Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 111

FIGURE 4.1
The Define Block
dialog box
9. Click the Description list box, and enter Standard Toilet .
10. Make sure the Retain Objects radio button in the Source Objects group is selected, and
then click Create Block. The toilet drawing is now a block with the name Toilet.
11. Repeat the blocking process for the tub, but this time use the upper-left corner of the tub
as the insertion base point and give the block the name Tub. Enter Standard Tub for the
description.
You can press ↵ or right-click and choose Repeat BLOCK from the shortcut menu to start
the Block command again.
When you turn an object into a block, it's stored in the drawing file, ready to be recalled at
any time. The block remains part of the drawing file even when you end the editing session.
When you open the file again, the block is available for your use. In addition, you can access
blocks from other drawings by using the AutoCAD Content palette, which you'll learn about
later in this chapter.
A block acts like a single object, even though it's really made up of several objects. One
unique characteristic of a block is that when you modify it, all instances of it are updated to
reflect the modifications. For example, if you insert several copies of the toilet into a drawing
and then later decide the toilet needs to be a different shape, you can edit the Toilet block and
all the other copies of the toilet are updated automatically.
You can modify a block in a number of ways after it has been created. In this chapter, you'll
learn how to make simple changes to individual blocks by modifying the block's properties. For
more detailed changes, you'll learn how to redefine a block after it has been created. Later in this
chapter, you'll learn how to use the Block Editor to make changes to blocks.