allycad 2011 user guide

User Guide

Copyright 2010

Knowledge Base Software (Pty) Ltd

Conditions of Sale The purchaser (further referred to as the Licensee) hereby accepts a non-exclusive,

non-transferable license to use the software, AllyCAD, on the following conditions.

1. The license fee shall be payable in advance and this agreement commences on

said date of purchase.

2. A separate license fee is payable for each computer upon which the Licensee

wishes to have simultaneous use of the software.

3. It is the Licensee’s responsibility to insure the program for the full current

replacement value. In the event of theft or loss of the program, security disk

or security module, or damage to any of the foregoing, the license must be re-

purchased in full.

4. The Licensee undertakes not to copy, except for backup purposes, reproduce,

translate, adapt, vary or modify the software, nor to communicate the

software to any third party other than the Licensee’s employees, without the

Licensor’s prior written consent. The Licensee also undertakes not to bypass or

attempt to bypass the security measures incorporated in and supplied with

the program by any means whatsoever, including third-party applications

purporting to be a back-up system for hardware security devices.

5. The Licensee agrees that it shall not itself - nor through any subsidiary, agent

or third party - sell, lease, license, sub-license or otherwise deal with the

software.

6. The Licensee acknowledges that any and all of the intellectual property rights

including trademark, trade name, copyright and other rights used or

embodied in or in association with the software remain the sole property of

the Licensor and its principals.

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application of the software or it’s fitness for any particular purpose. The

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purchaser.

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and it’s manual, Knowledge Base Software (Pty) Ltd, it’s employees and agents

shall not be liable for any loss or damage (including in particular,

consequential losses, loss of profits and penalties) suffered by the Licensee

arising from any cause whatsoever in connection with the AllyCAD program or

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1-1 Where do I go from here? 1-1 Typefaces in this manual 1-1 How to get support 1-2

Online Help 1-2 Online Documentation 1-2

INSTALLATION AND STARTUP 2-1 What you need to know 2-1

System Requirements 2-1 Reading the README file 2-1

Installation 2-2 What is installed 2-2 Program Folder 2-2 Document Folders 2-2 Starting AllyCAD from Windows 2-3 Security 2-3 Safety Precautions 2-4 What to do now 2-4 Things You Should Know 2-4 Customizing AllyCAD 2-5

Conventions used in this manual 2-6

SCREEN, MOUSE AND KEYBOARD 3-1 Screen Layout 3-2

Prompt Area and Control Bar 3-6 Pen Selection 3-10 Line Style Display 3-11 Layer Display 3-11

Toolbars 3-12 Keyboard and Mouse 3-13

Keyboard 3-13 Mouse 3-18

ACCURATE DRAWING 4-1 Move an exact distance up, down, left, or right 4-2 Move an exact distance in a specific direction 4-3 Lock cursor to an exact angle (ortho mode) 4-4 Move to an exact coordinate location on the screen 4-5 Move exactly onto an existing part of the drawing 4-6

Jumps 4-7 Snap Modes 4-8

Drawing with a grid 4-9

GEOMETRY 5-1 Geometry elements 5-2

Properties of geometry 5-2 Using geometry as guidelines to trace over 5-3 Projecting solid lines and arcs to geometry lines and circles 5-4 Jumping to geometry lines, arcs and intersections 5-4

Snapping to geometry lines, arcs and intersections 5-4 Switching geometry on and off 5-7

Deleting geometry 5-7

TUTORIAL 1 - THE SCREEN 6-1 Important notes to read before you start 6-2

Open an existing drawing 6-3 Redraw to the paper extents 6-5

Magnifying and de-magnifying 6-6 Using the mouse wheel 6-6 Using the keyboard 6-6

Panning 6-8 Pan 6-8 Long Pan 6-9

Zooming 6-11 Splitting the screen into different views 6-13

Setting up views 6-13 Splitting the view horizontally 6-15 Joining views 6-15

Finally 6-16

TUTORIAL 2 - VIEWPORTS AND LAYOUTS 7-1 Drawing Space 7-2 Viewports 7-4 Layouts 7-7

TUTORIAL 3 - 3D DRAWING AND SOLID FORM 8-1 Viewing planes 8-2 Drawing Planes 8-4 3D Drawing 8-5 Adding Layers 8-6

Drawing the Mallet Head 8-6 View Directions 8-8 DP Elevation 8-8 Drawing Plane Snap 8-9 Defining the Drawing Plane using 3 Points 8-10 Setting Drawing Plane indicator position 8-11

Add Solid form to the Drawing using 3D Face 8-13 Drawing Plane Offset 8-14 Drawing the Mallet Handle 8-17 Add Solid form to the Drawing using 3D Face 8-20

APPENDIX A - TOOLBAR ICONS 9-1 Applications Toolbar 9-1 Dimensions Toolbar 9-2 Draw Toolbar 9-3 Drawing Plane Toolbar 9-5 Geometry Toolbar 9-6 Insert Toolbar 9-7 Jumps Toolbar 9-8 Lock Cursor Toolbar 9-9 Main Toolbar 9-9 Misc Toolbar 9-12 Modify Toolbar 9-13 Pens Toolbar 9-14 Scripts Toolbar 9-15 Settings Toolbar 9-15 Snaps Toolbar 9-17 Tools Toolbar 9-18 View Axis Toolbar 9-20 Zooms Toolbar 9-21 Screen Toolbar 9-22 Toolkit Toolbars 9-24

Introduction 1-1

Introduction

This manual will help you install AllyCAD 2010 and get started. It also includes easy-

to-follow tutorials for hands-on experience with the program.

