AutoCAD® 2012 FOR DUMMIES®

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

What's Not (And What Is) in This Book

Mac attack!

Who Do I Think You Are?

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: AutoCAD 101

Part II: Let There Be Lines

Part III: If Drawings Could Talk

Part IV: Advancing with AutoCAD

Part V: On a 3D Spree

Part VI: The Part of Tens

But wait . . . there's more!

Icons Used in This Book

A Few Conventions — Just in Case

Commanding from the keyboard

Tying things up with the Ribbon

Where to Go from Here

Part I: AutoCAD 101

Chapter 1: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT

Why AutoCAD?

The Importance of Being DWG

Seeing the LT

Checking System Requirements

Suddenly, It's 2012!

Chapter 2: Le Tour de AutoCAD 2012

AutoCAD Does Windows (And Office)

And They're Off: AutoCAD's Opening Screens

Running with Ribbons

Getting with the Program

Looking for Mr. Status Bar

Let your fingers do the talking: The command window

The key(board) to AutoCAD success

Keeping tabs on palettes

Down the main stretch: The drawing area

Fun with F1

Chapter 3: A Lap around the CAD Track

A Simple Setup

Drawing a (Base) Plate

Drawing rectangles on the right layers

Circling your plate

Placing your polygon

Getting a Closer Look with Zoom and Pan

Modifying to Make It Merrier

Hip-hip-array!

Stretching out

Crossing your hatches

Following the Plot

Chapter 4: Setup for Success

A Setup Roadmap

Choosing your units

Weighing up your scales

Thinking annotatively

Thinking about paper

Defending your border

A Template for Success

Making the Most of Model Space

Setting ...