AutoCAD 2017 Drawing Setup Roadmap AutoCAD 2017’s drawing setup can seem complicated at first. This table lists the fundamental setup commands you should use to set up your drawings, what they do, and various ways to find them. Ribbon or Application Menu Command / Keyboard Description Your Action Model Space Step 1: Application menu→New Drawing NEW / Ctrl+N Opens the Select Template file dialog box Choose imperial (acad.dwt) or metric (adadiso.dwt). Step 2: Quick Access toolbar→Save QSAVE / Ctrl+S Opens the Save Drawing As file dialog box Specify a suitable name. Step 3: Application menu→Drawing Utilities→Units UNITS / UN Opens the Drawing Units dialog box Specify suitable settings Step 4: Right-click the status bar icon for Snap, Grid, Object Snap, Polar, or Object Snap Tracking DSETTINGS / DS Opens the Drafting Settings dialog box Click each dialog box tab to specify suitable settings for Snap, Grid, and so on. Step 5: View tab→Palettes tab→Properties LTSCALE / LTS Opens the Properties palette Specify a suitable linetype scale. Step 6: Annotate panel→Dimension tab→Flyout DIMSTYLE / DIMSTY Opens the Dimension Style Manager dialog box Specify suitable values for dimensions.
Step 7: Annotate panel→Text tab→Flyout STYLE / ST Opens the Text Style dialog box Specify suitable values for text parameters. Step 8: Application menu→Drawing Utilities→Drawing Properties DWGPROPS / DWG Opens the Drawing Properties dialog box Enter appropriate values. Paper Space Layouts Step 9: Right-click each Layout tab→Page Setup PAGESETUPMANAGER / PAGE Opens the Page Setup Manager dialog box Enter suitable values for paper size, plotter configuration, and so on. Model Space Step 10: Quick Access toolbar→Save QSAVE / Ctrl+S Opens the Save Drawing As file dialog box Switch File of Type to Template and specify a suitable name. After you complete the preceding steps, you’ll never need to repeat this sequence again for this particular setup.
By default, AutoCAD creates a white sheet with one viewport that displays the contents of your model space. More on that a little further on. First you have to setup your paper: Page Setup. Click right on the Layout tab and choose Page Setup Manager.: The following dialog will display.
Simply start new files from the template you saved in Step 10 and you are good to go. Top Keyboard Shortcuts in AutoCAD 2017 Since AutoCAD came into being more than 25 years ago, the one input method that’s remained constant is typing into the command line. This table lists useful keyboard shortcuts for AutoCAD 2017.