T

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2013
Beyond the Basics
Student Guide
Cover Page

Revision 1.0
March 2012

ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2013
Beyond the Basics
Revision 1.0
Prepared and produced by:

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

866-527-2368
www.ascented.com

ASCENT Center for Technical Knowledge

1001 E. Market Street, Suite 102
Charlottesville, VA 22902

ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge is a division of RAND Worldwide Inc., providing
custom developed knowledge products and services for leading engineering software
applications. ASCENT is focused on specializing in the creation of education programs that
incorporate the best of classroom learning and technology-based training offerings.
We welcome any comments you may have regarding this training manual, or any of our
products. To contact us please email: education@ASCENTed.com.
ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form by any photographic,
electronic, mechanical or other means or used in any information storage and retrieval system
without the written permission of ASCENT, a division of RAND Worldwide, Inc.

Autodesk, Autodesk Architecture, Autodesk Design Review, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Autodesk
3ds Max, and DWG are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its
subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product
names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

General Disclaimer:
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LANGUAGE TO THE CONTRARY, NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CONSTITUTES NOR
IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE AN OFFER, INDUCEMENT, PROMISE, OR CONTRACT OF ANY KIND. THE DATA
CONTAINED HEREIN IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT REPRESENTED TO BE ERROR
FREE. ASCENT, ITS AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES, EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES,
LOSSES OR OTHER EXPENSES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF ITS MATERIALS OR IN
CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION EVEN IF ASCENT, OR ITS
REPRESENTATIVES, ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, LOSSES OR OTHER EXPENSES.
NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES CAN BE SOUGHT AGAINST ASCENT OR RAND WORLDWIDE FOR THE USE OF
THESE MATERIALS BY ANY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT RESULT OF THAT USE.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED TO BE OF GENERAL INTEREST TO YOU AND IS

PROVIDED "AS IS", AND IT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL OR
ENTITY. NOTHING HEREIN CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE A
COMPREHENSIVE OR COMPLETE STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES DISCUSSED THERETO. ASCENT DOES NOT
WARRANT THAT THE DOCUMENT OR INFORMATION WILL BE ERROR FREE OR WILL MEET ANY PARTICULAR
CRITERIA OF PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY. IN PARTICULAR (BUT WITHOUT LIMITATION) INFORMATION MAY
BE RENDERED INACCURATE BY CHANGES MADE TO THE SUBJECT OF THE MATERIALS (I.E. APPLICABLE
SOFTWARE). RAND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
THE WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Preface ....................................................................................................v
Class Files ............................................................................................ vii
Chapter 1 Working Effectively with AutoCAD .................................1-1
1.1 Creating a Custom Workspace.............................................1-5
Practice 1a Setting Up Workspaces .................................... 1-13

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

1.2 Using the Keyboard Effectively..........................................1-14

Practice 1b Using the Keyboard Effectively......................... 1-18
1.3 Object Creation, Selection, and Visibility..........................1-20
Practice 1c Object Creation, Selection, and Visibility .......... 1-27

1.4 Working in Multiple Drawings ............................................1-29

1.5 Copying and Pasting Between Drawings ..........................1-33

Practice 1d Working in Multiple Drawings ........................... 1-35

1.6 Using Grips Effectively .......................................................1-37

Practice 1e Using Grips Effectively...................................... 1-43
1.7 Additional Layer Tools ........................................................1-44
Practice 1f Layer Tools ........................................................ 1-52

Chapter 2 Accurate Positioning........................................................2-1

2.1 Coordinate Entry....................................................................2-4
Practice 2a Drawing Using Coordinate Entry ........................ 2-9
2.2 Locating Points with Tracking............................................2-10
Practice 2b Locating Points with Tracking (Mechanical) ..... 2-12
Practice 2c Locating Points with Tracking (Architectural).... 2-14

2.3 Construction Lines ..............................................................2-16

Practice 2d Construction Lines ............................................ 2-18
2.4 Placing Reference Points....................................................2-19
Practice 2e Placing Points ................................................... 2-22

Chapter 3 Projects - Productivity Tools...........................................3-1

3.1 Schematic Project - Purifier Unit..........................................3-3
3.2 Mechanical Project - 2 Views................................................3-5
3.3 Architectural/Civil Project - Formal Garden ........................3-6
3.4 Mechanical Project - Cover Plate .........................................3-7
3.5 Architectural Project - Addition............................................3-8
3.6 Mechanical Project - Block ...................................................3-9

