ChemEng stuff followers

Basics of AutoCAD 2021

 In this post, I will cover the very basics of AutoCAD 2021, such as the menu bar for simple 2D drawing and tasks, output, and environment settings. The main idea of this post is that you can start drafting and learn, in the future, more complex stuff.

In this post, I will use version 2021, as it uses fewer resources on my computer than the 2026 version. However, I am pretty sure that all commands and icons have remained unchanged. Also, for all my professional and academic purposes, the 2021 version is more than enough. I do not think I could, in my particular case, take advantage of the improved features of the newest version.

The most commonly used tools in AutoCAD

... for basic drawings (haha). Once you start the software and open a new file, you will see a menu bar that looks complex at first glance. This is what it looks like,

Fig 1 AutoCAD top menu bar

Now, I am going to go into the details of the tools I usually use the most for simple drafting.

The Home\draw tools

These are used to draw (different kinds of) lines, circles, arcs, and hatching.

Fig. 2 Draw menu bar detail

As you can see, there are different options, but for simple cases, the ones below are very common.

  • Line.- to draw simple straight line sections
  • Polyline.- to draw interconnected line sections (and some convenient properties)
  • Circle.- to draw circles using different approaches
  • Hatch.- to fill a closed area with a pattern (resembling steel, plastic, etc.)
  • Construction line.- as the ones used in by-hand drafting, to have lines of infinite length to serve as guides or references
  • Ray.- similar to construction lines

The Home\Modify tools

These are used to modify things already drawn. These are,

Fig. 3 Modify menu bar detail

From the tools above, the ones of high repetitive use are,

  • Move.- to drag a selected group of lines 
  • Rotate.- to rotate a group of lines by a given angle
  • Trim.- to erase sections of lines at intersections
  • Copy.- to copy/paste a group of lines
  • Mirror.- to duplicate a group of lines
  • Fillet.- to smooth corners and create chamfers (chaflán in Spanish)
  • Scale.- to enlarge (>1) or shrink (<1) a group of lines by a factor. When the factor is equal to 1, no change is produced
  • Offset.- to duplicate a group of lines by a given offset

The Home\Annotation tools

Basically used to introduce labels in the draft, such as measurements, text notes, titles, tables, etc.

Fig. 4 Annotation menu bar detail


Of the tools in the image above, the ones I use the most are,

  • Text.- to set labels, title, comments, etc.
  • Linear.- to set the dimensions of a draft
  • Leader.- to set a label with a pointing arrow

The Home\Layers tools

These tools help to use different types of lines. In practice, different types of lines allow the draft-viewer to differentiate between front features and those behind, or between metallic parts and those made of plastic or concrete, etc.

From a virtual perspective, with different line types (layers), you can activate/deactivate a given layer so that only a subset of features is visible and can be easily judged/reviewed.

Fig. 5 Layers menu bar detail


With this tool, the user creates different layers (types of lines) and assigns them correspondingly. This may sound very simple, but it requires reasonable planning of the drafting and future deliverables. The user may assign different line features, such as

  • Color
  • Thickness
  • Name
  • Type

The Home\Utilities tools

From these tools, the ones I use the most are the measure and distance options. The measure tool records everything the mouse pointer passes over. The distance tool only measures things that you want to measure, so you need to specify the start and end of the line to be measured.

Fig. 6 Utilities menu bar detail


The Output\Plot tools

These tools are used to generate PDF documents or plot directly if a plotter or printer is available.

Fig. 7 Plot menu bar detail


Once you click the Plot icon, another window opens where you can select the printer, page size, quality, and the like. This tool is used at the very end of the process, along with another AutoCAD feature called Layout. I shall address the Layout subject in another post.

Here is a video with all the post content if you do not like to read. Enjoy it!



This is the end of the post. I hope you find it useful.

Any questions? Write in the comments, and I shall try to help.

Other stuff of interest

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)

Most popular posts