COMMAND IN AUTOCAD

AutoCAD
- is a commercial product made by Autodesk, with many versions, including one called AutoCAD
Architecture. Can maintain precise dimensional spacing among components such as walls, beams,
columns, and doors.
AutoCAD Architecture
- offers a library of pre-built components to help speed up and automate the design and construction
process

1. Drawing entities
 - A drawing is created using a no. of entities. A large no. of options are provided to draw the entities
depending upon the requirements.
Common entities are;
Point, Line, Arc, Ellipse,
Circle, Polygon, Spline, Rectangle, etc.,
2. Drawing Utilities
 Drawing utilities include several functions to have the creation and storage of drawings.
Common utilities are;
Screen size, Line type, Scaling, Layers,
Grid, Snap, Units, file utilities, etc.,
 
3. Editing commands in CAD;
 - It is necessary to make the corrections and alterations to the entities of a drawing.
Editing commands are used for this process. A few editing commands are listed below,
Erase, Move, Array, Fillet, Chamfer
Mirror, Rotate, Trim, Copy, Scale, etc.,

Starting an AutoCAD

There are several ways of launching the AutoCAD program, depending

on the preferences and condition you may want to begin. Follow each of
the illustrated steps below:

1. From the Start Menu

- Click Start >Programs >Autodesk >AutoCAD from the
Windows Program Manager
2. From a desktop shortcut or quick launch toolbar.
- Double-click the AutoCAD icon
from your desktop.
3. By opening the drawing file.
- Double-click the drawing file icon inside a
folder or in any location from your
computer.

A. Menu Browser 57
 – is a client- software that lets users read or scan documents on
the World Wide Web.

B. Quick Access Toolbar - is located along the top of the application window
(above or below the ribbon) and provides direct access to common or
defined set of commands like New, Open, Save, and Plot.

Procedure on how to add command/s to Quick Access Toolbar

1. Right-click the Quick Access toolbar >Customize Quick Access
toolbar.
2. Select the preferred commands.
3. Drag the selected commands to quick Access Toolbar.

C. Filename - The name of the current file you are working on.

D. Menu Bar – is the horizontal strip across the top of an application’s

window. Each word on the strip has a context sensitive drop-down menu
containing features and actions that are available for the application in use.

E. Search Box – is a tool that allows you to search for a particular data or
document in a help file or to web.

F. Toolbars/Ribbon - provide a single, compact placement for

operations/tools that are relevant to the current workspace. By default (in its
original setting), it contains the Standard, Layers, Properties and Styles
toolbars.

G. Command Line Bar - is where you enter the commands from the
keyboard and where the prompts are displayed. It has a text area where
all the previous commands are displayed.

57
 H. Tray Settings/Info Bar - quickly search for a variety of information sources,
access product updates and announcements, and save topics in the Info

Center.

UCS – is found at the bottom left hand corner of the AutoCAD drawing window. You will
see a symbol like the one shown on the right. This is called the UCS (User Coordinate
System)icon and it is there to remind you which is the X axis and which is the Y axis.

I. WCS - By default when you start a new (blank) drawing you use the World
Coordinate System (WCS). This indicates your (0,0,0) point.

J. Draw Toolbar - Draw commands can be used to create new objects such as lines and
circles. Most AutoCAD drawings are composed purely and simply from these basic
components.

K. Modify Toolbar – is used to modify the basic drawing objects in some way to suit the image
you need. AutoCAD provides a whole range of modify tools such as Move, Copy, Rotate and
Mirror.

L.
Working/ Drawing
Area – is the
place where
your drawings are displayed and modified.

M. Crosshairs – is a type of cursor consisting of two lines that intersect

and are used to locate points and selects objects in your drawing.
N. Status Bar - displays the coordinate location of your crosshairs and the
current settings of grid, snap, and other drawing aids.
O. Dialog Box Launcher - displays the coordinate location of your
crosshairs and the current setting of grid, snap, and other
drawing aids.

