change of colors etc

[jackson6612]

Hi

 

I'm new to this CAD and using AutoCAD 2005 to draw simple electric circuits and diagrams.

 

Please have a look of the linked video:

 

To change background space color one has to follow these steps:

Options > Display > Colors

 

1: As you can see in the video it draws using white color, how can I change change it to some other color such as red?

 

2: In the video I drew a random figure. How can I fill the empty space between the lines in that diode-like figure with some color?

 

3: I don't know what's the proper name for that drawing line. Can you change it's thickness?

 

This is how I want to draw:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/63...

 

4: Is using AutoCAD 2010 a good choice? Someone told me that 2010 is difficult but I doubt it. It should be more user friendly. And is it backward compatible with 2005?

 

Please help me. Thank you very much for all the guidance and especially your time.

[daft vader]

1: down at the bottom of your screen on the left above the command line, click on the left hand box it might say BY Layer, select what colour you want to draw in and everyline will be drawn in that colour, if you have already drawn a line then first select that line and then change its colour in the same way just by selecting what colour you want , you can select multi lines at the same time btw

 

2:type hatch in the command line then click swatch and change to solid then select what colour you want, then click on add points it will then go to your drawing click inside your shape (it must be a closed shape ie not open ends) press enter and it will fill with colour

 

3: change the line weight in the same way as you changed colour, its the right hand box on mine the middle one is the different type of lines available btw

[ReMark]

I would suggest using AutoCAD 2010 as opposed to 2005 if at all possible. Are you a student?

 

To save a drawing in 2010 and have it be compatible with 2005 it must be saved in 2004 or 2000 file format. You can set up AutoCAD to do this automatically via Options. Click on the Open and Save tab and look under File save: > Save as. Using the drop down arrow to view the various choices. Find AutoCAD 2004/LT 2004 Drawing [*.dwg] and select it. Click on the OK button at the bottom of the dialog window. Stop worrying and start drawing.

[nestly]

Here's a short video showing some options and techniques. Near the end is a demo on how to use Design Center to insert blocks, since that's the easiest way to insert standard symbols. AutoCAD contains a small sample of electrical symbols in the "Sample" folder, but you should be able to find just about any symbol(s) you want on the web and create your own block library.

 

http://screencast.com/t/K69LcxvfNKK

[jackson6612]

Thank you very much, everyone. Your replies were really helpful. I do have more questions on ACAD which I would ask, I think, tomorrow. Once again, thanks.

[jackson6612]

Hi there:

 

I have just realized that the video linked by Nestly was particularly filmed to help me. Well, Nestly, thanks a lot. You are one of those remaining humans who really deserve to be called to humans!

 

The following questions are about the linked video by Nestly:

 

1: At 0.1 a donut is drawn. Please check the video to see what kind of donut I'm getting here with an empty space between the boundary. How do I get the one as in the video?

 

2: Around 0.35 a diode kind of figure is drawn. While drawing that figure dotted lines were appearing which helped the drawer to know where his drawn line would intersect. I don't get those dotted the way they appear in the video by Nestly. Please check my video below.

 

3: At about 1.45 a straight line is selected and then going to the Properties menu the option Global Width is selected to make it bigger. I don't get that Global Width option here. Please check my video.

 

Video:

 

 

Now coming to other questions.

 

4: As you know in MS Word one can set the layout of the document to be of certain size, such as A4 paper size, so that when the document is printed you don't get messed up. I couldn't find that A4 paper size in my ACAD. Above all, whatever I draw in model or work space keeps getting out the boundary. How do I set it to a particular size?

 

5: You see I want to draw a line from the edge of the circle but it always keeps starting from the center of the circle. How to correct this? You would have noticed I only get angles when it's 0 degress, 90 degrees, 180 degress, etc. I don't get between these numbers, like I mean 45 degress, 55 degress, etc. How do I correct this? The other day when I was trying to draw a line from the edge of the circle there was always a space between the start of the line and the edge of the circle. Although it appeared to start from the edge but once draw, the space appeared. What could be the reason in your view?

 

Video:

 

6: Suppose I draw a line or some other figure, then I want to erase some part of it. How do I do it? Suppose the "A" is the midpoint between the two points on the right side of the line and I want to remove the part from "A" to the right end point. And as you can see I'm having problem entering the text. I couldn't bold it etc. What's the reason for this? Can't I enter text directly in the drawing so that I can place it wherever I want?

 

Video:

 

 

I genuinely thank you for all the help and especially your time.

 

Best wishes

Jackson

[Tiger]

 

4: ... I couldn't find that A4 paper size in my ACAD. ...

 

5: You see I want to draw a line from the edge of the circle but it always keeps starting from the center of the circle. How to correct this? You would have noticed I only get angles when it's 0 degress, 90 degrees, 180 degress, etc. I don't get between these numbers, like I mean 45 degress, 55 degress, etc. How do I correct this? ...

 

6: Suppose I draw a line or some other figure, then I want to erase some part of it. How do I do it?...

 

4. That depends on you printer, use a printer that have a A4-size and you'll find it in AutoCAD.

 

5. It goes to the Center because you have Center OSnap running. At the bottom of your screen there is a button for OSNAP, right-click on that and select settings. There you can see the OSnaps that are running. OSnaps are great for insuring that you draw correctly - the one you are looking for to snap to the edge of the center is QUADRANT (or possibly NEAREST but I do not recommend always having NEAREST running)

 

6. Draw a line that crosses your line at the A and then start the command TRIM (type TRIM is easiest imo) - read the prompts at the commandline and follow the instrucitions.

[nestly]

Glad you liked the video

 

1) To make a "solid" donut, set the inside diameter to 0.

 

2) Your polar tracking angles seem to be set to 90 degree increments (which is the AutoCAD default). I have mine set to 45 degrees, but you can set yours to any angle you want by right-clicking on the POLAR toggle button on the status bar and using "Settings" to adjust the polar tracking angle.

 

3) The object with the "global width" is actually a polyline, not a line.

 

http://www.screencast.com/t/S3koGBbe3

 

5) In addition to what Tiger said, if you set your Polar tracking angle to less than 90 degrees, you may find the INTERSECTION Osnap useful for snapping to points on a circle that intersect with your polar tracking settings.

 

6) AutoCAD shx fonts can't be bolded. Perhaps try one of the TrueType fonts such as Arial, Courier, or TimesNewRoman.

Edited January 4, 2011 by nestly

[eldon]

6) AutoCAD shx fonts can't be bolded. Perhaps try one of the TrueType fonts such as Arial, Courier, or TimesNewRoman.

 

You can sort of, by assigning a line weight

[nestly]

Thanks eldon, I did not know that

[jackson6612]

Hi

 

If you guys don't mind I would like to ask an off-topic question. Do you know of any forum where I could ask general computer related queries? I have been to Tom's Hardware but this website is not that much active. I want to ask some questions on DOS but don't know the place where to find proper help. It would be kind of you if you can recommend some cyber place with some nice active helpers. Thanks.