AutoCAD® 2009 For Dummies®

Chapter 19. Drawing on the Internet

In This Chapter

• Understanding AutoCAD Internet features

• Exchanging drawing files via e-mail and FTP

• Using the Reference Manager to view and fix file dependencies

• Using Design Web Format and ePlot

• Making multiple Web and paper plots with PUBLISH

• Protecting drawings with passwords and digital signatures

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 20 years, you know that the Internet is causing major changes in the way people work. Because of the Net, most of us communicate differently, exchange files more rapidly, and phone out for pizza less frequently.

In this chapter, I show you how and when to use AutoCAD's Internet features. I also cover how the Internet features can connect with traditional CAD tasks, such as plotting. The emphasis of this chapter is on useful, no-nonsense ways to take advantage of the Internet in your CAD work.

The Internet and AutoCAD: An Overview

As with all things Webby, the Internet features in AutoCAD are a hodgepodge of the genuinely useful, the interesting but still somewhat immature or difficult to use, and the downright foolish. In this chapter, I steer you toward features and techniques that are reliable and widely used today and away from features that (to put it kindly) might not be ready for prime time. On the other hand, a few of today's questionable features may become the reliable, commonplace ones of tomorrow. I give you enough context to see how everything works and where it may lead. Table 19-1 summarizes ...