Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 1 - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 99

CHAPtER 4

Developing Drawing
Strategies: Part 1

Assuming that you have worked your way through the first three
chapters, you have now successfully drawn a shape (Chapter 2, “Learning
Basic Commands to Get Started”) as well as the outer wall lines of a cabin
(Chapter 3, “Setting Up a Drawing”). From here on, you'll develop a floor
plan for the cabin. In Chapter 10, “Generating Elevations,” you'll work on
elevations (views of the front, back, and sides of the building that show how
the building will look if you're facing it). The focus in this chapter is on
gaining a feel for the strategy of drawing in AutoCAD and on solving draw-
ing problems that come up in the course of laying out a floor plan. As you
work your way through this chapter, the activities will include making the
walls, cutting doorway openings, and drawing the doors (see Figure 4.1). In
Chapter 5, “Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 2,” you'll add steps and two
decks and you'll place fixtures and appliances in the bathroom and kitchen.
Each exercise in this chapter presents opportunities to practice using com-
mands you already know from earlier chapters and also to learn a few new
ones. Arguably more important than knowing a large number of AutoCAD
commands is having the ability to take those commands and figure out
the best way to combine them to complete the design at hand. As you work
through the exercises in this chapter and the next, I encourage you to focus
less on the commands themselves and more on how they are used to get you
one step closer to a finished design. Admittedly, separating the two can be
hard sometimes; however, developing a strong sense of strategic thinking
now will undoubtedly make you a more efficient user.

Making interior walls

Zooming in on an area using various zoom tools

Making doors and swings

Using object snaps

Using the COPY and MIRROR commands