Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
croStation DGN files, and other drawing files. I discuss attaching external reference
files in Chapter 18.
Markup Set Manager: Displays design and drafting review comments from users of
Autodesk Design Review. For more information on markup sets, see the online
help.
QuickCalc: A handy pushbutton scientific calculator that hides out on the Home
tab's Utilities panel. You'll know if you need this.
Layer Properties Manager: The main control center for managing the layers on
your drawing. The palettized Layer Properties Manager not only stays open while
you're doing other things, but also applies any changes you make instantly in the
drawing. The Layer Properties Manager can be found on the Layers panel of the
Home tab.
Using the View and Home tabs is one way of opening palettes. Alternatively,
several palettes have keyboard shortcuts. You can toggle these by pressing Ctrl+1
(Properties), Ctrl+2 (DesignCenter), Ctrl+3 (Tool Palettes), Ctrl+4 (Sheet Set Man-
ager), Ctrl+7 (Markup Set Manager), or Ctrl+8 (QuickCalc).
Down the main stretch: The drawing area
After all these warm-up laps, you're probably itching for the main event — the AutoCAD
drawing area. This is where you do your drawing, of course. In the course of creating
drawings, you click points to specify locations and distances, click objects to select
them for editing, and zoom and pan to get a better view of what you're working on.
Most of this topic shows you how to interact with the drawing area, but you should
know a few things up front.
Model space and paper space layouts
One of the initially disorienting things about AutoCAD is that finished drawings can be
composed of objects drawn in different spaces, which AutoCAD indicates with either two
status bar buttons, or two or more tabs at the bottom left of the drawing area:
Model space: Where you create and modify the objects that represent things in the
real world — walls, widgets, waterways, or whatever.
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