Autodesk Autocad 2004 Operating instructions

00118-010000-5020A February 2003

AutoCAD

®

User’s Guide

2004

12345678910

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iii

Contents

Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Install the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Use the Help System Efficiently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Find Information in Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Use Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Use Ask Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Understand How Help Topics Are Organized . . . . . . . . 7

Use the Up Arrow to Navigate Help Topics. . . . . . . . . 8

Print Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Show and Hide the Contents Pane . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Get Additional Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Use Active Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Learn the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Obtain Documentation Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Receive Product Updates and Announcements . . . . . . . . 13

Overview of Communication Center . . . . . . . . . 13

Customize Program Update and Announcement Options . . . 14

Receive New Information Notifications . . . . . . . . . 15

View the Product Readme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

iv | Contents

Part I The User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2 Menus, Toolbars and Tool Palettes . . . . . . . . . . 19

Tool Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Insert Blocks and Hatches Using Tool Palettes. . . . . . . 20

Change Tool Palette Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Control Tool Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Customize Tool Palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Save and Share Tool Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Shortcut Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Object Snap Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 3 The Command Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Enter Commands on the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . 36

Enter System Variables on the Command Line . . . . . . . . 38

Navigate and Edit Within the Command Window . . . . . . . 39

Switch Between Dialog Boxes and the Command Line . . . . . . 41

Dock and Resize the Command Window . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 4 DesignCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Overview of DesignCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Understand the DesignCenter Window. . . . . . . . . . . 46

Access Content with DesignCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Add Content with DesignCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Retrieve Content from the Web with DesignCenter Online . . . . 55

Overview of DesignCenter Online . . . . . . . . . . 55

Understand DesignCenter Online Content Types . . . . . 57

Retrieve Content on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Chapter 5 Customize the Drawing Environment . . . . . . . . . 61

Set Interface Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Customize Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Save and Restore Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Chapter 6 Pointing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Pointing Device Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Digitizing Tablets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Contents | v

Part II Start, Organize, and Save a Drawing. . . . . . 75

Chapter 7 Start and Save a Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Start a Drawing from Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Use a Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Use a Template File to Start a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Save a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Chapter 8 Open an Existing Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Overview of Opening Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Find a Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Specify Search Paths, File Names, and File Locations . . . . . . . 90

Work with Multiple Open Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Open Part of a Large Drawing (Partial Load) . . . . . . . . . . 92

Add Identifying Information to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . 95

Recover a Damaged File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 9 Specify Units, Angles, and Scale. . . . . . . . . . . 101

Set Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Set Angle Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Draw to Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Chapter 10 Organize Drawings and Apply Standards. . . . . . . . 109

Overview of CAD Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Define Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Check Drawings for Standards Violations . . . . . . . . . 114

Translate Layer Names and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Convert Layers to Established Drawing Standards . . . . . 121

View Selected Drawing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Purge Unreferenced Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Part III Control the Drawing Views . . . . . . . . 125

Chapter 11 Change a View in Two Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . 127

Pan a View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Magnify a View (Zoom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Pan and Zoom with the Aerial View Window . . . . . . . . 133

Save and Restore Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

vi | Contents

Chapter 12 Specify a 3D View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

View a Parallel Projection in 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Overview of Viewing Parallel Projections in 3D . . . . . . 140

Choose Preset 3D Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Define a 3D View with Coordinate Values or Angles. . . . . 141

Change to a View of the XY Plane . . . . . . . . . . 143

Change a 3D View Dynamically . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Display a Perspective View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Specify 3D Views Interactively (3D Orbit) . . . . . . . . . . 147

Overview of 3D Orbit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Set 3D Graphics Display Options (3D Orbit) . . . . . . . 148

Set Lights and Materials (3D Orbit) . . . . . . . . . . 148

Locate the Camera Position (3D Orbit) . . . . . . . . . 149

Use 3D Orbit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Adjust Clipping Planes (3D Orbit) . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 13 Display Multiple Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Set Model Tab Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Select the Current Viewport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Save and Restore Model Tab Viewport Arrangements . . . . . . 165

