Scott Onstott - AutoCAD 2016 and AutoCAD LT 2016 Essentials: Autodesk Official Press

Scott Onstott

Acquisitions Editor: Stephanie McComb
Development Editor: Candace Cuningham
Technical Editor: Ian le Cheminant
Production Editor: Christine O'Connor
Copy Editor: Kim Wimpsett
Editorial Manager: Mary Beth Wakefield
Production Manager: Kathleen Wisor
Associate Publisher: Jim Minatel
Book Designer: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreader: Jen Larsen, Word One New York
Indexer: Ted Laux
Project Coordinator, Cover: Brent Savage
Cover Designer: Wiley
Cover Image: mbbirdy/iStockphoto

Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-1-119-05918-9
ISBN: 978-1-119-05920-2 (ebk.)
ISBN: 978-1-119-05919-6 (ebk.)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015936337

TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. AutoCAD and Autodesk are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

A team of people has been instrumental in making this book you are holding in your hands or reading onscreen a reality. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the professional team at Sybex (an imprint of Wiley) for all their hard work. It has been a pleasure working with my acquisitions editor, Stephanie McComb; developmental editor, Candace Cunningham; technical editor, Ian le Cheminant; and members of the editorial staff.

Scott Onstott has published 11 books with Sybex prior to the present title: AutoCAD2015 and AutoCAD LT2015 Essentials, AutoCAD2014 and AutoCAD LT2014 Essentials, AutoCAD2013 and AutoCAD LT2013 Essentials, AutoCAD2012 and AutoCAD LT2012 Essentials, AdobePhotoshopCS6 Essentials, Enhancing Architectural Drawings and Modelswith Photoshop, AutoCAD: Professional Tips and Techniques (with Lynn Allen), Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop, Mastering AutodeskVIZ 2007 (with George Omura and Jon McFarland), Mastering AutodeskArchitectural Desktop 2006, and AutodeskVIZ 2005 (with George Omura). Scott has worked on more than 20 other technical books as contributing author, reviser, compilation editor, or technical editor.

He also wrote, narrated, and produced the Secrets in Plain Sight film series (volumes 1 and 2) and wrote Quantification: Illustrations from the Creator of Secrets in Plain Sight and Taking Measure: Explorations in Number, Architecture, and Consciousness.

Scott has a bachelor's degree in architecture from University of California, Berkeley, and is a former university instructor who now serves as a consultant and independent video producer. He has written a column in Photoshop UserMagazine since 2007. You can contact the author through his website at www.scottonstott.com or www.secretsinplainsight.com.

The staying power of the AutoCAD program is legendary in the ever-changing software industry, having been around for 34 years by the 2016 release. You can rest assured that spending your time learning AutoCAD will be a wise investment, and the skills you obtain in this book will be useful for years to come.

I welcome you in beginning the process of learning AutoCAD. It will give you great satisfaction to learn such a complex program and use it to design and document whatever you dream up. Youll find step-by-step tutorials that reveal a wide variety of techniques built on many years of real-world experience.

The first 14 chapters apply to both AutoCAD 2016 and AutoCAD LT 2016. AutoCAD LT is Autodesks lower-cost version of AutoCAD, and it has reduced capabilities. Chapters 15 through 18 are for full AutoCAD users only, because they cover advanced tools not available in AutoCAD LT, including attributes, 3D navigation, 3D modeling, and rendering.

This book is for students, hobbyists, professional architects, industrial designers, engineers, builders, landscape architects, or anyone who communicates through technical drawings as part of their work.

If youre interested in certification for AutoCAD 2016, this book can be a great resource to help you prepare. See www.autodesk.com/certification for more certification information and resources. This book also features an appendix that can help you focus your studies on the skills you will need for the certification exams.