Part 2

Mastering Intermediate Skills

• Chapter 6: Editing and Reusing Data to Work Efficiently
• Chapter 7: Mastering Viewing Tools, Hatches, and External References
• Chapter 8: Introducing Printing, Plotting, and Layouts
• Chapter 9: Understanding Plot Styles
• Chapter 10: Adding Text to Drawings
• Chapter 11: Using Fields and Tables
• Chapter 12: Using Dimensions

Chapter 6

Editing and Reusing Data to Work Efficiently

If you’re an experienced drafter, you know that you frequently have to draw the same item several times in many drawings. The AutoCAD® 2013 software offers a variety of ways to reuse existing geometry, thereby automating much of the repetitive work usually associated with manual drafting. That’s why at least 5 commands are devoted to duplicating objects—10 if you include the grips options.

In this chapter, as you finish drawing the studio apartment unit, you’ll explore some of the ways to exploit existing files and objects while constructing your drawing. For example, you’ll use existing files as prototypes for new files, eliminating the need to set up layers, scales, and sheet sizes for similar drawings. With AutoCAD, you can also duplicate objects in multiple arrays. In Chapter 3, “Setting Up and Using the Drafting Tools,” you saw how to use the object snap (osnap) overrides on objects to locate points for drawing complex forms. This chapter describes other ways of using lines to aid your drawing.

Because you’ll begin to use the Zoom command more in the exercises in this chapter, you’ll review this command as you go along. You’ll also discover the Pan command—another tool to help you get around in your drawing.

You’re already familiar with many of the commands you’ll use to draw the apartment unit. So, rather than going through every step of the drawing process, the exercises will sometimes ask you to copy the drawing from a figure and, using notes and dimensions as guides, put objects on the indicated layers. If you have trouble remembering a command you’ve already learned, go back and review the appropriate section of the book.

In this chapter, you will learn to:

• Create and use templates
• Copy an object multiple times
• Develop your drawing
• Find an exact distance along a curve
• Change the length of objects
• Create a new drawing by using parts from another drawing

Creating and Using Templates

Most programs today include what are called templates. A template is a file that is already set up for a specific application. For example, in your word processor you might want to set up a document with a logo, a return address, and a date so you don’t have to add these elements each time you create a letter. You might also want to format invoices in a slightly different way. You can set up a template for the needs of each type of document. That way, you don’t have to spend time reformatting each new document you create.

Similarly, AutoCAD offers templates, which are drawing files that contain custom settings designed for a particular function. Out of the box, AutoCAD has templates for ISO, ANSI, DIN, GB, and JIS standard drawing formats that include generic title blocks. But you aren’t limited to these “canned” templates. You can create your own templates for your particular style and method of drawing.

If you find that you use a particular drawing setup frequently, you can turn one or more of your typical drawings into a template. For example, you might want to create a set of drawings with the same scale and sheet size as an existing drawing. By turning a frequently used drawing into a template, you can save a lot of setup time for subsequent drawings.

Creating a Template

The following exercise guides you through creating and using a template drawing for your studio’s kitchenette. Because the kitchenette will use the same layers, settings, scale, and sheet size as the bathroom drawing, you can use the Bath file as a prototype. Follow these steps:

1. Start AutoCAD in the usual way.

2. Choose Open from the Quick Access toolbar to open the Select File dialog box.

3. Locate the Bath file you created in the previous chapter. You can also use the file 06-bath.dwg from the DVD.

4. Click the Erase button on the Home tab’s Modify panel, or enter E↵; then type all↵↵. This erases all the objects that make up the bathroom, but other elements, such as layers, linetypes, and stored blocks, remain in the drawing.

5. Choose Save As from the Application menu to open the Save Drawing As dialog box.

6. Open the File Of Type drop-down list, and select AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt). The file list window changes to display the current template files in the Template folder.

7. In the File Name text box, enter the name Arch8x11h. If you’re a metric user, enter the name A4plan.

8. Click Save to open the Template Options dialog box (see Figure 6-1).

9. Enter the following description: Architectural one inch scale drawing on 8¹/₂ by 11 inch media. Metric users should enter the description Architectural 1:10 scale drawing on A4 media.

10. Select English or Metric from the Measurement drop-down list, depending on the unit system you’re using.

Figure 6-1: The Template Options dialog box

Using a Template

Now let’s see how a template is used. You’ll use the template you just created as the basis for a new drawing you’ll work on in this chapter:

1. Click the New tool from the Quick Access toolbar to open the Select Template dialog box. This is a typical file dialog box with which you should be familiar by now.