Where do I go from here?

After reading this manual you should know the following:

• how to get AllyCAD up and running

• use the menus and the on-line help system

• how to draw accurately

• how to use geometry (construction) lines

• how to start a 3D drawing

Typefaces in this manual

The different typefaces in this manual are used as follows:

Monospace This typeface represents text as it appears onscreen such as

prompts.

Italics Italics are used for emphasis and to introduce new terms.

[Enter] This indicates a key on your keyboard.

For example:

Press [Enter] to complete the entry.

Command This typeface indicates a menu option or a command.

For example:

Click on the Open icon to load a drawing.

��

This button on the control bar is used to accept a setting or

function.

�� This button in the control bar is used to cancel a setting or

function.

Menu commands appear with the path separated by an arrow. The instruction

Draw ► Ellipses ► Ellipse refers to the command you choose by opening the Draw

menu, the Ellipses sub-menu, and by choosing the Ellipse option.

1-2 AllyCAD 2010

How to get support

Technical support is available from 08.00 to 17.00 (CAT/GMT+2) Mondays to

Fridays excluding public holidays.

South Africa 086 0101 999

International +27 21 7011850

You can also email your support enquiries to our Customer Support Centre at

[email protected]

Online Help

While using the program you can press F1 for context sensitive help at any time.

The help items can be printed if required using the Windows Help system.

Online Documentation

The User Guide is also supplied on the CD-ROM in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. This

allows you to browse through the manual, to search for specific subjects, and to

print out all or any selection of pages.

mailto:[email protected]

Installation and Startup 2-1

Installation and Startup

Before you begin working:

• check the contents of your package

• make sure that your hardware satisfies the requirements

• run the installation program

• plug the security module into your USB port

• start AllyCAD.

What you need to know

This manual assumes that you are familiar with basic Windows operations. If you

are not, you should read the documentation that came with your copy of Windows

before installing and using the program.

System Requirements

Before you install AllyCAD, ensure that your hardware and system software meets

the following requirements:

• 2.2MHz Core Duo or better

• 2GB or more RAM (4GB or more recommended)

• 200Mb or more free hard disk space

• Microsoft Windows XP/Vista or later.

• A screen sub-system configured to a resolution of at least 1024 x 800.

• CD-ROM drive

All printers, plotters, screens, and mice are supported via Windows. If Windows

does not include a driver for your particular printer or plotter, please contact your

printer or plotter manufacturer. They should be able to provide you with a

Windows driver for your device.

Reading the README file

Any last-minute changes or additions to AllyCAD are documented in the

README.TXT file. When the Setup program has finished installing AllyCAD on your

hard disk it displays the README file. You can view the README file using Windows

WordPad and print the contents at any stage.

2-2 AllyCAD 2010

Installation

1. Insert the program CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2. If the installation program does not start automatically and you are using

Windows XP/Vista or later, click on Start ► Run to run the SETUP program on

the CD.

3. Follow the prompts of the AllyCAD installation program. AllyCAD will be

installed in the folder that you choose.

What is installed

The Setup program creates a number of folders and also modifies the Windows

Registry. These changes are explained in the following sections.

Program Folder

The folder that AllyCAD is installed into is called your Program Home folder. Unless

you specified another name when you installed AllyCAD, your Program Home

folder is called AllyCAD 2010 and is installed as a sub-folder of Program

Files\Knowledge Base Software. It also contains the Manuals sub-folder where the

on-line version of the printed documentation is stored.

Document Folders

Additional files are installed in a sub-folder of the Shared Documents folder

(Windows XP) or the Public Documents folder (Windows Vista). The sub-folder is

named Knowledge Base Software and it also contains a number of sub-folders:

Knowledge Base Software

2D Symbols

AllyCAD 2010

Security

Sheetfiles

2D Symbols sub-folder

By default, Symbols is the folder where the program looks for block files (symbol

files in AllyCAd 3.x) when you use File ► Insert Block. The symbol folder will


contain some sample block files as well as symbol files for you to use when you are

working with the Architectural toolkit.

AllyCAD 2010 sub-folder

This folder contains the menu, toolbar and styles files.

Security sub-folder

This folder contains files related to disk-based security and should under no

circumstances be altered or deleted.

Sheetfiles

The Sheetfiles sub-folder contains basic sheet layouts which include the title block

layout.

Starting AllyCAD from Windows

Once installation is complete, you can run the CAD by clicking on:

Start ► Programs ► AllyCAD 2010 ►AllyCAD 2010

To exit from inside AllyCAD, select File ► Exit.

Security

Before you can use the CAD you must call for an authorization code as follows:

1. Start the program.

2. Ensure that the security module is plugged into your USB port.

3. Select the File ► Security ► Authorize option.

4. A dialog box with your program code will be displayed. Contact your support

centre for your return code or click on the Save button and email the support

centre with the contents of the AUTHORISATION.TXT file.

5. Input the return code and press the [Authorize] button.

You are now ready to go. For more details refer to Security in the online help.

2-4 AllyCAD 2010

Safety Precautions

Please insure your program for the full replacement value. Should your security

module be lost or stolen you will have to purchase a new license.

