DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL (TELECOMMUNICATION) ENGINEERING

SUKKUR INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Computer Aided Engineering Design (Lab)

Name:__________________________________________ Date: _________________________

Score: _____________________Signature of Instructor_________________________________

Lab Practice # 04
Drawing With Precision In AutoCAD (I)

OBJECTIVE:
In this lab, you will learn to use some of AutoCADs commands for drawing with precision, and
to view the drawing in different ways. After completion of this lab, you must be able to work
with the following commands:
Grid Ortho
DSettings Polar
Snap Cleanscreenon

GRID

The GRID command toggles (turns on and off) the grid, a display of dots or lines.
The grid is like a sheet of graph paper that helps you see the horizontal and vertical frame
of reference. In 2D wireframe mode, AutoCAD displays dots (the intersections of the
lines); in other modes, it displays a grid of lines. Because it is a visual aid, the grid is not
plotted.
















Left: Grid dots displayed in 2D wireframe mode.
 Right: Grid lines displayed in all other modes.

TUTORIAL: TOGGLING THE GRID
1. To turn on the grid, use the GRID command by one of these methods:
From the status bar, choose GRID or (turned on when button looks blue).
On the keyboard, press function key F7 or CTRL+G.
Or, at the Command: prompt, enter the grid command:
Command: grid (Press ENTER.)
2. Use the ON option to turn on the grid:
Specify grid spacing(X) or [ON/OFF/Snap/Major/aDaptive/Limits/Follow/Aspect]
<0.5>: on
Notice that the grid is displayed.
3. To turn off the grid, repeat the command with the OFF option:
Command: grid (Press ENTER.)
Specify grid spacing(X) or [ON/OFF/Snap/Major/aDaptive/Limits/Follow/Aspect]
<0.5>: off

CONTROLLING THE GRID DISPLAY: ADDITIONAL METHODS
By default, the grid spacing is 0.5 units. You can increase and decrease the spacing, make
the spacing the same as the snap distance, and change the spacing in the x and y
directions separately.
To effect these changes, you can use a dialog box or the command line:
DSETTINGS displays a dialog box for changing grid settings.
GRID specifies the grid spacing and aspect ratio via the command line.
LIMITS controls the extent of the grid.

DSettings Command
The DSETTINGS command (short for drafting settings) displays a dialog box with
settings that control many (but not all) aspects of the grid display. The dialog box lists
some of the options found in the GRID and SNAP commands.
1. To access the Drafting Settings dialog box:
The easiest way is to right-click GRID (or ) on the status bar. From the
shortcut menu, select Settings.

At the Command: prompt, enter the dsettings command.
Command: dsettings
 Or, enter one of the aliases ds, se (short for settings), or ddrmodes (the old name
for this command) at the Command: prompt.
AutoCAD displays the Drafting Settings dialog box. (Choose the Snap and Grid tab.)

In this dialog box, you can make the following changes to the grid settings:
Grid On (F7) Adaptive grid
Grid X spacing Allow subdivision below grid
Equal X and Y spacing spacing
Grid Y spacing Display grid beyond limits
Major line every Follow Dynamic UCS

Grid Spacing
The GRID command lets you change the spacing between grid lines:

To make the grid spacing the same as the snap distance, use the Snap option:
Command: grid (Press ENTER.)
Specify grid spacing(X) or [ON/OFF/Snap/Major/aDaptive/Limits/Follow/Aspect]
<0.5>: s

To set the grid spacing as a multiple of the snap distance, add an x to the GRID
commands default option. For example, to make the grid spacing twice that of the snap
spacing, enter 2x, as follows:
Command: grid (Press ENTER.)
Specify grid spacing(X) or [ON/OFF/Snap/Major/aDaptive/Limits/Follow/Aspect]
<0.5>: 2x

LIMITS
The grid could extend nearly infinitely in all directions, and so the extent of the grid is
limited by the LIMITS command. Typically, you want the grid covering the area in
which you are drafting. Often, the lower-left corner is kept at 0,0 and only the location of
the upper-right corner is changed, as follows:
Command: limits
Reset Model space limits:
Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] <0.0000, 0.0000>: (Press ENTER, or enter x, y
coordinates.)
Specify upper right corner <12.0000,9.0000>: (Enter x,y coordinates.)

SNAP
The SNAP command specifies the cursor increment.
The cursor seems to jump from point to point. Snap is often used in conjunction with the
grid. As with the grid, you can change the snaps spacing, aspect ratio, and so on.
Similarly, the snap can be set individually for each viewport, layout, and drawing. (The
LIMITS command does not apply to snap.)

TUTORIAL: TOGGLING SNAP MODE
1. To turn on snap, invoke the SNAP command by one of these methods:
On the status bar, click SNAP or (turned on when buttons looks blue).
On the keyboard, press function key F9 or CTRL+B.
Or, at the Command: prompt, enter the snap command.
Command: snap (Press ENTER.)
Alternatively, enter the sn alias at the Command: prompt.
2. Use the ON option to turn on snap:
Specify snap spacing or [ON/OFF/Aspect/Rotate/Style/Type] <0.5000>: on
When you move the mouse, notice that the cursor jumps.
3. To turn off snap, repeat the command with the OFF option:
Command: grid (Press ENTER.)
Specify snap spacing or [ON/OFF/Aspect/Rotate/Style/Type] <0.5000>: off
Notice that the cursor no longer jumps.