2. In the Select Template list box, click the filename Arch8x11h.dwt. Metric users should click the filename A4plan.dwt. Because this file is blank, you won’t see anything in the preview window.

3. Click Open. It may not be obvious, but your new file is set up with the same architectural units and drawing limits as the bathroom drawing. It also contains the Door, Toilet, and Tub blocks.

4. You need to give your new file a name. Choose Save As from the Application menu to open the Save Drawing As dialog box. (Make sure you choose Save As, or you won’t get the Save Drawing As dialog box.) Enter Kitchen for the filename, and select the folder in which to save your new kitchen file. For example, you can save your file in the My Documents folder by clicking the My Documents shortcut in the left column.

5. Click Save to create the Kitchen file, and close the dialog box.

You’ve created and used your own template file. Later, when you’ve established a comfortable working relationship with AutoCAD, you can create a set of templates that are custom-made to your particular needs.

However, if you’re in a hurry, you don’t need to create a template every time you want to reuse settings from another file. You can use an existing file as the basis or prototype for a new file without creating a template. Open the prototype file, and choose Save As from the Application menu to create a new version of the file under a new name. You can then edit the new version without affecting the original prototype file.

Copying an Object Multiple Times

Let’s explore the tools that let you quickly duplicate objects. In the following sections, you’ll begin to draw parts of a small kitchen. The first set of exercises introduces the Array command, which you can use to draw the gas burners of a range top.

As you’ll see, an array can be either in a circular pattern, called a polar array, or a matrix of columns and rows, called a rectangular array. You can also create arrays that follow a curved or straight path, such as a spline curve, arc, or polyline.

Making Circular Copies

To start the range top, first set the layer on which you want to draw, and then draw a circle representing the edge of one burner:

1. Set the current layer to Fixture by selecting Fixture from the layer drop-down list in the Home tab’s Layers panel.

Because you used the Bath file as a template, Running Osnap is already turned on for Endpoint, Midpoint, and Intersection.

2. Click the Center, Radius Circle tool on the Home tab’s Draw panel, or type C↵.

3. At the Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: prompt, pick a point at coordinate 4″,4″. Metric users should pick a point at coordinate 120,120.

4. At the Specify radius of circle or [Diameter]: prompt, enter 3↵. Metric users should enter 7.6↵. The circle appears.

Now you’re ready to use the Array command to draw the burner grill. You’ll first draw one line representing part of the grill and then use the Array command to create the copies:

1. Zoom into the circle you just drew, and then make sure Snap mode is off by checking the Snap Mode tool in the status bar.

2. Draw a 4′ line starting from the coordinate 4″-1′,4″-0′ and ending to the right of that point. Metric users should draw a 9 cm line starting at coordinate 122,120 and ending to the right of that point.

3. Adjust your view so it looks similar to Figure 6-2.

Figure 6-2: A close-up of the circle and line

You’ve got the basic parts needed to create the burner grill. You’re ready to make multiple copies of the line. For this part, you’ll use the Array command:

1. Make sure Ortho mode is off and Polar Tracking is on.

2. Click the Polar Array tool from the Array flyout on the Modify panel as shown in Figure 6-3, or type ARRAYPOLAR↵.

Figure 6-3: The Array flyout

Figure 6-4: The lines evenly spaced in a polar array

Making Row and Column Copies

Now you’ll draw the other three burners of the gas range by creating a rectangular array from the burner you just drew. You’ll first zoom back a bit to get a view of a larger area. Then you’ll proceed with the Array command.

Follow these steps to zoom back:

1. Click Scale from the Zoom tool’s flyout in the View tab’s Navigate 2D panel or Zoom Scale from the Navigation bar. You can also type Z↵S↵.

2. Enter 0.5x↵. Your drawing will look like Figure 6-5.

Figure 6-5: The preceding view reduced by a factor of 0.5

If you’re not too fussy about the amount you want to zoom out, you can click Out from the Zoom flyout on the View tab’s Navigate 2D panel to reduce your view quickly.

Entering 0.5x for the Zoom Scale factor tells AutoCAD you want a view that reduces the width of the current view to fill half the display area, enabling you to see more of the work area. If you specify a scale value greater than 1 (5, for example), you’ll magnify your current view. If you leave off the x, your new view will be in relation to the drawing limits rather than the current view.

