Topics covered in this Lesson:1-11

Topics covered in this Lesson:1-11

Zoom | Pan
So far the tutorials have dealt with drawing and modifying objects. This lesson will be a primer on how to move around in your drawing. With simple drawings like the assignments in Level 1, you didn't have much need for moving around or zooming in your drawing. The more complex your drawing is, the more you will need to master the power of zooming and panning. Mastering these techniques will enable you to be more productive in your drawings and life will be better.

EFFECTIVE ZOOMING CAN DRAMATICALLY INCREASE YOUR SPEED

One single command will give you the versatility to move around your drawing. This is the ZOOM command. Another useful command is PAN. These are both quicker than using the scroll bars on the side of the drawing area, unless you have a very short distance to move your drawing (and can make your scroll bars obsolete and thereby create more drawing space)..

Start the Zoom command by typing Z . When you do this, you will see the following options on the command line:

Command: Z ZOOM
Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or
[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window/Object] :

Remember that to invoke any option, just type the capital letter of your choice. (eg: type: E for "zoom extents". The default is "Realtime" which you invoke by pressing . One by one, here are the options available to you.




As you can see there are quite a few options. To begin with I would strongly recommend getting really good at these 3:

Use the Zoom > Extents whenever you want to see all objects.
Use the Zoom > Window option to 'close-in' on one area.
Use the Zoom > Previous option to return to where you were.

I generally use them in conjunction with each other. I'll do a zoom extents to see what state the drawing is at, then perform a Zoom Window to get to the area I need to work in, then do a Zoom Extents when I am done in that area. In between, I may need to use a combination of Zoom Window and Zoom Previous.

Additionally, using your mouse wheel to zoom can be very fast for moving in and out of an area - practice this technique as well.

The zoom command can also be invoked transparently. This means that you can start it up in the middle of a command. For example, if you are in the trim command and want to see a bit more of your drawing, just type 'Z (note the apostrophe) at the command line and you can then zoom using any of the available options. Press to get back to your command.

Also, right clicking while in the zoom command gives you options. Try this and see which choices are available with this.

Exercise: Open one of your previous drawings, or one of the samples that came with your installation of AutoCAD and practice these techniques. You need to be good at this.

Review of Level 1: Everything in this Level will be used in your day to day CAD work. These are the basics that you will draw upon as you advance your skills. You have learned the how the co-ordinate system works and how to enter points so that AutoCAD knows where you want your objects to be. You were shown the most common drawing and modifying commands. You learned techniques for snapping to objects, other ways to input information and how to move around a drawing. For a new user, I cannot stress enough how mastering this level will make you a good drafter. It all comes down to accurate and fast input.