Part IV Create and Modify Objects . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 14 Control the Properties of Objects . . . . . . . . . 169

Overview of Object Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Display and Change the Properties of Objects . . . . . . . . 170

Copy Properties Between Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Work with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Overview of Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Use Layers to Manage Complexity . . . . . . . . . . 175

Create and Name Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Change Layer Settings and Layer Properties . . . . . . . 180

Filter and Sort the List of Layers . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Save and Restore Layer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Work with Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Set the Current Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Change the Color of an Object . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Use Color Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Contents | vii

Work with Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Overview of Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Load Linetypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Set the Current Linetype . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Change the Linetype of an Object . . . . . . . . . . 197

Control Linetype Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Display Linetypes on Short Segments and Polylines . . . . 200

Control Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Overview of Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Display Lineweights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Set the Current Lineweight . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Change the Lineweight of an Object . . . . . . . . . 205

Control the Display Properties of Certain Objects . . . . . . . 206

Control the Display of Polylines, Hatches, Gradient Fills,

Lineweights, and Text. . . . . . . . . . 206

Control the Display Order of Overlapping Objects . . . . . 208

Chapter 15 Use Precision Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Use Coordinates and Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . 210

Overview of Coordinate Entry . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Enter 2D Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Enter 3D Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Control the User Coordinate System (UCS) in 2D . . . . . 222

Specify Drawing Planes in 3D (UCS) . . . . . . . . . 225

Assign User Coordinate System Orientations to Viewports . . 230

Control the Display of the User Coordinate System Icon . . . 232

Snap to Locations on Objects (Object Snaps) . . . . . . . . 234

Use Object Snaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Set Visual Aids for Object Snaps (AutoSnap) . . . . . . . 236

Restrict Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Adjust Grid and Grid Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Use Orthogonal Locking (Ortho Mode) . . . . . . . . 240

Use Polar Tracking and PolarSnap . . . . . . . . . . 241

Lock an Angle for One Point (Angle Override) . . . . . . 244

Combine or Offset Points and Coordinates . . . . . . . . . 244

Combine Coordinate Values (Coordinate Filters) . . . . . 244

Track to Points on Objects (Object Snap Tracking) . . . . . 246

Specify Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Enter Direct Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Offset from Temporary Reference Points . . . . . . . . 249

Specify Intervals on Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

viii | Contents

Extract or Calculate Geometric Information from Objects . . . . . 254

Obtain Distances, Angles, and Point Locations . . . . . . 254

Obtain Area Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Use the Geometry Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Chapter 16 Draw Geometric Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Draw Linear Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Draw Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Draw Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Draw Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Draw Multiple-Line Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Draw Freehand Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Draw Curved Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Draw Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Draw Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Draw Polyline Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Draw Donuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Draw Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Draw Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Draw Construction and Reference Geometry . . . . . . . . . 289

Draw Reference Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Draw Construction Lines (and Rays) . . . . . . . . . . 290

Create and Combine Areas (Regions) . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Create 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Overview of 3D Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Add Extruded Thickness to Objects . . . . . . . . . . 297

Create Wireframe Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Create Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Create 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Create and Insert Symbols (Blocks) . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Overview of Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Create Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Insert Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Modify Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Attach Data to Blocks (Block Attributes) . . . . . . . . 339

Remove Block Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Create Revision Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Contents | ix

Chapter 17 Change Existing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Select Objects Individually . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Select Multiple Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Prevent Objects from Being Selected . . . . . . . . . 360

Filter Selection Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Customize Object Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Group Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Correct Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Modify Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Overview of Modifying Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Remove Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Move Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Rotate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Align Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Copy, Offset, or Mirror Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Change the Size and Shape of Objects . . . . . . . . . 390

Create Fillets, Chamfers, or Breaks in Objects . . . . . . 398

Use Grips to Edit Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Modify Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Modify Compound Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Disassociate Compound Objects (Explode) . . . . . . . 420

