Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023 - Second Edition

By : Jaiprakash Pandey, Yasser Shoukry
Book Image

Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2023 and AutoCAD LT 2023 - Second Edition

By: Jaiprakash Pandey, Yasser Shoukry

Overview of this book

AutoCAD is one of the most versatile software applications for architectural and engineering designs and the most popular computer-aided design (CAD) platform for 2D drafting and 3D modeling. This hands-on 2nd edition guide will take you through everything you need to know to make the most out of this powerful tool, from a simple tour of the user interface to using advanced tools. Starting with basic drawing shapes and functions, you'll get to grips with the fundamentals of CAD designs. You’ll then learn about effective drawing management using layers, dynamic blocks, and groups, and discover how to add annotations and plots like a professional. As you progress, the book will show you how to convert your 2D drawings into 3D models and shapes. You’ll also discover advanced features, such as isometric drawings, drawing utilities for managing and recovering complex files, quantity surveying, and multidisciplinary drawing files using xRefs. Finally, you’ll focus on rendering and visualizing your designs in AutoCAD. By the end of this book, you’ll have developed a solid understanding of CAD principles and be able to work with AutoCAD software confidently to build impressive 2D and 3D creations.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Introduction and 2D Drafting
6
Part 2: Customization, Collaboration, and Using Reusable Content
12
Part 3: 3D Modeling

Customizing the user interface

The default workspace of AutoCAD, which is also called the drafting and annotation workspace, has a clean and intuitive layout, with all the tools and commands easily available on their respective tabs and panels. But sometimes, this user interface is just not enough, and you may need some custom commands in an easily accessible place, such as the Home tab. If that is the case, then you can customize the workspace as you like.

In this section, we will do just that. First, we will learn how to make a custom panel with custom commands. Then, will add that panel to the Home tab. Finally, we will save these settings and others as a custom workspace.

So, let’s get started with adding a custom panel to the Home tab.

Making a custom panel

If you look at the Home tab, you will find panels such as Draw, Modify, and Annotation. These panels contain the default AutoCAD commands, but now, we will add a custom panel to this list of panels, and we...