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Ellen Finkelstein
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About the Author
Ellen Finkelstein learned AutoCAD in Israel, where she always got to pore over the
manual because she was the only one who could read it in English. After returning
to the United States, she started consulting and teaching AutoCAD as well as other
computer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ellen has
written books on Word, PowerPoint, and Flash (Flash 5 For Dummies, published by
Hungry Minds, Inc.). Her first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference. She
was a contributing author to AutoCAD 13 Secrets, also published by Hungry Minds,
Inc. Previous editions of this book were AutoCAD 14 Bible, appearing in 1997, and
AutoCAD 2000 Bible, which was published in 1999.
To MMY for teaching me that there’s more to life than meets the eye.
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Foreword
W e at Autodesk understand better each day that while we are obviously a
software developer and publisher, we are really in the “Customer
Performance Improvement” business. This is the value proposition that you, our
customer, ultimately seek. Don’t we all? Delivering on this proposition requires that
we provide two key deliverables to you:
1. Great software technology with the right features.
2. The support you need so you can use Autodesk software effectively in your
job with improved performance and productivity.
Our product designs have always been user-centric and driven by what you need to
continuously improve productivity. AutoCAD 2002 sets a new standard for user pro-
ductivity. This is the AutoCAD that users and managers alike asked for — and more.
Most of the new features and enhancements came from the ultimate source, cus-
tomer requests, and for the ultimate purpose: improving the performance and pro-
ductivity of you and your team.
But creating great software based solely on your feedback is not enough.
Autodesk’s commitment to increasing productivity requires that we go beyond
what our customers ask. We’re always searching for new performance-enhancing
innovations — even if they fall outside the scope of current software features, and
even if you haven’t thought to ask for them. Our focus, like yours, is on results. If it
works, if it enables you to be more successful and achieve better results, we’ll go
there. So in addition to specific software enhancements, we are focusing more on
supporting the entire process of collaborative design. We are “digitizing the design
process” and enabling more effective use of the Web in order to simplify the com-
plexities of collaborative design.
Yet, introducing these innovations also poses new challenges, namely learning how
to use and effectively apply these enhancements. We have done much to address
these challenges both within AutoCAD 2002 and with new offerings such as
AutoCAD Today and Autodesk Point A Web resources. However, the real solution
must be more than what Autodesk alone can provide, hence the critical role of the
Autodesk virtual community. We are therefore particularly grateful to Ellen
Finkelstein for having written such a comprehensive and reliable guide to AutoCAD
2002, and to the good people at Hungry Minds for making this so widely available.
Following the great success of the AutoCAD 2000 Bible, this new book draws upon
lessons learned through constructive feedback from readers.
vi AutoCAD 2002 Bible
At Autodesk we prefer to think of more than just software, but rather the whole
environment of an AutoCAD 2002 user. The AutoCAD 2002 Bible should be part of
every user’s immediate environment. Work with it. Refer to it each time you have a
question. Use it to augment the digital learning resources that come with AutoCAD
2002: AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Today, the Help system, and the
online resources of Autodesk Point A, which is seamlessly integrated into AutoCAD
2002. Keep the AutoCAD 2002 Bible handy and browse through it whenever you
need a break or have some spare time. You’ll discover myriad capabilities to
AutoCAD 2002 you probably weren’t aware even existed. You’ll learn new and better
ways to accomplish tasks, and continuously improve your overall performance
using AutoCAD 2002.
Wayne Hodgins
Strategic Futurist
Director, Worldwide Learning Strategies
Autodesk, Inc.
Preface
W elcome to the AutoCAD 2002 Bible. AutoCAD 2002 is the most powerful
CAD software product available for PCs today. It can perform nearly any
drawing task you can give it. This book is designed to be your comprehensive guide
to the entire AutoCAD program.
AutoCAD 2002 is the fastest, smoothest AutoCAD yet. Certain features have been
added that are not even mentioned in this book because you never see them — you
just notice that fewer regenerations occur, drawings load faster, and you spend less
time waiting while drawing and editing. In addition to these refinements, of course,
are the many new features covered in this book that will make your drawing easier
and faster. The new features include both those introduced with 2000i, an interim
release, and 2002.
