Autodesk AUTOSKETCH 8 User manual

October, 2001

AutoSketch

™

User’s Guide

RELEASE 8

12345678910

This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

AUTODESK, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THESE MATERIALS AND MAKES

SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN “AS IS” BASIS.

IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC. BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL

DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF PURCHASE OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE

LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC. REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE

MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Autodesk, Inc. reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of this product

at the time of its publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.

Autodesk Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D Plan, 3D Props, 3D Studio, 3D

Studio MAX, 3D Studio VIZ, 3DSurfer, ActiveShapes, ActiveShapes (logo), Actrix, ADE, ADI, Advanced Modeling Extension, AEC

Authority (logo), AEC-X, AME, Animator Pro, Animator Studio, ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Data Extension, AutoCAD

Development System, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Map, Autodesk, Autodesk Animator, Autodesk (logo), Autodesk MapGuide,

Autodesk University, Autodesk View, Autodesk WalkThrough, Autodesk World, AutoLISP, AutoShade, AutoSketch, AutoSurf,

AutoVision, Biped, bringing information down to earth, CAD Overlay, Character Studio, Design Companion, Design Your World,

Design Your World (logo), Drafix, Education by Design, Generic, Generic 3D Drafting, Generic CADD, Generic Software,

Geodyssey, Heidi, HOOPS, Hyperwire, Inside Track, Kinetix, MaterialSpec, Mechanical Desktop, Multimedia Explorer, NAAUG,

ObjectARX, Office Series, Opus, PeopleTracker, Physique, Planix, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Powered with Autodesk

Technology (logo), QuickCAD, RadioRay, Rastation, Softdesk, Softdesk (logo), Solution 3000, Texture Universe, The AEC Authority,

The Auto Architect, TinkerTech, VISION*, WHIP!, WHIP! (logo), Woodbourne, WorkCenter, and World-Creating Toolkit.

The following are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D on the PC, 3ds max, ACAD, Advanced User

Interface, AME Link, Animation Partner, Animation Player, Animation Pro Player, A Studio in Every Computer, ATLAST, Auto-

Architect, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD Architectural Desktop Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Learning Assistance,

AutoCAD LT Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk Animator Clips,

Autodesk Animator Theatre, Autodesk Device Interface, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk PhotoEDIT, Autodesk Software Developer's

Kit, Autodesk Streamline, Autodesk View DwgX, AutoFlix, AutoSnap, AutoTrack, Built with ObjectARX (logo), ClearScale, Colour

Warper, Combustion, Concept Studio, Content Explorer, cornerStone Toolkit, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design

Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignProf, DesignServer, DWG Linking, DXF, Extending the Design Team, FLI, FLIC, GDX Driver,

Generic 3D, gmax, gmax (logo), gmax ready (logo),Heads-up Design, Home Series, i-drop, Kinetix (logo), ObjectDBX, onscreen

onair online, Ooga-Chaka, Photo Landscape, Photoscape, Plasma, Plugs and Sockets, PolarSnap, Pro Landscape, Reactor, Real-

Time Roto, Render Queue, SchoolBox, Simply Smarter Diagramming, SketchTools, Sparks, Suddenly Everything Clicks,

Supportdesk, The Dancing Baby, Transform Ideas Into Reality, Visual LISP, Visual Syllabus, VIZable, Volo, and Where Design

Connects.

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Élan LIcense Manager is a trademark of Élan Computer Group, Inc.

Microsoft, Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Windows are registered trademarks and Visual FoxPro and the Microsoft Visual Basic

Technology logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

dBASE and Paradox are trademarks of Borland International, Inc.

Oracle is a trademark of Oracle Corporation.

Lotus 1-2-3 is a trademark of IBM Corporation.

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Third Party Software Program Credits

Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

reserved.

