AutoCAD 2017 and AutoCAD LT 2017 ESSENTIALS

Abstract

The staying power of the AutoCAD® program is legendary in the ever-changing software industry, having been around for 35 years by the 2017 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. You’ll 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® 2017 and AutoCAD LT® 2017. AutoCAD LT is Autodesk’s 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. Who Should Read This Book 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 you’re interested in certification for AutoCAD 2017, 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.