Start AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT.

You may see a Workspaces dialog box. If so, choose 2D Drafting & Annotation from the list and click OK. You see the new drawing. (If you are prompted for a template, skip to Step 2, third sentence.)

Choose File New. The Select Template dialog box opens. Navigate to the Drawings folder of the DVD of this book, choose abqs-a.dwt, and click Open. You see a blank drawing. (I explain more about templates and opening drawings in Chapter 2.)

To save the drawing and give it a name, choose File Save. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, use the Save In drop-down list to navigate to any convenient folder, such as the My Documents folder. Type abqs-01 in the File Name text box and click Save. (I go into more detail about saving a drawing in Chapter 1.)

To free up the drawing area, close any windows or palettes that are open, by clicking their Close (X) button, so that your screen looks like Figure QS-2.

On the right side of the screen, you should see a palette, called the Dashboard, which contains the Layers control panel (section), as shown in Figures QS-1 and QS-2. If not, see the Note instructions following this step. From the Layer Control drop-down list on the Dashboard, click the down arrow and choose WINDOW, as shown in Figure QS-1. (Layers help you organize the objects in your drawing; I cover them in detail in Chapter 11.) Anything you draw will now be on the WINDOW layer.

QS 1. Choose the WINDOW layer from the list of layers.

With your left mouse button (also called the pick button), choose Rectangle from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard. The 2D Draw control panel should be above the Layers control panel that you used in the previous step. (Using the Dashboard is only one way to give AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT commands. I explain other ways in Chapter 3. You can find more about drawing lines and rectangles in Chapter 6.) Move your mouse so that the cursor is in the main drawing area. Your screen should look like Figure QS-2. (If you don't see the tooltip bar — also called the Dynamic Input tooltip — near the cursor, then click the DYN button on the status bar at the bottom of your screen.)

QS 2. Starting to draw a rectangle.

Follow these prompts to draw a rectangle that is 44″ wide and 80″ high.

Specify first corner point or
[Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]: 0,0 

Specify other corner point or [Area/Dimensions/Rotation]: 44,80 

Notice that the text that you type in appears next to the cursor in the Dynamic Input tooltip. When you press Enter, the text that you typed is echoed in the Command Line window at the bottom of the screen.

To create a second rectangle inside the first one, choose Offset from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard, and follow these prompts:

Specify offset distance or [Through/Erase/Layer] <Through>: 4  

Select object to offset or [Exit/Undo] <Exit>: Click the rectangle's 
border to select it. 

Specify point on side to offset or [Exit/Multiple/Undo] <Exit>:
Click anywhere inside the rectangle.
Select object to offset or [Exit/Undo] <Exit>: 

You can draw from geometric points on objects such as endpoints and midpoints. (I explain how to specify coordinate points in Chapter 4.) To draw a line between the midpoints of the inner rectangle, choose Line from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard and follow these prompts:

Specify first point: Press and hold the Shift key and right-click.
From the shortcut menu that opens, choose Midpoint. Place the cursor
near the midpoint of the left side of the inner rectangle. When you
see a triangle and the Midpoint tooltip, click.
Specify next point or [Undo]: Press and hold the Shift key and right-
click. From the shortcut menu that opens, choose Midpoint. This time,
place the cursor near the midpoint of the right side of the inner
rectangle. When you see the Midpoint tooltip and triangle, click.
Specify next point or [Undo]: 

Your drawing should now look like Figure QS-3. (Your window should be green.)

QS 3. The beginning of a window.

You will now draw a temporary construction line to help you find a starting point for the pane in the top of the window. From the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard, choose Line. Follow these prompts:

Specify first point: Press Shift and right-click. Choose Endpoint from
the shortcut menu. Pick the left endpoint of the last line you drew.

Specify next point or [Undo]: 4,4 
. (This notation specifies that
the endpoint of the line is 4 units above and to the right of the
first point. Chapter 4 explains more about specifying coordinates in
this manner.)
Specify next point or [Undo]: 

Again, choose Rectangle from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard. Follow these prompts:

Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/
Width]: Press Shift and right-click. Choose Endpoint and pick the 
final endpoint of the diagonal line you just drew. 
Specify other corner point or [Area/Dimensions/Rotation]:  2'4",2'4"  

Choose Erase from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard. At the Select objects: prompt, click the short, diagonal construction line that you drew in Step 9. The Select objects: prompt appears again. Press Enter to end the command. (Chapter 9 explains the ERASE command as well as other simple editing commands.)

Click the ORTHO button on the status bar at the bottom of the drawing area if it is not already selected (indented). The ORTHO feature constrains drawing to right angles — either horizontal or vertical. (You can find more about ORTHO in Chapter 4.)

To finish the bottom of the window, choose Line from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard. Follow these prompts:

Specify first point: 8",3'4" 

Specify next point or [Undo]: Move the mouse cursor down from the
start point of the line. You see a temporary drag line. Then type the
following length of the line. 2'8-7/16 

Specify next point or [Undo]: Move the cursor horizontally to the 
right and type  28  
.
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: Now try entering the distance
using decimal notation, instead of feet and inches. Move the cursor 
up and type  32.4375  

Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 

To draw shutters, first change the layer. Click the Layer Control drop-down list in the Layers control panel of the Dashboard, and choose EXWALL.

Choose Line from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard. Follow the prompts:

Specify first point: Press Shift and right-click. Choose Endpoint 
from the shortcut menu. Click the upper-left corner of the window. 
Specify next point or [Undo]: Move the cursor to the left. Type  1'6"  

Specify next point or [Undo]: Move the cursor down. Type  6'8"  

Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: Type  #0,0  
. (The pound sign
ensures that your line goes to 0,0 no matter where you are.)
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 

To draw the opposite shutter, you'll mirror the first shutter that you just drew. (I cover the MIRROR command and many other editing commands in Chapter 10.) Choose Mirror from the 2D Draw control panel of the Dashboard and follow these prompts:

Select objects: Click the three lines that make up the shutter.
Select objects: 

Specify first point of mirror line: Press Shift and right-click.
Choose Midpoint from the shortcut menu.
Click near the middle of the top horizontal line of the window.
Specify second point of mirror line: (The ORTHO button should still
be indented. If it isn't, click it.) Move the cursor downward and
pick any point.
Erase source objects? [Yes/No] <N>: 

The window should look like Figure QS-4.

QS 4. The completed window.

To add a dimension to the bottom of the window, you should first change the layer. From the Layer Control drop-down list on the Layers control panel of the Dashboard, choose DIMENSION. (Chapter 14 and 15 explain how to create and format all types of dimensions.)

To place the dimension, choose Dimension Linear from the menu. Follow the prompts.

Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: 
 (Pressing
Enter lets you select an object to dimension.)
Select object to dimension: Pick the bottom horizontal line of the
window (the bottom of the rectangle).
Specify dimension line location or
[Mtext/Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]:
Move the cursor down until the dimension is nicely spaced below the
window. Click to place the dimension line.

Click Save on the Standard Annotation toolbar to save your work.

To prepare for printing, click the Layout tab, A Title Block-Landscape, at the bottom of the drawing area. If you don't see any tabs, click the A Title Block-Landscape button at the right end of the row of buttons on the status bar below the drawing area. You then see the window inside a title block and border, as shown in Figure QS-5. This title block and border come with the template to help you easily prepare the drawing for printing. (Chapter 17 explains how to lay out and print/plot a drawing.)

QS 5. The window with a title block as it appears on the Layout tab.

To set the scale for printing, click the magenta viewport border (labeled in Figure QS-5). Choose Tools Palettes Properties. In the Properties palette, click the Standard Scale item. (To see this item, you may have to scroll down in the Properties palette or enlarge it by dragging on its bottom and right edges. If the palette collapses to a thin bar, pass your cursor over the bar to expand it.) Click the down arrow that appears to the right of this item and check that the scale is set to 1″ = 1′-0″. Click the Close button at the top of the Properties palette. (I explain more about scales in Chapter 5.)

If the window and its dimension are not centered in the viewport window, double-click inside the viewport border. Then choose View Pan Realtime. Click and drag as necessary to center the window in the viewport. Press Esc to exit Pan mode. Double-click outside the viewport border to return to the layout.

To add some text to the title block, you need to zoom in. (I explain zooming in more detail in Chapter 8.) Choose View Zoom Window. Follow the prompts:

Specify first corner: Click slightly above and to the left of the
words Project Name.
Specify opposite corner: Click slightly below and to the right of the words City ST ZIP.

					  

These words should now appear very large in the drawing area. They are already placed and formatted, so all you need to do is replace them. (I explain all about how to create and edit text in Chapter 13.)

Double-click the Project name text. The Text Formatting toolbar opens, along with a ruler, as shown in Figure QS-6.

QS 6. Editing text for a drawing.

Select the text by dragging from the upper-left corner to the lower-right corner. Type the following:

Double-hung window 

2010 Coral Lane 

Anytown, IA 12345

Click OK on the Text Formatting toolbar to close the In-Place Text Editor.

To return to your previous view, choose View Zoom Previous from the menu.

Click Save on the Standard Annotation toolbar to save your drawing.

You're ready to print your drawing! Depending on your setup, either you can print directly to your printer, or if you have a plotter available, you can use that. (The layout is set up to fit on an 8@@bf1/2-x-11-inch or A-size paper.) Choose Plot on the Standard Annotation toolbar. The Plot dialog box opens. (I cover printing and plotting in Chapter 17. Appendix A explains how to configure a printer or plotter.)

In the Printer/plotter section of the Plot dialog box, click the Name drop-down list and choose the printer or plotter that you want to use.

Click the Preview button to open the preview window. You should see the window and its title block laid out as shown in Figure QS-7.

QS 7. Viewing the window in Preview mode.

Make sure your printer or plotter has an 8'f1/2-x-11-inch or A-size sheet of paper, and click the Plot button on the Preview window's toolbar. Congratulations! You've just created and printed your first drawing!

Click the Close button at the upper-right corner of the AutoCAD application window to close both AutoCAD and the drawing. Click Yes to save your changes.