This book covers every major AutoCAD feature. If you’re a beginning AutoCAD user,
you’ll find everything you need to start out; if you’re already using AutoCAD regu-
larly, the book covers advanced material as well. It provides a solid reference base
to come back to again and again, as well as short tutorials to get you drawing.
Sidebar profiles show how companies out in the real world use AutoCAD. Finally,
the CD-ROM is chock full of drawings, a trial version of AutoCAD 2002, and AutoLISP
programs. This book should be all you need to make full use of that expensive pro-
gram called AutoCAD.
Is This Book for You?
The AutoCAD 2002 Bible covers all the essential features of AutoCAD and includes
clear, real-life examples and tutorials that you can adapt to your needs.
Although I fully cover AutoCAD basics, I have also included material on the many
advanced features, such as external database connectivity, AutoLISP, Visual Basic
for Applications (VBA), 3D modeling, rendering, and customization. The following
categories should help you decide if this book is for you.
If you are a new AutoCAD user
If you are new to AutoCAD, the AutoCAD 2002 Bible guides you through all you need
to know to start drawing effectively, whatever your field.
viii AutoCAD 2002 Bible
If you are upgrading to AutoCAD 2002
This book highlights all the new features of AutoCAD 2002 and helps you make the
upgrade transition as seamless as possible.
If you are switching from another CAD program
You already know what CAD is all about. This book clearly explains the AutoCAD
way of drawing the models you have already been drawing. In addition, you’ll find a
great deal of essential information about transferring information from other for-
mats.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is divided into seven parts and five appendixes.
Part I: AutoCAD Basics
Part I provides the background information you need to start drawing. It starts with
a “quick tour” that gets you drawing right away, and then covers how to start a
drawing, use commands, specify coordinates, and set up a drawing.
Part II: Drawing in Two Dimensions
Part II covers all the commands and procedures for drawing and editing in two
dimensions. In addition, I discuss how to control the drawing process with layers,
zooming, and panning. Also included in this part is information about dimensioning,
plotting, and printing.
Part III: Working with Data
Part III covers the many ways to organize and share data, including blocks,
attributes, external references, and external databases.
Part IV: Drawing in Three Dimensions
Part IV explains everything you need to know to draw in three dimensions. It also
discusses how to present 3D drawings using hiding, shading, and rendering tech-
niques.
Part V: Organizing and Managing Drawings
Part V helps you incorporate AutoCAD into your work world by explaining how to
set standards, manage drawings, and work with other applications. It concludes
with a chapter on AutoCAD and the Internet.
Preface ix
Part VI: Customizing AutoCAD
Part VI introduces the tools you need to customize commands, toolbars, linetypes,
hatch patterns, shapes, fonts, and menus. You’ll also find a chapter on script files,
which you can use to create macros.
Part VII: Programming AutoCAD
Part VII introduces you to programming AutoCAD. It includes three chapters on
AutoLISP and Visual LISP and one chapter on Visual Basic for Applications.
Appendixes
Appendix A gives instructions for installing and configuring AutoCAD. Appendix B
covers all the ways to get help on AutoCAD, and Appendix C explains what you’ll
find on the CD-ROM.
Cross- The CD-ROM contains a complete copy of this book in PDF format. The book in
Reference
that format includes two bonus appendixes. Appendix D displays all the menus
and submenus as well as the toolbars and their flyouts. Appendix E lists new,
changed, and discontinued commands and system variables as well as a list of
system variables often used on the command line.
How to Use This Book
You can use this book in two ways: as a reference or as a learning tool or tutorial.
As a reference
The AutoCAD 2002 Bible is organized as a reference that you can refer to whenever
you get stuck or when you try to do something for the first time. Each chapter cov-
ers a topic completely, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Each Step-by-
Step exercise (with a few exceptions) can be done on its own without doing the
other exercises in the chapter. You can easily look up a topic and complete a
related exercise without having to go through the entire chapter. A complete index
at the back of the book can also help you look up features and topics.
