Exercise 3.1: Draw with Grid and Snap

In the following steps, you will experiment with Grid and Snap by drawing lines using these aids:

1. Click the New button on the Quick Access toolbar.
2. Choose the acad.dwt template (or acadiso.dwt metric template) from the Select Template dialog box and click Open.

   

3. Open the Customization menu (on the extreme right of the status bar) and select Units and LineWeight. Deselect Isometric Drafting, Annotation Visibility, Autoscale, and Annotation Scale. Click in the drawing window to close the Customization menu. Change Units to Architectural if you are using Imperial units; leave Decimal selected if you are using metric units.

   
   
4. Type DS and press Enter to open the Drafting Settings dialog box. Change Grid X spacing to 1" (or 10 for metric) and press Tab; Grid Y spacing updates with the same value. Set Major Line Every to 12 for Imperial (or 10 for metric) so that you’ll see darker grid lines every foot. Notice that Snap spacing is set to 1/2" (or 10 mm) by default. Select Snap On and verify that the Grid Snap and Rectangular Snap radio buttons are selected in the Snap Type area (see Figure 3.2). Click OK.

   

   
   

   

5. Click the Line tool in the Draw panel on the ribbon’s Home tab. Click the first point close to the origin point of the UCS icon, located in the lower-left corner of the drawing window. Click the second point, 2' (or 600 in metric) above the first point, by clicking the second intersection (or sixth intersection in metric) of major grid lines. Right-click to end the LINE command.

   

6. Click the Lineweight icon in the status bar so that the button is highlighted in blue.
   
7. Right-click the Lineweight icon, and choose Lineweight Settings from the context menu. Open the Default drop-down list, select 0.012" (or 0.30 mm) (see Figure 3.3), and click OK.

   

   
   
8. Type L and press Enter twice to continue drawing from the last point. Toggle Grid off in the status bar. Move the cursor horizontally to the right from the point at which the rubber band is anchored. Click the drawing canvas when the dynamic input value reads 2'-0" (or 600 mm), as shown in Figure 3.4, and press Enter.

   

9. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.1-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s companion files.

Exercise 3.2: Draw with Ortho and Polar Tracking

Let’s try Ortho and Polar Tracking modes by drawing a series of line segments. You’ll use Ortho when the segments are 90° apart and Polar Tracking when the segments are drawn at other angles. Begin by opening the file Ex03.2-start.dwg from this chapter’s companion files.

1. Type L, position the cursor over the right endpoint of the horizontal line, and click to establish the first point of a new line.
2. Toggle off Snap mode by pressing the F9 key.

3. Toggle on Ortho mode by clicking the Ortho toggle in the status bar or by pressing the F8 key.

   
   
4. Move the cursor down from the last point, type 10-3/4" (or 240 for metric), and press Enter. Ortho mode constrains the line vertically, and typing in an explicit value obviates the need for Snap.

   

5. Toggle off Ortho mode by clicking its status bar button. Toggle on Polar Tracking by clicking the adjacent button on the right. Right-click the Polar Tracking button, and choose 45°, 90°, 135°, 180° from the context menu.
6. Move the cursor around and observe that green dashed lines appear in eight locations around a circle (in 45° increments). Move the cursor to the right relative to the last point, type 2' (or 600 for metric), and press Enter (see Figure 3.5). Press Esc to terminate the LINE command without deleting the last segment drawn.

   

7. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.2-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s download files.

Just like Ortho mode, Polar Tracking guarantees that the last line drawn was perfectly aligned to the set increment; you merely had to move the cursor in the general direction you wanted to direct the new line. Ortho and Polar Tracking save you from having to type in angles or coordinate values explicitly or to even think about coordinate systems.

Exercise 3.3: Draw with PolarSnap

As you’ll see in the steps that follow, PolarSnap is useful for drawing measured lines on angles other than horizontal or vertical. Begin by opening the file Ex03.3-start.dwg from this chapter’s companion files.

1. Toggle on Snap by clicking its icon on the status bar. Right-click the same button and choose Snap Settings from the context menu.

   

2. Select the PolarSnap radio button in the Drafting Settings dialog box. Type 1" (or 10 for metric) in the Polar Distance text box (this dialog was shown in Figure 3.2). Click OK.

3. Type L and press Enter. Type 4',1'1-1/4 (or 1200,360 for metric) and press Enter to input the absolute coordinates of the end of the lower horizontal line.

   
   
4. Move the cursor down at a 45° angle from east, and observe the Snap values that appear with Dynamic Input onscreen. Click when the value is 6" (or 150 mm) (see Figure 3.6).

   

5. Move the cursor vertically down and click to draw a line when the value reads 1' (or 300 mm). Right-click to end the LINE command.
6. Press the spacebar to repeat the LINE command. Type 0,0 (or 100,200 for metric) and press Enter to input the first endpoint of the new line.
7. Toggle off Snap mode by clicking its icon on the status bar, thus disabling PolarSnap.
8. Move the cursor horizontally to the right until it overshoots the last line drawn in step 5. Click to draw the line without worrying about its length (see Figure 3.7). Right-click to complete the command.

