Book Image

Getting Started with DraftSight

By : JOAO ANTONIO C DOS SANTOS
Book Image

Getting Started with DraftSight

By: JOAO ANTONIO C DOS SANTOS

Overview of this book

Computer-aided design (CAD) uses computer systems to assist in the creation, modification, and analysis of a design. DraftSight is a 2D computer-aided design (CAD) software application. DraftSight includes all the main tools to draft with precision, and it works with DWG files, the most popular CAD file type. It runs on a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Getting Started with DraftSight addresses all the main phases for executing and printing a mechanical project. These concepts and commands can easily be applied to other areas. Beginning with the very basic concepts, and going through all the necessary drawing steps, you will finish by printing a full scale mechanical drawing. The illustrative examples will help you understand the design process and teach you how to utilize DraftSight features in your mechanical design projects. You will start with an overview of the mechanical design process, which will help you understand the different commands, tools, and tasks involved in DraftSight projects. You will then proceed to executing all the phases of the design process. This includes setting up a drawing, drawing and editing with precision, organizing with layers, and finally obtaining valid information from the drawing. Furthermore, you will also learn to apply fills, patterns, and dimensions, and the process of defining and printing sheets. With "GettingStarted with DraftSight" you will learn how to specify and document parts and print drawings with the help of DraftSight. Towards the end of this book you will be introduced to some advanced concepts like additional layer commands, and methods to reference other drawings or images, which can be very useful when dealing with complex projects.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Getting Started with DraftSight
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Graphical auxiliary tools


DraftSight includes some graphical auxiliary tools, presented next, that considerably case the process of defining points with precision. These tools are accessed by buttons located on the status bar, at the bottom of the graphical interface or by the keyboard function keys.

Note

The auxiliary tools settings can be modified in the middle of a command.

Ortho and Polar

When Ortho function (F8 key) is on, the cursor locks on the X or Y directions (normally horizontal and vertical) and the obtained points related to the previous point are orthogonally aligned.

Note

To define points that are horizontally or vertically aligned to previous points with Ortho On, we just direct the cursor to the wanted direction and type the distance. For instance, instead of defining a point @10,0, we turn on Ortho, move the cursor to the right, type 10 and press Enter or the Space bar.

The Polar function (F10 key) is similar, but allows for locking directions with angles which are not multiples...