      2. A Template for Success
      3. Making the Most of Model Space
      4. Making Templates Your Own
    5. 5: Planning for Paper
      1. Setting Up a Layout in Paper Space
      2. About Paper Space Layouts and Plotting
  13. Part II: Let There Be Lines
    1. 6: Manage Your Properties
      1. Managing Your Properties
      2. Using Named Objects
    2. 7: Preciseliness Is Next to CADliness
      1. Controlling Your Precision
      2. Other Practical Precision Procedures
    3. 8: Down the Straightaway
      1. Introducing the AutoCAD Drawing Commands
      2. The Straight and Narrow: Lines, Polylines, and Polygons
    4. 9: Dangerous Curves Ahead
      1. (Throwing) Curves
      2. Scoring Points
    5. 10: Get a Grip on Object Selection
      1. Commanding and Selecting
      2. Grab It
      3. Perfecting Selecting
      4. Object Selection: Now You See It …
      5. Get a Grip
    6. 11: Edit for Credit
      1. Your AutoCAD Tool Kit
      2. The Big Three: Move, Copy, and Stretch
      3. More Manipulations
      4. Slicing, Dicing, and Splicing
    7. 12: A Zoom with a View
      1. Zoom and Pan with Glass and Hand
      2. A View by Any Other Name …
      3. Looking Around in Layout Land
      4. Degenerating and Regenerating
  14. Part III: If Drawings Could Talk
    1. 13: Text with Character
      1. Getting Ready to Write
      2. Using the Same Old Line
      3. Turning On Your Annotative Objects
      4. Saying More in Multiline Text
      5. Gather Round the Tables
      6. Bring Out Your Inner Leader
    2. 14: Entering New Dimensions
      1. Discovering New Dimensions
      2. Doing Dimensions with Style(s)
      3. Drawing Dimensions
      4. Editing Dimensions
    3. 15: Down the Hatch
      1. Batten Down the Hatches!
      2. Pushing the Boundary (of) Hatch
      3. Editing Hatch Objects
    4. 16: The Plot Thickens
      1. You Say Printing, I Say Plotting
      2. A Simple Plot
      3. Plotting the Layout of the Land
      4. Plotting Lineweights and Colors
      5. It's a (Page) Setup!
      6. Continuing the Plot Dialog
      7. Troubles with Plotting
  15. Part IV: Advancing with AutoCAD
    1. 17: The ABCs of Blocks
      1. Rocking with Blocks
    2. 18: Going Dynamic and External
      1. Arraying Associatively
      2. Theme and Variations: Dynamic Blocks
      3. Going External
      4. Blocks, Xrefs, and Drawing Organization
      5. Mastering the Raster
      6. You say PDF, I say DWF
    3. 19: Call the Parametrics!
      1. Maintaining Design Intent
      2. Understanding Dimensional Constraints
      3. Understanding Geometric Constraints
    4. 20: Drawing on the Internet
      1. The Internet and AutoCAD: An Overview
      2. Sending Strategies
      3. Design Web Format — Not Just for the Web
      4. The Drawing Protection Racket
  16. Part V: On a 3D Spree
    1. 21: It's a 3D World After All
      1. Understanding 3D Digital Models
      2. Tools of the Trade
      3. Modeling from Above
      4. Changing Planes
      5. Navigating the 3D Waters
      6. Visualizing 3D objects
    2. 22: From Drawings … to Models
      1. Is 3D for Me?
      2. Getting Your 3D Bearings
      3. From Drawing to Modeling in 3D
      4. Adding the Third Dimension to 2D Objects
      5. Modifying 3D Objects
    3. 23: On a Render Bender
      1. Visualizing the Digital World
      2. Adding Lighting
      3. Creating and Applying Materials
      4. Defining a Background
      5. Rendering a 3D Model
  17. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    1. 24: Ten Great AutoCAD Resources
      1. Autodesk's Feedback Community
      2. Autodesk's Discussion Groups
      3. Autodesk's Own Bloggers
      4. Autodesk University
      5. The Autodesk Channel on YouTube
      6. The World Wide (CAD) Web
      7. Your Local ATC
      8. Your Local User Group
      9. AUGI
      10. Books
    2. 25: Ten Differences between AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
      1. Price
      2. 3D Abilities
      3. Customization Options
      4. Network Licensing
      5. Express Tools
      6. Parametrics
      7. Standards Checking
      8. Data Extraction
      9. MLINE versus DLINE
      10. Profiles
      11. Reference Manager
    3. 26: Ten System Variables to Make Your Life Easier
      1. APERTURE
      2. DIMASSOC
      3. MENUBAR
      4. MIRRTEXT
      5. OSNAPZ
      6. PICKBOX
      7. REMEMBERFOLDERS
      8. ROLLOVERTIPS
      9. TOOLTIPS
      10. VISRETAIN
  18. Index

Product information

  • Title: AutoCAD® 2012 FOR DUMMIES®
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: May 2011
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781118024409