AutoCAD 2005 for Dummies

• Shows how to use the leading technical drawing software-AutoCAD-and its less-expensive sister product, AutoCAD LT, in the friendly, easy-to-understand For Dummies style
• Shows first-time AutoCAD users how to create precise and efficient 2-D technical drawings and get started with 3-D technical drawings
• Topics covered include creating a basic layout; drawing and editing; writing text in drawings; plotting, creating, and editing external reference files; CAD standards; and drawing on the Internet
• Explores new features in the latest version of AutoCAD, including text improvements, streamlined Plot and Page Setup dialogue boxes, increased emphasis on tool palettes, better tools for transmitting sets of electronic files, and much more
• Includes a new chapter on sheet sets and a new collection of features for creating, managing, and publishing all of the drawings that make up a project

Use sheet sets, collaborate nicely, and go LT for 2005

Find out how to use DWF, live up to new standards, and share files online

AutoCAD can be complicated, but this book isn’t! Here’s where you’ll discover how to set up a drawing, toe the lines, add dimension and text, share your stuff, and more, in AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT. Now you’ll be able to create a presentable, usable, printable, and sharable drawing without getting old before your time.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• Manage projects with sheet sets
• Import data into drawings using text tables
• Collaborate with other users
• Standardize drawing components with tool palettes
• Use the streamlined Plot and Page Setup features

Mark Middlebrook used to be an engineer but gave it up when he discovered that he couldn’t handle a real job. He is now principal of Daedalus Consulting, an independent CAD and computer consulting company in Oakland, California. (In case you wondered, Daedalus was the guy in ancient Greek legend who built the labyrinth on Crete. Mark named his company after Daedalus before he realized that few of his clients would be able to pronounce it and even fewer spell it.) Mark is also a contributing editor for CADALYST magazine and Webmaster of markcad.com. When he’s not busy being a cad, Mark sells and writes about wine for Paul Marcus Wines in Oakland. He also teaches literature and philosophy classes at St. Mary’s College of California — hence “Daedalus.” AutoCAD 2005 For Dummies is his sixth book on AutoCAD.