Getting to Know AutoCAD - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 17

side for LT), and move the slider to change the Crosshair Size setting.
The crosshair length changes as a percentage of the drawing area.
5. Click OK to apply any remaining changes, and close the Options
dialog box.
TIP If you choose a color other than black as the drawing area back-
ground color, the color of the crosshair cursor remains the same as it was.
to change the crosshair color, go to the Interface element list box in the
Drawing Window Colors dialog box and select Crosshairs. then select a
color from the Color drop-down list.
Working in the Command Window
Just below the drawing area is the command window. This window is separate
from the drawing area and behaves like a Windows window — that is, you can drag
it to a different place on the screen and resize it, although you probably shouldn't
do this at first. If you currently have fewer than three lines of text in the window,
you should increase the window's vertical size. To do so, move the cursor to the
horizontal boundary between the drawing area and the command window until it
changes to an up-and-down arrow broken by two parallel horizontal lines.
Hold down the left mouse button, drag the cursor up by approximately the same
amount that one or two lines of text would take up, and then release the mouse
button (see Figure 1.18). You should see more lines of text, but you might have to
try this a few times to display exactly four lines. A horizontal line will separate the
top two lines of text from the bottom line of text. When you close the program,
AutoCAD will save the new settings. The next time you start AutoCAD, the com-
mand window will display four lines of text.
The command window is where you give information to AutoCAD and where
AutoCAD prompts you for the next step in executing a command. It's a good
practice to keep an eye on the command window as you work on your drawing.
Many errors can occur when you don't check it frequently. If the Dynamic Input
button on the status bar is in the On position, some of the information in the
command window will appear in the drawing area next to the cursor. You'll
learn about this feature when you start drawing.