Modify Hatches and Solid-Filled Areas . . . . . . . . . 421

Modify or Join Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Modify Multilines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Modify 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Overview of Modifying 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . 429

Fillet and Chamfer 3D Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Section and Slice 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Modify Faces of 3D Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Modify Edges of 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Imprint 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Separate 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Shell 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Clean and Check 3D Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Use Windows Cut, Copy, and Paste . . . . . . . . . . . 443

x | Contents

Part V Hatches, Notes, and Dimensions . . . . . . 447

Chapter 18 Hatches, Fills, and Wipeouts . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Overview of Hatch Patterns and Fills . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Define Hatch Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Overview of Hatch Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Control the Hatching in Islands . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Define Hatch Boundaries in Large Drawings . . . . . . . 456

Create Unbounded Hatches . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Choose Hatch Patterns and Solid Fills . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Create Solid-Filled Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Create Gradient-Filled Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Use Predefined Hatch Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Create User-Defined Hatch Patterns . . . . . . . . . . 464

Create a Blank Area to Cover Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Chapter 19 Notes and Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Overview of Notes and Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Create Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Overview of Creating Text and Leaders . . . . . . . . . 468

Create Single-Line Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

Create Multiline Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

Create Text with Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Import Text from External Files . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Work with Text Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Overview of Text Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Assign Text Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Set Text Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Set Text Obliquing Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Set Horizontal or Vertical Text Orientation . . . . . . . 496

Change Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Overview of Changing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Change Single-Line Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

Change Multiline Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Change Text with a Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500

Change Text Scale and Justification . . . . . . . . . . 501

Check Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Use an Alternate Text Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

Overview of Using an Alternate Text Editor . . . . . . . 504

Format Multiline Text in an Alternate Text Editor . . . . . 505

Contents | xi

Chapter 20 Dimensions and Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Understand Basic Concepts of Dimensioning . . . . . . . . 510

Overview of Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Parts of a Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Associative Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

Use Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Overview of Dimension Styles . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Compare Dimension Styles and Variables. . . . . . . . 514

Control Dimension Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Control Dimension Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

Control Dimension Values . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Set the Scale for Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Create Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Create Linear Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Create Radial Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Create Angular Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

Create Ordinate Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

Modify Existing Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

Apply a New Dimension Style to Existing Dimensions . . . 547

Override a Dimension Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 548

Modify Dimension Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Modify Dimension Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Change Dimension Associativity . . . . . . . . . . 555

Add Geometric Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Overview of Geometric Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . 557

Material Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Datum Reference Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Projected Tolerance Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Composite Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Part VI Create Layouts and Plot Drawings . . . . . 563

Chapter 21 Create Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Overview of Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Work in Paper Space and Model Space . . . . . . . . . . 569

Set Up a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Overview of Layout Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Select a Paper Size for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Determine the Drawing Orientation of a Layout . . . . . 576

Adjust the Plot Origin in a Layout . . . . . . . . . . 577

Set the Plot Area of a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

Set the Plot Scale for a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Set the Lineweight Scale for a Layout . . . . . . . . . 580

xii | Contents

Use the Layout Wizard to Specify Layout Settings . . . . . 581

Reuse Layouts and Layout Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Duplicate a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Create a Layout Using a Template . . . . . . . . . . 582

Save a Layout Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Insert a Layout Using DesignCenter . . . . . . . . . . 584

Import PCP or PC2 Settings into a Layout . . . . . . . . 584

Create and Use Named Page Setups . . . . . . . . . . 585

Create Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

Work with Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

Place Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Change the Properties of Layout Viewports . . . . . . . 590

Lock the Scale of Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . 591

Control Visibility in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . 592

Manage Layer Visibility in a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Edit in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

Scale Views Relative to Paper Space . . . . . . . . . . 598

Scale Linetypes in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . 599

Align Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Rotate Views in Layout Viewports . . . . . . . . . . 602

Create a Nonrectangular Viewport . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

