In AutoCAD, it is very convenient to use a primitive such as a point in Autocad as auxiliary objects that can act as reference nodes for object snapping. Such objects are often called nodal points in AutoCAD. They are printed like other drawing elements. In addition, a point in AutoCAD can be an independent object. You can customize the point display style in Autocad.
Many beginners have a question: “how to put a dot in AutoCAD?”, and even more often, “how to change her appearance?”. We will cover these issues in this article and offer a general course “Autocad for beginners” on our website and in articles.
Working with points in AutoCAD (how to make a point in AutoCAD).
A point in AutoCAD is an object for which you can only specify coordinates. The appearance is determined by the program presets.
To learn how to draw a point in AutoCAD, you need to follow these steps:
Call this command on the “Home” → “Drawing” → “Multiple Points” tab.
The command line displays the value of two system variables:
- (PDMODE = 0) - the standard shape of points in AutoCAD is set;
- (PDSIZE = 0) - the standard zero point size is set.
By default, the dot size is one pixel.
- graphically - using the mouse;
- specify coordinates (x,y) on the command line.
To complete the command, press Enter or Esc. Using the "Node" mode, you can snap to a defined AutoCAD point. This greatly facilitates the construction of more complex objects.
Thus, a point in AutoCAD is characterized by the following parameters: insertion coordinates, marker size and its style.
Styles of points in AutoCAD.
We already know how to add a point in AutoCAD. To change the appearance of the created points in AutoCAD (their shape and size), on the “Home” → “Utilities” tab, select "Displaying points..."
Displaying points in AutoCAD is presented in 20 options. You are asked to select one of the appropriate marker styles for displaying points in AutoCAD.
In the same dialog box you can set the dimensions of the point. If the “Relative to screen” switch is selected, the value is set as a percentage of the screen size. By default, the dot size is 5% of the display size. In the second case, the size is specified in absolute units. To change the point size, you need to enter a suitable numeric value in the appropriate field.
After specifying all the necessary parameters, close the window with the OK button. All points that were constructed in AutoCAD will be automatically redrawn in accordance with the new settings.
Let's look at a simple example of using this tool. You can draw a line segment between two points. In this case, there is no need to specify the coordinates of the starting and ending points. It is enough to snap to the nodal points in the drawing, as shown in the figure. Now, you and I know how to make a point in AutoCAD. With our articles you will learn
However, sometimes simply downloading and installing some type of line is not enough. You still need to make a number of settings, for example, change the line scale. But most importantly, very often it is necessary to use non-standard line options that are not available in AutoCAD. This is exactly what will be discussed in this article.
Dotted line in AutoCAD.
Due to the fact that the dotted line is quite common in AutoCAD, let’s look at its creation and configuration in more detail.
To draw a dotted line in AutoCAD, you should follow the following sequence of actions:
1. Create drawing elements (draw a segment, polyline or other objects).
2. In the “Properties” panel (the “Home” tab), expand the “Linetype” list and select “Other...”.
3. Click “Download” and select the appropriate option in the list that appears (in our example this is the type ACAD_ISO_07W100), as shown in Fig. 1.
4. Select the objects, press Ctrl+1 to open the “Properties” palette and set the loaded line type option.
Rice. 1. AutoCAD dotted line.
Line scale in AutoCAD.
The most convenient way to adjust the scale of lines in AutoCAD is in the “Properties” palette (Ctrl+1). Of course, in each specific case you need to experiment. If the value is less than 1, then the scale will work to decrease, if vice versa, then it will increase. The value should be written through a dot, for example, “0.5”, “0.01”, “2.5”, etc. The lower the value of this parameter, the more repetitions of an elementary line fragment are generated per drawing unit. (see Fig. 2).
Rice. 2 Line scale in AutoCAD.
Rice. 3 Line type scale in AutoCAD.
AutoCAD provides for changing the scale both for all drawing objects (i.e. globally) and separately for each element (see Fig. 2).
The global and current scale are configured in the Linetype Manager. To configure these parameters, click “On”. details" (see Fig. 4.).
Fig.4. Global and current scale of linetypes in AutoCAD.
Changing the current scale (also known as line type scale), is also available in the properties palette (Ctrl+1). I have a video material on this topic: “Scale of AutoCAD and SPDS line types.” If you want to use the program effectively, be sure to familiarize yourself with it.
How to create a line type in AutoCAD.
Creating line types in AutoCAD is a practical task. Therefore, I have prepared video material for you. I look at specific examples not only using the simplest options, but also show how to create complex lines in AutoCAD.
Summarize! If you read this article and read the additional information. material, you will be able to independently answer the following questions that were not explicitly covered in this topic, then you have mastered the types of lines at “5+”.
In the previous lesson we looked at , as well as methods for entering commands and coordinates. To quickly and efficiently create drawings in the AutoCAD system, special modes are used, the use of which is discussed in this lesson.
Modes
Modes are additional drawing tools that help simplify and speed up the process of creating drawings.
As described in the lesson on, the mode bar is located in the status bar and is displayed either graphically in the form of icons or in text mode. The mode is turned on and off by clicking LMB on the icon (name).
Icon display
Display in text
Main operating modes:
SNAP– when the mode is on, the coordinate value when moving the cursor changes discretely with a certain, set step.
GRID– when the mode is turned on, grid lines are displayed in the drawing limits area, the step of which can be adjusted and which does not necessarily coincide with the step of the mode SNAP.
ORTHO– when the mode is turned on, all segments of the drawing are constructed in a straight line, directed strictly vertically or horizontally.
POLAR– advanced mode ORTHO, which allows you to adjust the angle value. OSNAP– mode enables and disables selected object snap functions.
OTRACK– the mode enables the object tracking function.
LWT- mode Lineweight displays the weight of the drawing elements, that is, the width of the lines with which the drawing is output to the printing device.
Object snap
When working with a drawing, you can turn modes on and off, which simplifies construction. One of these modes is the object snap mode, which allows you to connect the points of the created object with the points of a previously constructed one. Snap points can be the end or center points of objects, explicit or intended intersection points, etc. The required points are indicated without determining their coordinates. When object snap mode is enabled, you must select a snap method and place the cursor near the object. The coordinates of the required point will be determined automatically.
Object snapping is used when performing construction and editing operations in response to a program request to specify the next point.
The binding mode is selected in the following way:
Object snap parameters meaning:
Endpoint determination of the coordinates of the end points of objects.
Midpoint determination of the coordinates of the midpoints of objects.
Center – determining the coordinates of the center points of a circle, ellipse or arc.
Node - determination of coordinates of point objects.
Quadrant - determining the coordinates of quadrant points - the points of intersection of coordinate axes with a circle, ellipse or arc.
Intersection determining the coordinates of the intersection points of objects.
Extension determination of the coordinates of a point on the predicted continuation of lines and arcs.
Insertion determining the coordinates of insertion points for text and forms.
Perpendicular determining the coordinates of an object point that is normal to the selected object.
Tangent determination of the coordinates of a point on a circle or arc, which, when connected to a given point, creates a tangent to the selected object.
Nearest determining the coordinates of the closest point on the object to the cursor position.
Apparent intersection – determination of the coordinates of the point of imaginary intersection of lines.
Parallel determining the coordinates of a point that, when connected to a selected point, creates a line parallel to the selected segment.
Object tracking
Object Snap Tracking mode is used in conjunction with Object Snap Tracking mode. When the object tracking mode is turned on, the precise positioning of the next point is helped by thin dotted lines that intersect the object at the anchor points - the tracing lines. This mode expands and complements the capabilities of object snapping and allows you to set the exact position of objects relative to each other. Ensures compliance with precise geometric constructions without preliminary construction of auxiliary lines. The mode generates any number of trace lines based on any number of points and object snap parameters.
Object tracking mode can be set to generate only orthogonal lines by turning on the mode ORTHO or generating lines at angles that are multiples of standard values: 90 o, 45 o, 30 o, 22.5 o, 18 o, 15 o, 10 o, 5 o. In this case, the polar tracking mode works POLAR. If necessary, you can also determine other angle values. The corresponding settings are set in the Drafting Settings window on the Polar Tracking tab.
We studied the features of opening drawings in AutoCAD Electrical. And we have already come close to creating schemes. In the most common sense, a diagram is a set of elements connected by lines - conductors. This lesson will look at tools for creating connections/conductors on diagrams. Let us immediately note that in AutoCAD Electrical there are several ways to construct circuits, based on different methods of creating connections of elements: “point-to-point”, ladder chain and a combination of these two options. But first things first.
Wires
AutoCAD Electrical uses wires to connect components in diagrams. Wires in AutoCAD Electrical are regular AuloCAD lengths, but placed in special layers identified as Wire Layers in the .
Polylines, 3D polylines and other AutoCAD object types are not identified as wires in AutoCAD Electrical!
The tool is designed for making common wire connections. The wire, located on the tab Scheme ribbon interface.
Connections of elements - wires are carried out strictly vertically and horizontally. Wires connected to each other, if the command to construct a wire segment at an angle is not selected, form an angle of 90 degrees when connected.
To insert a wire segment at an angle other than 90 degrees, you must use the appropriate command. The choice is limited to angles: 22.5; 45 and 67.5 degrees.
Sections of circuits contain special blocks or terminals at intersection points.
The type of these blocks depends on the drawing properties settings. This can be a point (node) or a corner connector
After choosing a team The wire you can change the type of wire used by pressing T And Enter. And by clicking H And Enter can be illuminated with special X markings of the connection points of the elements, which allows you to avoid mistakes when building a communication line. The marks disappear when the drawing is scaled.
If a wire is already connected to an element and you are trying to connect another one, a corner connection is drawn to offset the new wire relative to the existing one. The path of the wire depends on the choice of the second connection point.
Purpose of a new wire type (wire layer)
New wires are placed on the current layer if it is defined as a wire layer in the drawing properties. Otherwise, the wires are placed on the layer that is selected in the dialog box Create/edit wire type, as the default layer for wires. If a new conductor is connected to an existing wire in the drawing, it is placed in the same layer as the existing wire, i.e. copies its properties.
As mentioned above, the user can directly when constructing a connection, before selecting the starting point of the wire, select a layer for the wires by clicking T And Enter. A window will open Set wire type in which you need to select the desired type of wire (layer). And confirm your choice with the button OK.
AuloCAD segments can always be converted to wires by moving them to any wire layer. And also convert the wires into segments by moving them to a layer that is not related to wires.
Wire grip radius
A wire is connected to a component terminal if the end of the wire is within the grip radius of the component connection point. Two wires form a connection if the end of one wire is within the grip radius of any point on the second wire.
The grip radius is 0.025 inches or 0.625 mm!
Cut the wire
Tool Cut the wire in AutoCAD Electrical is designed to remove circuit segments along with nodes or corner connectors. Using this tool, you can delete one chain segment or select several segments at once with a frame.
AutoCAD Electrical removes the selected segment/s to the nearest connection points. Nodes or corner branches associated with the deleted segment are also deleted.
Instead of a command Cut the wire you can use AutoCAD commands Erase or Trim, but in this case the nodes or corner branches will not be deleted.
Ladder chains
A ladder chain is a set of wires that are connected together and look much like a ladder. The outer wires of a multi-link chain are called buses, and the inner wires are called links.
To create multi-link chains, use the tool - Insert ladder chain. Multiple ladder chains can be inserted into one drawing, but they must not overlap each other. To the left or top of the multi-link chain there is a text line with link numbers (linear link numbers). This line is not created if the format for references is specified in the drawing properties Grid X-Y or Zone X.
Teams Insert ladder chain And Add link significantly speed up the creation and editing of multi-link chains. If you use the command The wire this task will require much more time.
Team Insert ladder chain calls up a window of the same name, in which you need to specify the parameters of the ladder chain.
- Width- width of the multi-link target.
- Interval- interval between links.
- Length– the length of a multi-link chain or the number of links in it. You can specify the total length of the ladder chain or the number of links in it, or leave both fields empty, then after clicking OK In addition to the starting point, you will also need to specify the end point of the multi-link chain.
- 1st link- indicates the starting number of the linear link for the multi-link chain. In the Parameter field, the increment step for linear link numbers is specified (default is 1). If you do not need to display the numbers of each linear link, you can remove unnecessary numbers using the AutoCAD command Erase. You cannot delete the number of the topmost linear link! It represents the main line link (MLR) block of a multi-link target and contains intelligent functions.
- Phase– determines the type of multi-link chain, single or three-phase. If you select a three-phase ladder circuit, the parameters Width And Draw links will no longer be available for change.
- Draw links- determines the method of drawing links. Without tire- only the numbers of links (linear links) are drawn. Without links- only tires without links. You can add links using the command Add link or The wire. To draw all links, select Yes. You can specify missing links: for example, if for the parameter Skip the value is set to “3”, after each drawn link 3 links are skipped.
Tool Add link is a specialized version of the tool The wire. After selecting the insertion point, depending on the orientation of the ladder chain, it searches for busbars from the left and right or from the top and bottom. The inserted link is connected to the busbars. If necessary, connection nodes are inserted. If linear links are used, the new link is placed on the nearest link line.
After choosing a team Add link indicate the insertion point for the new link between the two bars of the ladder chain.
When inserting links, do not indicate the insertion point directly on the tire, the point must be indicated between the tires!
Linear Links of Ladder Chains
The first number in the ladder chain's linear reference row is the reference row's main block (block name WD_MLR). The attributes of this block contain settings for the ladder chain parameters. All other ladder reference line numbers are normal test objects and, if necessary, can be removed without any damage. Each drawing ladder has its own unique WD_MLR block.
When assigning a format for references in drawing properties: Grid X-Y or Zones X no line of linear links is added to the ladder chain.
For this reference format, the distances between references, coordinates, and values along the vertical and horizontal axes are stored in an invisible drawing block (WD_M). In this case, the WD_MLR block of the ladder chain is not created. To set the format of ladder chain links, you need to open the tab in the drawing properties Drawing Format and set the desired link format.
Button press Setting... will allow you to enter the necessary data to configure zones or link line numbers.
If in “domestic” circuits there are links to circuits, then, as a rule, this is the link format: Grid X-Y or Zones X.
In this article we will look at the types and types of lines in AutoCAD. Their properties, settings, features of working with each type. Which lines should be used in which case? How to make “bold” and “thin” lines, as well as calculate their length and calculate the area. How to make a polyline from segments, and segments from a polyline. Let's also talk about such an exotic object as lines. And let’s touch on the features of working in 2d and 3d.
Types and lines in AutoCAD
There are several types of lines in AutoCAD. The following are mainly used for drawings:
line - segment. The simplest of lines. Each segment consists of two points, each point has three ordinates (XYZ). And also a number of properties - length, angle, ordinate deltas. In addition, each line can be set layer, color, line type, weight (thickness),
polyline - polyline. It is a set of 2d points connected in one line. Several features follow from this: a polyline always lies in the same plane. You can adjust the offset from the plane using the elevation property. There is one more nuance: the fact that a polyline lies in a plane does not mean that the plane can only be xy. In fact, we can at least assign each line its own plane. The funny thing is that this becomes extremely relevant when you start working in 3D.
mline - mline, another type of line, is a polyline with additional capabilities, but, frankly speaking, due to its complexity and non-obviousness, this type of line is used extremely rarely. And apparently the development of this tool has also been stopped a long time ago. Because working with him did not undergo any changes.
3dpolyline - 3D polyline, unlike a regular polyline, in 3D each point has all three coordinates. And the object itself is in no way attached to the planes.
Line Properties
so these are the properties of each line type. They can be seen by selecting the corresponding object in the drawing in the properties panel (the panel itself can be called up using hotkeys - ctrl+1), let's take a closer look at them
As you can see, all types of lines have both common properties and unique properties for each type.