Next you’ll finish the range top. You’ll get a chance to use the Rectangular Array option to create three additional burners:

1. Click the Rectangular Array tool on the Array flyout on the Modify panel as shown in Figure 6-6, or type ARRAYRECT↵.

Figure 6-6: The Rectangular Array tool on the Array flyout

Figure 6-7: The rectangular array preview follows the cursor.

Figure 6-8: The burners arrayed

At times, you may want to create a rectangular array at an angle. You can accomplish this by using the Angle option. The Angle option appears after you have selected the objects for the array and before you enter the row and column values. You’ll see the prompt Select grip to edit array or [Associative/Base point/COUnt/Spacing/Angle/COLumns/Rows/Levels/eXit]<eXit>:. Type A↵, and you’ll see the prompt Specify row axis angle <0>:. You can enter an angle value or indicate an angle with your cursor (Figure 6-9).

Figure 6-9: The Angle option of the Rectangular Array tool lets you set the angle of your array.

Fine-Tuning Your View

Back in Figure 6-8, you may have noticed that parts of the burners don’t appear on the display. To move the view over so that you can see all the burners, use the Pan command. Pan is similar to Zoom in that it changes your view of the drawing. However, Pan doesn’t alter the magnification of the view the way Zoom does. Rather, Pan maintains the current magnification while moving your view across the drawing, just as you would pan a camera across a landscape.

To activate the Pan command, follow these steps:

1. Click the Pan tool on the View tab’s Navigate 2D panel or from the Navigation bar, or type P↵. You can also right-click and choose Pan from the context menu. A small hand-shaped cursor appears in place of the AutoCAD cursor.

2. Place the hand cursor in the center of the drawing area, and then click and drag it down and to the left. The view follows the motion of your mouse.

3. Continue to drag the view until it looks similar to Figure 6-10; then release the mouse button.

4. To finish the kitchen, you want a view that shows more of the drawing area. Right-click to open the Zoom/Pan context menu, and then choose Zoom. The cursor changes to the Zoom Realtime cursor. The Zoom/Pan context menu also appears when you right-click during the Zoom Realtime command.

Figure 6-10: The panned view of the range top

Figure 6-11: The final view of the range top burners (top image) and the finished kitchen (bottom image). Metric dimensions are shown in brackets.

You can also exit the Pan or Zoom Realtime command without opening the context menu; just press the Esc key.

This exercise showed how you can fine-tune your view by easily switching between Pan and Zoom Realtime. After you get the hang of these two tools working together, you’ll be able to access the best view for your needs quickly. The other options in the context menu—Zoom Window, Zoom Original, and Zoom Extents—perform the same functions as the options in the Zoom flyout on the View tab’s Navigate 2D panel or in the Navigation bar.

The Zoom Window option in the Zoom/Pan context menu functions in a slightly different way from the standard Zoom Window option. Instead of clicking two points, you click and drag a window across your view.

While we’re on the subject of display tools, AutoCAD offers scroll bars to the right and bottom of the AutoCAD drawing area. They work like any other Windows scroll bar, offering a simple way to move up, down, left, or right in your current view. Scroll bars also come in handy for quickly panning your view in one direction or another.

By default, the scroll bars are turned off. If you prefer to work with them on, open the Options dialog box (choose Options from the Application menu), click the Display tab, look in the Windows Elements group, and make sure the Display Scroll Bars In Drawing Window option is selected. Clear the box to turn them off.

Finishing the Kitchenette

Before you save and close the Kitchen file, you need to do one more thing. You’ll be using this drawing as a symbol and inserting it into the overall plan of the studio apartment unit. To facilitate accurate placement of the kitchen, you’ll change the location of the base point of this drawing to the upper-left corner of the kitchen. This will then be the drawing’s grip:

3. At the Enter base point: prompt, pick the upper-left corner of the kitchen, as indicated in the bottom image of Figure 6-11. The kitchen drawing is complete.

4. Click Save from the Quick Access toolbar, but keep the file open because you’ll use it later.

Array Along a Path

Before you continue with the apartment drawings you’re working on for the main part of the tutorial, we’d like to introduce you to one more Array feature. In AutoCAD 2013, you can create an array that follows a curved or straight path, such as an arc, spline curve, or complex polyline. Try the following exercise to see firsthand how it works:

Figure 6-12: Select the Path Array tool from the Array flyout.

Figure 6-13: Click the chair at the left end of the arc.

In this exercise, you made an array of a chair that follows the path of an arc. Note that the chair had been set up facing away from the center of the arc. In a later exercise, you’ll see how you can easily rotate the chairs to face the center.

You could have used a spline curve or polyline (see Chapter 19, “Drawing Curves,” for more on spline curves and polylines) instead of the arc and the results would have been similar.