As a tutorial
The overall organization of the book goes from simple to complex, and each chap-
ter has several Step-by-Step sections. This enables you to use the book as a
tutorial — from beginning to end. You can then go back and redo any exercise when
you need to refresh your memory on a particular feature.
x AutoCAD 2002 Bible
For newcomers to AutoCAD, Parts I and II are essential. After that, you can refer to
chapters that interest you. Parts III and V are also useful for beginners. Intermediate
users will probably be familiar with most of the material in Part I and will be more
likely to skip around looking for the specific topics they need. However, don’t forget
that many of the new features for AutoCAD 2002 are introduced in Part I. Enough
material appears in this book to bring intermediate users up to a fairly advanced
level.
I have designed this book to be comprehensive and to include every significant fea-
ture of AutoCAD. Therefore, do not be concerned if some of the material seems too
advanced. It will be there when you are ready for it.
Doing the Exercises
AutoCAD is a very customizable program. This book assumes that you are working
with the default setup. However, a number of changes may have been made to your
system that could result in menus, toolbars, and drawings appearing differently
from those shown in this book. If you installed AutoCAD yourself and made some
adjustments, you know what changes you made. However, if you are using a com-
puter that was set up by someone else, it may help to talk to that person first, to
see what changes were made.
In addition, as you work through some of the exercises in this book, you will make
certain changes in AutoCAD’s setup. Most of these are minor changes that any user
would make while drawing. Cautions and Tips accompany all changes that could
have serious consequences, such as customizing the menu, for safety. For example,
when customizing the menu, you will be instructed to copy the menu template file
under a new name, and you will then work with the new menu file, not the original
one. Nevertheless, if you are working on a network or sharing AutoCAD with some-
one else, it is proper computer etiquette to consult with others who may be
affected by the changes you make.
If you do the exercises, I recommend that you do them from the beginning.
Important instructions are given during earlier exercises that may affect your sys-
tem later. For example, one of the first exercises is to create a new folder to hold
your drawings from the exercises. This folder keeps your exercise drawings sepa-
rate from other drawings created in your office. However, each exercise stands on
its own so you can go back and do only the exercise you need.
Cross- You can create your own AutoCAD configuration that helps ensure that changes
Reference
you make will not affect others. Instructions for doing this appear in Appendix A
under the heading “Creating Multiple Configurations.”
The exercises in the AutoCAD 2002 Bible have been carefully checked by a technical
editor to ensure accuracy. However, we cannot anticipate all situations, either due
Preface xi
to varying hardware/software configurations or customization within AutoCAD. If
you have a problem with an exercise, contact me at the e-mail address listed at the
end of this Preface so I can correct the problem in the book’s next edition.
Conventions Used in This Book
Given all the ways in which you can execute a command in AutoCAD, you’ll find it
useful to read through this section, which describes this book’s typographical con-
ventions. You will find this section helpful for doing the Step-by-Step exercises as
well.
AutoCAD commands
AutoCAD uses standard Windows conventions for menus and toolbars. To indicate
that you should choose a command from the menu, for example, I say, “Choose
View ➪ Viewports,” which means that you should click the View menu with your
mouse or puck/stylus and then click the Viewports menu item. Some of AutoCAD’s
toolbar buttons have flyouts, which are equivalent to submenus. They are called
flyouts because they fly out when you click and hold the button on the main tool-
bar, displaying even more buttons. Therefore, to indicate which button to choose, I
may need to tell you to choose (or click) Zoom Extents from the Zoom flyout of the
Standard toolbar. Although I haven’t found a good alternative, this is not completely
satisfactory for two reasons. First, it’s a mouthful! Second, the flyout names do not
appear, making it hard to know which is the Zoom flyout. However, you can check
Appendix D, which is on the CD-ROM. It shows each toolbar and flyout along with
its name. Also, in most cases it will be obvious which flyout I’m talking about.
AutoCAD is unique in that every command also has a command name that you can
type on the command line, which appears at the bottom of your screen. Command
names are shown in capital letters, as in CIRCLE. AutoLISP functions are shown in
small capital letters, as in COMMAND.