In the property group Are common contains the same information for all visual objects of AutoCAD. Here we can set the color, layer, type, line weight. In addition, few people pay attention to adding a hyperlink to any AutoCAD object in an element.
Let us dwell separately on Line type And Line weight.
Line type:
Each line can have its own type. By default, the property specified as the line type is - by layer, this means that the type specified in the properties of the line layer will be selected as the line type, which is convenient and desirable to configure the drawing so that each type of object is assigned its own layer, with its own settings, but this is not always possible, so we can set any object this property is individual. If you want to make a dash-dotted line, a dotted line, a line with “eyelashes” (for example, to display welds), a communication line, a water supply line, or something else, this is the place for you. And although there can be many options for designing lines, by default in AutoCAD there is only a solid line.
Adding line types
In order to add new line types, you need to call the line type manager.
The line types themselves can be found in files with the extension *.lin it is essentially a regular text file. These are the ones you can search for on the Internet.
The second way to add a new linetype to a drawing
Another option is to copy lines with the type you need from one drawing and paste them into the second. The new type of lines will be automatically written in the drawing file, but only if this type of lines is not in this file. Otherwise, the type that already lives in the drawing will be used.
You can delete unused line types using the line type manager, or using the command _purge
However, when printed, line types may not appear the same as in the model.
Line weight
The line weight is specified in mm, while millimeters of weight are a relative concept, since they are specified not relative to objects and the scale of the model, but relative to the printed sheet. This means that by setting the line weight to 1mm, and printing this line on a sheet, it will have a thickness of 1mm, and it does not matter at what scale we printed the line, and on what format (A4-A0), no matter how long it is, on a sheet it will always have a fixed thickness (unlike polyline width, see below). This is convenient when we need to select lines in accordance with GOST - for example, the main lines should be assigned a thickness of 0.5-0.7 mm.
Personally, I use the following thicknesses:
- main lines - 0.5 mm
- hidden - 0.25 mm
- auxiliary (dimensions, indicators, etc.) - 0.09 mm.
In most cases, this allows you to obtain a clearly readable drawing.
Now let's briefly go through the features of each type.
Line segment:
properties unique to this element are length, deltas, and angle. They are highlighted in gray and are calculated for each element from the coordinates of the points. In addition, this is a 3D element. And you shouldn’t forget about this, even if you work in a flat drawing. Due to the peculiarities of snappings in AutoCAD, it may turn out that the background with which you are working in 2D is quite three-dimensional, and the z-ordinates in the line properties may be different from zero. This is bad because the length of the lines may be calculated incorrectly. By the way, a plugin is great for getting the sum of the lengths of selected lines geomprops, from the program collection
Polyline:
This is my favorite tool in AutoCAD, and here's why: in the geometric properties you can always find the length and area of a line, which is convenient. In addition, this is a 2D object, so even if your substrate is suddenly three-dimensional, this will not affect the geometric properties in any way. Is it in the property? level there will be something other than zero. In addition, the polyline has several more properties - Start width, end width— is set to each segment separately ( segment - a line between any two points in a line), and global width - sets the width of the entire polyline. Unlike line weights — width the concept is scaled in the sense that it is specified in the same units as the distances between the points of the polyline itself. This allows you to correctly, on a scale, set the thickness of linear objects in the drawing. For example, draw a path 100 meters long and 2 meters wide; in this form it will be displayed correctly at any scale on print.
A few more properties - Closed — connects the last and initial segment of a polyline, which allows you to obtain a closed contour.
Linetype generation - not an obvious property, but extremely useful. When value off, line type (dotted, dash-dotted) will be drawn as if each segment of the polyline is a separate segment, i.e. appearance generation will be performed for each segment separately. When value on— generation will take place for the entire object at once. But in this case, it may turn out that at the nodes of the polyline there will be that same dotted line, that is, emptiness.
Good to know:
- Polyline you can explode by breaking it into segments and arcs using the command _explode
- Combine lines, arcs and polylines into polyline or in 3D polyline you can use the commands from the set Michael