Now suppose you want to adjust the curvature of your array. This is just a simple matter of adjusting the shape of the arc as in the following exercise:

Figure 6-14: Change the radius of the arc and the array follows.

Here you see how the associative feature of the Arraypath command enables you to control the array by adjusting the object you used for the path. Arrays can be edited through a variety of methods, as you’ll see in the next section.

Making Changes to an Associative Array

Now let’s take a look at how you can make changes to an array. You may have noticed the Associative option in the Array command’s prompt. By default, the Associative option is turned on, which enables you to edit array objects as a group. You’ll see firsthand how this works in the following exercises.

You’ll start by editing the array you created using the Path Array tool. Since you’ve changed the arc array path, the chairs no longer fill the arc. The last chair to the right is no longer at the end of the arc. This happened because when you changed the arc’s radius, you made it a bit longer. By default, the chair array is set up to maintain the chairs’ distance from each other. You can change that setting so that the chairs fill the arc. Here’s how it’s done:

Figure 6-15: The Array tab displays a different set of panels and options when an array is selected.

2. Click the Measure flyout in the Array tab’s Properties panel and then select the Divide Method option. The chairs are now evenly spaced along the arc.

The Divide And Measure options in the Array tabs Properties panel are similar to the Divide and Measure commands. Divide marks off an object into equal parts while Measure marks off an object based on a distance between the marks. You’ll learn more about Divide and Measure in “Finding an Exact Distance along a Curve” later in this chapter.

You may have also noticed that the chairs are pointing away from the center of the arc. You can realign them so they face the center of the arc by making a simple change to the original chair.

The following steps show you how this is done:

1. Click the Edit Source tool in the Array tab’s Options panel.

2. Click the middle chair in the array. The Array Editing State message appears informing you that you need to enter ARRAYCLOSE to exit the array editing state (see Figure 6-16).

Figure 6-16: The Array Editing State message

Figure 6-17: Rotating the chairs

In this exercise, you saw how editing the source object of an array affects the other array copies. This is the Associative array feature at work. You could have made any number of other changes to the array.

Next, you’ll make changes to the chair array spacing and add a few additional rows. Then you’ll revisit the kitchenette to see how you can edit a nested array.

Try the following exercise to see how the Ribbon can be used to edit an array:

As you can see from these exercises, you can easily make changes to an array through the Ribbon panel options in the Array tab. Many of these options are also available through the multifunction grip menus when you have Dynamic Input turned on.

Several other tools become available on the Ribbon panel when you select an associative array. Table 6-1 gives you a rundown of the panels and tools and their function. The tools that appear in the Ribbon will be slightly different depending on whether the array is a polar, rectangular, or path array, but the features they offer are similar to those in the table.

Table 6-1: The panels and tools on the Array tab

In the next exercise, you’ll return to the kitchen drawing to see how you can use grips to modify an array:

1. If you have closed the kitchen drawing, open it again.

2. Make sure you have Dynamic Input turned on.

3. Click the array of burners that you created earlier. The grips appear for the array, and you see the Array tab in the Ribbon as you did earlier.

4. Hover over the grip in the upper-right burner. A menu appears.

5. Select the Row And Column Count option from the menu. Now, as you move the cursor up and to the right, additional burners appear. The farther to the upper right you move the cursor, the more rows and columns appear (see Figure 6-18).

Figure 6-18: The rows and columns increase as you move the cursor farther from the base point.

In step 5, you used the Row And Column Count multifunction grip option to add rows and columns to an array. This option combines the function of the Rows and Columns panels in the Array tab.

Developing Your Drawing

As mentioned briefly in Chapter 3, when you’re using AutoCAD, you first create the basic geometric forms used in your drawing and then you refine them. In this section, you’ll create two drawings—the studio apartment unit and the lobby—that demonstrate this process in more detail.

First, you’ll construct a typical studio apartment unit by using the drawings you’ve created thus far. In the process, you’ll explore the use of lines as reference objects.

You’ll also further examine how to use existing files as blocks. In Chapter 4, “Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups,” you inserted a file into another file. The number of files you can insert is limitless, and you can insert files of any size. As you may already have guessed, you can also nest files and blocks; that is, you can insert blocks or files in other blocks or files. Nesting can help reduce your drawing time by enabling you to build one block out of smaller blocks. For example, you can insert your door drawing into the bathroom plan. In turn, you can insert the bathroom plan into the studio unit plan, which also contains doors. Finally, you can insert the unit plan into the overall floor plan for the studio apartment building.

