Beginning AutoCAD 2006

Book excerpt: Beginning AutoCAD 2006 is a course based on learning and practising the essentials of 2D drawing using AutoCAD. Bob McFarlane’s hands-on approach is uniquely suited to independent learning and use on courses. The focus on 2D drawing in one book ensures the reader gets a thorough grounding in the subject, with a greater depth of coverage than tends to be available from general introductions to AutoCAD. As a result, this book provides a true, step-by-step, detailed exploration of the AutoCAD functions required at each stage of producing a 2D drawing – an approach often not found in the many software reference guides available. The emphasis on learning through doing makes this book ideal for anyone involved in engineering, construction or architecture – where the focus is on productivity and practical skills. The author has also matched the coverage to the requirements of City and Guilds, Edexcel (BTEC) and SQA syllabuses. New features in AutoCAD 2006 are covered in this book including: DYN (dynamic input showing coordinate position and lengths – an important new feature of the latest AutoCAD software), as well as new commands in the Modify and Dimension tool set. The result is a useful refresher course for anyone using AutoCAD at this level, and those upgrading to the new software release. The course is also designed to be fully relevant to anyone using other recent releases, including AutoCAD 2005.