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

Using advanced status bar modes

In this section, we will learn about the grid, snap, and selection cycling status bar modes. The first two modes help us to make drawings using a background grid as a reference, whereas the last mode, selection cycling, helps us to make a selection of overlapping objects in an existing drawing. We will begin this topic by looking at the grid mode status bar option.

Grid mode

In the status bar, you will notice that the first icon looks like a grid, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 4.1: The grid status bar toggle

This option toggles the visibility of the grid lines in the drawing area. Additionally, you can use the F7 function key to toggle its visibility. Depending on your keyboard configuration, you might need to press fn with the respective function key.

The grid lines look like lines on graph paper; they merely represent lines, and you can’t actually “snap” to them. The grid lines are...