Importing Settings

In this exercise, you’ll use the Bath file as a prototype for the studio unit plan. However, you must make a few changes to it first. After the changes are made, you’ll import the bathroom and thereby import the layers and blocks contained in the bathroom file.

As you go through this exercise, observe how the drawings begin to evolve from simple forms to complex, assembled forms.

Use these steps to modify the Bath file:

1. Open the 06-Bath file you worked on earlier. If you skipped drawing the Bath file in Chapter 5, “Keeping Track of Layers and Blocks,” use the file 05c-bath.dwg (or 05c-bath-metric.dwg).

2. Click the Set Base Point tool in the Home tab’s expanded Block panel, and select the upper-left corner of the bathroom as the new base point for this drawing so that you can position the Bath file more accurately.

3. Save the Bath file. If you use the sample from the DVD, choose Save As from the Application menu and save it as Bath. You can save it to your Documents folder to keep the original in its unedited state.

4. Click the Close icon in the upper-right corner of the drawing area, or choose Close from the Application menu to close the bath drawing.

Next, you’ll create a new file. But this time, instead of using the Start From Scratch or Use A Template option in the Create New Drawing dialog box, you’ll try the Use A Wizard option:

1. Click New from the Quick Access toolbar to open the Select Template dialog box.

2. Locate and select the acad.dwt template file. Metric users should locate the acadiso.dwt template file.

3. Click Open to open the new file.

4. If you’re using Imperial measurements, choose Drawing Utilities ⇒ Units from the Application menu; then, in the Drawing Units dialog box, select Architectural from the Length group’s Type drop-down list and click OK. Metric users should use the default decimal length type.

5. Type LIMITS↵. At the Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] <0'-0",0'-0">: prompt, press ↵ to accept the default drawing origin for the lower-left corner.

6. If you’re using Imperial measurements, enter 528,408↵ at the next prompt. These are the appropriate dimensions for an 8¹/₂′ × 11′ drawing at ¹/₄′ = 1″-0′ scale. Metric users should enter 1485,1050. This is the work area for a 1:50 scale drawing on an A4 sheet.

7. Click All from the Zoom flyout on the View tab’s Navigate 2D panel or click Zoom All from the navigation bar.

Let’s continue by laying out a typical studio unit. You’ll discover how importing a file also imports a variety of drawing items such as layers and linetypes. Follow these steps:

Figure 6-19: The apartment unit interior and balcony. Metric locations and dimensions are shown in brackets.

2. Click the Insert tool on the Home tab’s Block panel to open the Insert dialog box.

3. Click the Browse button, and locate and select the Bath drawing by using the Select Drawing File dialog box; then click Open. If you haven’t saved a bathroom drawing from earlier exercises, you can use 05c-bath.dwg.

Figure 6-20: The unit after the bathroom is inserted

By inserting the bathroom, you imported the layers and blocks contained in the Bath file. You were then able to move previously drawn objects to the imported layers. If you’re in a hurry, this can be a quick way to duplicate layers that you know exist in another drawing. This method is similar to using an existing drawing as a template, but it lets you start work on a drawing before deciding which template to use.

Using Osnap Tracking to Place Objects

You’ll draw lines in the majority of your work, so it’s important to know how to manipulate lines to your best advantage. In the following sections, you’ll look at some of the common ways to use and edit these fundamental drawing objects. The following exercises show you the process of drawing lines rather than just how individual commands work. While you’re building walls and adding doors, you’ll get a chance to become more familiar with Polar Tracking and Osnap Tracking.

Roughing In the Line Work

The bathroom you inserted in the preceding section has only one side of its interior walls drawn. (Walls are usually shown by double lines.) In this next exercise, you’ll draw the other side. Rather than trying to draw the wall perfectly the first time, you’ll sketch in the line work and then clean it up in the next section, in a way similar to manual drafting.

Use these steps to rough in the wall lines:

Figure 6-21: The enlarged view of the bathroom

4. Click Line from the Draw panel, or type L↵.

5. At the Specify first point: prompt, hover your cursor over the lower-right corner of the bathroom so that the Endpoint Osnap marker appears, but don’t click it.

6. Now move the cursor downward and, as you do, the tracking vector appears. (If the tracking vector doesn’t appear at first, hover your cursor over the corner again until it does appear.)

Figure 6-22: The first wall line and the wall line by the door

Figure 6-23: The corner of the bathroom wall and the filleted wall around the bathroom

In the previous exercise, Osnap Tracking mode enabled you to specify the starting point of a line at an exact distance from the corner of the bathroom. In step 7, you used the Direct Distance method for specifying distance and direction.