Redefine the Boundary of an Existing Viewport . . . . . . 604

Use Grips to Edit Nonrectangular Viewports . . . . . . . 604

Zoom and Pan in Nonrectangular Viewports . . . . . . . 605

Chapter 22 Plot Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Overview of Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

How Plotting Has Changed from Previous Versions . . . . . . . 611

Overview of How Plotting Has Changed from Previous Versions . 611

Plot Drawings from Previous Versions . . . . . . . . . 612

Migrate Pen Settings from Previous Versions . . . . . . . 612

Use Plotter Configuration Files from Previous Versions . . . . 613

Set Up a Page for Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Set Paper Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Position the Drawing on the Paper . . . . . . . . . . 618

Control How Objects Are Plotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Set Plot Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Set Options for Plotted Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Set Shaded Viewport Options . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Use Plot Styles to Control Plotted Objects . . . . . . . . 628

Use Color-Dependent Plot Style Tables . . . . . . . . . 634

Use Named Plot Style Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Change Plot Style Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Contents | xiii

Specify the Area to Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Preview a Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Plot Files to Other Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Plot to DXB File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Plot to Raster File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

Create Adobe PostScript Files. . . . . . . . . . . . 654

Create Plot Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Plot Batches of Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Part VII Share Data Between Drawings and Applications . 663

Chapter 23 Reference Other Drawing Files (Xrefs) . . . . . . . . 665

Overview of External References . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Attach, Update, and Bind External References . . . . . . . . 666

Attach External References . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Nest and Overlay External References . . . . . . . . . 669

Update Attached External References . . . . . . . . . 670

Clip External References and Blocks . . . . . . . . . 673

Resolve Name Conflicts in External References . . . . . . 675

Archive Drawings That Contain External References (Bind) . . 676

Detach External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Edit External References and Blocks in Place. . . . . . . . . 678

Edit an Xref in a Separate Window . . . . . . . . . . 678

Edit Xrefs and Blocks Within Context . . . . . . . . . 679

Set Paths to Externally Referenced Drawings. . . . . . . . . 685

Resolve External Reference Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . 690

Resolve Missing External Reference Files . . . . . . . . 690

Resolve External References That Are Circular . . . . . . 691

Track External Reference Operations (Log File) . . . . . . 692

Increase Performance with Large Xrefs . . . . . . . . . . 694

Overview of Demand Loading . . . . . . . . . . . 694

Unload Xrefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694

Work with Demand Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

Work with Layer and Spatial Indexes . . . . . . . . . 696

Set Paths for Temporary Xref File Copies . . . . . . . . 698

xiv | Contents

Chapter 24 Link and Embed Data (OLE) . . . . . . . . . . . 699

Overview of Object Linking and Embedding . . . . . . . . . 700

Import OLE Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Overview of Importing OLE Objects into Drawings . . . . . 702

Link OLE Objects in Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Embed OLE Objects in Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . 705

Limitations of OLE Objects in Drawings . . . . . . . . 708

Export OLE Objects from Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

Edit OLE Objects in Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709

Chapter 25 Work with Data in Other Formats . . . . . . . . . 713

Import Files Created in Other Formats . . . . . . . . . . . 714

Export Drawings to Other File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . 716

DXF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716

WMF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

Raster Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718

PostScript Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

ACIS Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

3D Studio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721

Stereolithograph Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721

DWF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

Use Drawings from Different Versions and Applications . . . . . 722

Save Drawings to Previous Drawing File Formats . . . . . . 722

Work with AutoCAD Drawings in AutoCAD LT . . . . . . 723

Work with Custom and Proxy Objects . . . . . . . . . 724

Chapter 26 Access External Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

Overview of Using AutoCAD with External Databases . . . . . . 728

Access a Database from Within AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . 729

Configure a Database for Use with AutoCAD Drawings . . . . 729

View Data in a Database Table. . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Edit Data in a Database Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 736

