AutoCAD is a powerful tool used by architects and designers to create detailed and precise drawings. Mastering a set of essential AutoCAD commands can significantly improve your workflow and efficiency when creating architectural plans, sections, elevations, and other drawings. This blog post provides a list of essential AutoCAD commands categorized for your convenience:
Drawing Tools
LINE (L): Creates straight lines.
CIRCLE (C): Creates circles.
RECTANG (REC): Creates rectangles.
POLYRINE (PL): Creates polylines, which are versatile lines with various segment types (lines, arcs, etc.).
ARC (A): Creates circular arcs.
ELLIPSE (EL): Creates ellipses.
POINT (PO): Inserts individual points.
Modification Tools
TRIM (TR): Trims excess lines to a specified boundary.
EXTEND (EXT): Extends lines beyond their endpoints.
OFFSET (O): Creates parallel lines or curves at a specified offset distance.
COPY (CO): Copies objects to a new location.
MIRROR (MI): Creates a mirrored copy of objects.
ROTATE (RO): Rotates objects around a base point.
SCALE (SC): Scales objects uniformly or non-uniformly.
Editing Tools
ERASE (E): Erases objects.
MOVE (M): Moves objects to a new location.
DELETE (DEL): Deletes objects permanently (use with caution!).
EXPLODE (X): Explodes compound objects into individual entities.
UNDO (U): Undoes the previous action.
REDO (RE): Redoes the last undone action.
Dimensioning Tools
DIM (D): Creates linear dimensions.
DIMLINEAR (DIM): Creates aligned linear dimensions.
DIMANGULAR (DAN): Creates angular dimensions.
DIMRADIUS (DR): Creates radius dimensions.
DIMDIAMETER (DD): Creates diameter dimensions.
Text and Annotation Tools
TEXT (TX): Inserts single-line text.
MTEXT (MTEXT): Creates multi-line text objects.
ATTEDIT (ATTEDIT): Edits attribute block definitions.
INSERT (INSERT): Inserts blocks (predefined symbols or groups of objects).
Layering Tools
LAYER (LA): Creates, manages, and sets the current layer for objects.
FREEZE (FR): Freezes layers, making them invisible but still editable.
THAW (TH): Thaws frozen layers, making them visible again.
LOCK (LO): Locks layers, preventing edits to objects on those layers.
UNLOCK (UN): Unlocks locked layers, allowing edits.
Viewport and Annotation Tools
ZOOM (Z): Zooms in or out of the drawing.
PAN (PA): Pans the view to a different area of the drawing.
VIEWBASE (VBASE): Sets the base point for a new viewport.
VIEWPORT (VP): Creates viewports to display different portions of the drawing.
MLEADER (MLE): Creates multileader annotations with arrows pointing to specific features.
Utility Commands
BLOCK (B): Creates or edits block definitions.
PURGE (PU): Removes unused block definitions and other unused elements from the drawing.
MATCHPROP (MA): Matches properties (color, linetype, etc.) between objects.
SAVE (S): Saves the drawing.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it covers the essential AutoCAD commands you'll likely use frequently for architectural drawings. As you gain experience, you can explore additional commands and features to further enhance your AutoCAD skills.
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