Cleaning Up the Line Work

You’ve drawn some of the wall lines, approximating their endpoint locations. Next, you’ll use the Fillet command to join lines exactly end to end and then import the kitchen drawing.

Follow these steps to join the lines:

1. Click the Fillet tool on the Modify panel or type F↵.

The Fillet, Chamfer, and Blend Curves tools share the same location in the Modify toolbar, so the tool tip may say any of these. If it does, then click the flyout arrowhead next to the tool and select Fillet.

2. Type R↵0↵ to make sure the fillet radius is set to 0.

3. Fillet the two lines by picking the vertical and horizontal lines, as indicated in the bottom panel in Figure 6-23 shown earlier in this chapter. Notice that these points lie on the portion of the line you want to keep. Your drawing will look like the bottom panel in Figure 6-23.

Figure 6-24: The cleaned-up wall intersections

You can select two lines at once for the fillet operation by using a crossing window; to do so, type C↵ at the Select first object or ...: prompt and then use a crossing window to select the two endpoints you want to join. The two endpoints closest to the fillet location are trimmed.

Where you select the lines affects the way the lines are joined. As you select objects to fillet, the side of the line where you click is the side that remains when the lines are joined. Figure 6-25 illustrates how the Fillet command works and shows what the Fillet options do.

Figure 6-25: Where you click the object to select it determines which part of an object will be filleted.

If you select two parallel lines during the Fillet command, the two lines are joined with an arc.

Now import the kitchen plan you drew earlier in this chapter:

1. Click Insert on the Block panel and then, in the Insert dialog box, click the Browse button to locate the kitchen drawing you created earlier in this chapter. Make sure you leave the Specify On-Screen check box deselected under the Scale and Rotation groups of the Insert dialog box.

2. Place the kitchen drawing at the wall intersection below the bathtub. (See the top image in Figure 6-26.)

Figure 6-26: The view after using Pan and Zoom, with the door inserted and the jamb and header added

Placing the Door Accurately

The next step is to add the entry door shown in the bottom image in Figure 6-26. In doing that, you’ll use a number of new tools together to streamline the drawing process.

In this exercise, you’ll practice using the Osnap Tracking feature and the From Osnap option to place the entry door at an exact distance from the upper corner of the floor plan:

For a shortcut to setting an object’s layer, you can select the object or objects and then select a layer from the layer drop-down list in the Layers panel.

Next, add the finishing touches to the entry door:

1. Add 5′ (13 cm for metric users) doorjambs as shown in the bottom image in Figure 6-26, and change their Layer property to the Jamb layer.

2. Choose the Break tool in the expanded Modify panel, and then select the header over the entry door. (See the bottom image in Figure 6-26.)

3. Type F↵ to use the first-point option; then select the endpoint of one of the door jambs.

4. At the Specify second break point: prompt, select the endpoint of the other jamb, as shown in the bottom image in Figure 6-26. The line between the points disappears.

5. Draw the door header on the Ceiling layer, as shown in Figure 6-27.

Figure 6-27: The other side of the wall

6. Click Offset on the Modify panel, and offset the top wall lines of the unit and the door header up 5′ (13 cm for metric users) so they connect with the top end of the doorjamb, as shown in Figure 6-27. Don’t forget to include the short wall line from the door to the bathroom wall.

7. Choose Save As from the Application menu to save your file as Unit.

Using Polar and Osnap Tracking as Construction Line Tools

So far, you’ve been using existing geometry to place objects in the plan accurately. In this section, you’ll use the Polar and Osnap Tracking tools to extend the upper wall line 5′ (13 cm for metric users) beyond the right interior wall of the unit. You’ll also learn how to use the Construction Line tool to locate doorjambs accurately near the balcony.

Start by changing the Polar Tracking setting to include a 45° angle:

1. Right-click the Polar Tracking button in the status bar at the bottom of the AutoCAD window, and choose Settings to open the Drafting Settings dialog box at the Polar Tracking tab (see Figure 6-28).

2. Select 45 from the Increment Angle drop-down list in the Polar Angle Settings group.

3. In the Object Snap Tracking Settings group, make sure the Track Using All Polar Angle Settings option is selected and click OK.

Figure 6-28: The Polar Tracking tab in the Drafting Settings dialog box

You’re ready to extend the wall line. For this operation, you’ll use grip editing:

2. Click the Ortho Mode button in the status bar to turn on Ortho mode. This keeps the wall line straight as you edit it.