   

9. Type F (for Fillet) and press Enter. Verify that Radius is set to 0 in the Command window and then click the vertical and horizontal lines on the portions of the lines that you want to keep (marked A and B in Figure 3.8).

   

10. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.3-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s companion files.

Exercise 3.4: Draw with Running Object Snaps

As you will see in the steps that follow, with running object snaps, frequently used object snaps can be turned on continuously. That way, you don’t have to invoke them explicitly every time you want to use object snaps. Begin by opening the file Ex03.4-start.dwg from this chapter’s companion files.

1. Using Polar Tracking, but without invoking Snap or Object Snap, draw a line using points A to B in Figure 3.9 as a guide. Click each point as accurately as you can because I want you to see that you can’t make it perfect without using Object Snap.

   

2. Press Z and then Enter. Click two points to define a tightly cropped zoom window around point A. Zoom in again if necessary until you can see that the endpoint of the line you just drew is not on the horizontal line (see Figure 3.10). No matter how carefully you clicked point A in the previous step, the line you drew will not be on the edge (it will either fall short of it or overshoot it).

   

3. Select Zoom Previous from the Navigation bar’s Zoom menu. Click Zoom Previous again if necessary to return to the original view.

4. Click the line drawn in step 3, and press the Delete key.

   
   

   

   

5. Toggle on Object Snap on the status bar. Right-click the same icon and choose Object Snap Settings from the context menu. Click the Clear All button and then select Endpoint, Midpoint, and Perpendicular (see Figure 3.11). Click OK.

   

   

6. Toggle off Polar Tracking on the status bar. Click the Line tool on the Draw panel. Move the cursor close to point A in Figure 3.12 and wait for the green endpoint marker to appear. When it does, click to snap the first point of your line precisely to this point.

   

   
   
7. Move the cursor down to point B and wait until the green perpendicular marker appears. When it does, click the drawing canvas to select the second point of the line. Press Esc to end the command. This line is connected precisely at both ends because Object Snap was used.
8. Zoom into point A or B in Figure 3.13 and verify that the lines are connected perfectly. Click Zoom Extents in the Navigation bar to return to the initial overall view.

   

   
   
9. Type L and press Enter. Hold down Shift, right-click to open the Object Snap context menu, and choose Nearest. Object snaps invoked from the context menu override any running object snaps. Click point A, shown in Figure 3.14. Nearest ensures that the new line is attached somewhere along the edge of the horizontal line.

   

10. Move the cursor close to point B, as shown in Figure 3.14, and click when the perpendicular marker appears. Press Esc to end the LINE command.
11. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.4-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s companion files.

Exercise 3.5: Use the From Snap

Begin by opening the file Ex03.5-start.dwg from the Chapter 3 companion files.

1. Type L and press Enter. Hold Shift and right-click to open the Object Snap context menu. Select From in the context menu.
2. Click point A shown in Figure 3.14. This is the point from which you will specify a displacement. Type @6<0 (or @150<0 for metric) to specify the displacement to the first point of the line and press Enter.
3. Move the cursor to point B and wait for the running perpendicular snap marker to appear. When it does, click to specify the second point of the line. Press Esc to end the LINE command. You’ve drawn a line starting exactly 6" (or 150 mm) over from the corner.
4. Select the line you just drew and press the Delete key.
5. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.5-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s companion files.

Exercise 3.6: Use Object Snap Tracking

Begin by opening the file Ex03.6-start.dwg from this chapter’s companion files.

1. Click the Circle tool on the Draw panel.

    

2. Toggle on Object Snap Tracking by clicking its icon on the status bar. Verify that Ortho mode is on. (If it isn’t, press F8.)
3. Move the cursor over point A in Figure 3.15. When the running midpoint snap marker appears, move the cursor horizontally to the right to establish the first tracking line. Do not click yet.
4. Move the cursor over point B in Figure 3.15, and wait for the Midpoint marker to appear. Move the cursor down vertically to establish the second tracking line. Again, do not click yet.
5. Move the cursor down until both tracking lines intersect. When they do, click point C to set the center point of the circle. Type 9 (or 220 for metric) and press Enter to create a circle with a radius of 9" (or 220 mm).

   

6. Click the Rectangle tool on the Draw panel. Move the cursor over the endpoint marked A in Figure 3.16 and, without clicking, move the cursor down to establish the first tracking line.
7. Move the cursor to point B in Figure 3.16 to track another endpoint. Move the cursor horizontally back to the intersection with the first tracking line, and click to establish the first corner of the rectangle (point C).
8. Type @1',-6 (or @280,-160 for metric) and press Enter. The rectangle and drawing are complete (see Figure 3.17).
9. Toggle off Lineweight.

   

10. Save your work.

Your model should now resemble Ex03.6-end.dwg, which is available among this chapter’s companion files.