GOVERNMENT USE

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U. S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial Computer Software-

Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable

Contents | iii

Contents

Part I First Things to Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Contents of Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Installing AutoSketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Registering AutoSketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Visual Cues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2 Important Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Drawing Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Grid Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Drawing Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

iv | Contents

Chapter 3 Screen Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Title Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Drawing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Rulers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Split Boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Drawing and Grid Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Property Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Content Librarian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Pop-up Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

ToolTips and Pop-up Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Part II Managing Drawing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 4 Opening & Saving Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Opening a Drawing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Combining Two Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Saving a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Closing a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Finding a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Accessing Autodesk Point A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Chapter 5 Setting Up a New Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Creating a New Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Selecting a Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Setting the Drawing Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Moving the Drawing Origin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Setting the Page Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Using Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Setting the Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Setting the Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Setting the International Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Setting the Linear Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Setting the Angular Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Setting the Area Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Setting Decimal Precision for Scalar Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Contents | v

Chapter 6 Customizing the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Changing the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Setting Up the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Changing the Appearance of the Grid and the Drawing Origin. . . . 65

Using Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Using the Grid Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Changing a Drawing’s Grid Type on the Grid Edit Bar. . . . . . . . . . . 70

Changing Other Grid Settings on the Grid Edit Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Using the Grid Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Chapter 7 Printing, Plotting, and Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Understanding Page Tiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Selecting an Output Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Printing a Drawing to Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Printing a Drawing to Fit on a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Setting the Drawing Scale Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Publishing a Drawing File Set using eTransmit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Publishing a Drawing to the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Customizing a Publish to Web Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Chapter 8 Controlling Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Viewing Several Areas at Once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Using Preset Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Zooming In and Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Panning Across the Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Using the IntelliMouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Returning to a Previous View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Saving and Recalling Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Viewing Drawing Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Redrawing a Pane or Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Arranging Drawing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 9 Entering & Modifying Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Entering a Point Based on Pointer Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Entering a Point on the Reference Grid or Guideline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Entering a Point Exactly on an Entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Entering a Point at a Specific Distance from an Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Entering the Midpoint of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Entering a Point at a Symbol Basepoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Entering the Endpoint of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Entering a Point Where Two Entities Intersect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Entering a Point That Creates a Perpendicular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

vi | Contents

Entering the Center of an Arc or Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Entering a Point to Create a Tangent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Entering a Quadrant Point on an Arc or Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Entering a Point from the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Using Lock Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Using Set Last Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Modifying a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Chapter 10 Entering Lengths & Angles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Entering Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Entering Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Entering a Scalar Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Entering a Percentage Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Part III Basic Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 11 Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Drawing Single Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Drawing Connected Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Drawing a Line in Relation to an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Chapter 12 Polylines, Polygons, & Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Drawing Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Drawing Irregular Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Drawing Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Drawing Regular Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Drawing Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Chapter 13 Arcs & Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Drawing Arcs Based on Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Drawing Circles Based on Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Drawing Tangent Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

Drawing Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Chapter 14 Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Placing a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Inserting Symbols in Lines, Polylines, and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Creating Symbol Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Managing Symbols in the Content Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Contents | vii

Managing Symbol Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Editing Symbol Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Using AutoExplode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Setting a Current Symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Setting a Current Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Chapter 15 3D Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Using Extrusion Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Using Isometric Transformation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Customizing 3D Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Changing Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Changing Geometry Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Changing Extrusion Property Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Changing Isometric Origin Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Chapter 16 Pen & Pattern Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Setting Pen Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Using Color Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Setting the Pattern Properties of an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Creating a Boundary Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Matching Entity Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Changing the Hatch Spacing and Angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Adding Bitmap Images for Bitmap Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Part IV Annotating a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Chapter 17 Working With Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Placing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Modifying Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Changing Text Height, Angle, and Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Choosing a Font. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Editing Text with the Text Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Editing Text with the Inplace Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Checking Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Chapter 18 Creating Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Single Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Chained Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Baseline Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Changing Linear Dimensions With the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

viii | Contents

Angular Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232

Changing Angular Dimensions With the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

Radius Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

Changing Radius Dimensions With the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Diameter Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Changing Diameter Dimensions With the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Centerline Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Ordinate Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Chapter 19 Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Placing a Marker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Selecting a Marker Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Part V Editing Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Chapter 20 Selecting & Deleting Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Selecting Entities with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250

Selecting All Entities in a Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Using the Selection Modifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Aligning the Selection Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

Clearing a Selection Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256

Modifying the Properties for the Entire Selection Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256

Marquee Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Deleting Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Chapter 21 Undoing, Redoing, & Repeating Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Undoing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Redoing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Repeating Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263

Chapter 22 Moving, Rotating, & Resizing Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Working With the About Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