AutoCAD Coordinate Systems

A good understanding of how co-ordinates work in AutoCAD is absolutely crucial if you are to make the
best use of the program.
The Cartesian co-ordinate system is the standard co-ordinate
57
 system. The position of a point can be described by its distance from
two axes, X and Y.
The Polar co-ordinates on the other hand, uses one distance
and one angle to describe the position of a point rather than the two
distances. The distance and angle measurements are made relative to
an origin.

Draw commands

can be used to create new objects such as lines and circles. Most
AutoCAD drawings are composed purely and simply from these basic
components. A good understanding of the Draw commands is
fundamental to the efficient use of AutoCAD.

The Line Command

Line command you can draw a simple line from one point to another. When you
pick the first point and move the cross-hairs to the location of the second point you will
see a rubber band line which shows you where the line will be drawn when the second
point is picked.

The Polyline Command

Polyline or Pline command is similar to the line command except that the resulting
object may be composed of a number of segments which form a single object. In addition to the
two ends a polyline is said to have vertices (singular vertex) where intermediate line segments
join

The Rectangle Command

Rectangle command is used to draw a rectangle whose sides are vertical
and horizontal. The position and size of the rectangle are defined by picking two
diagonal corners. The rectangle isn't really an AutoCAD object at all. It is, in fact, just
a closed polyline which is automatically drawn for you.

The Polygon Command

Polygon command can be used to draw any regular polygon from 3 sides up to 1024
sides. This command requires four inputs from the user, the number of sides, a pick point for the
center of the polygon, whether you want the polygon inscribed or circumscribed and then a pick
point which determines both the radius of this imaginary circle and the orientation of the polygon.

The Donut Command

Donut command draws a solid donut57shape, actually it's just a closed

polyline consisting of two arc segments which have been given a width.
AutoCAD asks you to define the inside diameter i.e. the diameter of the hole
and then the outside diameter of the donut. The donut is then drawn in outline
and you are asked to pick the center point in order to position the donut.

The Circle Command

Circle command is used to draw circles. There are a number of
ways you can define the circle. The default method is to pick the center
point and then to either pick a second point on the circumference of the
circle or enter the circle radius at the keyboard.

The Arc command

Arc command allows you to draw an arc of a circle. There are numerous ways
to define an arc, the default method uses three pick points - a start point, a second
point and an end point. Using this method, the drawn arc will start at the first pick point,
pass through the second point and end at the third point

The Spline Command

Spline command creates a type of spline known as a non-uniform rational B-

spline, NURBS for short. A spline is a smooth curve that is fitted along a number of
control points. The Fit Tolerance option can be used to control how closely the spline
conforms to the control points. A low tolerance value causes the spline to form close to
the control points.

A tolerance of 0 (zero) forces the spline to pass through the control points. The
illustration on the right shows the effect of different tolerance values on a spline that is
defined using the same four control points, P1, P2, P3 and P4. Splines can be edited
after they have been created using the SPLINEDIT command, Modify Object Spline
from the pull-down menu. Using this command, you can change the tolerance, add
more control points move control points and close splines, among other things.
However, if you just want to move spline control points, it is best to use grips.

The Ellipse Command

Ellipse command gives you a number of different creation options whereas the
default option has only three options, that is it picks that is, it picks the two end points of
an axis and then a third point to define the eccentricity of the ellipse.

