Byrnes David, Middlebrook Mark. AutoCAD 2007 for Dummies

Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, 2006. — 410 p. — ISBN: 978-0-471-78649-8.It's amazing to think that AutoCAD came into being over two decades ago, at a time when most people thought that personal cpmputers weren't capable of industrial-strength tasks like CAD. (The acronym stands for Computer-Aided Drafting, Computer-Aided Design, or both, depending on whom you talk to). It's almost as amazing that, more than 20 years after its birth, AutoCAD remains the king of the microcomputer CAD hill by a tall margin. Many competing CAD programs have come to challenge AutoCAD; many have fallen, and a few are still around. One hears rumblings that the long-term future of CAD may belong to special-purpose, 3D-based software such as the Autodesk Inventor and Revit programs. Whether those rumblings amplify into a roar remains to be seen, but for the present and the near future anyway, AutoCAD is where the CAD action is.
In its evolution, AutoCAD has grown more complex, in part to keep up with the increasing complexity of the design and drafting processes that AutoCAD is intended to serve.
AutoCAD 2007 provides the tools for doing all these things, but it's not always easy to figure out which hammer to pick up or which nail to bang on first. With this book, you have an excellent chance of creating a presentable, usable, printable, and sharable drawing on your first or second try without putting a T square through your computer screen in frustration.AutoCAD 101
Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
Le Tour de AutoCAD 2007
A Lap Around the CAD Track
Setup for SuccessLet There Be Lines
Get Ready to Draw
Where to Draw the Line
Edit for Credit
A Zoom with a View
On a 3D SpreeIf Drawings Could Talk
Text with Character
Entering New Dimensions
Down the Hatch
The Plot ThickensShare and Share Alike
Playing Blocks and Rasteroids
Drawing on the InternetThe Part of Tens
Ten Ways to Do No Harm
Ten Ways to Swap Drawing Data with Other People and Programs