Course: CPE 104 CHE21S2 Section:CHE21S2

Name: Convento, Julleen Ann Marie O. Date Performed: October 14,2020

Instructor: Ma’am Aimee G. Acoba Date Submitted: October 14,2020

LABORATORY ACTIVITY NO.3

SETTING UP AUTOCAD DRAWING ENVIRONMENT

1. Objective(s):

The activity aims to set up the drawing environment of AutoCAD

2. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):

The students shall be able to:

1. Set up the correct settings of AutoCAD
2. Use drawing and construction aids in setting up the following
- Grid display
- Snap Mode
- Ortho Mode
- Object Snap
- Drawing Units
3. Explore different ways in setting up the drawing environment of AutoCAD
3. Discussion:

Drawing AutoCAD is just like drawing in a drawing board. Most new comers to Computer Aided Design
assume that they will need to learn how to draw all over again. In fact, many of the drawing aids that
AutoCAD provides are analogous to traditional drafting tools. Just as you have a parallel motion and set
squares to help you draw horizontal and vertical lines on a drawing board, AutoCAD has similar drawing
aids which can help you to draw horizontal and vertical lines on a computer. This means that in many
respects the drawing techniques are very similar. If you ever get stuck, think how you would complete a
task on a drawing board and then look for a similar way to do with AutoCAD.

Drawing Grid

The drawing grid is a regular pattern of dots displayed on the screen as shown in figure
3.1 which acts as a visual aid, it is the equivalent of having a sheet of graphing paper
behind your drawing on your drawing board.

Figure 3.1a Grid spacing set to 10 units Figure 3.1b Grid spacing set to 5 units

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Snap Mode

Snap mode takes AutoCAD one step further than the drawing board. With snap mode turned on
AutoCAD allows you to pick up points which lie on a regular grid. The snap grid is completely
independent of the display grid. However, the grid spacing and snap spacing are usually set to
the same value to avoid confusion. When snap mode is turned on and the grid is displayed, the
snap and grid spacing are the same crosshairs will jump from one grid point to another as you
move across the screen. This makes very easy to draw objects which have regular shape. The
snap command is used to set the snap settings and to toggle snap mode.

Ortho Mode

In creating lines, these are not perfectly straight, in which, it might lined them up by eye. This of
course is not accurate enough for most designs. Ortho, which stands for orthographic is a new
concept that allows to draw perfectly straight vertical or horizontal lines.

Object Snap (OSNAPs)

The Object snaps (OSNAPs) are drawing aids which are used in conjunction with other commands to
help you draw accurately. OSNAPs allow you to snap onto a specific object location wh en you are
picking a point. For example, you can accurately pick the end point of a line or the center of a circle.

Object Snap Toolbar Presentation Snaps to

END
Endpoint ENDpoint of the object

MIDpoint
Midpoint MIDpoint of the object

INTERSECTION

Intersection of the
Intersection
object

CENTER
Center Center of circles, arcs…

` QUADRANTS

Closest quadrant of
Quadrant
circles or arcs

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 Object Snap Toolbar Presentation Snaps to
Point in circle or arc,
when connected to the
Tangent
last point, forms a line
tangent to the object

Object points forming

Perpendicular
perpendicular alignment

Point on an alignment
Parallel path that is parallel to
the selected object

Setting Drawing Units

Every object that is drawn in AutoCAD is measured in units. You determine the value of the
units within AutoCAD before you draw. In AutoCAD we can set unit type and number of
decimal places for object length and angle. Drawing unit settings control how AutoCAD
interprets the coordinate and angle entries and displays coordinates and units in the drawing.

4. Resources:

Computer with installed AutoCAD Software

5. Procedure and Output

GRID SETTINGS

You can control the grid spacing, so it can give you a general idea about the size of
drawn objects. It can also be used to define the extent of your drawing.

Try the following methods in grid settings:

1. Using cascading drop-down menu

From the Tools Menu select Drafting Settings as shown in figure 3.2. The
drafting settings dialog box is displayed as shown in figure 3.3.

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 Figure 3.2 Cascading drop-down menu (Tools)

Figure 3.3 Drafting Settings Dialog Box

Using the drawing and construction aids as shown in figure 3.4, right-click grid display or
press F7. The drafting settings dialog box is displayed as shown in figure 3.3.

Grid display (F7)

Figure 3.4 Drawing and construction aids (Grid Display)

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 2. .Click on the Snap and Grid tab.
3. Enter the value of the Grid X spacing
4. Enter the value of the Grid Y spacing
5. Click OK.

Try the following Grid Values:

X=10;Y=10 X=4; Y= 3
X=2; Y= 2 X=5; Y=10

What did you notice?

___The first grid values made the grid lines bigger compared to the normal grid lines
while in the second grid values, the small grid lines are not visible because it’s too large.

SNAP SETTINGS

Try the following methods in snap settings:

1. Using cascading drop-down menu

From the Tools Menu select Drafting Settings as shown in figure 3.2. The
drafting settings dialog box is displayed as shown in figure 3.3.

Using the drawing and construction aids as shown in figure 3.4, right-click grid display or
press F7. The drafting settings dialog box is displayed as shown in figure 3.3.

Snap Mode (F9)

Figure 3.4 Drawing and construction aids (Snap Mode)

2. Click on the Snap and Grid tab.

3. Enter the value of the Snap X spacing
4. Enter the value of the Snap Y spacing
5. Click OK.

Draw a rectangle. Change the values of snap spacing using the following values:

X=1;Y=1 X=3; Y=3

X=2; Y= 2 X=3; Y=4

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What did you notice?
_____The grid lines look bigger compared to the standard measurements in the first
values while in the second values, the grid are smaller.

ORTHO SETTINGS

Using the drawing and construction aids as shown in figure 3.5, press ortho or F7 to
turn on ortho mode.

Ortho Mode (F8)

Figure 3.5 Drawing and construction aids (Ortho Mode)

Do this:
1. Turn on ortho mode
2. Turn on grid and snap mode
3. Draw a rectangle

What did you notice?

_The cursor did specify an angle or distance of two points by using a pointing device. In
Ortho mode, the cursor movement is controlled and it showed the horizontal and vertical
direction of the rectangle.

OSNAP DRAFTING SETTINGS

To setup OSNAP settings do the following steps:

1. There are three ways to open Drafting Settings dialog box:
a. Type in OSNAP in the command line, the drafting settings dialog box will
appear as shown in figure 3.7.

b. Select Tools from the cascading drop-down menu as shown in figure 3.8, then click
Drafting Setting. The drafting settings dialog box will appear as shown in figure 3.7.

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 Figure 3.7 Drafting Setting Dialog Box

Figure 3.8 Tool cascading drop-down menu

c. In drawing and construction aids as shown in figure 3.9, right click object snap and
select Settings. Drafting Settings dialog box as shown in figure 3.7 will be shown.

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 Object Snap

Figure 3.9 Drawing and construction aids (Object Snap)

2. In the Drafting Setting dialog box, click Object Snap Tab, then select the Clear all
Button as shown in figure 3.10.

Figure 3.9 Drafting dialog box, Object Snap and Clear All Selected

3. Check off the six settings discussed above (Endpoint, Midpoint, Center,
Quadrant, Intersection, Perpendicular) and press OK as shown in figure 3.10.

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 Figure 3.10 Drafting dialog box with Six Settings Selected

Selection Methods

When you click randomly on the screen without selecting any objects and drag your mouse
to the right or left, a rectangular shape forms as shown in figure 3.11. It is either dashed or
solid and these shapes may have a green or blue fill and goes away once you click the mouse
button again or press ESC. This is what you called powerful selection tools.

Window
Crossing

Figure 3.11 Selection Powerful Tool

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 1. Crossing. A crossing appears when you click and drag to the left of an imaginary
vertical line (up or down) and is dashed rectangle. Any object it touches is selected.
2. Window. A window appears when you click and drag to the right of an imaginary vertical line

(up or down) and is a solid rectangle. Any object falling completely inside it is selected.

Do this:
1. Draw a rectangle, circle, arc, line in one drawing area.
2. Use Crossing selection tool.
3. Apply ERASE command.

What happened to the objects? __The selected objects are deleted.

4. Type in UNDO command

5. Use Window selection tool.
6. Apply ERASE command.

What happened to the objects? _The objects inside the window are deleted.