2012, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2013 Beyond the Basics

3.7 Mechanical Project - Plate ..................................................3-10

Chapter 4 Parametric Drawing..........................................................4-1
4.1 Working with Constraints .....................................................4-4
4.2 Geometric Constraints ..........................................................4-6
4.3 Dimensional Constraints ....................................................4-16
Practice 4a Working with Constraints .................................. 4-23
Chapter 5 Working with Blocks ........................................................5-1

5.1 Creating Blocks .....................................................................5-4

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

5.2 Editing Blocks......................................................................5-10

Practice 5a Create and Edit Blocks ..................................... 5-13
5.3 Removing Unused Elements ..............................................5-17
Practice 5b Purging ............................................................. 5-19
5.4 Adding Blocks to Tool Palettes..........................................5-20

5.5 Modifying Tool Properties in Tool Palettes.......................5-23

Practice 5c Modifying Tool Properties ................................. 5-26

Chapter 6 Projects - Creating and Organizing Blocks....................6-1

6.1 Mechanical Project - Control Panel......................................6-3
6.2 Architectural Project - Furniture Layout..............................6-5
6.3 Civil Project - Utility Layout ..................................................6-6

Chapter 7 Creating Templates ..........................................................7-1

7.1 Why Use Templates?.............................................................7-4
7.2 Controlling Units Display......................................................7-7
7.3 Creating New Layers ...........................................................7-11

7.4 Adding Standard Layouts to Templates............................7-18

7.5 Saving Templates ................................................................7-25
Practice 7a Saving a Template............................................ 7-27

Chapter 8 Advanced Layouts............................................................8-1

8.1 Quick View Layouts...............................................................8-4
8.2 Creating and Using Named Views........................................8-6
8.3 Advanced Viewport Options.................................................8-9
8.4 Layer Overrides in Viewports .............................................8-14
Practice 8a Viewports and Named Views............................ 8-18
8.5 Additional Annotative Scale Features ...............................8-24
Practice 8b Additional Annotative Scale Features............... 8-27

ii

2012, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

Table of Contents

Chapter 9 Annotation Styles .............................................................9-1

9.1 Creating Text Styles ..............................................................9-4
Practice 9a Creating and Using Text Styles .......................... 9-7
9.2 Creating Dimension Styles ...................................................9-8
Practice 9b Creating Dimension Styles (Architectural) ........ 9-17
Practice 9c Dimension Styles (Mechanical)......................... 9-20
9.3 Creating Multileader Styles.................................................9-22
Practice 9d Creating Multileader Styles............................... 9-27

Chapter 10 Projects - Drawing Setup and Utilities........................10-1

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

10.1 Interiors Project ...................................................................10-3

10.2 Mechanical/Schematic Project ...........................................10-4
10.3 Civil/Map Project..................................................................10-5
10.4 Mechanical Project - Dimension Styles .............................10-6

Chapter 11 External References .....................................................11-1

11.1 Attaching External References...........................................11-4
11.2 Modifying External References ........................................11-11
11.3 Xref Specific Information ..................................................11-21
Practice 11a Attaching External References ..................... 11-26

Chapter 12 Projects - Drawing ........................................................12-1

12.1 D-sized Title Block (36x24) .................................................12-3
12.2 Mechanical Project - Drill Press Base................................12-5
12.3 Architectural Project - Office Tower ................................12-11
12.4 P&ID Project - Oil Lubrication System.............................12-18

12.5 Civil Project - Warehouse Site..........................................12-21

Appendix A Optional Topics ............................................................ A-1

A.1 Using QuickCalc ................................................................... A-5
A.2 Additional Zoom Commands............................................... A-7
A.3 Advanced Object Selection ................................................. A-8
A.4 Additional Text Tools ......................................................... A-10
A.5 Additional Dimensioning Tools......................................... A-14
A.6 Creating Boundaries and Regions.................................... A-18
A.7 Modifying Length................................................................ A-24

2012, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

iii

AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2013 Beyond the Basics

Appendix B Skills Assessment........................................................ B-1

B.1 Skills Assessment ................................................................ B-3
Appendix C AutoCAD 2013 Certified Professional Exam
Objectives ........................................................................................... C-1

is
tri
bu
86 te
6- d b
52 y
7- AS
23 C
68 EN

Index............................................................................................. Index-1

iv

2012, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge