is, creating gaps in — lines, polylines, circles, arcs, or splines. BReak also comes in handy if you need to split one object into two without actually removing any visible material.
If you want to create regularly spaced gaps in an object — so that it displays dashed, for instance — don’t use BReak. Use an AutoCAD dash-dot linetype instead. See Chapter 4 for more linetype information.
The following example shows how you BReak an object:
1. Click the Break button on the Modify toolbar.
AutoCAD prompts you to select a single object that you want to break:
Select object:
2. Select a single object, such as a line, polyline, or arc.
The point you pick when selecting the object serves double duty: It selects the object, of course, but it also becomes the default first break point (that is, it defines one side of the gap that you’ll create). Thus, you should either use one of the AutoCAD precision techniques, such as an object snap, to pick the object at a precise point, or use the First point option (described in the next step) to repick the first break point.
AutoCAD prompts you to specify the second break point, or to type F and press Enter if you want to respecify the first break point:
Specify second break point or [First point]:
3. If the point that you picked in the preceding step doesn’t also correspond to a break point (see the previous tip), type F and press Enter to respecify the first break point, and then pick the point with an object snap or other precision technique.
If you do type F and press Enter and then respecify the first break point, AutoCAD prompts you now to select the second break point:
Specify second break point:
4. Specify the second break point by picking a point or typing coordinates.
AutoCAD cuts a section out of the object, using the first and second break points to define the length of the gap.
If you want to cut an object into two pieces without removing anything, click the Break at Point button on the Modify toolbar. You first select the object and then choose a second point that defines where AutoCAD breaks the object in two. You can then move, copy, or otherwise manipulate each section of the original object as a separate object.
Whereas TRim, EXtend, and BReak alter one object at a time, the Fillet and CHamfer commands require a pair of objects. As Figure 6-13 shows, Fillet creates a curved corner between two lines, whereas CHamfer creates an angled, straight corner. In case you wondered, it’s pronounced “fill-et,” not “fill-eh.” Saying that you know how to “fill-eh” may get you a job in a butcher shop, but it will get you strange looks in a design office.
Figure 6-13: Cleaning up those corners with Fillet and CHamfer.
The following steps describe how to use the Fillet command:
1. Click the Fillet button on the Modify toolbar.
AutoCAD displays the current Fillet settings and prompts you to select the first object for filleting or specify one of three options:
Current settings: Mode = TRIM, Radius = 0.0000
Select first object or [Polyline/Radius/Trim/mUltiple]:
2. Type R and press Enter to set the fillet radius.
AutoCAD prompts you to specify the fillet radius that it uses for future fillet operations:
Specify fillet radius <0.0000>:
3. Type a fillet radius and press Enter.
The number you type will be the radius of the arc that joins the two lines.
Select first object or [Polyline/Radius/Trim/mUltiple]:
4. Select the first line of the pair that you want to fillet.
AutoCAD prompts you to select the second object for filleting:
Select second object:
5. Select the second line of the pair that you want to fillet.
AutoCAD fillets the two objects, drawing an arc of the radius that you specified in Step 3.
You can fillet two lines and specify a radius of zero to make them meet at a point. If you have lots of lines to fillet, whether with a zero or nonzero radius, use the Fillet command’s mUtliple option to speed the process.
The CHamfer command works similarly except that, instead of specifying a fillet distance, you specify either two chamfer distances or a chamfer length and angle.
Get a Grip
Although command-first editing is the most flexible and widespread editing style in AutoCAD, it’s not the only way.
Anything that you can do with grip editing can be done with command-first editing as well. In some situations, grip editing is a little more efficient or convenient than command-first editing, but command-first editing always gets the job done. If you master only one style of editing, make it command-first style. In other words, feel free to skip this section — at least until you’re comfortable with command-first editing.
Grips are little square handles that appear on an object after you select it.
In their simplest guise, AutoCAD grips work similar to the little squares on graphical objects in other Windows programs. But in AutoCAD, instead of clicking and dragging a grip, you must click, release the mouse button, move the cursor, and click again at the new location. (By separating the selection of beginning and ending points into two different operations, AutoCAD allows you to use different techniques — such as different object snap modes — to select each point.)
AutoCAD grips are, for sophisticated users, better than the grips found in most other programs, because you can do so much more with them. You can, for example, use AutoCAD grips to move, stretch, or copy an object. You also can use them to rotate an object, scale it to a different size, or
The following sections cover in detail the five grip-editing modes — Stretch, Move, Rotate, Scale, and Mirror. Follow these steps to explore the grip-editing modes:
1. Press Esc to make sure that no command is active and no objects are selected.
AutoCAD displays the naked command prompt — that is, no command is currently active:
Command:
2. Click an object on-screen to select it and display its grips.
Grips — solid blue squares on the selected object — appear at various points on the object. Note that the AutoCAD command prompt remains naked; you haven’t started a command or grip-editing operation yet.
3. Click another object.