What to do now

While the CAD is easy to use even without a manual, you will get up and running

more quickly if you read the following chapters:

• Screen, Mouse and Keyboard

• Accurate Drawing

• Geometry

• Shortcuts

Once you begin working on your own drawings you can consult the relevant

chapters of the help file for explanations of individual commands, and as you gain

confidence you can start customising the CAD to your own requirements.

Many CAD functions have short cuts associated with them. In order to get the best

out of the CAD we strongly recommend that you learn these. You can also define

your own short cuts using the Accelerator Editor.

Things You Should Know

If you read nothing else you should read the following chapters as they contain

information that is vital for producing accurate drawings quickly.

Screen, Mouse and Keyboard is an introduction to the CAD screen and the terms

used to describe its components.

Accurate Drawing lists methods of absolute, relative and polar cursor movement.

Geometry explains how to set up construction lines.


Customizing AllyCAD

Once you have enough confidence, you can customise AllyCAD to suit your own

requirements.

You can delete functions that you don't use using the Menu Editor, and add your

own functions using AllyCAD's scripting language.

You can totally re-arrange the menu system, and replace the functions on the icons

in the toolbar with the functions you use most often. You can also select certain

icons to sit on the various toolbars.

The following tools allow you to customise AllyCAD:

• Accelerator Editor

Customise the shortcut keys.

• Linestyle Editor

Create and edit your own line types.

• Menu Editor

Customise AllyCAD's menus.

• Palette Editor

Create and edit your own pen colours.

• Toolbar Editor

Customise AllyCAD's toolbars.

• Scripting

AllyCAD's scripting language allows you to develop new functions or

automate a series of existing functions. Refer to the on-line help for further

detail.

2-6 AllyCAD 2010

Conventions used in this manual

The following conventions are used in the manual.

Menus and Functions

All the functions in AllyCAD are described in detail in Chapters 1 - 10 of the online

Reference Manual. (Remember however that the menus are completely

customisable).

These are often accessible via various routes - by clicking on the functions in the

menu, via the keyboard (a short-cut key), and also by clicking on the respective icon

for that function.

Mouse

In this manual, clicking refers to pressing and releasing your left mouse button

quickly unless otherwise specified. When a click with your right mouse button is

required, the terms right click or right clicking are used.

Diagrams

All diagrams are shown with the cursor in Freehand mode except where AllyCAD

automatically uses one of the snap modes.

Screen, Mouse and Keyboard 3-1

Screen, Mouse and Keyboard

This section describes the various components that make up the CAD screen. These

are the:

• Title Bar

• Menu Bar

• Prompt Area and Control Bar

• Line Type Display

• Layer Display

• Toolbars

• Drawing Area

• Smart Cursor Help

• Coordinate Display

• Mouse

• Keyboard

3-2 AllyCAD 2010

Screen Layout

The CAD screen is divided into several parts, as shown below. Note that your layout

will not necessarily look like this as we have enabled a number of optional items in

order to pack the maximum amount of information into the image.

Specific areas of importance are explained below:.

A Menu

Access the various program functions by selecting menu items.

B Pen, Layer, Linetype, Width and Height

These are buttons, combo boxes and edit fields where you can change

drawing settings on the fly.

C Prompt/Bar Area

This area displays prompts while working or, for more complicated

procedures, displays a combination bar consisting of its own prompt area

and various buttons, etc. for making settings while working. An example of

such a bar is shown below:


D Drawing Area

This, fairly obviously, is where all drawing takes place. If the drawing area

is subdivided into view ports then the active viewport (the one you can

draw in) is outlined in yellow.

E Toolbars

These are user-defined bars containing shortcut buttons for the various

functions. Toolbars can be docked on any edge of the main window, or can

be floating.

If the mouse cursor is hovered over a toolbar button then a help

description for that button is displayed in the Status bar and, if held over

the button long enough, a tooltip window is also displayed

F Properties Bar

This is used to quickly change various properties of the currently selected

entity or entities. If no entity is currently selected then the property bar

shows (and enables changes to) the current drawing settings (Pen, Layer,

Linetype, Width and Height).

G Paper Border

This indicates the extent of the defined paper . You would normally draw

within this paper extent in order to correctly position your drawing when

printing.

H Last Snap/Jump Indicator

This cross marks the last position where some sort of snap or jump was

completed. It will be the start position when moving the drawing cursor via

the arrow keys or a polar jump.

I Scrollbars

Use the scrollbars to pan the drawing vertically or horizontally by half the

screen for every click.

J Drawing Plane Indicator

This is similar to the View Plane Indicator except that it uses coloured

arrows to indicate the relevant axes. It relates to the plane on which

drawing is currently taking place which is not necessarily the same as the

view plane. For instance, the view of a house might be set to the south-

east corner but you want to draw a door in the left side wall. In this case

the drawing plane would be set parallel to the wall and therefore does not

match the view plane.

K Ruler

This gives an indication of the current scale of the drawing (or the active

view port).

3-4 AllyCAD 2010

L View Plane Indicator

Being a 3D CAD, your view of the drawing can be rotated to any angle. This

indicator, which is a cube with sides marked T (for top), F (for front) and L

(for left), gives you an idea of the current rotation of the drawing axes.

M Drawing/Layout Tabs

AllyCAD, for each drawing, allows one drawing page and multiple layout

pages. Layout pages are used for printing and normally contain some sort

of view of the data in the drawing page. These tabs are used to switch

between the drawing page and any existing layout page. Right-clicking one

of these tabs opens a menu with options to insert new layout pages or to

delete existing layouts.

