180: AutoCAD for Beginners (1)

Manage Drawings

• Ctrl+N: New Drawing
• Ctrl+S: Save drawing
• Ctrl+O: Open drawing
• Ctrl+P: Plot dialog box
• Ctrl+Tab: Switch to next
• Ctrl+Shift+Tab: Switch to previous drawing
• Ctrl+Page Up: Switch to previous tab in current drawing
• Ctrl+Page Down: Switch to next tab in current drawing
• Ctrl+Q: Exit
• Ctrl+Shift+S: Save drawing as

Manage Workflow

• Ctrl+A: Select all objects
• Ctrl+C: Copy object
• Ctrl+K: Insert hyperlink
• Ctrl+X: Cut object
• Ctrl+V: Paste object
• Ctrl+Shift+C: Copy to clipboard with base point
• Ctrl+Shift+V: Paste data as block
• Ctrl+Z: Undo last action
• Ctrl+Y: Redo last action
• Ctrl+[: Cancel current command (or ctrl+\)
• ESC: Cancel current command

Toggle Drawing Modes

• F1: Display Help
• F2: Toggle text screen
• F3: Toggle object snap mode
• F4: Toggle 3DOsnap
• F5: Toggle Isoplane
• F6: Toggle Dynamic UCS
• F7: Toggle grid mode
• F8: Toggle ortho mode
• F9: Toggle snap mode
• F10: Toggle polar mode
• F11: Toggle object snap tracking
• F12: Toggle dynamic input mode

Manage Screen

• Ctrl+0 (zero): Clean Screen
• Ctrl+1: Property Palette
• Ctrl+2: Design Center Palette
• Ctrl+3: Tool Palette
• Ctrl+4: Sheet Set Palette
• Ctrl+6: DBConnect Manager
• Ctrl+7: Markup Set Manager Palette
• Ctrl+8: Quick Calc
• Ctrl+9: Command Line

Toggle General Features

• Ctrl+G: Toggle Grid
• Ctrl+E: Cycle isometric planes
• Ctrl+F: Toggle running object snaps
• Ctrl+H: Toggle Pick Style
• Ctrl+Shift+H: Toggle Hide pallets
• Ctrl+I: Toggle Coords
• Ctrl+Shift+I: Toggle Infer Constraints

A-Z keys

A

• A: ARC / Creates an arc
• ADC: ADCENTER / Manages and inserts content such as blocks, xrefs, and hatch patterns
• AA: AREA / Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas
• AL: ALIGN / Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and 3D
• AP: APPLOAD / Load Application
• AR: ARRAY / Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern
• ARR: ACTRECORD / Starts the Action Recorder
• ARM: ACTUSERMESSAGE / Inserts a user message into an action macro
• ARU: ACTUSERINPUT / Pauses for user input in an action macro
• ARS: : ACTSTOP / Stops the Action Recorder and provides the option of saving the recorded actions to an action macro file
• ATI: ATTIPEDIT / Changes the textual content of an attribute within a block
• ATT: ATTDEF / Redefines a block and updates associated attributes
• ATE: ATTEDIT / Changes attribute information in a block

B

• B: BLOCK / Creates a block definition from selected objects
• BC: BCLOSE / Closes the Block Editor
• BE: BEDIT / Opens the block definition in the Block Editor
• BH: HATCH / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient fill
• BO: BOUNDARY / Creates a region or a polyline from an enclosed area
• BR: BREAK / Breaks the selected object between two points
• BS: BSAVE / Saves the current block definition
• BVS: BVSTATE / Creates, sets, or deletes a visibility state in a dynamic block

C

• C: CIRCLE / Creates a circle
• CAM: CAMERA / Sets a camera and target location to create and save a 3D perspective view of objects
• CBAR: CONSTRAINTBAR / A toolbar-like UI element that displays the available geometric constraints on an object
• CH: PROPERTIES / Controls properties of existing objects
• CHA: CHAMFER / Bevels the edges of objects
• CHK: CHECKSTANDARDS / Checks the current drawing for standards violations
• CLI: COMMANDLINE / Displays the Command Line window
• COL: COLOR / Sets the color for new objects
• CO: COPY / Copies objects a specified distance in a specified direction
• CT: CTABLESTYLE / Sets the name of the current table style
• CUBE: NAVVCUBE / Controls the visibility and display properties of the ViewCube tool
• CYL: CYLINDER / Creates a 3D solid cylinder

D

• D: DIMSTYLE / Creates and modifies dimension styles
• DAN: DIMANGULAR / Creates an angular dimension
• DAR: DIMARC / Creates an arc length dimension
• DBA: DIMBASELINE / Creates a linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the baseline of the previous or selected dimension
• DBC: DBCONNECT / Provides an interface to external database tables
• DCE: DIMCENTER / Creates the center mark or the centerlines of circles and arcs
• DCO: DIMCONTINUE / Creates a dimension that starts from an extension line of a previously created dimension
• DCON: DIMCONSTRAINT / Applies dimensional constraints to selected objects or points on objects
• DDA: DIMDISASSOCIATE / Removes associativity from selected dimensions
• DDI: DIMDIAMETER / Creates a diameter dimension for a circle or an arc
• DED: DIMEDIT / Edits dimension text and extension lines
• DI: DIST / Measures the distance and angle between two points
• DIV: DIVIDE / Creates evenly spaced point objects or blocks along the length or perimeter of an object
• DJL: DIMJOGLINE / Adds or removes a jog line on a linear or aligned dimension
• DJO: DIMJOGGED / Creates jogged dimensions for circles and arcs
• DL: DATALINK / The Data Link dialog box is displayed
• DLU: DATALINKUPDATE / Updates data to or from an established external data link
• DO: DONUT / Creates a filled circle or a wide ring
• DOR: DIMORDINATE / Creates ordinate dimensions
• DOV: DIMOVERRIDE / Controls overrides of system variables used in selected dimensions
• DR: DRAWORDER / Changes the draw order of images and other objects
• DRA: DIMRADIUS / Creates a radius dimension for a circle or an arc
• DRE: DIMREASSOCIATE / Associates or re-associates selected dimensions to objects or points on objects
• DRM: DRAWINGRECOVERY / Displays a list of drawing files that can be recovered after a program or system failure
• DS: DSETTINGS / Sets grid and snap, polar and object snap tracking, object snap modes, Dynamic Input, and Quick Properties
• DT: TEXT / Creates a single-line text object
• DV: DVIEW / Defines parallel projection or perspective views by using a camera and target
• DX: DATAEXTRACTION / Extracts drawing data and merges data from an external source to a data extraction table or external file

E

• E: ERASE / Removes objects from a drawing
• ED: DDEDIT / Edits single-line text, dimension text, attribute definitions, and feature control frames
• EL: ELLIPSE / Creates an ellipse or an elliptical arc
• EPDF: EXPORTPDF / Exports drawing to PDF
• ER: EXTERNALREFERENCES / Opens the External References palette
• EX: EXTEND / Extends objects to meet the edges of other objects
• EXIT: QUIT / Exits the program
• EXP: EXPORT / Saves the objects in a drawing to a different file format
• EXT: EXTRUDE / Extends the dimensions of a 2D object or 3D face into 3D space

F

• F: FILLET / Rounds and fillets the edges of objects
• FI: FILTER / Creates a list of requirements that an object must meet to be included in a selection set
• FS: FSMODE / Creates a selection set of all objects that touch the selected object
• FSHOT: FLATSHOT / Creates a 2D representation of all 3D objects based on the current view

G

• G: GROUP / Creates and manages saved sets of objects called groups
• GCON: GEOCONSTRAINT / Applies or persists geometric relationships between objects or points on objects
• GD: GRADIENT / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a gradient fill
• GEO: GEOGRAPHICLOCATION / Specifies the geographic location information for a drawing file

H

• H: HATCH / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient fill
• HE: HATCHEDIT / Modifies an existing hatch or fill
• HI: HIDE / Regenerates a 3D wireframe model with hidden lines suppressed

I

• I: INSERT / Inserts a block or drawing into the current drawing
• IAD: IMAGEADJUST / Controls the image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade values of images
• IAT: IMAGEATTACH / Inserts a reference to an image file
• ICL: IMAGECLIP / Crops the display of a selected image to a specified boundary
• ID: ID / Displays the UCS coordinate values of a specified location
• IM: IMAGE / Displays the External References palette
• IMP: IMPORT / Imports files of different formats into the current drawing
• IN: INTERSECT / Creates a 3D solid, surface, or 2D region from overlapping solids, surfaces, or regions
• INF: INTERFERE / Creates a temporary 3D solid from the interferences between two sets of selected 3D solids
• IO: INSERTOBJ / Inserts a linked or embedded object

J

• J: JOIN / Joins similar objects to form a single, unbroken object
• JOG: DIMJOGGED / Creates jogged dimensions for circles and arcs

L

• L: LINE / Creates straight line segments
• LA: LAYER / Manages layers and layer properties
• LAS: LAYERSTATE / Saves, restores, and manages named layer states
• LE: QLEADER / Creates a leader and leader annotation
• LEN: LENGTHEN / Changes the length of objects and the included angle of arcs
• LESS: MESHSMOOTHLESS / Decreases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level
• LI: LIST / Displays property data for selected objects
• LO: LAYOUT / Creates and modifies drawing layout tabs
• LT: LINETYPE / Loads, sets, and modifies linetypes
• LTS: LTSCALE / Changes the scale factor of linetypes for all objects in a drawing
• LW: LWEIGHT / Sets the current lineweight, lineweight display options, and lineweight units

M

• M: MOVE / Moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction
• MA: MATCHPROP / Applies the properties of a selected object to other objects
• ME: MEASURE / Joins similar objects to form a single, unbroken object
• MEA: MEASUREGEOM / Measures the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected objects or sequence of points
• MI: MIRROR / Creates a mirrored copy of selected objects
• ML: MLINE / Creates multiple parallel lines
• MLA: MLEADERALIGN / Aligns and spaces selected multileader objects
• MLC: MLEADERCOLLECT / Organizes selected multileaders that contain blocks into rows or columns, and displays the result with a single leader
• MLD: MLEADER / Creates a multileader object
• MLE: MLEADEREDIT / Adds leader lines to, or removes leader lines from, a multileader object
• MLS: MLEADERSTYLE / Creates and modifies multileader styles
• MO: PROPERTIES / Controls properties of existing objects
• MORE: MESHSMOOTHMORE / Increases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level
• MS: MSPACE / Switches from paper space to a model space viewport
• MSM: MARKUP / Opens the Markup Set Manager
• MT: MTEXT / Creates a multiline text object
• MV: MVIEW / Creates and controls layout viewports

N

• NORTH: GEOGRAPHICLOCATION / Specifies the geographic location information for a drawing file
• NSHOT: NEWSHOT / Creates a named view with motion that is played back when viewed with ShowMotion
• NVIEW: NEWVIEW / Creates a named view with no motion

O

• O: OFFSET / Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, and parallel curves
• OFFSETSRF: SURFOFFSET/ Creates a parallel surface or solid by setting an offset distance from a surface
• OP: OPTIONS / Customizes the program settings
• ORBIT / 3DO: 3DORBIT / Rotates the view in 3D space, but constrained to horizontal and vertical orbit only
• OS: OSNAP / Sets running object snap modes

P

• P: PAN / Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition
• PA: PASTESPEC / Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing and controls the format of the data
• PAR: PARAMETERS / Controls the associative parameters used in the drawing
• PARAM: BPARAMETER / Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition
• PATCH: SURFPATCH / Creates a new surface by fitting a cap over a surface edge that forms a closed loop
• PCATTACH: POINTCLOUDATTACH / Inserts an indexed point cloud file into the current drawing
• PE: PEDIT / Edits polylines and 3D polygon meshes
• PL: PLINE / Creates a 2D polyline
• PO: POINT / Creates a point object
• POFF: HIDEPALETTES / Hides currently displayed palettes (including the command line)
• POL: POLYGON / Creates an equilateral closed polyline
• PON: SHOWPALETTES / Restores the display of hidden palettes
• PR: PROPERTIES / Displays Properties palette
• PRE: PREVIEW / Displays the drawing as it will be plotted
• PRINT: PLOT / Plots a drawing to a plotter, printer, or file
• PS: PSPACE / Switches from a model space viewport to paper space
• PSOLID: POLYSOLID / Creates a 3D wall-like polysolid
• PU: PURGE / Removes unused items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing
• PYR: PYRAMID / Creates a 3D solid pyramid

Q

• QC: QUICKCALC / Opens the QuickCalc calculator
• QCUI: QUICKCUI / Displays the Customize User Interface Editor in a collapsed state
• QP: QUICKPROPERTIES / Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing in preview images
• Q: QSAVE / Saves the current drawing
• QVD: QVDRAWING / Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing using preview images
• QVDC: QVDRAWINGCLOSE / Closes preview images of open drawings and layouts in a drawing
• QVL: QVLAYOUT / Displays preview images of model space and layouts in a drawing
• QVLC: QVLAYOUTCLOSE / Closes preview images of model space and layouts in the current drawing

