AutoCAD and Its Applications—Comprehensive 2013, 20th Edition Page 64 (66 of 1650)

64
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Basics
drawing windows. Select the
Tile Vertically
button to tile drawings in a vertical arrange-
ment, with the active window placed on the left. Pick the
Tile Horizontally
option to
tile drawings in a horizontal arrangement, with the active window placed on top. Pick
the
Cascade
option to arrange drawing windows in a cascading style. See Figure 2-11.
You can also switch drawing windows from the
Application Menu
by picking the
Open Documents
button shown in Figure 2-9. The
Open Documents
menu lists files fi
in the order you opened them. You can display open fi les as small icons, large icons, fi
small images, or large images by picking the appropriate option from the display
options fl yout. Pick a file fl from the list to activate the corresponding drawing window. fi
Quick View Drawings Tool
The
Quick View Drawings
tool allows you to see and control open AutoCAD
files without changing drawing windows. The quickest way to access the fi
Quick View
Drawings
tool is to pick the
Quick View Drawings
button on the status bar. The
Quick View
Drawings
tool appears in the lower center of the AutoCAD window. See Figure 2-12.
A thumbnail image and file name identify each open file. fi Files are arranged in the fi
order opened, with the fi le opened first fi on the left side of the row. The current file fi is fi
highlighted with a green frame and a bold name when you initially access the
Quick
View Drawings
tool. Move the cursor over a thumbnail to show additional options for
controlling the drawing window. You can also roll the mouse wheel to move between
thumbnails. Pick the highlighted thumbnail of a fi le to make the drawing window of fi
the file current. To adjust the size of the thumbnails, press and hold fi [Ctrl], then roll the
mouse wheel forward to enlarge or back to reduce the size.
The
Quick View Drawings
tool includes a small toolbar below the fi le thumbnail fi
images. See Figure 2-13. By default, the
Quick View Drawings
tool disappears when
you pick a thumbnail to switch fi les. To keep the tool on-screen after you select a fi
thumbnail, pick the
Pin Quick View Drawings
button on the left side of the toolbar.
The
New…
button activates the
QNEW
command, and the
Open…
button activates the
OPEN
command. The
New…
and
Open…
buttons are especially useful for starting a
new drawing or opening an existing drawing that relates to the current project. Select
the
Close Quick View Drawings
button to close the
Quick View Drawings
tool.
Figure 2-10.
A—Float drawing windows when more than one file is open to work efficiently between
drawings. B—Minimize drawing windows to display title bars only. Pick the title bar to
display a window control menu.
Inactive
windows
Active
window
Window
control buttons
Floating Windows Minimized Windows
Window
control menu
Minimized
drawings
A B

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64
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Basics
drawing windows. Select the
Tile Vertically
button to tile drawings in a vertical arrange-
ment, with the active window placed on the left. Pick the
Tile Horizontally
option to
tile drawings in a horizontal arrangement, with the active window placed on top. Pick
the
Cascade
option to arrange drawing windows in a cascading style. See Figure 2-11.
You can also switch drawing windows from the
Application Menu
by picking the
Open Documents
button shown in Figure 2-9. The
Open Documents
menu lists files fi
in the order you opened them. You can display open fi les as small icons, large icons, fi
small images, or large images by picking the appropriate option from the display
options fl yout. Pick a file fl from the list to activate the corresponding drawing window. fi
Quick View Drawings Tool
The
Quick View Drawings
tool allows you to see and control open AutoCAD
files without changing drawing windows. The quickest way to access the fi
Quick View
Drawings
tool is to pick the
Quick View Drawings
button on the status bar. The
Quick View
Drawings
tool appears in the lower center of the AutoCAD window. See Figure 2-12.
A thumbnail image and file name identify each open file. fi Files are arranged in the fi
order opened, with the fi le opened first fi on the left side of the row. The current file fi is fi
highlighted with a green frame and a bold name when you initially access the
Quick
View Drawings
tool. Move the cursor over a thumbnail to show additional options for
controlling the drawing window. You can also roll the mouse wheel to move between
thumbnails. Pick the highlighted thumbnail of a fi le to make the drawing window of fi
the file current. To adjust the size of the thumbnails, press and hold fi [Ctrl], then roll the
mouse wheel forward to enlarge or back to reduce the size.
The
Quick View Drawings
tool includes a small toolbar below the fi le thumbnail fi
images. See Figure 2-13. By default, the
Quick View Drawings
tool disappears when
you pick a thumbnail to switch fi les. To keep the tool on-screen after you select a fi
thumbnail, pick the
Pin Quick View Drawings
button on the left side of the toolbar.
The
New…
button activates the
QNEW
command, and the
Open…
button activates the
OPEN
command. The
New…
and
Open…
buttons are especially useful for starting a
new drawing or opening an existing drawing that relates to the current project. Select
the
Close Quick View Drawings
button to close the
Quick View Drawings
tool.
Figure 2-10.
A—Float drawing windows when more than one file is open to work efficiently between
drawings. B—Minimize drawing windows to display title bars only. Pick the title bar to
display a window control menu.
Inactive
windows
Active
window
Window
control buttons
Floating Windows Minimized Windows
Window
control menu
Minimized
drawings
A B