N Control Centre

This bar displays information relating to the current drawing.

O Output Bar

This bar is used to display information relevant to certain tasks carried out.

P Scale/Paper Indicator

AllyCAD works in a particular scale on a particular paper size (both user

selectable). This indicator is just a reminder of what scale and paper size

have been selected.

Q Lock Indicator

The current cursor lock angle, if any, will be displayed here.

R Cursor Coordinate

This displays the current position of the mouse or digitiser cursor in X

(horizontal), Y (vertical) and Z (elevation) planes.

S Filter Toggle

This toggles the selection filter on or off. When toggling on, the entity

selection filter is displayed which allows you to specify in detail what types

of entity may be part of a selection set.

T Visual Snap Toggle

This toggles the display of the Visual Snap indicator. When using a drawing

function in conjunction with a snap mode (other than Freehand Snap) with

this toggled on, a small marker is displayed to indicate where the snap

point would be if you clicked with the left mouse button or the first

digitiser button.

U DP/3D Snap Toggle

This toggles between snapping on the current drawing plane (DP) and

snapping to a 3D coordinate. Normally the snap modes pick up the current

elevation from the entity on which the snap is made. With DP snap toggled

on, the elevation is determined by projecting the snap point onto the DP.


V DP/World Coordinate Toggle

This toggles the Cursor Coordinate between displaying coordinates relative

to the current drawing plane and true 3D coordinates.

W Keyboard Indicators

Shows whether Caps Lock and Num Lock are on or not.

3-6 AllyCAD 2010

Prompt Area and Control Bar

Prompts will be displayed in the prompt area asking for input or telling you what to

do. You type information, answer questions or select options in the Control Bar.

There are several types of prompts and responses.

You are prompted to enter a point or position

If you are prompted to enter a point or a position, for example the first point of a

line, position the cursor in the Drawing Area. Then press [Enter] or click to accept

the position.

You are prompted to enter information

Some prompts expect you to type information into the Control Bar.

In this example, the CAD is asking how far you want to move to the right after you

have pressed the [Right-Arrow] key. A default answer 10 is given.

If you want to accept the default answer, click on the OK button or press

[Enter].

If you want to change the default answer, simply type the answer you want. So

long as the default answer is highlighted, it will automatically be overtyped.

Alternatively, click in the white part of the Control Bar and use the arrow and

backspace keys to delete the default answer. Then type the answer you want.

When the answer is to your satisfaction, accept it by clicking on the OK button or

pressing [Enter].

If you want to terminate the function click on the Cancel button.

Various options are displayed on the Control Bar

When you select some functions a row of options appear on the Control Bar. You

need to edit these options to your satisfaction before responding to the prompt in

the Prompt Area.


In this example, you need to select a symbol or block - either by name or by

viewing it, then specify the rotation, scale, mirror and snip options of the symbol.

When you have done this, you can respond to the prompt

Indicate block insertion point

by positioning the cursor where you want the symbol to appear and pressing

[Enter] or clicking to accept this position.

You are prompted to enter a polygon around something

In many CAD functions (e.g. Edit ► Select by Polygon, Modify ► Stretch, etc.) you

are asked to enter a polygon around something. The function then operates on the

part of the drawing inside this polygon. You can either draw a regular box around

the part of your drawing to be operated on or, if it is an irregular shape, you can

draw an irregular polygon around it.

To draw a regular box, you must respond to the prompts as follows:

Position the cursor at one corner of the box that

will enclose the part of the drawing to be

operated on and press [Enter] or click.

AllyCAD will prompt:

3-8 AllyCAD 2010

Move the cursor to the diagonally opposite

corner of the box to enclose the part of the

drawing to be operated on.

As you move the cursor, you will see it is

attached to a box with a diagonal line through it.

Right-click and select the Finish option.

The function you are using will now resume.

To draw an irregular polygon around the part of the drawing to be operated on,

you must respond to the prompts as follows.

Position the cursor at the first vertex of the

polygon and press [Enter] or click.


Move the cursor to the next vertex on the

polygon boundary. As you move the cursor, you

will see it is attached to a box with a diagonal

line through it.

Left-click to indicate the next vertex of the

polygon.

AllyCAD will now prompt:


As you move the cursor AllyCAD will display a

polyline of the vertices.

Indicate the next vertex and left-click.

AllyCAD will continue to prompt:

AllyCAD will now display a closed polygon based

on the indicated vertices.

Continue to enter polygon vertices. When you

have entered the last vertex, right-click and

select the Finish option.

Right-click and select the Quit option to finish the selection process.

3-10 AllyCAD 2010

Pen Selection

To change the current pen or colour simply click on the current pen button on the

control bar. The Colour Selection window will be displayed.

Select a colour from the displayed palette or click on the More colours… option to

define a custom colour from the full range supported by the operating system.

You can specify which palette you wish to use in the Settings ► System Settings

option. Choices include legacy AllyCAD, AutoCAD, Microstation, Caddie and

Ultimate CAD. The palette will only be available on new drawings.

You can also change the palette in the Settings ► View Settings option. The palette

selection will be saved with the drawing.

You can customise any or all of the 255 pens that are available using the Palette

Editor which can be accessed from the Programs ► AllyCAD 2010 ► Tools ►

Palette Editor option.

Many colours will not display properly unless your graphics card is set to display

32 bit colour, also known as TrueColor.


There is also a Colour toolbar, usually at the right side of the CAD screen. This

toolbar only lists the first 16 colour choices, unless you have selected the 31 pen

toolbar option in the System Settings.