Basic AutoCAD Commands

This is the list of some of the most basic AutoCAD commands which every AutoCAD user
should know.
57
These are some of the Draw and Modify commands which make the very basics of
AutoCAD and if you are just starting to learn AutoCAD then you should know all of these
basic commands.
L
It can be used for making simple lines in the drawing.
C
It is the command used for making a circle in AutoCAD.
PL
This command can be used to make a Polyline in your drawing.
REC
This command will make a rectangle in AutoCAD.
POL
This command can be used to make a polygon with minimum of 3 sides and a maximum of
1024 sides.
ARC
As the name suggests, this command can be used to make an arc in AutoCAD.
REG
This command can be used to make a region geometry in AutoCAD.
ELLIPSE
As the name suggests, this command can be used to make an ellipse with the major and
minor axis.
CO
This command is used to copy the object(s) in AutoCAD.
ARRAY
Using this command you can make Rectangular, polar or Path array.
TR
This command is used for trimming a geometry.
EX
This command extends the selected object to meet the reference object which is selected.
BREAK
This command can be used to break 2D geometries at one or two points. It is helpful if you
want to break a curve at the point of intersection with another curve or if you want to
create a gap by breaking a part of the geometry.

I
This command can be used to insert an existing block or a drawing as a block in AutoCAD.
OP
Using this command you can open options window which contains most of the settings of
AutoCAD.
Offset
You can use the Offset tool to draw parallel lines, polylines, concentric circles, arcs, curves, etc.
SC
This command is used to change the scale of an object.
57
X
This command can be used to explode objects like Polyline to simple lines, an array or a
block to a simple geometry etc.
F
This command can be used to add rounded corners to the sharp edges of the geometry,
these round corners are also called fillets.
CHA
This command can be used to add slant edges to the sharp corners, these slant edges are
also called chamfers.
B
This command is used for creating a block, the properties of the block can be defined using
the block definition window.
LA
This command can be used to open the layer properties manager palette which is a tool for
creating and managing layers in a drawing.
REVCLOUD
Using this command you can make revision clouds that are essentially drawing markup
tools.
POINT (PO)
This command makes a single-point geometry in the drawing. To modify the type of point
created by this command you can use the PTYPE command and choose the desired point
type from the Point Style window as shown in the following image.
SKETCH
You can make a freehand sketch using this command. You can use Line, Polyline or Spline
as the object type for making this freehand sketch.
Check this animated image for an example.
DONUT
It creates two circles with a filled area in between by inputting the inner and outer
dimensions of the two circles.
ML
Multiple parallel lines can be created using this command. This command is great for
making walls with predefined thicknesses.
SPL
Using this command the user can create smooth curves with control points for changing
the curvature of the sketch.
The following image shows an example of a spline.

DT

57
Starts the single line text command in AutoCAD which perhaps is the most basic texting
command in AutoCAD. This allows to insertion of the text in a single line.
MT
This allows the user to insert text in Multiline text format. Mostly this is used to insert a
large text or a paragraph.
Mtext Is also associated with a text editor dialogue box where the user can make many
changes and text formatting in the software itself.
DJO
Jogged dimensions can be created and marked in the drawing using this command. A
jogged dimension is shown in the following image.

SC
This command is used to change the scale of an object.
DI
It can be used to find the distance between two points in the drawing.
SCALETEXT
Using this command you can change the scale of the existing Text or Mtext object in the
drawing.
To use this command type SCALETEXT on the command line press enter and select the text
from the drawing area and press Enter again.
Now select the “Existing” option from the command line and then select the “scale factor”
option and then type the scale in which you want to convert the text height and press
enter.
When the scale of these text entities is changed the base point will remain fixed.
UNITS
Using this command you can set the drawing units and other settings like the precision of
linear and angular dimensions and default rotation angle.
DIMROTATED
This command can be used to make a dimension line inclined to a particular angle with
respect to the positive side of the X-axis. In the example shown below the dimensions are
made with the DIMROTATED command.

57
HATCH
This command allows to fill up the closed area with a particular hatch pattern, gradient or
solid fill.
 this system variable you can turn off or on the visibility of filled area in hatches or wide
polylines by changing its value to 0 or 1 respectively. By turning the FILLMODE to off you
can enhance the performance of AutoCAD by limiting resources consumed on regenerating
the filled geometries.
You need to regenerate the drawing using REA command after changing this system
variable to see its effect on the drawing.

-DWGUNITS
Using this command you can convert your AutoCAD drawing from one unit to another
and you can also scale the existing drawing to new scales automatically.

57