3. Click the rightmost grip of the line to make it hot.

4. Place the cursor on the upper-right corner of the plan until you see the Endpoint osnap marker; then move the cursor away from the corner at a 45° angle. The Osnap Tracking vector appears at a 45° angle. Notice the small X that appears at the intersection of the Osnap Tracking vector and the line (see Figure 6-29).

Figure 6-29: The Osnap Tracking vector

Figure 6-30: Extend the wall line using the Osnap Tracking vector.

Figure 6-31: The studio unit so far

With Polar Tracking set to 45° and Osnap Tracking turned on in a crowded drawing, you may find that you’re selecting points you don’t really want to select. Just remember that if a drawing becomes too crowded, you can turn off these options temporarily by clicking the Object Snap Tracking or Polar Tracking button in the status bar.

In this exercise, you used Polar Tracking and Ortho mode to position the two lines used for the exterior walls of the studio unit accurately. This shows how you can take advantage of existing geometry with a combination of tools in the status bar.

Now you’ll finish the balcony by adding a sliding-glass door and a rail. This time, you’ll use lines for construction as well as for parts of the drawing. First, you’ll add the doorjamb by drawing a construction line. A construction line is a line that has an infinite length, but unlike a ray, it extends in both directions. After drawing the construction line, you’ll use it to position the doorjambs quickly.

Follow these steps:

1. Zoom in to the balcony area, which is the smaller rectangle at the bottom of the drawing.

Click the Construction Line tool on the expanded Draw panel. You can also type XL↵. You’ll see this prompt:

Specify a point or [Hor/Ver/Ang/Bisect/Offset]:

2. Type O↵ or select Offset from the command line.

3. At the Specify offset distance or [Through] <0″-5′>: prompt, type 4′↵. Metric users should type 122↵.

4. At the Select a line object: prompt, click the wall line at the right of the unit.

5. At the Specify side to offset: prompt, click a point to the left of the wall to display the construction line. (See the top image of Figure 6-32.)

6. At the Select a line object: prompt, click the left wall line and then click to the right of the selected wall to create another construction line. Your drawing should look like the top image in Figure 6-32.

Next, you’ll edit the construction lines to form the jambs.

7. Press the Esc key to exit the Xline command.

8. Click Trim on the Modify panel or type Tr↵.

9. Select the construction lines and the two horizontal lines representing the wall between the unit and the balcony and press ↵. You can either use a crossing window or select each line individually. You’ve just selected the objects to trim.

You can also use the Fence selection option to select the lines to be trimmed.

10. Click the horizontal lines at any point between the two construction lines. Then click the construction lines above and below the horizontal lines to trim them. Your drawing looks like the bottom image in Figure 6-32.

Figure 6-32: Drawing the door opening

Figure 6-33: Finishing the sliding-glass door and the railing

The wall facing the balcony is now complete. To finish the unit, you need to show a handrail and the corners of the balcony wall:

1. Offset the bottom line of the balcony 3′ toward the top of the drawing. Metric users should offset the line 7.6 units.

2. Create a new layer called F-rail, and assign this offset line to it.

3. Add a 5′ (13 cm for metric users) horizontal line to the lower corners of the balcony, as shown in Figure 6-33.

4. Click the Set Base Point tool from the Home tab’s expanded Block panel to set the base point at the lower-left corner of the balcony at the location shown in Figure 6-33.

5. Zoom back to the previous view. Your drawing should now look like Figure 6-34.

6. Click Save from the Quick Access toolbar to save the drawing, and then close the file.

Your studio apartment unit plan is now complete. The exercises you’ve just completed demonstrate a typical set of operations you’ll perform while building your drawings. In fact, nearly 80 percent of what you’ll do in AutoCAD is represented here.

Now, to review the drawing process and to create a drawing you’ll use later, you’ll draw the apartment building’s lobby. As you follow the steps, refer to Figure 6-35.

Figure 6-34: The completed studio apartment unit

Figure 6-35: Drawing the lobby plan. Metric dimensions are shown in brackets.

As is usual in floor plans, the elevator shaft is indicated by the box with the large X through it, and the stair shaft is indicated by the box with the row of parallel lines through it. If you’re in a hurry, use the finished version of this file, called Lobby.dwg (Lobby-metric.dwg for metric users).