Line Style Display

The Line Style Display displays the currently selected line style. To change line style,

click on the arrow to the right of the display. A list of line styles are displayed. Click

on the one you want to use.

If you select the By Layer option, AllyCAD will use the line types assigned to each

layer in the Settings ► Layer Settings option.

You can also change line type using Settings ► Line Styles or by double-clicking

on your preferred line style in the Control Centre window.

Layer Display

The Layer Display displays the currently selected layer. Everything that you draw

appears on this current layer. To change the current layer, click on the arrow to the

right of the display. A list of layers appears. Click on the one you want to use.

You can also change the current layer using the Settings ► Set Current Layer

function. You can change the current layer and add further layers to your drawing

using the Settings ► Layer Control function.

3-12 AllyCAD 2010

Toolbars

There are 24 toolbars which can be displayed and positioned selectively.

Click on View ►Toolbars or the toolbar icon to select which toolbars must

be visible. A list with the names of the toolbars pops up. Those that are

currently visible have a tick next to them.

Check or un-check the box next to the names to display or hide the relevant

toolbars.

If you have made it visible you can now position it anywhere on the screen. If you

drag the toolbar very close to an edge of the screen, you will see that it changes to

align itself to that edge. Let go of the mouse button to dock it in that position if you

wish.

Each icon in the toolbars represents a short cut to a function. As you move the

cursor over a button on a toolbar a tool-tip will be displayed explaining the

functions assigned to the button. The Smart Cursor Help on the status bar at the

bottom of the CAD window will also tell you what it does.

You can customise the toolbars using the Toolbar Editor.


Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse are both used when drawing with AllyCAD 2010.

Keyboard

The keyboard is used to input data for example distances to move, coordinate to

move to, measurements, text etc. There are also a number of keyboard short cut

options or accelerator keys that may be used to activate functions in AllyCAD. The

default functions assigned to keys on the keyboard are listed below. The function

assigned to each key is specified in the Cad.acc file. To customize the shortcut keys,

use the Accelerator Editor.

Jumps

Key Function Description

0 (zero) JUMPINT Jump to nearest intersection.

* JUMPCP Jump to the centre of the nearest circle

entity.

A JUMPGRABALL Jump to a point within the GrabAll cursor.

C JUMPMID Jump to midpoint of the nearest line.

E JUMPNEARCP Jump to the centre point of the nearest circle

or arc.

G JUMPGRD Jump to the nearest grid point.

I JUMPGEOM Jump to the nearest geometry intersection.

J JUMP Jumps to the nearest point.

N JUMPNEAR Jumps to the nearest point on the nearest

element.

3-14 AllyCAD 2010


O JUMPRATIO Jumps to a given ratio between the ends of

the nearest line.

P JUMPPOLAR Jumps a specified diatance at a specified

bearing.

U JUMPCOORD Jumps to specified coordinates.

V JUMPCIRCLEQUAD Jumps to the nearest quadrant point of a

circle.

X JUMPLAST Jumps to the last entered point.

Snaps


Shift + A SNAPGRABALL GrabAll snap mode (see Snap GrabAll).

Shift + *

(Multiply)

SNAPNEARCEN Snap to the centre point of the nearest circle

or arc when positioned near the entity.

Shift + C SNAPRATIO Snap to a specified ratio distance along an

entity.

Shift + E SNAPCEN Snap to the nearest centre point.

Shift + F SNAPFREE Freehand snap mode (see Snap Free).

Shift + G SNAPGRID Nearest grid point snap (see Snap Grid).

Shift + I SNAPGEOINTp Nearest geometry intersection snap mode

(see Snap Geometry Intersection).

Shift + J SNAPJUMP Nearest point snap mode (see Snap Nearest)

Shift + M SNAPMID Snap to midpoint of the nearest line (see

Snap Midpoint).

Shift + N SNAPNEAR Snap to the closest point on the nearest

element (see Snap Nearest).

Shift + P SNAPPERP Perpendicular snap mode (see Snap

Perpendicular).

Shift + T SNAPTAN Tangent snap mode (see Snap Tangent).

Shift + Z SNAPINTERSECT Intersection snap mode (see Snap

Intersection).


Navigation


D DEMAGNIFY Zoom out towards the cursor.

H HOME Move the cursor to the middle of the screen.

M MAGNIFY Zoom in towards the cursor.

R REDRAW Zoom to the paper extents.

S REFRESH Redraw the current view at the current

magnification factor.

W PAN Pan to the cursor (ie: centre the view on the

cursor position).

Z ZOOMMENU Pops up the zoom menu, from which you

can select a zoom function.

; LONGPAN Pan to another part of your drawing by using

a “birds eye view” of your drawing to specify

the pan target.

Editing


Ctrl + A SELECTALL Select everything in the drawing that is on a

selectable layer.

Ctrl + C COPY Copy the selected entities to the clipboard.

Delete DELSELECT Remove the selected entities from the

drawing.

K LOCKMENU Pop up the lock menu.

Ctrl + K LOCKANGL Select the angle of the cursor movement to

be the same as a selected line.

L VISIBLELAYERS Set layer visibility.

Ctrl + L DRAWLINESCHAINED Select an entity in a layer to change that

layer to the current layer.

Shift + L CURRENTENTITY Select an entity in a layer to change that

layer to the current layer.

T TAKELINEPEN Set current pen colour, line style and line

weight from the nearest entity.