AutoCAD prompts, your input, and instructions
In the Step-by-Step exercises, most instructions are presented in the same font and
style you are reading now. However, when I reproduce the AutoCAD command line,
AutoCAD’s prompts appear in a nonproportional font and the input you should type
in appears in bold. Other instructions (such as “Type in the first coordinate”) are
shown in italic.
Here’s a sample Step-by-Step section. In this exercise, you click the proper toolbar
button, type in the X,Y coordinates shown in bold, and press Enter where indicated
by the bent arrow (↵) symbol.
xii AutoCAD 2002 Bible
1. With your left mouse button (also called the pick button), choose Line from
the Draw toolbar. Notice that the command name is repeated on the com-
mand line.
Command: _line Specify first point: 0,0 ↵ (This arrow means
to press Enter)
Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,0 ↵
Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,7 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,7 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,0 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: ↵
Often I make references to specific elements in a drawing. References to these ele-
ments appear in the text as numbers in circles, such as 1, 2, 3, and so on. You’ll
find the corresponding number in the figure to which the text refers.
Mouse and keyboard terms
You can draw in AutoCAD using a mouse or a puck. The mouse is familiar to all
users. A puck (or sometimes a stylus) is used with a digitizing tablet. Because most
AutoCAD users do not have a digitizing tablet, I do not directly refer to it in this
book. If you have one, follow the instructions for using the mouse in the same way,
using your puck.
A mouse can have two or more buttons. Many AutoCAD users like using a mouse
with at least three buttons because you can customize the buttons to suit your
needs. However, because many mice have only two buttons, I assume only two. The
left mouse button is used to choose commands and toolbar buttons and to pick
points in your drawing. For this reason, it is sometimes called the pick button. The
right button usually opens a shortcut menu.
If I say one of the following
✦ Choose Tools ➪ Options
✦ Click Line on the Draw toolbar
✦ Select the circle in your drawing
it means to use the left button of your mouse.
When I say to press Enter, it means to press the key that is marked Enter, Return, or
↵ on your keyboard. Often I use the bent arrow symbol (↵) to indicate that you
should press Enter.
I also use the mouse terms listed in the following table.
Preface xiii
AutoCAD Mouse Terms
Term Description
Cursor The shape on your screen that shows you where the mouse is pointed. It
can take a number of shapes, such as crosshairs, pickbox, or arrow. Also
known as the mouse pointer.
Pickbox A type of cursor consisting of a small box, used to select drawing objects.
Crosshairs A type of cursor consisting of intersecting lines.
Pick Point to a drawing object and click the left mouse button.
Click Press the left mouse button once and release it.
Double-click Press the left mouse button twice in rapid succession.
Click and drag Click the left mouse button and hold it down while you move the mouse,
dragging an object on your screen with it.
Choose Click a menu item, toolbar button, or dialog box item. You can sometimes
choose an item using the keyboard as well.
Right-click Press the right mouse button once and release it.
Shift and click While holding down the Shift key, press the left mouse button once and
release it.
Select Highlight an object in a drawing by picking it or using another object
selection method, or highlight text in a dialog box or text document.
What the Icons Mean
The AutoCAD 2002 Bible is liberally sprinkled with icons — small symbols in the left
margin that call your attention to noteworthy points.
New The New Feature icon means that a feature is new to AutoCAD 2000i or 2002, or
Feature
features that existed in Release 2000 but have been significantly changed.
Note A Note icon alerts you to some important point that requires special attention or
additional information that may be helpful.
xiv AutoCAD 2002 Bible
Tip A Tip shows you a way to accomplish a task more efficiently or quickly. You’ll find
plenty of practical advice here.
Cross- Cross-References refer you to a related topic elsewhere in the book. Because you
Reference
may not read this book straight through from cover to cover, use cross-references
to quickly find just the information you need.
On the The On the CD-ROM icon highlights references to related material on the
CD-ROM
CD-ROM.
Caution The Caution icon means you should pay special attention to the information or
instructions because a possibility exists that you could cause a problem otherwise.
About the CD-ROM
The CD-ROM contains all the drawings you need to do the exercises in this book.
These drawings save you time as you learn AutoCAD’s features. In addition, the
CD-ROM includes the drawings that result once you finish an exercise or tutorial. In
this way, you can check what you have done if you wish.