Moving or Copying an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267

Rotating an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270

Rubber Stamping an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273

Creating Patterns of Duplicate Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274

Parallel Placement of Duplicate Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277

Mirroring an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Contents | ix

Scaling an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Stretching an Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Arranging Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Repeating a Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Chapter 23 Trimming Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Creating a Corner Between Two Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Rounding an Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Beveling an Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Trimming to an Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Removing Sections of Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Dividing an Entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Dividing an Entity into Equal Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Creating an “Alcove” in a Line or Polyline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Joining Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Combining Two Polygons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Creating a Polygon from the Intersection of Two Polygons . . . . . . . . . . 296

Subtracting One Polygon From Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Chapter 24 Reshaping Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Selecting Vertices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Moving and Aligning Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Moving a Segment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Adding a Vertex, Segment, or Bulge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Editing the Properties of a Polyline or Polygon Segment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Controlling the Visibility of a Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Deleting a Vertex or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Opening and Closing Poly Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Dividing a Polyline at a Vertex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Reshaping Arcs and Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Chapter 25 Converting & Exploding Entity Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Converting Entities to Polylines and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Converting Arcs and Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Converting Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Closing and Opening Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Converting Polylines and Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Converting TrueType Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Creating Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Exploding Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

x | Contents

Chapter 26 Making Inquiries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Displaying Information About a Specific Entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322

Displaying Information on the Selection Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323

Displaying the Coordinates of a Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324

Measuring Distances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324

Measuring Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326

Measuring Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328

Part VI Using a Drawing As a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Chapter 27 Storing Data in a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Creating Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334

Assigning Fields and Values to Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335

Calculated Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336

Removing Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339

Chapter 28 Retrieving Data From a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Creating Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342

Organizing Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344

Sending Information to Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345

Displaying Values in a Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347

Including AutoFields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348

Chapter 29 Using Web Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Assigning URLs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353

Browsing Hyperlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354

Using Hyperlink Jumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355

Appendix A Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Advanced Topics found in online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358

Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

1

Part 1

First Things to Know

Chapter 1 Welcome

Chapter 2 Important Concepts

Chapter 3 Screen Layout

2 |

3

1

Welcome

AutoSketch is a precision drawing tool for the

Microsoft

®

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP

environments. It is developed for use by anyone who

needs fast, accurate drawings and wants the power and

flexibility afforded by Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Uses for

AutoSketch include:

■ Engineering drawings

■ Architectural drawings

■ Electrical schematics

■ Facility plans

■ Office layouts

■ Interior design drawings

■ Process flow diagrams

■ Maps

■ Business graphics

In this chapter

■ Contents of package

■ System requirements

■ Device drivers

■ Installing AutoSketch

■ Registering AutoSketch

■ About this guide

■ Online Help

■ Technical support

4 | Chapter 1 Welcome

The emphasis throughout AutoSketch is on speed, power, and ease of use.

Features appear when you need them but are kept out of the way when you

don’t. If you’re already a Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME,

Windows 2000, or Windows XP user, you’ll find the menu system and much

of the screen familiar. If you’re new to Windows, you’ll find it an easy place

to work. If you use a Microsoft Office product, you’ll notice that many tasks

can be completed in a similar manner in AutoSketch.

Contents of Package

AutoSketch comes with everything you need to install and use the software.

The package includes the following items:

■ AutoSketch CD

■ AutoSketch Getting Started Guide

■ Read This First card

System Requirements

To run AutoSketch on your computer, the following software and hardware

are required.

Minimum System Requirements

■ Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000,

or Windows XP. AutoSketch is not compatible with earlier versions of

Windows.

■ Pentium II or AMD equivalent—233Mhz processor.

■ 32 megabytes of RAM.

■ A hard drive with at least 100 megabytes of free space.

■ A CD-ROM drive.

■ A display adapter and 16 bit color monitor supported by Windows NT 4.0,

Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

■ VGA video display with an 800 by 600 resolution, supporting 16 bit color.

■ A mouse (or other pointing device) supported by Windows.

Device Drivers | 5

Device Drivers

As a Windows program, AutoSketch uses the device drivers provided by

Microsoft and others specifically for use with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. AutoSketch itself does not

provide drivers for printers, plotters, display adapters, pointing devices, and

so on.