3-16 AllyCAD 2010


Ctrl + U LOCKANGU Unlock cursor angle.

Ctrl + V PASTE Paste the entities on the clip board into the

drawing.

Ctrl + X or

Shift + Delete

CUT Cut the selected entities (ie: remove them

from the drawing and place them on the

clipboard).

Ctrl + Y REDO Redo the last “undo”.

Y YPERP Change the chosen angle of cursor

movement by 90°.

Ctrl + Z UNDO Undo the last editing action.

. (period) ISO120 Switch the cursor angle between the three

angles required for isometric drawing.

+ (numeric

keypad)

CURSORHOLD Lock the cursor so you can only draw

horizontally and vertically, or at two other

previously specified orthogonal angles.

Up (arrow) ASKMOVEUP Move the cursor upwards by a distance you

will be prompted to enter.

Left (arrow) ASKMOVELEFT Move the cursor to the left by a distance you

will be prompted to enter.

Right (arrow) ASKMOVERIGHT Move the cursor to the right by a distance

you will be prompted to enter.

Down (arrow) ASKMOVEDOWN Move the cursor downwards by a distance

you will be prompted to enter.

Shift + Up

arrow

MOVEUP Move the cursor up by the last distance

entered.

Shift + Left

arrow

MOVELEFT Move the cursor left by the last distance

entered.

Shift + Right

arrow

MOVERIGHT Move the cursor right by the last distance

entered.

Shift + Down

arrow

MOVEDOWN Move the cursor down by the last distance

entered.

F4 PROPERTIES Opens the Properties bar.

F5 TOGGLEFILTER Toggle the selection filter on or off.

F6 TOGGLEVSNAP Toggle visual snap indicators on or off.



F7 TOGGLEDPSNAP Toggle DP snap on or off.

F8 TOGGLEDPLOCAL Toggle DP local coordinate display on or off.

File Handling


Ctrl + O or

Ctrl + F12

OPEN Open an existing drawing.

Ctrl + S or F12 SAVE Save the current drawing.

Ctrl + N NEW Create a new drawing.

Ctrl + P PRINT Print the current drawing.

Shift + P PRINTPREVIEW View a print preview of the current drawing.

Shift + F12 SAVEAS Save your drawing for the first time or with a

new name.

Alt + F4 EXIT Exit AllyCAD.

3-18 AllyCAD 2010

Mouse

The mouse offers both left and right click options. The left click is the standard

selection method.

If you right clicked on the screen with no functions selected you will be presented

with the following dialog box.

If you right click when a draw function is selected you will be presented with this

dialog box.

The Mouse Wheel will allow you to Zoom in and out. If you roll the Mouse Wheel

forward it will Zoom in on the area where the cursor is positioned and if you roll it

backwards it will Zoom out about the area the cursor is positioned.


By double clicking on the Mouse Wheel the Screen toolkit will be displayed as

shown below.

Lastly by depressing the Mouse Wheel and holding it down you are able to Pan

around the drawing around the position of the cursor.

Accurate Drawing 4-1

Accurate Drawing

This chapter lists the methods of accurate cursor movement that allow you to draw

exactly.

The functions listed in this section can be used to position the cursor in preparation

for doing something. For example, you can move the cursor to an exact position

and then draw a geometry line through that position.

Alternatively, they can be used while you are drawing to precise measurements.

For example, you can use them while you are drawing a line, to ensure that the line

is the right length or ends at a particular place.

You can also use some of the methods described here to move selected items or

highlighted nodes on your drawing by fine increments. This feature is called Nudge.

See Move an exact distance up, down, left, right and Move diagonally by giving

exact horizontal / vertical distances.

The items discussed are:

• Move an exact distance up, down, left, or right

• Move diagonally

• Move an exact distance in a specific direction

• Lock cursor movement to an exact angle (ortho mode)

• Move to an exact coordinate location on the screen

• Move exactly to the screen centre

• Move exactly onto an existing part of the drawing

• Drawing with a grid

4-2 AllyCAD 2010

Move an exact distance up, down, left, or right

If the cursor is in Select or Select Jump mode the method described here will move

selected items on your drawing. If the cursor is in Node mode it will move the

highlighted node. If the cursor is any other mode only it will be moved.

This feature is called Nudge, and is useful for moving selected items and

highlighted nodes in very small, precise increments.

[Right Arrow] key

[Left Arrow] key [Up Arrow] key

[Down Arrow] key

To move the cursor, selected items or highlighted nodes an exact distance up,

down, to the left or to the right, press the [Up-Arrow], [Down-Arrow], [Left-Arrow]

or [Right-Arrow] key on your keyboard - whichever one points in the direction you

want to move in.

If you are using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad, ensure that your NUM

LOCK light is off.

When you press an arrow key you will be asked how far you want to move, for

example:

Type the distance you want to move. This distance is measured in the units that

you have chosen in the Settings ► Drawing Settings function. When you have

typed the distance or calculation, click on OK or press [Enter]. The cursor, selected

items, or highlighted nodes will move.

If you press the [Shift] key at the same time as you press an arrow key, the cursor,

selected items or highlighted nodes will automatically move in the direction


indicated by the arrow. They will move the same distance that you specified the

last time you typed how far you wanted to move in that direction.

See Select and Selection Filters in the Edit Menu for details on how to select

entities and objects. See Select Nodes in the Edit Menu for details on nodes.

