CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw

This tutorial has been prepared for first year students studying the Architectural Drawing and
Representation module in the Department of Civil and Building Engineering.

Introduction
In this first tutorial you will learn how to start AutoCAD, use the programmes graphical user
interface, save a drawing and a range of common drawing commands.

Starting AutoCAD 2008

1. Start AutoCAD by clicking on the Windows Start button (bottom left), and then
move the mouse to Programs then AutoCAD 2008.
2. When you start the programme, a window, in addition to the programme window, is
usually displayed: the Startup window.

If this window does not display, the system variables STARTUP and FILEDIA should be set to
1 in the following way:
Type STARTUP at the command line and then press ENTER
Enter new value for STARTUP <0>:
1
(type 1 and press )
Repeat it for the system variable FILEDIA.
Command:
FILEDIA
(type FILEDIA and press )
Enter new value for FILEDIA <0>:
1
(type 1 and press )

3. There are four icons. From left to right:

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Open a drawing

Start from scratch

Use a template

Use a wizard

4. Click on the icon Use a Wizard

5. Select advanced setup wizard.
6. On the Units page, select Decimal to indicate that you want to work in decimal units.
7. From the Units Precision list, select 0.0 and choose Next.
8. On the Angle page, from the Precision list, select 0.0 to specify that you want angles
measured to the nearest tenth of a degree. Choose Next.
9. On the Angle Measure page, you specify the direction that corresponds to 0 degrees.
For this tutorial, no change is required here. Choose Next.
10. On the Angle Direction page, you specify whether angles are measured clockwise or
counter clockwise. For this tutorial, no change is required. Choose Next.
11. On the Area page, enter 500 in the Width box.
12. Enter 300 in the Length box. These two values specify the limits of your grid and
working area.
13. Choose Finish to complete the drawing setup

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw

CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

The AutoCAD Graphics Window

Layers Toolbar

Standard Toolbar

Object Properties Toolbar

Draw Toolbar

Modify Toolbar

Graphic Area

Command Area
Status Area

Figure 1.1: The AutoCAD 2008 Graphics window

[Despite command line interfaces being considered totally archaic, the command area in
AutoCAD is absolutely vital! One of the key things in this tutorial is to watch the command
area! Using AutoCAD is like a conversation and AutoCADs half of the conversation comes
from the text in the command area . . .]
AutoCAD Graphics window, figure 1.1, has a number of important features:
1. The standard Windows drop-down menus.
2. The standard toolbar below the menus, it includes: File-New, File-Open, File-Save,
etc.
3. In addition to the standard toolbar there are four AutoCAD specific toolbars: Object
Properties, Layers, Draw and Modify.
4. The graphics area thats the area where you draw note the scroll bars and the axis
label.
5. The command area this small window (by default) has space for three lines of text
this is where you type commands.
Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

6. The status area, at the bottom of the AutoCAD window, this includes the current
cursor position.

Command Entry
Typically there are three ways of giving a command!
1. Type the command using the keyboard - the command is displayed in the command
area. Most commands can be activated by using their abbreviations, for example
circle command can be activated by entering c at the command line; line by l; copy
by co; rotate by ro

2. Select the command from a menu.

3. Select the commands icon from a toolbar.
[Not all commands are on the Menus and/or toolbars!].

Drawing a Rectangle
Click on the OTRACK and DYN buttons in the status area to turn them off.
Select Rectangle (or type rectang ); then type the co-ordinates of:
15, 15
415, 315 Note: These are absolute Cartesian Co-ordinates
[The text typed is displayed in the command area at the bottom of AutoCAD's window].
Command: RECTANG
Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]: 15,15
Specify other corner point or [Area/Dimensions/Rotation]: 415,315

AutoCAD will draw a rectangle, which fits comfortably in the AutoCAD graphics area! If
you can't see the rectangle, type z [space] a [space] (zoom all). This instructs
AutoCAD to redraw the view, zooming out to show all the graphics on the drawing.

Drawing Some Lines

We will now draw some more graphics and then save and exit AutoCAD.

Select

line from the Draw Toolbar:

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw

CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Move the crosshair to near the bottom-left of the rectangle and click the left mouse
button, then shift the crosshair to the top-right of the rectangle and again click the left
mouse button, the exact position of the lines are not important.

Press to terminate the command, and then press again to re-start the command!

[Remember this! If you press after you finish a command, the command is re-issued].
Draw a line from the top-left to the bottom-right of the rectangle, and then press .

USEFUL HINTS:
If you make a mistake press Esc the escape key, located at the top-left of the keyboard).
Then type u or click on

(the undo command).

Saving a Drawing
Select the Save icon from

the standard toolbar. The drawing has not been saved

before, so AutoCAD will display the SAVE AS dialog box, select the appropriate Drive
and Directory (for example: S:\arch\u1234567), type the drawing name (for
example TUT1), and then select "OK".

Starting AutoCAD 2008 with an Existing Drawing

Load AutoCAD 2008.

In the start up window click on

Click on Browse

Select the appropriate Drive, Directory and file name.

