Control the TAB order
If you would like to change the order of the tabs, click and drag the tab horizontally to the new location.
Floating PANELS
If you prefer to separate a Panel from the Ribbon you may drag the panel off the Ribbon to a new location on the screen.
The Status Bar is located on the bottom of the screen. It displays the current settings. These settings can be turned ON or OFF by clicking on one of the buttons or by pressing a corresponding function key, F2, F3 etc.
When an icon is turned on it will display a neon blue in color.
Status Bar Icons
The status bar provides you with a set of commonly used drawing tools like grid display, snap, object snap and isometric drafting. You can choose to remove some or all of them, or you can choose to add more tools.
To add or remove tools from the Status Bar.
1.Select and click on the Customization button.
2.Check or uncheck the tools you want to remove or add from the list.
3.Left click in the main drawing area to close the list.
Note: The tools on the status bar may change depending on whether you are in Model Space or Paper Space.
A brief description of each tool will be shown on the next five pages. Each tool will be discussed in more detail in future lessons.
STATUS BAR TOOL BUTTON DESCRIPTIONS
I have enabled all the tool buttons and broken them down into two sections starting from the left-hand side.
COORDINATES
The coordinates display the location of the cursor in reference to the Origin. The Origin is currently in the lower left corner of the drawing area. These numbers will change as you move the cursor.
First set of numbers represents the horizontal movement of the cursor (X-axis).
Second set of numbers represents the vertical movement of the cursor (Y-axis).
Third set of numbers represents the Z-axis which is used for 3D and not discussed.
MODEL
The MODEL / PAPER button allows you to work in either model space or paper space without leaving the layout tab. When you switch to a layout tab this button automatically switches to PAPER.
GRID
The criss-cross lines in the Drawing Area are called the Grid. It is only a drawing aid and will not print. The default spacing is 1 unit of measurement. You may change the Grid spacing at any time by typing DS then press <enter>, then select the Snap and Grid tab from the Drafting Settings dialog box.
SNAP MODE
INFER CONSTRAINTS
Inferred Geometric Constraints automatically applies coincident constraints for Endpoint, Midpoint, Center, Node, and Insertion object snaps.
DYNAMIC INPUT
When Dynamic Input is ON, you can enter coordinate values in tooltips near the cursor. More on this in Lesson 11.
ORTHO MODE
Ortho restricts the movement of the cursor to Horizontal or Vertical. When Ortho is ON the cursor moves only in the horizontally or vertically. When Ortho is OFF the cursor moves freely in any direction.
POLAR TRACKING
Polar Tracking restricts cursor movement to specified increments along a polar angle. More on this in Lesson 11.
ISOMETRIC DRAFTING
Isometric drawing allows you to simulate a 3D object by aligning along 3 axes, these are Top, Right and Left, called Isoplanes. When the button is enabled you can toggle the Isoplanes by pressing the F5 key. Isometric Drafting is discussed in the Advanced AutoCAD Workbook.
OBJECT SNAP TRACKING
Object
