This file contains information about AutoCAD commands and functions. Useful for the beginner in order to learn AutoCAD software easily.

1. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

2. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
OVERVIEWS OF AutoCAD WINDOW
1. Title Bar
2. Menu Bar
3. Tool Bar
4. Status Bar
5. Application & drawings related buttons (viz minimize, restore & close)
6. Workspace
7. UCS Icon (User Co-ordinate System Icon)
Orthogonal Directions:- +x, +y, -x, -y axes
Orthogonal Angles:- 0 or 360, 90, 180, 270 (degrees)
Command Mode:- Situation when engaged with command
No Command Mode:- Situation when not at all engaged with any command
IMPORTANCE OF COMMAND LINE
1) Any command shortcut can be typed at ‘command prompt’ in order to execute the respective
command.
2) Soon after the execution ‘guideline’ appears.
GENERAL FORM OF ‘GUIDELINE’
Main option or [sub option] <Default option/Default value>
e.g. 1) Specify value or [Zaki/Anwer/Engineers] <Anwer>
2) Specify value or [Zaki/Anwer/Engineers] <368>
Different Methods to Execute Commands
1) Menu Bar
2) Tool Bar
3) Command Line
Different Methods to Use Enter
1) Enter Key
2) Space Bar
3) Only in ‘command mode’ right click gives the first option as ENTER
NOTE:- No two commands can be executed simultaneously.

3. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
IMPORTANT COMMANDS USED IN AutoCAD
1. Units - (un)
- Default unit is Inches
2. Limits - (limits)
3. Line - (l)
- Use ORTHO MODE from the STATUS BAR to draw straight line in orthogonal
direction.
4. Polyline or Pline - (pl) or (pline)
5. Erase - (E)
6. Rectangle - (rec) or (rectang)
7. Circle - (c)
8. Polygon - (pol)
9. Undo - (u) or (Ctrl+Z)
- It cancel the list of recent actions in descending order.
10. Redo - (redo) or (Ctrl+Y)
- It restore the list of recent undone actions in ascending order.
- Redo must always be followed by UNDO else it never work.
11. Oops - (oops)
- It restore the most recently erased objects only.
12. Arc - (a)
13. Revision cloud - (revcloud)
- To draw cloud features
14. Construction line or Xline - (xl) or (xline)
15. Ray - (ray)
16. Zoom - (z)
[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window/object] <real time>
17. Pan - (p)
- To display the work space here there

4. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
- Mouse shortcut of PAN- Press and hold the ‘scroll wheel’ to make the use pan
NOTE:- Mouse shortcut zoom & pan can be utilised in both command mode & No command
mode.
18. Mirror - (mi)
- To have mirror (i.e. replica) of selected object(s)
* Requirements
- Source object(s)
- Distance between the source object(s) and the object to be mirrored
- Mirror line to be drawn exactly half of the distance decided above and should
be perpendicular to the direction opted.
19. Offset - (o)
- To have offset of selected object(s) through specific or random offset distance.
20. Join - (j)
- To join two or more than two continuous or discontinuous but collinear elements into
a single element.
21. Region - (reg)
- To convert the object which are in the form of independent elements into a single
entity. In other words, it creates a region.
22. Explode - (x)
- To convert the object(s) which are in the form of single entity into independent
elements. In other words, it explode the selected object(s).
23. Fillet - (f)
- (Default setting: mode = Trim, rad = 0)
24. Chamfer - (cha)
- (Default setting: mode = Trim, dist1, dist2)
25. Trim - (tr)
- To eliminate unwanted or excessive point(s) from the selected object(s).
NOTE-1 It is mandatory to have another element or object as a part of drawing which must be
intersect or bisect the existing element or object at the require position.

5. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
NOTE-2 Until & unless above condition is fulfilled by default, use of ‘TRIM’ command is not
recommended.
26. Copy - (co) or (cp)
- To have copy(s) of selected object(s) through specific or random displacement.
27. Move - (m)
- To move or displace the selected object(s) through specific or random displacement.
28. Scale - (sc)
- To modify the dimension of selected object(s) through a specific ‘SCALE FACTOR’
or randomly with the help of reference.
29. Rotate - (ro)
- To rotate the selected object(s) through specific rotation angle or random rotation angle
with the help of reference.
30. Array - (ar)
- To have multiple copies of selected object(s) simultaneously in two specific formats
 Rectangular format- Rectangular array
 Circular format- Polar array
31. Select - (select)
- [Window/Last/Crossing/Box/All/Fence/Wpolygon/Cpolygon/Group/Add/Remove/
Multiple/Auto/Single/Object/Sub object]
32. Group - (g)
- To create a group including number of objects.
33. ID - (id)
- To enquire the co-ordinate of selected point
34. Distance - (di) or (dist)
- To enquire the distance between any two pointsin the orthogonal direction
35. List - (li)
- To enquire the list of properties of selected object(s).
36. Area - (aa)
- To enquire the area of selected object(s)

6. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
37. Break - (br)
- To eliminate the specific portion from the selected object defined by two points.
38. Extend - (ex)
- To extend line segment or arc.
39. Point - (po)
- To insert a point feature
40. Point Style - (ddptype)
- To change the style of a point
41. Single line text ot text - (dt)
42. Multi line text or text - (mt)
43. Edit text - (ed) or (ddedit)
44. Find - (find)
- To create user defined text style
- Default text style is ‘standard’
46. Regenerate - (regen)
- To regenerate all the object(s) from drawing file.
47. Color - (col)
48. Line type - (lt)
49. Line weight - (lw)
NOTE:- These commands (i.e. 47, 48 & 49) are used to design color, line type and line weight
for the object(s) which are to be drawn.
50. Calculator - (cal)
- To perform basic arithmetic calculations
51. Quick Calculator - (quickcalc)
- Can be considered as scientific calculator
52. Properties - (ch)
- To check & modify the properties of selected object(s)

7. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
51. Match properties or Painter - (ma) or (matchprop) or ( painter)
- To match the physical properties (i.e. color, line type, line weight, text style, etc) of
source object to destination object(s).
52. Block - (b)
- Whenever similar object(s) or component(s) are repeated in a drawing file, instead
of drawing them again and again a BLOCK can be defined, and BLOCK so defined can be
inserted for any number of times but only in the current drawing file because BLOCK is a part
of current drawing file.
53. Insert - (i)
54. Write block or Wblock - (w)
- Whenever similar object(s) or component(s) are repeated in many drawing files, a
WRITE BLOCK can be defined. And WRITE BLOCK so defined can be inserted for any
number of times in any drawing files because write block gets saved in the disk. (Default path
is ‘My Document’).
55. Divide - (div)
- To divide the selected object into equal number of parts.
56. Measure - (me)
- To measure the selected object & create number of parts depending upon the length
of each segment specified.
57. Lengthen - (len)
- To modify the length of line segment or arc.
* Total
* Percent
* DELta
- [Total, Percent & Delta can be used both for line segments & arcs
specially]
* Dynamic – [can be used only for arc randomly]
58. Layers - (la)
- To create user define layers (Alt+N)
- Default layer is ‘0’ and the properties assigned are white, continuous line type &
default line weight.

8. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
59. DIMENSION
- Linear (dimlin)
- Aligned (dimall)
- Arc length (dimarc)
- Radial (dimrad)
- Jogged (dimjogged)
- Diameter (dimdia)
- Angular (dimang)
- Base line (dimbase)
- continue ( dimcont)
60. Dimension Style - (d) or (dimstyle)
- To create user define dimension styles, default dimension style is ‘standard’.
61. Purge - (pu)
- To eliminate all the unused data related to different items from a drawing file.
62. Design centre - (de) or (Ctrl+2)
- To import data related to different item from a drawing
63. Tool patters - (tp) or (ctrl+3)
64. Hatch - (h)
- To hatch closed object or section
65. Solid - (so)
- To convert 2D object into 3D solid
66. Stretch - (s)
- To modify the dimension of selected object by stretch along a side.
NOTE:- Selected objects stretch by crossing window or crossing polygon
67. Option - (op)

9. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
68. Draw order - (dr)
- To change the order of the object
* Above object [can be used if the case is
* Under object of two objects]
* Front [can be used if the case is
* Back of more than two objects]
69. Conversion of drawing file into different image formats
70. Conversion of drawing file into Acrobat reader file format
FILE FORMAT COMMAND
Page Setup Manager pagesetup
Plotter Manager plottermanager
Plot Review pre
Plot plot or Ctrl+P
71. Polyline edit or Pedit - (pe) or (pedit)
72. AutoLISP – It is a programming language used to develop user defined command or tool
bars. Add the extension of the file is ‘.lsp’
73. Appload - (ap)
- To load or unload applications (like .lsp file)
74. Boundary - (bo)
- To create new boundaries for closed section
75. Quick select - (qselesct)
- To select the multiple objects simultaneously depending upon the property defined
76. Leader line - (qleader)
IMAGE TYPE COMMAND FORMAT
Bitmap Bmpout .bmp
JPEG Jpgout .jpg
Portable Network Graphics [PNG] pngout .png
TIFF Tifout .tif
Window file wmout .wmf

10. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
FUNCTION KEYS
 DYN = Dynamic Input – (F12) …To have all command line entries on screen near the
pointer.
 SNAP = Snap Mode – (F9) …To restrict the movement of pointer in both ‘x’ & ‘y’
direction.
 GRID = Grid Display – (F7) …To display grid (i.e. something like graph sheet)
 ORTHO = Ortho Mode – (F8) …To draw straight line in orthogonal direction
 OSNAP = Object Snap – (F3) …To locate the point which are listed under snap mode
 OTRACK = Object Snap Track – (F11) …To track the located points in orthogonal
direction
 POLAR = Polar Tracking – (F10) …To track located points in both orthogonal & non-
orthogonal direction.
NOTE-1 Even though ‘line width’ and line weight are equal to zero by default, both are not
equal.
NOTE-2 OSNAP, OTRACK, POLAR requires the user to be in command mode.
NOTE-3 OTRACK & POLAR must always be utilized with OSNAP.
S. NO. FUNCTION KEY
01 Help F1
02 AutoCAD text window F2
03 DYN [Dynamic Input] F12
04 DUCS [Dynamic UCS] F6 [related to 3D]
05 SNAP [Snap Mode] F9
06 GRID [Grid Mode] F7
07 ORTHO [Ortho Mode] F8
08 OSNAP [Object Snap] F3
09 OTRACK [Object Snap Tracking] F11
10 POLAR [Polar Tracking] F10

11. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

12. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

13. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

14. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

15. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH

16. Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH
Zaki Anwer, B-Tech. Mechanical Engineering, KGRCET, JNTUH