Understanding The AUTOCAD 2010 Interface

• The primary methods to reach commands in AutoCAD 2010 will be through Ribbons and the Application Menu.
• You will use Ribbons instead of the normal toolbars.
• This interface will give you more space in the Graphical Area, which is your drawing area.

Application Menu
Click on the Application Menu, and you will see the following:

Application Menu Interface

Using this menu, you can:

• Create a new file
• Open an existing file
• Save the current file
• Save the current file under a new name (Save As) and/or in a different folder
• Export the current file to a different fi le format
• Print the current file
• Publish the current file
• Send the current file to eTransmit or email
• Use all the functions related to your drawing
• Close the current file
• Exit AutoCAD

Quick Access Toolbar
The Quick Access Toolbar is the small toolbar located at the top left of the screen:

Quick Access Toolbar

Using this toolbar, you can:

• Create a new file
• Open an existing file
• Save the current file
• Undo and redo
• Print the current file

Ribbons
Ribbons consist of two parts:

• Tabs

• Panels

For example, the Home tab consists of eight panels: Draw, Modify, Layers, Annotation, Block, Properties, Utilities, and Clipboard. In each tab you will see different panels. The following is the Draw panel:

Draw panel

Some panels (such as the Draw panel) have a small triangle near the title, which indicates that there are more buttons available. If you click on it you will see the following:

Draw panel Menu

At the lower left-hand corner of the panel you will see a small pushpin. If you click on it, this will be the default view. To return to the previous view, simply click the pushpin again.

Pin button

Some panel buttons may have a small triangle just to the right, which means there are additional options, as shown here:

Object panel

If you hold your cursor over any button for one second, a small help screen appears:

Tooltips Screen

However, if you hold your cursor over the button for three seconds, you will see an extended help screen:

Tooltips Screen

Panels can be docked or fl oating. By default, all panels are docked. To make a panel a floating panel, simply click on the name of the panel, hold it, and drag it to its new location. If all panels remain docked, you will not see any panel outside the tab it belongs to. But if you make any panel a floating panel, then you will be able to see it in all other tabs. While the panel is floating, you will see two small buttons on the right-hand side. The following image shows the function of each one:

Return panels and toggle panel

All panels have two orientations: a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation. The following illustration shows the tabs and panels that appear for both orientations.

Panels orientations

The number of tabs and panels are predefi ned by default. You can turn off/on any tab/panel by right-clicking on any tab/panel and then selecting the desired tab/panel to be turned on or off.

Ribbons have three different shapes. You can alter the shapes by clicking the small arrow at the right:

Ribbons shapes

InfoCenter
At the top-right part of the screen, you will see the InfoCenter: 

InfoCenter

The InfoCenter gives you the opportunity to type in keywords that will enable AutoCAD to search both online and offl ine resources and provide you with a list of related help topics. See the following example:

Example search info about arc

You may still use the conventional Help search by clicking the arrow at the right-hand side of the InfoCenter:

Info Center Help search

Command Window
If you used AutoCAD 25 years ago, the only way to input commands was to use the Command Window. You had to memorize all of the AutoCAD commands and type them in. There were no menus, toolbars, panels, or ribbons. Although you can still type in the commands, we don’t recommend that method.

Graphical Area
The Graphical Area is where you do your actual drawing. You use the crosshairs to specify points in the X,Y plane. You can monitor the coordinates of the crosshairs using the left side of the Status Bar.

Status Bar
The Status Bar in AutoCAD contains many functions that will help you draft more precisely. We will discuss most of the buttons on the Status Bar throughout this site. There are two views for the Status Bar:

• By default (Icons)

Status Bar By default (Icons)

• Buttons

Status Bar By Button

To switch views, right-click the Status Bar to alternate between buttons and icons.

 If you select Use Icons, the view will change accordingly.