Is there any difference on the output using crossing and window selection tools? _ Yes

If yes, what it is? _ In

crossing, any object which even touches the boundary of the window
will be selected while in window, the objects inside the window are the ones who are
selected.

Setting Drawing Units

1. From the Format menu choose Units. The Drawing Units dialog box is
displayed as shown in figure 3.12.
2. Select Settings. A Drawing Units dialog box is displayed as shown in figure 3.13.
3. Under Length, select unit type and precision (number of decimal places)
4. Under Angle, select an angle type and precision.
5. To specify an angle direction, choose Direction, the select the base angle in the
Direction Control dialog box as shown in figure 3.14.
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 Figure 3.12 Cascading Drop-Down Menu (Format)

Figure 3.14 Direction Dialog Box

Figure 3.13 Drawing Units Dialog Box

6. Select OK to exit each dialog box.

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Activity 1
Draw the following sets of lines on the left and practice the 2-Point, 3-Point, and Tan, Tan,
Tan Circle options. You may use the four methods of interacting AutoCAD. In all cases,
use OSNAPs to connect the circle precisely to the drawn lines. The result should get is
shown on the right. (Difficulty level: Easy; Time to completion: <5minutes)

2 - Point

3 Point

Tan, Tan, Tan

Draw Result

Activity 2
Draw an arc using the Start, Center, End option (a commonly used one) as follows. Fi rst draw the
three lines shown on the left, then draw the arc. Be sure to select from the bottom up as shown and
use OSNAPs. The result should get is shown on the right. Try the same exercise from the top to
down, noticing the difference. (Difficulty level: Easy; Time to completion: <5minutes)

End

Center

Start

Draw Select Lines as Result

Activity 3
Draw a simple door using the 3-Point arc method. First draw, copy, rotate, and position
the lines as seen in Steps 1 through 4, then add the arc as shown in Step 5 (use ortho
and OSNAPs throughout). Finally, erase the bottom line to complete the door as seen in
Step 6. (Difficulty level: Easy; Time to completion: <10 minutes)

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 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
(Draw Line) (Copy Line) (Rotate Line 90 0)

Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

(Position Line (3-point Arc) (Final Result - Erase

Activity 4
Draw the following sets of arbitrary electrical connection shapes as shown in figure below.
You need only the basic Create and Modify commands. Specific sizes are not important
at this point, but make your drawing look similar, and use accuracy in connecting all the
pieces. (Difficulty level: Easy; Time to completion: <10 minutes)

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Activity 5
Draw the following elevation of a building as shown in figure below. You need only the basic Create and

Modify commands. Specific sizes are not important at this point, but make your drawing look si milar, and

use accuracy in connecting all the pieces. (Difficulty level: Intermediate Time to completion: <20 minutes)

6. Conclusion:

This activity is about the different modes and settings that you could use in AutoCAD. It
also helped in exploring the environment in AutoCAD. For example, in orthomode you
can use it if you prefer to have your measurements precise and for you to control the
cursor easier.

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7. Assessment (Rubric for Laboratory Performance):
Intended BEGINNER ACCEPTABLE PROFICIENT
Learning SCORE
Outcomes 1 2 3
Has difficulty in setting Was able set up the
Set up the correct up the AutoCAD AutoCAD environment
Fails setup the correct
settings of environment ; needs without difficulty and
setting of AutoCAD
AutoCAD supervision with the supervision of the
faculty members faculty member
Use of drawing
and construction Has difficulty in using the Was able to use
aids in setting up Fails to use the drawing drawing and drawing and
the following: and construction aids in construction aids in construction aids in
- Grid display setting up AutoCAD setting up AutoCAD setting up AutoCAD
- Snap Mode environment environment; needs without difficulty and
- Ortho Mode supervision of the faculty supervision of the
- Object Snap members faculty member
- Drawing Units
Has difficulty in Was able to explore
different ways in
Explore different Was not able to explore exploring different ways
setting up AutoCAD
ways in setting different ways in setting in setting up AutoCAD
environment without
up AutoCAD up AutoCAD environment ; needs
difficulty and
environment environment supervision of the faculty
supervision of the
member
faculty member
Other comments/observation: TOTAL SCORE

RATING = (total score) x 100%

3

Evaluated By: Date:

Faculty Member

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