Co-ordinate Systems
When specifying positions you can use Cartesian or Polar Co-ordinates. Cartesian Coordinates are simply an X value, a comma, and a Y value, for example: 100,100.

Polar co-ordinates are a Distance followed by a < symbol and an angle, for example:
10<25. Angles are measured in degrees, with 0 = East and 90 = North. Any of these
numbers can have decimal values (angle can be preceded by -, in AutoCAD positive
values are anti-clockwise and negative values are clockwise).
[AutoCAD is a three dimensional CAD system, so you can enter XYZ values instead of the
XY values shown here].
Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

The positions specified above are absolute co-ordinates, because they specify a
particular position. AutoCAD can also use relative co-ordinates to specify a position
relative to the current position, for example: @ 5.6,-3.4 and @ 16.32<62.

NOTE: If you turn the DYN button in the status area on, the Dynamic Input will be activated.
Dynamic Input allows you to keep your attention near the cursor and takes all the values you
enter as relative company-ordinates. Therefore you dont need to use @ in DYN mode.

Drawing a Diamond
The polyline illustrated below is used to create a sequence of joined line segments, which
become one object. Using the line command each line segment is a separate object.
From the Draw toolbar, select Polyline

(or type: pline) and then type the following

co-ordinates:
220,20
[absolute Cartesian co-ordinate]
@184<45
@184<135 [relative polar co-ordinates]
@184<225
c (to close the polyline)
[This should draw you a diamond (a rotated rectangle) shape].
Note

If you make a mistake, you can undo the last line segment by typing u

C means close the shape by typing c

Snap Modes
Object Snaps, or Osnaps, let you draw quickly while ensuring complete accuracy in
specifying point locations. Object snaps impart intelligence to your mouse cursor by
snapping to locations on existing objects.
For example:
END snaps to the endpoint of a line, arc, etc.
MID snaps to the midpoint of an entity.
CEN snaps to the centre of an entity.
INT snaps to the intersection of two objects.
Many other object snaps are available, including tangent, perpendicular, and quadrant.
Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

It is often useful to be able to draw something from (for example) the end of another shape.
AutoCAD has a large selection of snap modes for this purpose. The most commonly used
snap modes are Endpoint (which snaps to the end of the selected graphics entity) and
Intersection (which snaps to the intersection of two graphics entities).
[A simple way to turn Object Snap ON or OFF, is to click on "OSNAP" in the status Area.
Alternatively F3 function key can be used. In both cases if no snap settings have been set, the
"Osnap Settings" dialog box will be displayed].

The object snap modes can either be typed or selected from the snap toolbar
[To get AutoCAD to display the Object Snap Modes toolbar, if it is not already displayed,
select "Toolbars" from the "View" menu and then select "Object Snap". To display the
"Osnap Settings" dialog, close the Customize Dialog. Drag and move the Object Snap
Toolbar to a suitable position]

Drawing Circles
To draw a circle you can either pick the CIRCLE option from the menu and then pick
centre, radius or enter the command CIRCLE or shortly C at the keyboard. You will
then need to specify the co-ordinates of the centre and the length of its radius.

e.g. 1
Command: c
Activate the circle command
CIRCLE Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:
Pick a
point.
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter]:
Move the mouse and pick another point.
e.g. 2
Command: c
CIRCLE Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter]:
50

300, 200

Drawing Arcs
There are many ways of defining and drawing arcs with AutoCAD. Three useful methods
will be described here.
From the ARC menu pick the 3-point option.
Command: arc
Specify start point of arc or [Center]:
pick a point.
Specify second point of arc or [Center/End]:
pick a second point
Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Specify end point of arc:

the third point.

drag the curve around using the mouse and then pick

Alternatively the co-ordinates of all three points could have been input at the keyboard or by
using OSNAP.
The second method follows from the screen prompt given above. To draw an arc for which
we know the centre, start and end follow the prompts as follows:
Command: arc
Specify start point of arc or [Center]:

Specify center point of arc: pick the centre.

Specify start point of arc:
Pick point.
Specify end point of arc or [Angle/chord Length]:
Specify included angle: 90

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw

CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Exercise
Using the Rectangle Command
Select Rectangle from the Draw Toolbar (or type rectang ); then type the co-ordinates of:
20,20
400, 280

Using Polyline
The polyline illustrated below is used to create a sequence of joined line segments, which
become one object. Using the line command each line segment is a separate object.

From the Draw toolbar, select Polyline

following co-ordinates:

(or type: pline or type pl) and then type the

210,20
[absolute Cartesian co-ordinate]
@184<45
@184<135 [relative polar co-ordinates]
@184<225
Type: c

Drawing an Arc
From the pull down menu click on: Draw Arc 3 point s (or type ARC) then type
145, 85
275,85
275, 215

Figure 1.2: Drawing after finishing the Arc command

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw
CIVIL 103

CIVL103, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering

Eastern Mediterranean University, Fall 2013-2014

Finish the drawing so that it will look like the figure below.

Tutorial 1: Introducing AutoCAD 2008 and Preparing to Draw

CIVIL 103

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