Link Database Records to Graphical Objects . . . . . . . . . 738

Create and Edit Links and Link Templates . . . . . . . . 738

Identify and Select Existing Links. . . . . . . . . . . 743

Find and Correct Link Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Export Link Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Use Labels to Display Database Information in the Drawing . . . . 747

Create and Edit Labels and Label Templates . . . . . . . 747

Update Labels with New Values from the Database . . . . . 752

Contents | xv

Use Queries to Filter Database Information . . . . . . . . . 753

Overview of Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Construct Simple Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754

Use the Query Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758

Use SQL Queries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760

Combine Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762

Save and Reuse Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764

Share Link and Label Templates and Queries with Other Users . . . 765

Work with Links in Files from Earlier Releases . . . . . . . . 767

Part VIII Work with Other People and Organizations . . 771

Chapter 27 Protect and Sign Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . 773

Drawing Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Overview of Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Protect Drawings with Encryption . . . . . . . . . . 775

View Password-Protected Drawings . . . . . . . . . . 777

Sign Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

Overview of Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . 779

Personally Sign Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

View Drawings with Digital Signatures . . . . . . . . 784

Chapter 28 Use the Internet to Share Drawings . . . . . . . . . 791

Get Started with Internet Access . . . . . . . . . . . . 792

Add Hyperlinks to a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792

Overview of Using Hyperlinks in a Drawing . . . . . . . 792

Use a Hyperlink to Access a File or a Web Page . . . . . . 793

Use a Hyperlink to Create an Email Message . . . . . . . 797

Use Hyperlinks in Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798

Use a Hyperlink to Start a New Drawing . . . . . . . . 799

Convert Previously Attached URLs to Hyperlinks . . . . . 799

Work with Drawing Files over the Internet . . . . . . . . . 800

Open and Save Drawing Files from the Internet. . . . . . 800

Work with Xrefs over the Internet . . . . . . . . . . 805

Insert Content from a Website . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Package a Drawing File Set for Internet Transmission . . . . 808

Use the Publish to Web Wizard to Create Web Pages . . . . . . 810

xvi | Contents

Chapter 29 Insert and View Markups . . . . . . . . . . . . 813

Overview of the Electronic Markup Feature . . . . . . . . . 814

Insert Markup Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Review Electronic Markups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

Chapter 30 Publish Drawing Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Overview of Design Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820

Create an Electronic Drawing Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . 821

Create a Paper Drawing Set (and Plot to File) . . . . . . . . . 825

Modify a Drawing Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829

Republish a Drawing Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831

View a Published Drawing Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833

Configure a DWF6 Driver (Advanced) . . . . . . . . . . . 833

Overview of Creating or Modifying a DWF6 Configuration File . 833

Set the DWF File Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . 836

Set the DWF File Compression . . . . . . . . . . . 837

Set Font-Handling for the DWF File . . . . . . . . . . 838

Edit Pen Patterns for the DWF File . . . . . . . . . . 840

Part IX Create Realistic Images and Graphics . . . . 843

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859

1

Find the Information You

Need

AutoCAD

®

is a powerful application with tools that help

you work with a high level of efficiency and

productivity. You install AutoCAD with the Installation

wizard that starts automatically when you insert the

product CD.

AutoCAD is often intuitive, but when you do need to

look something up, you can save time and avoid frustra-

tion if you use the Help system to find information. The

Help system is organized in a structured design that

makes information easy to locate.

In this chapter

■ Install the Product

■ Use the Help System Efficiently

■ Use Active Assistance

■ Learn the Product

■ Obtain Documentation

Updates

■ Receive Product Updates and

Announcements

■ View the Product Readme

2 | Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need

Install the Product

You can easily install and configure AutoCAD on a stand-alone computer.

Insert the product CD in the CD-ROM drive. Then in the AutoCAD CD

Browser, on the Install tab, click Install. The Installation wizard leads you

through the installation process. The AutoCAD CD Browser also provides

instructions for network installations and access to information about tech-

nical support and licensing.

