Autodesk AUTOCAD 2010 - User manual

AutoCAD®

Take design further.

From start to finish, I
depend on AutoCAD for
design.
—Eddie Paul
Hollywood special eects and
stunt designer
Shape Everything
Autodesk has been focused on bringing eciencies
to your design process for more than 26 years.
Used by millions of people all over the world,
AutoCAD is one of the world’s leading design and
documentation software solutions. From robust
3D free-form design tools to powerful drafting and
documentation capabilities, AutoCAD continues to
lead and drive design innovation.
Speed Up Documentation
Drive projects from concept to completion with the
powerful documentation tools in AutoCAD. Work
faster with automation, management, and editing
tools that minimize repetitive tasks and speed your
time to completion. No matter your project’s size or
scope, you can meet the challenge with AutoCAD—
which has been continuously leading and innovating
documentation for decades.
Sheet Sets
Organization isn’t a luxury. The AutoCAD Sheet Set
Manager organizes your drawing sheets, reduces
the steps to publish, automatically creates layout
views, links sheet set information into title blocks
and plot stamps, and performs tasks across a sheet
set so everything is in one convenient place.
Annotation Scaling
Spend less time creating and managing multiple
items across multiple layers. With annotation
scaling tools, you can create a single annotative-
type object that automatically resizes to reflect the
current viewport or model-space scale.
Text Editing
Now you can easily manipulate text by viewing,
sizing, and positioning text as you type. Adjust
the text’s appearance as needed using familiar
tools common in text-editing applications,
including paragraph and column tools, to achieve
professional-quality formatting.
Parametric Drawing
Dramatically slash your design revision time
with parametric drawing. By defining persistent
relationships between objects, parallel lines remain
parallel and concentric circles remain centered—all
automatically.
Save time with parametric drawing tools.
Dynamic Blocks
Save time and standardize drawings with ease. With
Dynamic Blocks, you no longer have to redraw
repetitive standard components, and you can
reduce your cumbersome block libraries in the
process. Dynamic Blocks make individual block
geometry editable and reduce the need to define a
new block for every variation of shape and size.
Ecient User Interface
Working with several files doesn’t have to be painful
anymore. The Quick View feature uses thumbnails
in addition to file names, so you can visually find
and open the correct drawing file and layout even
faster than before. Within the Menu Browser you
can also quickly browse files, examine thumbnail
images, and get detailed information about file sizes
and creators.
Speed up documentation, share designs accurately,
and explore ideas more intuitively in 3D. AutoCAD®
software provides the ultimate in power and
flexibility, customizable for your specific needs.

Experience Seamless Communication
Share critical design data securely, eciently, and
accurately with AutoCAD. Experience the benefits
of native DWG™ support, one of the world’s most
widely used design data formats, which allows you
to keep everyone in the loop at all times. Take your
ideas to the next level with presentation-ready
graphics, rendering tools, and robust plotting and
3D printing capabilities. It’s communication at its
best.
PDF Integration
Sharing and reusing designs has never been easier,
thanks to a long list of upgrades made to streamline
communication. Publish PDF files directly from
AutoCAD drawings and attach and snap PDF files as
underlays.
Import and underlay PDF files.
DWG
Save and share files with confidence. DWG
technology from Autodesk is the authentic and
accurate way to store and share design data when
working with almost anyone in the industry. Have
complete confidence in the integrity and reliability
of your data.
Autodesk Impression 3 (Available to Autodesk
Subscription customers only)
Supercharge your design presentations with a hand-
drawn look. Autodesk®Impression software lets
you create compelling presentation-ready graphics
directly from your DWG and DWF™ files.
Photorealistic Rendering
With the latest in rendering technology, you can
create stunning models in less time. Capabilities
include a slider control that graphically displays the
trade-o between time and rendering quality.
Explore Your Ideas
AutoCAD and a blank canvas have a lot in common.
Both give you the ability to create the previously
unimaginable. But AutoCAD provides the flexibility
to explore design ideas in both 2D and 3D, with
intuitive tools that help your concepts become real.
The world is your canvas—what will you create?
Free-Form Design
Design ideas in almost any form you can imagine.
Simply push/pull faces, edges, and vertices to model
complex shapes, add smooth surfaces, and much
more.
Visualization
Visualize your ideas like never before. Choose
from more than 300 materials, apply photometric
lighting, and control the display to create highly
accurate, photorealistic rendered images.
3D Navigation
Walk or fly through a model with the click of a
button. Quickly rotate and orient any solid or
surface model with the Autodesk®ViewCube®
Free-Form Design
Design in almost any form
you can imagine.
navigation widget, or pan, center, and zoom on any
object using the Autodesk®SteeringWheels®tool.
Customize in Ways You Never Thought Possible
Your job is unique. Your software should be as well.
Customizing AutoCAD to meet your unique needs
is amazingly easy. Configure your settings, extend
the software, build custom workflows, develop
your own application or leverage one already built.
Don’t choose between flexibility and power—with
AutoCAD, you can have both.
Programming Interface
Take advantage of our flexible development
platform to boost your productivity. With direct
access to database structures, the graphics system,
and native command definitions, you can specialize
design and drafting applications to perfectly fit your
needs.
Action Recorder
Save time and increase productivity by automating
repetitive tasks without requiring the assistance
of a CAD manager. Now you can record tasks, add
text messages, and request user input, then quickly
select and play back recorded macros.
Autodesk Partner Products and Services
Get the most out of thousands of Autodesk’s
software partners from around the world. These
partners oer a broad range of fully integrated and
interoperable solutions to further enhance your
software—no matter what you’re designing.

AutoCAD has made an invaluable contribution to our
dramatic sales and productivity growth.
—David Costin
Group Design Manager
Milbank Floors
Learn More or Purchase
Access specialists worldwide who can provide product expertise, a deep
understanding of your industry, and value that extends beyond your software
license purchase. To purchase a license for AutoCAD®software, contact an
Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider or Autodesk Authorized Reseller. To locate
the reseller nearest you, visit www.autodesk.com/reseller.
To learn more about AutoCAD, visit www.autodesk.com/autocad.
Autodesk Learning and Education
From instructor-led or self-paced classes to online training or education
resources, Autodesk oers learning solutions to fit your needs. Get expert
guidance at an Autodesk Authorized Training Center (ATC®) site, access learning
tools online or at your local bookstore, and validate your experience with
Autodesk certifications. Learn more at www.autodesk.com/learning.
Autodesk Services and Support
Accelerate return on investment and optimize productivity with innovative
purchase methods, companion products, consulting services, and support from
Autodesk and Autodesk authorized partners. Designed to get you up to speed
and keep you ahead of the competition, these tools help you make the most of
your software license purchase—no matter what industry you are in. Learn more
at www.autodesk.com/servicesandsupport.
Autodesk Subscription
Get the benefits of increased productivity, predictable budgeting, and
simplified license management with Autodesk®Subscription program. You get
any new upgrades of your Autodesk software and any incremental product
enhancements, if these are released during your Subscription term. In addition,
you get exclusive license terms available only to Subscription members. A range
of community resources, including web support direct from Autodesk technical
experts, self-paced training, and e-Learning, help extend your skills and make
Autodesk Subscription the best way to optimize your investment. Learn more at
www.autodesk.com/subscription.
Autodesk is committed to sustainability. This brochure is printed on 25 percent postconsumer waste recycled paper.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, DWF, DWG, SteeringWheels, and ViewCube are registered trademarks or trademarks of
Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or aliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names,
product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product
oerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors
that may appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. BR0A1-000000-MZ70