FI LLETI NG OBJ ECTS

Filleting connects two objects with a smoothly fitted arc of a specified radius. Although
an inside corner is called a fillet and an outside corner is called a round, AutoCAD treats
both as fillets.

If both objects being filleted are on the same layer, the fillet line goes on that layer.
Otherwise, the fillet line goes on the current layer. The same rules apply to fillet color,
linetype, and lineweight.
You can fillet pairs of line segments, polyline line (not arc) segments, splines, xlines,
rays, circles, arcs, and true (not polygon) ellipses. Lines, xlines, and rays can be filleted
when parallel. You can fillet every vertex of a polyline at the same time. You can fillet a
combination of lines and polylines and all true solids.

LAYERS
Layers are like transparent overlays on which you organize and group different kinds of
drawing information. The objects you create have common properties including colors,
linetypes, and lineweights. An object can assume these properties from the layer it is
drawn on, or properties can be specifically assigned to individual objects. Color helps
you distinguish similar elements in your drawings, while linetypes help you differentiate
easily between different drafting elements, such as centerlines or hidden lines.
Lineweights represent the size or type of an object through width, enhancing your
drawing and increasing legibility. Organizing layers and the objects on layers makes it
easier to manage the information in your drawings.

You always draw on a layer. It may be the default layer or a layer you create. Each layer
has an associated color, linetype, lineweight, and plot style. You can use layers to
organize drawings into groups of objects as well as to identify different objects with
varying colors, linetypes, and lineweights.


In a layout (paper space), you can specify layer visibility individually for each viewport.
If you do not want to display or plot a certain layer, you can turn off that layer or turn off
plotting for that layer. The same drawing limits, coordinate system, and zoom factor
apply to all layers in a drawing.
If you consistently use a specific layering scheme, you can set up a template drawing
with layers and their associated linetypes, lineweights, colors, and plot styles already
assigned. Layers are one of many nongraphical objects saved in a drawing.

LI NETYPES
A linetype is a repeating pattern of dashes, dots, and blank spaces. A complex linetype is
a repeating pattern of symbols along with dashes, dots, and blank spaces. The linetype
name and definition describe the particular dash-dot sequence, the relative lengths of
dashes and blank spaces, and the characteristics of any included text or shapes. You can
create your own linetypes.



Examples of linetypes
To use a linetype you must first load it into your drawing. A linetype definition must
exist in an LIN library file before a linetype can be loaded into a drawing.

To load a linetype

1 From the Format menu, choose Linetype.
2 In the Linetype Manager, choose Load.
3 In the Load or Reload Linetypes dialog box, select one or more linetypes to load
and then choose OK.

To select or clear all linetypes simultaneously, right-click the linetypes list and choose
Select All or Clear All from the shortcut menu.
The linetypes you select are displayed in the linetype list in the Linetype Manager and in
the Linetype control on the Object Properties toolbar.
4 Choose OK.

Specifying Global Linetype Scale
You can set the global linetype scale for objects that you create. The smaller the scale, the
more repetitions of the pattern are generated per drawing unit. By default, AutoCAD uses
a global linetype scale of 1.0 in the current drawing units.

CREATI NG DIMENSI ONS

A precise drawing plotted to scale often does not convey enough information for builders
to construct your design. Usually you add annotation showing object measurements and
the distances and angles between objects.

Dimensioning is the process of adding measurement annotation to a drawing.
AutoCAD provides many ways to dimension objects and many ways to format
dimensions. You can create dimensions for a wide variety of object shapes in many
different orientations. You can create dimension styles to format dimensions quickly and
ensure that dimensions in your drawing conform to industry or project standards.

Design is often divided into four phases: drawing, annotating, viewing, and plotting.
During annotation, the designer adds text, numbers, and other symbols to communicate
such information as the size and materials of design elements or notes for constructing
the design. Dimensions are a common drawing annotation; they show object
measurements such as a wall length, cylinder diameter, or building site area.


The following table lists the AutoCAD dimensions and common methods for starting
dimensions. As you create dimensions, you probably will use more than one method,
based on your experience, personal preference, or design tasks.