To draw the apartment building lobby, follow these steps:

Finding an Exact Distance along a Curve

To find an exact distance along a curve or to mark off specific distance increments along a curve, do the following:

Figure 6-36: The Point Style dialog box

Figure 6-37: The Measure tool on the expanded Draw panel

Figure 6-38: Finding an exact distance along a spline curve by using points and the Measure command

The Measure command also works on most objects, including arcs and polylines. You’ll get a more detailed look at the Measure command in Chapter 19.

As you work with AutoCAD, you’ll find that constructing temporary geometry such as the circle and points in the two previous examples will help you solve problems in new ways. Don’t hesitate to experiment! Remember, you’ve always got the Save and Undo commands to help you recover from mistakes.

Changing the Length of Objects

Suppose that, after finding the length of an arc, you realize you need to lengthen the arc by a specific amount. The Lengthen tool in the expanded Modify panel lets you lengthen or shorten arcs, lines, polylines, splines, and elliptical arcs. As an example, here’s how to lengthen an arc:

1. Click Lengthen from the expanded Modify panel, or type LEN↵.

2. At the Select an object or [DElta/Percent/Total/DYnamic]: prompt, type T↵, or select Total from the command line.

3. At the Specify total length or [Angle] <1.0000)>: prompt, enter the length you want for the arc.

4. At the Select an object to change or [Undo]: prompt, click the arc you want to change. Be sure to click at a point nearest the end you want to lengthen. The arc increases in length to the size you specified.

The Lengthen command also shortens an object if it’s currently longer than the value you enter.

In this short example, you’ve learned how to change an object to a specific length. You can use other criteria to change an object’s length using these options available for the Lengthen command:

Creating a New Drawing by Using Parts from Another Drawing

Next, we’ll explain how to use the Export command. Export can be used to turn parts of a drawing into a separate file in a way similar to the Wblock command described in Chapter 4. Here you’ll use the Export command to create a separate staircase drawing by using the staircase you’ve already drawn for the lobby.

Follow these steps:

Figure 6-39: A selection window enclosing the stair shaft

Eliminating Unused Blocks, Layers, Linetypes, Shapes, Styles, and More

A template can contain blocks and layers you don’t need in your new file. For example, the lobby you just completed contains the bathroom block because you used the Unit file as a prototype. Even though you erased this block, it remains in the drawing file’s database. It’s considered unused because it doesn’t appear as part of the drawing. Such extra blocks can slow you down by increasing the amount of time needed to open the file. They also increase the size of your file unnecessarily. You can eliminate unused elements from a drawing by using the Purge command.

Selectively Removing Unused Elements

You use the Purge command to remove unused individual blocks, layers, linetypes, shapes, text styles, and other drawing elements from a drawing file. To help keep the file size small and to make layer maintenance easier, you should purge your drawing of unused elements. Bear in mind, however, that the Purge command doesn’t delete certain primary drawing elements—namely, layer 0, the Continuous linetype, and the Standard text style.

Use these steps to practice using the Purge command:

1. In the lobby drawing, choose Drawing Utilities ⇒ Purge from the Application menu to open the Purge dialog box (see Figure 6-40). You’ll see a listing of drawing components that can be purged. If the drawing contains any of the types of components listed, a plus sign appears to the left of the component name.

Figure 6-40: The Purge dialog box

Removing All Unused Elements

In the previous exercise, you selected a single block for removal from the Lobby file. If you want to clear all the unused elements from a file at once, you can click the Purge All button at the bottom of the Purge dialog box (see Figure 6-40).

Here are the steps:

1. Choose Drawing Utilities ⇒ Purge from the Application menu to open the Purge dialog box again.

2. Click the Purge Nested Items check box to turn on this option.

3. Click Purge All to open the Confirm Purge dialog box, which asks whether you want to purge a block.

4. Click Purge This Item. The Confirm Purge dialog box displays the name of another block, asking you to confirm the purge. You can continue to click Purge This Item, and AutoCAD will display the Confirm Purge dialog box for each unused element still in the drawing.

5. Click the Purge All Items option to purge everything at once. The Confirm Purge dialog box closes.

6. In the Purge dialog box, click Close.

7. Close and save the Lobby file, and exit AutoCAD.

The Lobby file is now trimmed down to the essential data it needs and nothing else. You may have noticed that when you returned to the Purge dialog box in step 6, the items in the list box no longer showed plus signs. This indicates that there are no longer any unused items in the drawing.

In this last exercise, you used the Purge Nested Items option at the bottom of the dialog box. The Purge Nested Items option automatically purges unused blocks, including those nested within other blocks. If this option isn’t checked, you might have to repeat the Purge operation to remove all unused elements in a drawing.

The Bottom Line