Initial Settings Before Drafting in AutoCAD

Hello friends.

Welcome to LearnVern.

I am harsh, welcome you all to today’s video.

In the last video, we learned about toolbars and panels.

Today we will learn about initial settings.

Meaning when we start our work with AutoCAD or make any drawings, before that we need to do a few settings.

Today, we will learn about this.

Let's start with today’s video.

So, as we mentioned in the last video, today we will learn about some initial settings which mean before we start our work there are some basic settings that we need to check or set and then we can start working on our project.

Let's learn the setting that we need to do step by step.

So first of all, we will get to know about limits…

(01/16)

What are limits?

Limits mean in AutoCAD,(4 seconds pause;cursor ) the working space… that we have available consists of some limitations meaning if we use a line command here and draw a line from bottom… to top.

So, the space available here from bottom to top is around… 10 meters or 10 units…

So, if I want to access any command or drawing tool… that has a limit or dimension of more than 10, the drawing will automatically exceed the working space.

Due to this, we have to check and set the limitations of the drawing.

Are you getting it?

For example, if we are planning something or creating a specific drawing like a rectangle whose both X and Y dimensions will be 100 by 100, here we have to set the limit first.

As I said earlier, if my drawing is of 100 by 100 and I want to draw a rectangle or a square whose dimension is 100 in X and 100 in Y , means 100 by 100, then my working space should be more than 100.

Suppose I give a command for a rectangle here and after giving the rectangle command I select a starting point as zero comma zero and press enter…

So, the basic point or the first corner point of the rectangle is on zero - zero which is on the junction of the x-axis and y-axis.

The second point is… 100 X and 100 Y…

So, as you can see the rectangle is already made, but it has exceeded the working space.

By using zoom in and zoom out, we can see the whole rectangle but while we are working it is not easy to use zoom in and zoom out repeatedly…

Due to this reason, we have to set the limit for our working space.

Here, I can easily view my rectangle… by using zoom in and zoom out, but the same problem keeps occurring.

So, to avoid such problems, before starting our drawing, if I set the limits according to my drawing or according to my project, then the whole drawing will remain in the working space itself.

Clear up till now !

(05/12)

Now, we will learn how to set the limits?

So, I will erase this first.

( 7 seconds pause ; cursor movement)

So, to set the limit I have to type L I M and here an option is available to me as limits.

As soon as I click on limits… Here, I have to give 2 commands.

So, the lower-left corner should always be on zero zero. why? Because in our working space we want the corner to be on the junction of the x-axis and y-axis that is on zero zero coordinate.

So here I will give zero… comma… zero and then enter.

Then we have to add one more thing which is the upper right corner.

So, as I said earlier, the dimension of my rectangle is 100 by 100, so I will have to keep the working space as more than 100, and to do that here I will give 120 comma 120, and enter.

The working space is still not available to me right now.

Why?

So let's see, here I will select the line command ( 4 seconds pause ; cursor movement) and draw a line from bottom to top, here it shows me some figure in point.

This means that the working space that we have selected is not available to us with a whole view.

So come let’s see, how the working space that we have selected zero zero and 120 120 will be available to us.

So, for that, we will type zoom and the shortcut key for zoom is Z…(typing)

So, we will select Z… and then enter and A..enter.. which means zoom all.

So right now, the whole working space is available to us.

Come let us check it one more time.

(5 seconds pause ; cursor movement)

So here you can see the value that was shown to me before was around 0.9 and now, the value is almost around 120.. which means that my working space is now 120.

Got it ? Okay !

So next we will type the rectangle command and the dimension is 100 by 100, then the whole rectangle will be available in a view to us.

Come let’s see how?

So here I will click on the rectangle… the first corner again ..Zero comma Zero.. enter, and my second corner is one zero zero comma one zero zero. enter.

As you can see, here the whole rectangle is visible to us.

So, in this manner, we can set our limits.

Clear up till now.. Good ..

Now, the next setting is dimension or the next setting is unit…

So how can we set a unit? And what is the need to set a unit?

So, suppose if I am using AutoCAD as a mechanical engineer then mostly, I will be using M M.

If I am related to civil or architecture then I will use inches, feet, meters.

So, in this way according to my requirement or the drawing I can change the unit.

So, to change the unit, you will type as U N and as you can see the option is available here as units. You can type here or in the command line as well.

As soon as I click on unit, there will be a dialog box available to me where my current unit is shown as inches.

So, I can change it from here as per the requirement of my drawing.

So here we can select the unit in inches or feet or miles or millimeter or meter or kilometers etc. from any of the options available here.

So, suppose here I am selecting the meter… after selecting the meter we have to note one more thing that after the decimal how many points do we want.

So, for precision, we would like to choose 3 points after the decimal.

So here, we will select zero point zero zero zero, if we want to choose 4 points then, we will select zero point zero zero zero zero.

So as per my requirement, I am selecting zero point zero zero zero here.

We can also set the unit for angle and the precision for the angle…

So here as I have selected meter, I will keep it as it is as I want to proceed with my work in meter only.

( 4 second pause: cursor movement)

The next command is about the coordinates which mean that for the x-axis and y-axis, we can set the coordinates.

So, we will right-click here, we will have an option and we can change its properties too.

So, there is a tick mark on show U C S icon at origin which means if we draw any line or any drawing and after drawing it, if we zoom in or zoom out, you will see that the coordinates X and Y are stable here…

And.. the coordinates will move as we zoom in and zoom out or move outside of the working space.