R

• R: REDRAW / Refreshes the display in the current viewport
• RA: REDRAWALL / Refreshes the display in all viewports
• RC: RENDERCROP / Renders a specified rectangular area, called a crop window, within a viewport
• RE: REGEN / Regenerates the entire drawing from the current viewport
• REA: REGENALL / Regenerates the drawing and refreshes all viewports
• REC: RECTANG / Creates a rectangular polyline
• REG: REGION / Converts an object that encloses an area into a region object
• REN: RENAME / Changes the names assigned to items such as layers and dimension styles
• REV: REVOLVE / Creates a 3D solid or surface by sweeping a 2D object around an axis
• RO: ROTATE / Rotates objects around a base point
• RP: RENDERPRESETS / Specifies render pre-sets, reusable rendering parameters, for rendering an image
• RR: RENDER / Creates a photorealistic or realistically shaded image of a 3D solid or surface model
• RW: RENDERWIN / Displays the Render window without starting a rendering operation

S

• S: STRETCH / Stretches objects crossed by a selection window or polygon
• SC: SCALE / Enlarges or reduces selected objects, keeping the proportions of the object the same after scaling
• SCR: SCRIPT / Executes a sequence of commands from a script file
• SEC: SECTION / Uses the intersection of a plane and solids, surfaces, or mesh to create a region
• SET: SETVAR / Lists or changes the values of system variables
• SHA: SHADEMODE / Starts the VSCURRENT command
• SL: SLICE / Creates new 3D solids and surfaces by slicing, or dividing, existing objects
• SN: SNAP / Restricts cursor movement to specified intervals
• SO: SOLID / Creates solid-filled triangles and quadrilaterals
• SP: SPELL / Checks spelling in a drawing
• SPE: SPLINEDIT / Edits a spline or spline-fit polyline
• SPL: SPLINE / Creates a smooth curve that passes through or near specified points
• SPLANE: SECTIONPLANE / Creates a section object that acts as a cutting plane through 3D objects
• SPLAY: SEQUENCEPLAY / Plays named views in one category
• SPLIT: MESHSPLIT / Splits a mesh face into two faces
• SSM: SHEETSET / Opens the Sheet Set Manager
• ST: STYLE / Creates, modifies, or specifies text styles
• STA: STANDARDS / Manages the association of standards files with drawings
• SU: SUBTRACT / Combines selected 3D solids, surfaces, or 2D regions by subtraction

T

• T: MTEXT / Creates a multiline text object
• TA: TEXTALIGN / Aligns multiple text objects vertically, horizontally, or obliquely
• TB: TABLE / Creates an empty table object
• TED: TEXTEDIT / Edits a dimensional constraint, dimension, or text object
• TH: THICKNESS / Sets the default 3D thickness property when creating 2D geometric objects
• TI: TILEMODE / Controls whether paper space can be accessed
• TOL: TOLERANCE / Creates geometric tolerances contained in a feature control frame
• TOR: TORUS / Creates a donut-shaped 3D solid
• TP: TOOLPALETTES / Opens the Tool Palettes window
• TR: TRIM / Trims objects to meet the edges of other objects
• TS: TABLESTYLE / Creates, modifies, or specifies table styles

U

• UC: UCSMAN / Manages defined user coordinate systems.
• UN: UNITS / Controls coordinate and angle display formats and precision.
• UNHIDE / UNISOLATE: UNISOLATEOBJECTS / Displays objects previously hidden with the ISOLATEOBJECTS or HIDEOBJECTS command.
• UNI: UNION / Unions two solid or two region objects.

V

• V: VIEW / Saves and restores named views, camera views, layout views, and pre-set views.
• VGO: VIEWGO / Restores a named view.
• VP: VPOINT / Sets the 3D viewing direction.
• VPLAY: VIEWPLAY / Plays the animation associated to a named view.
• VS: VSCURRENT / Sets the visual style in the current viewport.
• VSM: VISUALSTYLES / Creates and modifies visual styles and applies a visual style to a viewport.

W

• W: WBLOCK / Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file.
• WE: WEDGE / Creates a 3D solid wedge.
• WHEEL: NAVSWHEEL / Displays a wheel that contains a collection of view navigation tools.

X

• X: EXPLODE / Breaks a compound object into its component objects.
• XA: XATTACH / Inserts a DWG file as an external reference (xref).
• XB: XBIND / Binds one or more definitions of named objects in an xref to the current drawing.
• XC: XCLIP / Crops the display of a selected external reference or block reference to a specified boundary.
• XL: XLINE / Creates a line of infinite length.
• XR: XREF / Starts the EXTERNALREFERENCES command.

Z

• Z: ZOOM / Increases or decreases the magnification of the view in the current viewport.
• ZEBRA: ANALYSISZEBRA / Projects stripes onto a 3D model to analyse surface continuity.
• ZIP: ETRANSMIT / Creates a Self-Extracting or Zipped Transmittal Package.

Reference