Installing AutoSketch

You can’t install or reconfigure AutoSketch by copying files directly from the

CD to your hard drive. To install AutoSketch, you must run the setup appli-

cation from the AutoSketch CD.

Before installing AutoSketch, you must have Windows NT

®

4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP installed on your system.

Refer to your Windows online Help for information on installing and

configuring Windows.

To install AutoSketch

1 Insert the AutoSketch CD into your CD-ROM drive. Installation begins

automatically as soon as you insert the CD.

2 Follow the installation prompts that appear.

If installation did not begin when you inserted the AutoSketch CD into your

CD-ROM drive, Autorun may be turned off on your machine.

6 | Chapter 1 Welcome

To install AutoSketch if you have turned off Autorun

1 Insert the AutoSketch CD into your CD-ROM drive.

2 On the Windows start menu, click Run. The Run dialog box appears.

3 Enter D:\Setup.exe and click OK. If you are installing from a different

drive, substitute the correct drive in place of the letter D.

4 Follow the installation prompts that appear.

To run AutoSketch after installation is complete,

on the Start menu, click

Programs, AutoSketch.

Registering AutoSketch

You can use Microsoft Internet Explorer to launch Autodesk Online Software

Registration during installation.

Registering makes you eligible for technical support and for early notification

when new product releases become available. It also provides Autodesk with

important information about how you use your software.

About This Guide

You can use this guide both as a tool for learning AutoSketch and as a refer-

ence manual after you’re familiar with the software.

This guide is tailored to help you find information quickly. The beginning of

each paragraph signals the thought or point covered in the paragraph. To

find information on a specific subject you can usually scan through text

reading only the first few words of each paragraph until you find the infor-

mation you want. Illustrations, screen shots, tables, icons, and so on replace

explanatory text where possible.

About This Guide | 7

“How-to” information appears in numbered steps. This simplifies the learn-

ing process for new users and helps experienced users find essential

information quickly.

Instructions for installing and using Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98,

Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP do not appear in this guide.

If you are uncomfortable with your knowledge of Windows, review

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or

Windows XP online Help before attempting any serious work with

AutoSketch.

Visual Cues

This guide uses certain symbols and typographical conventions to help you

find information quickly. They are listed here:

Typographical conventions

Convention Meaning

■

item in a list

1. step in a procedure

Bold denotes something you must type exactly as it appears

Italics signals a new term; an explanation usually follows

ALL CAPS key names

KEY+KEY key combination (e.g., CTRL+R)

KEY, KEY, KEY key sequence (e.g., ALT, F, S)

Initial Caps filenames and names of menus, dialog boxes, and dialog box

controls

8 | Chapter 1 Welcome

Illustrations

This guide uses two types of illustrations. One depicts the AutoSketch screen

or some element onscreen. When this type of illustration is necessary, every

effort is made to depict the element exactly as it appears on the actual

display.

The other type of illustration demonstrates an action or principle. Each

element in a drawing of this type has a specific meaning. Here is a list of the

conventions used in procedural illustrations:

Elements used in procedural illustrations

Convention Meaning

existing entity

new entity

imaginary line (e.g., rubber band line or line used to show

alignment)

mouse click that selects an entity or a point—the number, when

present, specifies the mouse click’s position in a series of clicks

click and drag operation—beginning of arrow indicates where to

start; end of arrow indicates where to stop

last mouse click in a procedure that requires termination (e.g.,

polyline, baseline dimension, etc.)

OR

mouse click that opens a pop-up menu—the number, when

present, specifies the mouse click’s position in a series of clicks

Online Help | 9

Online Help

AutoSketch includes an extensive online Help system. This system includes

all of the information found in the AutoSketch User’s Guide, plus information

not found in the guide. Advanced topics, such as information on tracing,

importing and exporting, and customizing AutoSketch, are found exclu-

sively in online Help. For a complete list of topics which appear exclusively

in online Help, refer to the Appendix on page 357. To access the online Help

system, click AutoSketch Help on the Help menu, or press F1.

10 | Chapter 1 Welcome

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