An Introduction to AutoCAD

Welcome to this book about Practical Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD LT 2021. This book covers the essential tools, commands, and features that you need to know to get up and running with Autodesk AutoCAD software.

Autodesk—the parent company that makes AutoCAD releases a new version of AutoCAD every year, and with the new release, comes an improved feature set, bug fixes, and new commands. AutoCAD is also the flagship product of Autodesk; it's been the core drafting software for years and it still has a dominant position in the CAD industry as a design and drafting tool.

With AutoCAD, you can make 2D drawings and 3D models and create photorealistic renderings for a presentation. Though popular in the industry as a drafting tool, AutoCAD is much more than that. It is feature-packed with 2D drafting, 3D modeling, drawing management tools, drawing collaboration tools, 3D rendering features, and most recently, cloud-based features have been added to the core AutoCAD package. 

The most recent One AutoCAD update now allows you to access other AutoCAD verticals, such as AutoCAD Electrical, Civil, and Architecture with your subscription, and with that, you now have access to a big library of blocks and tools that were only available in the respective vertical product.

In this book, we will use AutoCAD 2021 to explain the tools and commands, but you can use this book even if you are using older or newer versions of AutoCAD. Along with the usual commands and toolsets, this book also covers the new features of AutoCAD 2021.

We will cover the following topics in this chapter:

• AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD for Mac
• Understanding the AutoCAD user interface
• Navigating in AutoCAD
• Units and limits

So, let's get started with the technical requirements and the PC specification you need for the smooth functioning of Autodesk AutoCAD software.