Move an exact distance in a specific direction

To move the cursor an exact distance in a specific direction, use the Polar

command (see Jumps in the Tools menu).

This function can be accessed in three ways:

• By pressing the [P] key on the keyboard.

• From the toolbar. Click on the Polar jump icon.

• By using the Tools ► Jumps ► Polar function.

30°

40

The Polar function requires you to enter a distance and an angle. The way in which

the angle is measured (e.g. anti-clockwise from the 3 o'clock position) is dependent

on the way you have set up the Angular Format in the Drawing Settings in the

Settings menu.

4-4 AllyCAD 2010

Lock cursor to an exact angle (ortho mode)

Drawing horizontal and vertical lines

You can draw horizontal and vertical lines using the arrow keys - see Move an exact

distance up, down, left, or right earlier in this chapter.

Using the Set Square Icon

Enter the function you want to use. For example, choose Draw ► Chained

Line and enter the first point of the line.

Lock the cursor by doing one of the following:

• Press the gray [+] key on the numeric keypad.

• Click on the Set Square icon.

• Select the Tools ► Lock Cursor ► Hold command.

You will now only be able to draw horizontally or vertically and a diamond will

appear at the end of the line you are drawing. You will be able to move the cursor

away from the end of the line you are drawing and snap it onto another entity,

forcing the line you are drawing to end in line with the other entity.

The cursor will automatically unlock when you exit the line drawing function.

However to unlock it manually, do any of the 3 points listed above.

Drawing at other angles

To draw at a non-horizontal angle and its orthogonal, rather like using a set square,

you must first use the Tools ► Lock Cursor function to choose the angle at which

you want to draw. Your chosen angle is then displayed at the bottom right of the

screen. See Lock Cursor in the Tools Menu.

To draw at your chosen angle, enter the function you want to use. For example,

choose Draw ► Chained Line and enter the first point of the line. Then lock the

cursor as described above.

The cursor movement is locked to the specified angle. Once you have locked the

cursor, there are two methods of drawing accurately:


Drawing accurately using the arrow keys

While the cursor is locked, you can draw lines of accurate length using the Arrow

keys. For example, if the cursor is locked at 60 degrees, the four arrow keys will

move the cursor in quadrants of 60 degrees.

Unlocking the cursor

The cursor will automatically unlock when you exit the Line function. However to

unlock it manually, use the Tools ► Lock Cursor ► Unlock function. Your chosen

angle will still be displayed at the bottom right of the screen until you select the

Tools ► Lock Cursor ► Unlock function.

Move to an exact coordinate location on the screen

To move to a specific coordinate location on the screen, for example the

coordinate position 60 –15, use the Coordinate jump (see the Jumps option in the

Tools menu). This function can be accessed in three ways:

• By pressing the [U] key on the keyboard

• By using the Tools ► Jumps ► Coordinate function from the menu

• By clicking on the Coordinate jump icon

Move exactly to the screen centre

To move to the screen centre, use the Tools ►Jumps ► Home function. Home

moves the cursor to the screen centre whether your screen is magnified, de-

magnified, zoomed or not zoomed. You can also press the [H] key on the keyboard.

4-6 AllyCAD 2010

Move exactly onto an existing part of the drawing

There are two ways of moving exactly onto an existing part of a drawing:

• Jumps or

• Snap modes

A Jump moves your cursor exactly onto an existing part of the drawing, for example

onto the end of a line. It is performed on demand. If you want to accept the point

that you have jumped to, for example as the first point of a line, or as a point

through which a geometry line must pass, etc., you must press [Enter] or your left

mouse button. If you move your mouse off the exact position before you press

[Enter] or your left mouse button, the point will be lost and you will have to

perform the jump again.

When you are in a Snap mode, the cursor moves exactly onto an existing part of the

drawing and the point that is snapped onto is accepted. This action is performed

each time you press [Enter] or the left mouse button.

A Snap mode is useful if you must continuously snap onto the same type of point,

for example if you are drawing lines between grid points and must continually snap

onto those grid points. The Snap mode saves you having to jump to the point and

then accept it as two separate actions.


Jumps

The following Jumps can either be accessed from the Jumps option of the Tools

menu or by pressing the relevant key on the keyboard.

Jump Key Icon Function

Grab All A

Jumps to anything within the cursor box. This

function is only operational when you are in the

Grab All snap.

Geometry

Intersection

I

Jumps to the nearest intersection of geometry

lines or the nearest geometry tangency point.

Grid G

Jumps to the nearest grid point.

Any Intersection 0

(zero) Jumps to the nearest intersection, solid or

geometry.

Point J

Jumps to the nearest point, e.g. end of line, arc

centre etc.

Circle Centre *

Jumps to the nearest circle centre.

Near Element N

Jumps to the nearest line or arc, geometry or

solid.

Last Fixed X

Jumps to the last point that you fixed, i.e.

accepted by pressing [Enter] or clicking. A x on

the screen marks this point.

Midpoint C

Jumps to the midpoint of a line.

Ratio O

Jumps to a particular distance along a line or

between two points. For example halfway (0.5

or 1/2), a third (0.33 or 1/3) etc.

Coord U

Jumps to a defined coordinate

Polar P

Moves the cursor a specified distance and angle

Circle Quadrant V

Moves cursor to a quadrant position on the

indicated circle’s perimeter

Near Circle E

Moves cursor onto the centre point of the

nearest circle

4-8 AllyCAD 2010

Snap Modes

Clicking on the snap icons on the Snaps toolbar accesses the Snap modes. The Snap

modes can also be accessed from accelerator keys. You can tell which mode you

are in by the shape of the cursor. To exit a Snap mode, select another mode.