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Chapter 2 Drawings and Templates
63
Opening Old Files
When using AutoCAD 2013, you can open AutoCAD files created in AutoCAD fi
Release 12 or later. When you save a file from a previous release in AutoCAD 2013, fi
AutoCAD automatically updates the file to the current file fi format. A file fi saved in fi
AutoCAD 2013 displays in the
Preview
image tile in the
Select File
dialog box.
Opening as Read-Only or Partial Open
You can open fi les in various modes by selecting the appropriate option from the fi
Open
fl yout in the fl
Select File
dialog box. When you open a file as fi read-only, you y y
cannot save changes to the original file. However, you can make changes to the file fi fi
and then use the
SAVEAS
command to save changes using a different file name. This fi
technique ensures that the original fi le remains unchanged. fi
When opening a large drawing, you may choose to issue a partial open. This
allows you to open a portion of a drawing by selecting specific views and layers to fi
open. Views and layers are described later in this textbook. You can also partially open
a drawing in the read-only mode.
Managing Multiple Documents M a n a ging Multiple Document s
Most projects include several closely related files. Each file fi presents or organizes a fi
different aspect of the project. Examples of drawings for a mechanical drafting project
include an assembly drawing, subassembly drawings, and detail drawings of each
part. Examples of drawings for a basic architectural drafting project include a site
plan, a floor plan, electrical and plumbing plans, and details. You can open multiple fl
AutoCAD files at the same time to work with different portions of a project. Drag and fi
drop and similar operations allow you to easily share content between documents.
Controlling Windows
Each fi le you start or open in AutoCAD appears in its own drawing window. The fi
name of the active file appears on the AutoCAD window title bar and on the title bar fi
of a floating drawing window. Control drawing windows using the minimize, maxi- fl
mize, restore, and close buttons located in the upper-right corner of each window. See
Figure 2-10. Resize windows using standard window sizing operations.
The
User Interface
panel of the
View
ribbon tab provides one method to access
additional window management commands. Pick the
Switch Windows
fl yout to display fl
a list of all open files. Select a file fi from the flyout fi to activate. The fl
Tile
Horizontally,y
y
Tile
Vertically, and
y y Cascade
buttons allow you to control the arrangement of floating fl
CAUTION A O CA U A U T U T TI O N
Dragging and dropping an AutoCAD fi le into the drawing area fi
inserts the fi le as a block into the existing file. fi You must drop the file fi fi
onto the command line to open the file. fi
NOTEO N T OT OT TE
In order to view the original format of an older release file opened in fi
AutoCAD 2013, you must use the
SAVEAS
command to save it back to
the appropriate file format. fi
read-only:
Describes a drawing
file intended for
viewing only.
partial open:
Describes opening
a portion of a file by
specifying only the
views and layers you
want to see.

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Chapter 2 Drawings and Templates
65
Figure 2-11.
Examples of tiled and cascading floating drawing windows. The effect of tiling drawing
windows varies depending on the number of windows and the tile option you choose.
Vertical Tiling Horizontal Tiling
Cascading
Figure 2-12.
The
Quick View
Drawings
tool
offers an effective
visual method for
switching between
and controlling
open files.
Current
file
All files
currently
open
Pick to close the
highlighted file
Pick to save the
highlighted file
File name
Quick View
Drawings
button

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