nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
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 Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:01 pm Post subject: A study guide for AutoCAD and clones |
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Here is a re-posted note I published last year
on shortcuts in AutoCAD/NanoCAD and a study guide
for 99% of all the commands you'll ever need . . .
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At 04:17 AM 6/16/2012, you wrote:
| Quote: | --> AeroElectric-List message posted by: "user9253" <fran4sew(at)banyanol.com>
I made drawings using Solid Edge. Months later when I tried to open the drawings, Solid Edge said that my license had expired. It would not let me look at my drawings unless I renewed my license (free). This happened again the following year.
I got to thinking, what will happen if Solid Edge changes their licensing policy or if they go out of business? I will not be able to access my drawings. So I switched to TurboCad, although it is not very intuitive. I prefer programs that are easy to learn without having to read the help files.
Joe |
NanoCAD (or any of the AutoCADS) are
excellent solutions. They understand English.
If you want to draw a line say "line<cr>" and
then enter a from (intersection, nearest, tangent
midpoint, etc) then a to (same constellation of
options) while guiding to those terminations with
the mouse.
Further, AutoCAD and nanoCAD have .pgp 'overlay' files
that you can edit with an ordinary text editor like
notepad.
A, *ARC
AA, *AREA
AL, *ALIGN
AR, *ARRAY
BL, *BLOCK
BR, *BREAK
CI, *CIRCLE
C, *CHANGE
CH, *CHAMFER
CO, *COPY
D, *DIMSTYLE
DDI, *DIMDIAMETER
DED, *DIMEDIT
DI, *DIST
DT, *DTEXT
E, *ERASE
ED, *DDEDIT
EL, *ELLIPSE
EXIT, *QUIT
F, *FILLET
H, *HATCH
I, *INSERT
L, *LINE
LA, *LAYER
LE, *QLEADER
LI, *LIST
LT, *LINETYPE
LTS, *LTSCALE
M, *MOVE
MI, *MIRROR
O, *OSNAP
P, *PAN
PE, *PEDIT
PL, *PLINE
PG, *POLYGON
PU, *PURGE
R, *REDRAW
RE, *REGEN
RA, *RECTANGLE
RO, *ROTATE
S, *STRETCH
SO, *SOLID
T, *TRIM
V, *VIEW
WB, *WBLOCK
XP, *EXPLODE
XT, *EXTEND
Z, *ZOOM
When you enter the short command, the cad program
interprets it for the full command. I found
that I could draw left-handed with the mouse
while one-hand typing with the right and
go through the 'dance moves' with greater
rapidity than by accessing all those little
tool-bar boxes (most of which I didn't need/
use). In fact, I can turn all the tool-bars off
and have the full, un-clutered screen to work
on.
Aside from the isometric drawings I made for
illustrating the 'Connection, I've not found a
strong need for 3d drawings. If you need that
capability, I'm not a good source for advise.
Your personal .pgp file becomes a good teaching tool too. Out of hundreds of commands that the CAD program understands, editing your overlay file down to those you use 99% of the time make the .pgp file a sort of syllabus for a short course in AutoCAD. Search the 1-inch thick book of 1000 commands for how these few work . . . you'll have 99% of your dance moves learned in a very short time.
In fact, I would recommend that anyone wanting to
get their feet wet in either AutoCAD or microCAD
cut-n-paste the list above into a new version of
a .pgp file and print a paper copy too. Hang it
on the wall behind your monitor as a reference
list. This will steepen your learning curve
greatly. You can always add/delete commands to
customize the list to your own needs but I'm
betting that becoming proficient in those
listed will get you up to speed very quickly.
Turning off all the tool bars and talking to
the program in 'English' is about as intuitive
as you can get. Over the years I've spent thousands
of dollars of both my and the boss's money on AutoCAD
and sundry upgrades. NanoCAD now does everything that used
to cost us the price of a good used car . . . for free.
Interestingly enough, NONE of those upgrades added
features that I needed for my work. Everything
I do today can be done in say AutoCAD R10 for
DOS!
There may be other applications that are as
intuitive and/or attractively priced . . . don't
know. But I can tell you that NanoCAD is an
exceedingly good value and easy to learn if you
start with the few dozen commands I listed
above.
Bob . . . [quote][b]
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