CONTROLLING THE SNAP: ADDITIONAL METHODS
When you start new drawings in AutoCAD, the default snap spacing is set to 0.5 units
the same as the grid. You can increase and decrease the spacing, make the spacing the
same as the grid distance, or specify different spacing in the x and y directions. To make
these changes, you can use a dialog box, or enter the changes at the command line, using
these commands:
DSETTINGS
SNAP

DSettings
In drafting settings dialog box, Snap and Grid tab, you can make the following changes to
the snap settings:
Snap On (F9) Snap X and Y spacing
Snap X spacing Rectangular Snap
Equal X and Y spacing Isometric Snap
Snap Y spacing Polar Snap
Grid Snap

Snap Spacing
The SNAP command has these options for changing the snap spacing:
1. To set the snap increment, use the SNAP commands default option. For example, to change
the increment to 12 units (or inches), enter 12, as follows:
Command: snap (Press ENTER.)
Specify snap spacing or [ON/OFF/Aspect/Style/Type] <A>: 12
2. To make the vertical (y) snap increment 10 times that of the horizontal (x) direction, use the
Aspect option:
Command: snap (Press ENTER.)
Specify snap spacing or [ON/OFF/Aspect/Style/Type] <A>: a
Specify the horizontal spacing <0.5000>: 1
Specify the vertical spacing <0.5000>: 10
3. To select the type of snap mode, use the Style and Type options. Style selects between
regular and isometric modes, while Type selects between rectangular and polar modes.
Here is how to enter polar mode:
Command: snap (Press ENTER.)
Specify snap spacing or [ON/OFF/Aspect/Style/Type] <A>: t
Enter snap type [Polar/Grid] <Grid>: p

ORTHO
When turned on, ortho mode (short for orthographic) constrains cursor movement to
the horizontal and vertical directions. This mode is very useful, because much drafting
takes place at right angles 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.

TUTORIAL: TOGGLING ORTHO MODE
1. To turn on ortho mode, use the ORTHO command by one of these methods:
From the status bar, click ORTHO or (turned on when button looks blue).
On the keyboard, press function key F8 or CTRL+L.
At the Command: prompt, enter the ortho command.
Command: ortho (Press ENTER.)
2. Use the ON option to turn on ortho:
Enter mode [ON/OFF] <ON>: on
Now the cursor moves only vertically or horizontally.
3. To turn off ortho mode, repeat the command with the OFF option:
Command: ortho (Press ENTER.)
Enter mode [ON/OFF] <ON>: off

Unlike the GRID and SNAP commands, the ORTHO command has no additional
options. Ortho mode is, however, affected by these snap options: angle, base point, and
isometric style.

 POLAR
Polar mode is more flexible than ortho mode, allowing you to draw at 90-degree
increments as well as at any other angle, such as 45 degrees or 22.5 degrees. When you
turn on polar mode, AutoCAD automatically turns off ortho mode. Thats because ortho
limits cursor movement to 90 degrees, while polar is any angle.


TUTORIAL: TOGGLING POLAR MODE
There is no POLAR command but AutoCAD has shortcut keystrokes to turn polar
mode on and off. (Polar mode can be controlled by system variables and dialog boxes.)
1. To turn on polar mode, use one of these methods:
From the status bar, click POLAR or (turned on when button looks blue).
On the keyboard, press function key F10 or CTRL+U.
2. To initiate polar mode, start the LINE command, and then pick a point.
3. At the Specify next point prompt, move the cursor around. Notice that every so often a
tooltip appears, together with an x-marker and an alignment path, as illustrated below:

Toolips are small rectangles with explanatory text. In this case, the tooltip displays the
polar distance, such as:
Polar: 8.8504 < 180
This means that the line is 8.8504 units long, at an angle of 180 degrees.

X-marker emphasizes the end of the line and the start of the alignment path. It marks the
point where the line would end if you were to click the mouse button.

Alignment path is the thin dotted line that shows you where the line would be drawn, if
you were to continue in that direction almost like a preview.

CONTROLLING POLAR MODE: ADDITIONAL METHODS
In new drawings, the default polar angle is 90 degrees, the same as ortho mode. You can
add angles and specify whether angle measurements are absolute, or relative to the last
 angle. The changes are made through a dialog box or at the command line using system
variables.
DSETTINGS command displays a dialog box for changing snap settings.
POLARANG system variable specifies the increment for polar angles.
POLARDIST system variable specifies the polar snap increment, but only when the
SNAPSTYL system variable is set to 1.

In Drafting Settings dialog box, in Polar Tracking tab you can make the following
changes to the snap settings:
Polar Tracking On (F10)
Increment Angle
Additional Angles
Object Snap Tracking Settings
Polar Angle Measurement
Absolute
Relative to last segment
Snap and Grid tab contain additional settings.

CLEANSCREENON
The CLEANSCREENON command minimizes the user interface to
maximize the drawing. It turns off the title bar, toolbars, and window
edges.

TUTORIAL: TOGGLING THE DRAWING AREA
1. To make the drawing area as large as possible, start the
CLEANSCREENON command:
On the keyboard, press CTRL+0 (zero).
On the status bar, click the CleanScreen button.
At the Command: prompt, enter the cleanscreenon command.
Command: cleanscreenon (Press ENTER.)
2. To return to the normal screen, use the CLEANSCREENOFF command.
Command: cleanscreenoff (Press ENTER.)

You can press CTRL+0 (zero) to toggle between maximized and regular views.