Beginning AutoCAD 2017. Cheryl R. Shrock

segment. Place the cursor anywhere on the object and the cursor will snap like a magnet to the midpoint of the line. INTersectionSnaps to the intersections of any two objects. Place the cursor directly on top of the intersection or select one object and then the other and Autocad will locate the intersection. CENterSnaps to the center of an Arc, Circle or Donut. Place the cursor on the object, or at the approximate center location and the cursor will snap like a magnet to the center. Geometric CEnterSnaps to the centroid of any closed polylines and splines. Place the cursor anywhere on the object and the cursor will snap to the centroid of any closed polyline or spline. QUAdrantSnaps to a 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 or 9:00 o’clock location on a circle or ellipse. Place the cursor on the circle near the desired quadrant location and the cursor will snap to the closest quadrant. TANgentCalculates the tangent point of an Arc or Circle. Place the cursor on the object as near as possible to the expected tangent point. PERpendicularSnaps to a point perpendicular to the object selected. Place the cursor anywhere on the object then pull the cursor away from object and press the left mouse button.

       How to Use OBJECT SNAP

      The following is an example of attaching a line segment to previously drawn vertical lines. The new line will start from the upper endpoint, to the midpoint, to the lower endpoint.

      1. Turn Off SNAPMODE, ORTHOMODE and OBJECT SNAP on the Status Bar. (Gray is OFF)

      2. Select the Line command.

      3. Draw two vertical lines as shown below (they don’t have to be perfectly straight)

      4. Select the Line command again.

      5. Hold the shift key down and press the right mouse button.

      6. Select the Object snap Endpoint from the object snap menu.

      7. Place the cursor close to the upper endpoint of the left hand line.

       The cursor should snap to the end of the line like a magnet.

       A little square and an “Endpoint” tooltip are displayed.

      8. Press the left mouse button to attach the new line to the upper endpoint of the previously drawn vertical line. (Do not end the Line command yet.)

      9. Now hold the shift key down and press the right mouse button and select the Midpoint object snap option.

      10. Move the cursor to approximately the middle of the right hand vertical line.

      The cursor should snap to the midpoint of the line like a magnet.

      A little triangle with a “Midpoint” tool tip are displayed.

      11. Press the left mouse button to attach the new line to the midpoint of the previously drawn vertical line. (Do not end the Line command yet.)

      12. Now hold the shift key down and press the right mouse button and select the object snap Endpoint again.

      13. Move the cursor close to the lower endpoint of the left hand vertical line.

      The cursor should snap to the end of the line like a magnet.

      A little square and a tooltip are displayed.

      14. Press the left mouse button to attach the new line to the endpoint of the previously drawn vertical line.

      15. Stop the Line command and disconnect by pressing <enter>.

RUNNING OBJECT SNAP

      Selecting Object Snap is not difficult but AutoCAD has provided you with an additional method to increase your efficiency by allowing you to preset frequently used object snap options. This method is called RUNNING OBJECT SNAP.

      When Running Object Snap is active the cursor will automatically snap to any preset object snap locations thus eliminating the necessity of invoking the object snap menu for each locations.

      First you must set the running object snaps, and second, you must turn ON the Running Object Snap option.

       SETTING RUNNING OBJECT SNAP

      1. Select the Running Object Snap dialog box using one of the following:

       Keyboard = DS <enter>

       or

       Status Bar = Left Click on OBJECT SNAP button down arrow and select Object Snap Settings.

      2. Select the Object Snap tab.

      3. Select the Object Snaps desired.

      (In the example below object snap Endpoint, Midpoint and Intersection have been selected.

       Note:

       Try not to select more than 3 or 4 at one time.

       If you select too many the cursor will flit around trying to snap to multiple snap locations. And possibly snap to the wrong location.

       You will lose control and it will confuse you.

      4. Select the OK button.

      5. Turn ON the OBJECT SNAP button on the Status Bar. (Blue is ON)

      6. Now try drawing the line from the endpoint to the midpoint again but this time do not select the “Object Snap Menu”. Just move the cursor close to the endpoint and the cursor will automatically snap to the end of the line.

      7. Move the cursor to approximately the middle of the right hand vertical line and the cursor