Email Mr. Riedel: jriedel1@wcpss.net
AutoCAD User Interface
Objectives: Student at the end of this section will know how to navigate the AutoCAD user interface in the AutoCAD software program. Students will also be able to go to specific location in the user interface to execute AutoCAD drawing commands, publishing options, saving files and many other necessary drawing functions. In the following sections of this course students will focus on specific locations within the user interface screen.
The application menu contains commands for the following file operations:
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Create drawings
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Open drawing files
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Save drawings
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Plot drawings
Display frequently used tools with the QAT. Commands buttons such as New, Open, Save, Save As, Print, Undo, Redo and Customization are located there. The tool bar is located next to the application menu.
The ribbon provides easy access to many tools tabs, panels, and buttons. The ribbon is located at the top of the user interface. In AutoCAD, a panel is a grouping of buttons for similar commands.
The work tabs are located above the ribbon. Work tabs minimize the amount of space needed to store Drawing tools and commands. Each work tab is specifically named for its content
View Cube
The View Cube is a navigation tool that is displayed when you are working in 2D model space or 3D visual style. With View Cube, you can switch between standard and isometric views. The View Cube is located within the drawing space in the upper right hand corner.
The work panels are located on the Ribbon. Each work panel is named at the bottom of the panel. Work panels consist of specific AutoCAD tools. For example under the Home tab, the Draw tool panel has the line, command, circle command, ect.
The AutoCAD Drawing tabs organize the drawing files that are currently open in the drawing window. The tabs are located in the upper left hand corner of the drawing screen. The tabs names are associated to the drawing file names.
Access 2D and 3D navigation tools such as pan, zoom, orbit, rewind, and walk from a single interface. Start the navigation tools by clicking a wedge or by clicking and dragging the cursor over a wedge. You can access SteeringWheels from the drawing status bar.
Execute a command by entering the full command or command alias and pressing ENTER or SPACEBAR. When Dynamic Input is on and is set to display dynamic prompts, you can enter many commands in tooltips that are displayed near the cursor
View the coordinate values of your cursor, and access several buttons for turning drawing tools on and off, as well as many display tools used to scale annotations. Drawing assistant functions are also located on the Status bar.
User Interface Information Resources
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