If you want more extensive information about installing a stand-alone

version of AutoCAD, you can consult the Stand-Alone Installation Guide. To

access this guide, in the AutoCAD CD Browser, after you click Install on the

Install tab, click Stand-Alone Installation Guide (.pdf).

If you want more extensive information about deploying AutoCAD on a net-

work, you can consult the Network Administrator's Guide. To access this guide,

in the AutoCAD CD Browser, click the Network Deployment tab, and then

click Network Administrator's Guide (.pdf).

Once the product is installed, you can access either the Stand-Alone Installa-

tion Guide or the Network Administrator's Guide in the Help system.

Migration Tools

AutoCAD Migration Tools help you when upgrading to a new release of

AutoCAD. You can download the Migration Tools from the Autodesk website

in several languages. Available tools include

■ Layer State Converter

■ Batch Drawing Converter

■ AutoLISP Compatibility Analyzer

■ Menu and Toolbar Porter

■ Command Alias Porter

■ ScriptPro

After going to the Autodesk website, http://www.autodesk.com/migrationtools,

perform a search on Migration Tools.

Note Because these are public tools, product support for them is limited to the

Autodesk discussion groups.

Use the Help System Efficiently | 3

Use the Help System Efficiently

AutoCAD Help contains complete information about using AutoCAD. In the

Help window, you use the left pane to locate information. The tabs above the

left pane give you several ways for finding the topics you want to view. The

right pane displays the topics you select.

Find Information in Help

The tabs on the left side of the Help window provide different methods for

finding information. To locate a specific word or phrase in the current topic,

use the CTRL+F keys.

Contents Tab

■ Presents an overview of the available documentation in a list of topics and

subtopics.

■ Allows you to browse by selecting and expanding topics.

■ Provides a structure so you can always see where you are in Help and

quickly jump to other topics.

Index Tab

■ Displays an alphabetical list of keywords related to the topics listed on the

Contents tab.

■ Accesses information quickly when you already know the name of a fea-

ture, command, or operation, or when you know what action you want

AutoCAD to perform.

Search Tab

■ Provides full-text search of all the topics listed on the Contents tab.

■ Allows you to perform an exhaustive search for a specific word or phrase.

■ Displays a ranked list of topics that contain the word or words entered in

the keyword field.

Favorites Tab

■ Provides an area where you can save "bookmarks" to important topics.

■ Displays your list of favorite or often-used topics.

■ Lists any topic that is displayed in the right pane of the Help window,

even topics that are on the Web.

4 | Chapter 1 Find the Information You Need

Ask Me Tab

■ Allows you to find information using a question phrased in everyday

language.

■ Displays a ranked list of topics that correspond to the word or phrase

entered in the question field.

■ Provides a "Search the Web" link that sends a query to a search engine on

the Web.

To start Help

■ On the Help menu, click Help or Developer Help.

Note You can press F1 at the Command prompt, in a dialog box, or at a

prompt within a command to display Help information.

To use the Help Contents

1 If necessary, choose the Show button to display the left pane of the Help

window. Then choose the Contents tab to display Help Contents.

2 To expand the Help Contents list, use one of these methods:

■ Double-click a closed-book icon or click the + icon next to it.

■ Right-click in Help Contents and choose Open All.

3 To close the Help Contents list, use one of these methods:

■ Double-click an open-book icon or click the - icon next to it.

■ Right-click in Help Contents and choose Close All.

4 To view a topic, use one of these methods:

■ In Help Contents, click the topic.

■ Click any blue underlined text in a topic.

To use Favorites for storage and retrieval of Help topics

1 In the right pane of the Help window, display the topic that you want to

store.

2 Click the Favorites tab, and then click Add.

3 Do one of the following:

■ To redisplay the topic, select it in the Topics list and click Display.

■ To remove the topic from Favorites, select it in the Topics list and click

Remove.

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Autodesk Autocad 2004 Operating instructions

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