Wiley Publishing, Inc. Introducing AutoCAD ® 2009 and AutoCAD ® LT 2009 GeorGe omura 60609ffirs.indd 3 3/19/08 6:11:37 PM 60609ffirs.indd 2 3/19/08 6:11:36 PM Introducing AutoCAD ® 2009 and AutoCAD ® LT 2009 60609ffirs.indd 1 3/19/08 6:11:36 PM 60609ffirs.indd 2 3/19/08 6:11:36 PM Wiley Publishing, Inc. Introducing AutoCAD ® 2009 and AutoCAD ® LT 2009 GeorGe omura 60609ffirs.indd 3 3/19/08 6:11:37 PM Acquisitions Editor: Willem Knibbe Development Editor: Thomas Way Technical Editor: Paul Richardson Production Editor: Rachel McConlogue Copy Editor: Kim Wimpsett Production Manager: Tim Tate Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde Book Designer: Caryl Gorsk a Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Ram a Proofreader: Ian Golder, Word One Indexer: Ted Laux Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed Main Cover Image: © JupiterImages Small Cover Image: iStockphoto Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-26060-9 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 the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy 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 t his 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 Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in elec- tronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Omura, George. Introducing autoCAD 2009 / George Omura. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-470-26060-9 (paper/website) 1. AutoCAD. 2. Computer-aided design. I. Title. T385.O475 2008 620’.00420285536--dc22 TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, 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 is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 60609ffirs.indd 4 3/19/08 6:11:37 PM Dear Reader, Thank you for choosing Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009. This book is part of a family of premium quality Sybex books, all written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching. Sybex was founded in 1976. More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to pro- ducing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors 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 com- ments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at nedde@wiley.com , or if you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com . Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex. Best regards, Neil Edde Vice President and Publisher Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley 60609ffirs.indd 5 3/19/08 6:11:37 PM To my colleagues at ELS Architecture and Urban Design, who wonder what I do in the afternoons Dedication 60609ffirs.indd 6 3/19/08 6:11:38 PM I’d like to thank Willem Knibbe for giving me the opportunity to work with Sybex, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, on this project. I’d also like to thank Pete Gaughan for keeping the project moving along. Thanks to Thomas Way for coordinating the project. Paul Richardson offered his AutoCAD expertise while checking all the details. Thanks to Rachel McConlogue for her dedicated work on each chapter, and thanks to the copy editor, Kim Wimpsett, for her careful atten- tion to detail. ■ At Autodesk, Jim Quanci once again gave his full support for our work and cheerfully answered all our questions. Thanks to Shaan Hurley for graciously opening the doors to the AutoCAD beta program so early in the process. And thanks to Denis Cadu who is always more than willing to help us in our times of need. ■ Thank you all for making this book possible. Acknowledgments 60609ffirs.indd 7 3/19/08 6:11:38 PM [...]... like you, you’ve come to the right place Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 is designed with you in mind How to Use This Book Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 covers the basic drawing and editing tools that most users will need to produce quality AutoCAD drawings You won’t find information about every last feature Instead, this book presents AutoCAD s essential features through a... Sybex’s Mastering AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 You can also contact this book’s publisher, Sybex, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, regarding general questions about this and other AutoCAD publications at www.sybex.com Thanks for choosing Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 — eorge Omura G gomura@yahoo.com 60609flast.indd 18 3/19/08 6:11:14 PM Chapter 1 Getting Familiar with AutoCAD If you... computer has the capacity to run AutoCAD 2009, here is a rundown of the minimum system requirements: • Windows XP Home or Professional, or Windows Vista • 1.2GB free disk space • 512MB RAM (1GB if you are using Windows Vista) • Pentium V or better processor What You’ll Find To help you get the most from AutoCAD, the chapters in Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 are organized into general... Understanding the AutoCAD window Getting help 3/19/08 6:12:35 PM 2  ■   Chapter 1: Getting Familiar with AutoCAD Understanding the AutoCAD Window Autodesk has completely redesigned AutoCAD 2009 s interface If you’ve used AutoCAD before, it will appear as though AutoCAD has completely changed Don’t worry; the underlying program still behaves in much the same way as before Through AutoCAD s workspace... of AutoCAD s layout Although many elements will be familiar, a few will be new to you To start, you’ll see the two ways that AutoCAD displays a drawing Then, for the rest of this chapter, you’ll focus on the 2D drawing environment After installing AutoCAD, take the following steps to get to the 2D workspace: 1 Choose Start ➔ All Programs ➔ Autodesk ➔ AutoCAD 2009 ➔ AutoCAD 2009 (LT users will click AutoCAD. .. click AutoCAD LT 2009 in place of AutoCAD 2009 in the previous menu selection.) You can also double-click the AutoCAD 2009 icon on your Windows Desktop The opening greeting, called a splash screen, appears momentarily; then, if this is a new installation, AutoCAD displays the Workspaces message box This message box offers an option to select 2D Drafting & Annotation, 3D Modeling, or AutoCAD Classic... with AutoCAD If you are totally new to AutoCAD, you’ll want to read this chapter It provides an overview of AutoCAD s layout and shows you what to expect when you start to use it Even if you’ve had an AutoCAD class or used an older version of AutoCAD, you’ll find this chapter helpful because it covers the new AutoCAD interface You’ll start by taking a tour of the AutoCAD window to get familiar with the... the AutoCAD way of doing things If you’re new to AutoCAD, you’ll want to pay special attention to these chapters In Chapter 1, “Getting Familiar with AutoCAD, ” you’ll be introduced to AutoCAD and how it’s organized You’ll learn where to find features and the purpose of the various parts of the AutoCAD screen Chapter 2, “Understanding the Drafting Tools,” gets into more detail regarding the way AutoCAD. .. of the AutoCAD window Autodesk Impressions, an adjunct program to AutoCAD, enables you to edit your drawings using tools similar to those found in Adobe Illustrator You can close this toolbar; I will not discuss this Autodesk product in this book If you are using AutoCAD 2009, try the following exercise to see how to get to the 3D Modeling workspace (this workspace is not available in AutoCAD 2009 LT):... 6  ■   Chapter 1: Getting Familiar with AutoCAD • Status bar • Command window • InfoCenter Figure 1.2 Your AutoCAD window should look like the earlier Figure 1.1, which shows the default configuration for a new AutoCAD installation Since AutoCAD is so easy to customize, you might not see exactly the same layout, but the basic components should be there AutoCAD 2009 offers the Ribbon that contains most . place. Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 is designed with you in mind. How to Use This Book Introducing AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 covers. Introducing AutoCAD ® 2009 and AutoCAD ® LT 2009 GeorGe omura 60609ffirs.indd 3 3/19/08 6:11:37 PM 60609ffirs.indd 2 3/19/08 6:11:36 PM Introducing AutoCAD