You can use Quick Dimension to dimension multiple objects at one time. Using Quick
Dimension, you can
Quickly create arrangements of baseline, continued, staggered, and ordinate
dimensions

Quickly dimension multiple circles and arcs
Edit existing dimension arrangements
DI MENSI ON STYLES
Dimension styles control a dimension's format and appearance. They help you establish
and enforce drafting standards for drawings and make changes to dimension formats and
behavior easier to implement. A dimension style defines

The format and position of dimension lines, extension lines, arrowheads, and center
marks
The appearance, position, and behavior of dimension text
The rules governing where AutoCAD places text and dimension lines
The overall dimension scale
The format and precision of primary, alternate, and angular dimension units
The format and precision of tolerance values




PLOTTI NG & PRI NTI NG

A layout is a paper space environment that simulates a sheet of paper and provides a
predictable plotting setup. In a layout, you can create and position viewport objects, and
you can add a title block or other geometry. You can create multiple layouts in a drawing
to display various views, each of which can contain different plot scales and paper sizes.
Each layout displays the drawing, as it will be plotted on the sheet of paper.



USI NG MODEL SPACE & PAPER SPACE
As you design your model drawing and prepare it for plotting, you can use model space
and paper space just as with previous AutoCAD releases. Using AutoCAD 2000,
however, the environment you use to layout and prepare your drawing for plotting is
much more visual. At the bottom of the drawing window are tabs that include the Model
tab and one or more layout tabs. Model space can be accessed from the Model tab or by
making a floating viewport in a layout current. The Model tab is where you spend most
of your time creating and editing your drawing. When you are in the Model tab, you are
always working in model space. You can divide the Model tab into tiled viewports to
represent various views of your model. For more information about creating and using
tiled viewports in model space, see "Using Tiled Viewports." You can also plot your
drawing from the Model tab.

When you are ready to setup your drawing for plotting, you can use a layout tab. Each
layout tab provides a paper space-drawing environment in which you can create
viewports and specify page settings for each layout you want to plot. Page settings are
just plot settings that are saved with the layout. As you designate page settings for a
layout, you can choose to save and name the page settings for one layout, then apply that
named page setup to another layout. You can also create a new layout from an existing
layout template (.dwt or .dwg) file into a new layout.

Typically, when you begin designing a layout environment to plot, you step through the
following process:

o Create a model drawing.
o Configure a plotting device.
o Activate or create a layout.
o Specify layout page settings such as plotting device, paper size, plot area, plot
scale, and drawing orientation.
o Insert a title block.
o Create floating viewports and position them in the layout.
o Set the view scale of the floating viewports.
o Annotate or create geometry in the layout as needed.
o Plot your layout.

For switching between Model Space & Paper Space, choose the Model tab or enter model
at the command line to make the Model tab current. To move from the Model tab to
paper space, choose the Layout1 tab or enter paper at the command line.

DETERMI NI NG LAYOUT SETTI NGS
Layout settings, which are also referred to as page setups, control the final plotted output.
These settings affect the plot device, paper size, plot scale, plot area, plot origin, and the
drawing orientation. Understanding how to use layout settings ensures that the layout
plots as expected. All of the settings for a layout can be changed and saved to the layout,
without actually plotting, using the Page Setup dialog box.

WORKI NG I N THREE-DIMENSI ONAL SPACE

If you create a three-dimensional (3D) model, you usually set up different two-
dimensional (2D) views in order to visualize, draw, and edit geometry easily.
AutoCAD provides tools that you can use to set up different views of the model. You
can also assign different user coordinate systems (UCS) and elevations to the standard
orthogonal views and easily switch between views.

SPECIFYI NG 3-D COORDI NATES
Specifying 3D coordinates is the same as specifying 2D coordinates with the addition of a
third dimension, the Z-axis. When drawing in 3D, you specify X, Y, and Z values of the
coordinate in either the world coordinate system (WCS) or the user coordinate system
(UCS). The following illustration shows the X, Y, and Z axes of the WCS.


Using the Right-Hand Rule
The right-hand rule determines the positive axis direction of the Z axis when you know
the direction of the X and Y axes in a 3D coordinate system. The right-hand rule also
determines the positive rotation direction about an axis in 3D space.