And.. at the end when you zoom fully meaning that the working space or current drawing is made available fully in the working space then after zooming, it comes back into the corner and becomes stable again…

Here if we right-click again, and untick the option means I remove ‘show U C S icon’ at origin, after that when I zoom in or zoom out, …no matter how much I zoom in or zoom out or zoom in the whole working space or if I zoom in to the micro-level and no matter how big the drawing is, suppose I draw a rectangle here and zoom in and zoom out the rectangle, the coordinate will get fixed here…

So, from here, we can set the coordinates as per our requirement which means we can customize whether the axis should move or remain stable.

It depends upon the requirement.

Right now, its name is U C S which means Universal Coordinate system.

In the older initial version, it was W C S which means world coordinate system.

Many other options are available, if we want to work in 3D or want a Z-axis or want different views like an isometric view or an elevation view, we can customize it from here.

 Clear, so far?

The next setting is for toggle keys.

As I mentioned in the last video, we have many toggle keys available here.

We will only use 4-5 toggle keys for 2D drawings.

So first of all, we will learn about.. the grid...

As you all can see here, the whole working space is blank right now.

So, if I turn on the grid mode from here, there will be a grid available in the X and Y-axis.

So, I can turn on or off the grid from here…

Then we have snap mode here.

Snap mode means if I draw a line, it will be placed exactly on the grid or it can work only on grid to grid.

So, from here, I can turn on or off this command…

Understood ?

(16/41)

The next command we have is… ortho mode.

Ortho mode means if I use a line command and while using the line command, if I want a line exactly on the x-axis or y-axis like in the horizontal or vertical direction, I can do it using the ortho command.. such as the line seen here will be in x-axis or y-axis vertically...

If I want to draw an inclined line from here, it is not possible. Why? because right now we have the ortho mode ON here.

As soon as I turn it off, I can draw the inclined line as well…

Then, we have one more option available which is ortho.. or polar tracking...

Polar tracking means if I have the ortho mode on, then the polar tracking will be off and if the polar tracking is on the ortho mode will be off. Why? Come let’s see….

Firstly, I will delete this so that we can look at it properly.

For example…, I have a line here and if polar tracking is on.

There are a few options available with polar tracking which are angles such as 90 degree, 180 degree , 270 degree, 360 degree.

Here, these degrees are angles...90 degree, 180 degree , 270 degree, 360 degree.°

So, the line I want to draw next will have a reference point or tracking point where I can see and easily draw such as this is an exact horizontal line and as I go in the downward direction, there is a tracking line available for me at 90 degree that is highlighted in green color.

So here, I can easily draw a line even when the ortho mode is OFF.

Okay, guys !

Secondly, if we customize from and select from here with 45 degree, 90 degree, 135 degree , 180 degree, and so on. How can we use it by selecting from here?

So right now, it is exactly horizontal which means 0 degree, as I move downwards… and 45 degree is available, the tracking line is available.

So, I can easily draw a line from here with a 45° angle…

If I move forward, then I have a green tracking line at 90° as well…

As I move more forward, at 135° I have a tracking line available again.

So.., with polar tracking keeping ON, I have some facilities and I can also customize on what angle I want to draw a tracking line.

With its help, I can easily track and draw my next line.

So here, we learned about 2 commands.

Ortho and polar tracking.

Clear, so far?

The next command that we are going to learn is.. object snap tracking.

So, if I have a line available here and with it…, I have a few points about the line detailing.

If we do not have that then from here, we can turn ON the snap tracking which is OFF right now.

As I turn it ON, the AutoCAD will show us the endpoint here…

After that, I can also customize object snap from here.

Suppose there is a circle ( 4 seconds pause; cursor movement),

so I will draw a circle here.

If we want to know the center of the circle or if I want to draw a line or a tangent from here or a perpendicular.

This means that we can customize all the tools which are easily available to us.

So, if I tick on a tangent and turn it ON…

So, if I start a line from here next time, and I want to take a tangent of this circle as you can see here it shows as a tangent…

If I want to draw here, it specifies that this is a center…

So, we can also draw a centerline of this circle from here.

okay!( 5 seconds pause ; cursor movement)

Suppose if I already have a line and from its center, I want to draw one more line then I have an option available here as a midpoint.

So, come let’s see how do we use midpoint?

So here there is an endpoint and here also there is an endpoint and I want to draw a line from the center, here it shows it as a midpoint.

So, I can easily draw a line from the midpoint here.

(6 seconds pause ; cursor movement)

So, the next command or toggle key is object snap tracking.

If I draw one more line from here which is from the midpoint but it should not touch the other line then I can track the midpoint from here as you can see.

I have not drawn any line but it still shows a reference line or a tracking line which means that the command object snap tracking is ON….

Let’s understand it in another way.

For example, there is an endpoint here, so if I want to draw a line that is a bit far from the endpoint.

For such situations, AutoCAD provides us with this facility where we can track our line easily.

So, with this toggle key, we can track any point like endpoint or midpoint or the center of the circle and we can easily draw a line or any command while tracking...

Then here many other options are available that we can customize like what other options should be available in this working space as well as hide or unhide as per our requirement.

So, in today’s video, we learned what all tools are available to us and what are the different settings available to us? And what settings do we need to do before creating any drawing so that we can easily do our drawing or project?

In the next video, we will learn how to use different commands and tools and what products can be made using these commands and tools.

So, in today’s video, we learned about initial settings which means before we start working in AutoCAD what are the settings that need to be done.

So, I hope you all will practice this.

In the next video, we will learn about drawing tools where I will first give an introduction about the tools, and then we will practice it.

If you have any queries or comments, click the discussion button below the video and post there. This way, you will be able to connect to fellow learners and discuss the course. Also, Our Team will try to solve your query.

Thank you.