The CD-ROM is also chock-full of resource material that I hope you will find useful
for many years to come. Appendix C lists the contents of the CD-ROM. I am espe-
cially pleased to include a 15-day trial version of AutoCAD 2002 on the CD-ROM as
well as the entire book in PDF format.
Other Information
If you are an advanced AutoCAD user but need tips and secrets for getting the most
out of AutoCAD, this book will probably not add too much to your already great
store of knowledge.
If you want to learn about Windows, look for a book that focuses on Windows. This
book assumes that you know the basics of Windows, although the instructions
you’ll read here are usually detailed enough to get you through any task. For more
information about Windows, try Windows 98 For Dummies or Microsoft Windows Me
For Dummies by Andy Rathbone; or try Alan Simpson’s Windows 98 Bible or Alan
Simpson’s Microsoft Windows Me Millennium Edition Bible (all published by Hungry
Minds, Inc.). For Windows NT, try Teach Yourself Windows NT 4 VISUALLY or Teach
Yourself Windows 2000 Professional VISUALLY, both by Ruth Maran; or Windows NT 4
Preface xv
For Dummies or Windows 2000 Professional For Dummies by Andy Rathbone and
Sharon Crawford (all also published by Hungry Minds, Inc.).
If you want just the basics, AutoCAD LT might serve your needs better. However, if
you do have AutoCAD and want a more basic book, I recommend AutoCAD 2002 For
Dummies, by Bud Smith and Mark Middlebrook. The AutoCAD 2002 Bible covers
AutoCAD 2000i and 2002. However, most of the information also applies to Release
2000. I have used AutoCAD in Windows 98, but almost everything also applies to
Windows ME and NT (4 and 2000), although some of the screens may look slightly
different.
Contacting the Author
I would be happy to hear any comments you have about this book. The best way to
contact me is by e-mail at
[email protected]. You can also use the United
States postal service (aka snail mail) and write to me in care of Hungry Minds.
Please note that I can’t provide AutoCAD technical support for my readers.
Acknowledgments
I would like to offer special thanks to Tom Heine, my acquisitions editor, who was
very supportive throughout the writing of this book.
Special thanks go to Melba Hopper, whose infinite organizing power kept the book
on track. Melba kept up with seemingly infinite number of versions of text docu-
ments, and images, coordinating the writing editing, and production of the enire
book. Also, thanks to Darren Young for his extremely knowledgeable and thorough
technical editing. Darren’s comments improved the book throughout.
I also thank Roxane Marini for her precise and careful editing and all the people at
Hungry Minds who helped with the production of this book and its CD-ROM.
Bill Plante, an AutoCAD and AutoPLANT consultant, spent many hours helping me
connect over the Internet via the MeetNow feature. Leonid Nemirovsky created two
AutoLISP routines for managing single-line text (on the CD-ROM) at my request.
Alan Praysman sent me an AutoLISP routine to break an object at an object snap
point (also on the CD-ROM).
Thanks to Wayne Hodgins, Autodesk’s strategic director for worldwide learning and
training, for writing the Foreword for this book. I also want to express my great
appreciation to the members of Autodesk’s beta team who were very supportive
throughout the alpha and beta period.
Many people contributed drawings for this book. I’d like to thank all of them. They
have helped make this book the most comprehensive book on AutoCAD available.
Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Evan, and two kids, Yeshayah and Eliyah,
who helped out around the house while I was writing, writing, and writing (and who
wanted to see their names in print). Without their support, I could not have com-
pleted this book.
Contents
Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Part I: AutoCAD Basics 1
Chapter 1: Starting to Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Getting Acquainted with AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Starting AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Creating a New Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Working with AutoCAD Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Using AutoCAD Today to create a new drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Using the AutoCAD Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The drawing area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The menus and toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Creating Your First Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Drawing a rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Saving a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Closing a Drawing and Exiting from AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 2: Opening a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating a New Drawing from a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Customizing the default template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Creating your own templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Opening a Drawing with Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Opening an Existing Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Opening a drawing from AutoCAD Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Opening an existing drawing within AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Using dialog boxes to open drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using an Existing Drawing as a Prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Saving a Drawing Under a New Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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