Entering X, Y, Z Coordinates
Entering 3D Cartesian coordinates (X,Y, Z) is similar to entering 2D coordinates (X,Y).
In addition to specifying X and Y values, you specify a Z value. In the following
illustration, the coordinate 3,2,5 indicates a point 3 unit along the positive X-axis, 2 units
along the positive Y-axis, and 5 units along the positive Z-axis. You can enter absolute
coordinate values, which are based on the origin of the UCS, or relative coordinate
values, which are based on the last point entered.

Entering Cylindrical Coordinates
Cylindrical coordinate entry is similar to 2D polar coordinate entry, but with an
additional distance from the polar coordinate perpendicular to the XY plane. You locate a
point by specifying its distance along an angle relative to the UCS X axis and its Z value
perpendicular to the XY plane. In the following illustration, the coordinate 5<60,6
indicates a point 5 units from the origin of the current UCS, 60 degrees from the X axis in
the XY plane, and 6 units along the Z axis. The coordinate 8<30,1 indicates a point 8
units from the origin of the current UCS in the XY plane, 30 degrees from the X axis in
the XY plane and 1 unit along the Z axis.



In the following illustration, the relative cylindrical coordinate @4<45,5 indicates a point
4 units in the XY plane from the last point entered, not from the UCS origin point, at an
angle of 45 degrees from the positive X direction. The line extends to a Z coordinate of 5.

Entering Spherical Coordinates
Spherical coordinate entry in 3D is also similar to polar coordinate entry in 2D. You
locate a point by specifying its distance from the origin of the current UCS, its angle from
the X axis (in the XY plane), and its angle from the XY plane, each separated by an open
angle bracket (<). In the following illustration, the coordinate 8<60<30 indicates a point 8
units from the origin of the current UCS in the XY plane, 60 degrees from the X axis in
the XY plane, and 30 degrees up from the XY plane. The coordinate 5<45<15 indicates a
point 5 units from the origin, 45 degrees from the X axis in the XY plane, and 15 degrees
from the XY plane.



USI NG STANDARD 3D VI EWS & PROJ ECTI ONS
Any 3D model can be viewed from any direction, but standard views are set for the six
orthogonal directions:
o Top
o Bottom
o Right
o Left
o Front
o Back

In AutoCAD, you can display 3D models from any of these standard six views, although
three views are usually enough information for you to fully comprehend the model.


STANDARD PROJ ECTI ONS
Each of the six standard views is a 2D view, showing only two of the object's three
possible measurements: width, length, or height. Whenever multiple views are displayed,
either on the screen or on paper, the views must be arranged so that they share one of the
two possible measurements. When they share a common measurement, they are said to
"project."

First angle projection and third angle projection are standard technical drawing methods
for presenting views relative to the front view, as shown in the following illustrations.



I SOMETRIC VI EWS
An isometric view in a viewport is used primarily as a visual guide. It helps you
comprehend your 3D model as you create and edit chiefly in the 2D views. The next
illustration shows the relationship between the 2D views and the isometric view.

DEFI NI NG A USER-COORDI NATE SYSTEM
You define a user coordinate system (UCS) to change the location of the 0,0,0 origin
point and the orientation of the XY plane and Z-axis. You can locate and orient a UCS
anywhere in 3D space, and you can define, save, and recall as many UCSs as you require.
Coordinate input and display are relative to the current UCS. If multiple viewports are
active, you can assign a different UCS to each viewport. Each UCS can have a different
origin and orientation for various construction requirements.


You define a user coordinate system (UCS) to change the location of the 0,0,0 origin
point and the orientation of the XY plane and Z-axis. You can locate and orient a UCS
anywhere in 3D space, and you can define, save, and recall as many UCSs as you require.
Coordinate input and display are relative to the current UCS. If multiple viewports are
active, you can assign a different UCS to each viewport . Each UCS can have a different
origin and orientation for various construction requirements.

You can define a new UCS in paper space just as you can in model space; however, the
UCSs in paper space are restricted to 2D manipulation.

Generally, it is recommended that you leave the elevation set to zero and control the XY
plane of the current UCS with the UCS command. See "Setting Elevation and
Thickness."
You can define a UCS in several ways:

o Specify a new origin, new XY plane, or new Z axis.
o Align the new UCS with an existing object.
o Align the new UCS with the current viewing direction.
o Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes.
o Apply a new Z-depth to an existing UCS.
o Apply a UCS by selecting a Face.