Mode Key Icon Cursor Function

Freehand Shift F

Does not snap to any point.

Grab All

Shift F

Automatically snaps to and accepts

anything within the cursor box.

Geom

Intersection

Shift I


the nearest intersection of

geometry lines or the nearest

geometry tangency point.

Grid

Shift G


the nearest grid point.

Intersection Shift Z


the nearest intersection, solid or

geometry.

Point Shift J


the nearest point, e.g. end of line,

arc centre etc.

Circle Centre Shift E


the nearest circle centre.

Nearest

Line/Arc Shift N


the nearest line or arc, geometry or

solid.

Perp Shift P

Only operational when you are

drawing a line. Snaps to another

line or to an arc so that the line you

are drawing is perpendicular to the

other line or arc.

Tan Ctrl T

Only operational when you are

drawing a line or an arc. Snaps to

another line or to an arc so that the

line or arc you are drawing is

tangential to the other line or arc.


Drawing with a grid

Another method of accurate drawing is to use geometry lines and circles. These

may be used to determine the position of a point, or may be used as guidelines to

trace over.

You can also define a regular or isometric grid and use the

grid points to help you draw.

To create a grid, use the Tools ►Grid function.

Once you have created a grid, you can use the Grid jump, the Grid snap or the Grab

All snap to jump accurately to the grid points.

4-10 AllyCAD 2010

Notes:

Geometry 5-1

Geometry

Geometry is represented by construction lines and circles which can be used as

guide lines for tracing over, for determining the positions of points, for determining

line and arc intersection points and for projecting existing lines to another part of

the drawing.

5-2 AllyCAD 2010

Geometry elements

The following geometric constructions are available:

• Intersecting horizontal and vertical geometry lines (cross).

• Line at a defined angle.

• Line through two points.

• Line parallel to an existing line or circle.

• Circle.

• Up to five concentric circles.

• Circle tangent to two lines.

• Circle tangent to a line and a circle.

• Circle tangent to two circles.

• Circle tangent to three lines.

• Circle through a point and tangent to a line.

• Circle through a point and tangent to a circle.

• Circle through three points.

• Line tangent to a circle.

• Line tangent to two circles.

• Line that is a perpendicular bisector of two points or a line.

Properties of geometry

Geometry has the following properties:

• It has no end points and continues into infinity.

• It is not printed or plotted.

• It is common to all layers.

• Geometry is automatically stored when you save a drawing.

Geometry 5-3

Using geometry as guidelines to trace over

To use geometry as guidelines to trace over, you must first draw the geometry

using the constructions listed.

You can trace over it using the Draw ► Geometry Trace-Over functions. The most

useful of these functions is Draw ► Fill Geom which allows you to trace over

geometry lines and circles by specifying intersections and the geometry lines and

circles connecting them.

For example, if this is the geometry you have

created, you might specify an intersection ...

... then a line between intersections

... then another intersection. The line will

automatically be drawn as a solid line. You can

also draw over arcs in this way.

5-4 AllyCAD 2010

Projecting solid lines and arcs to geometry lines and circles

The Geometry ► Make Geometry function projects solid lines and arcs into

geometry lines and arcs. This is useful for projecting lines into another part of the

drawing, or for finding the intersection point between projected lines and arcs.

Jumping to geometry lines, arcs and intersections

The following Jumps will jump to Geometry. These can be found in Tools ►Jumps:

Jump Key Function

Geom Intersections I Jump to geometry intersections and tangency

points

Jump Any Intersection 0

(zero)

Jump to intersections between geometry and

solid lines and arcs

Jump Near Element N Jump to the nearest line or arc, be it solid or

geometry

Snapping to geometry lines, arcs and intersections

The following Snap modes will snap to Geometry. These are found in

Settings ► Snap Modes:

Snap Key Function

Grab All Shift A Snaps to a geometry intersection, tangency

point, or intersection between geometry and

solid lines and arcs if this is within the cursor box

Geometry Intersection Shift I Snaps to a geometry intersection or tangency

point

Intersection Shift Z Snaps to intersections between geometry and

solid lines and arcs

Nearest Line/Arc Shift N Snaps to the nearest line or arc, solid or

geometry

Perp Shift P Snaps lines, including geometry lines, to other

lines or arcs so that they are perpendicular to

each another. This mode only works when you

are drawing lines, including polylines and

geometry Point-Point lines

Geometry 5-5

For example, if you have selected the Geometry ► Point-to-Point Line function,

AllyCAD prompts:

Enter first point

Position the cursor at a point the geometry line must

pass through and click or press [Enter].


Enter second point

Enter Perpendicular snap mode by clicking on the Perp

snap icon. The cursor changes shape. Position the cursor

close to the line that the geometry line you are drawing

must be perpendicular to. Click or press [Enter].

The geometry line is drawn perpendicular to the other

line.

5-6 AllyCAD 2010

Tan Mode

Snaps to lines and arcs, including geometry lines and circles, to other lines

or arcs so that they are tangential to each another.

Click on the Tan snap icon or type [Ctrl] and [T] as a short-cut. Tan snap only works

when you are drawing lines or arcs, including polylines and geometry lines and

circles.

For example, if you have selected the Geometry ► Point-to-Point Line function,

AllyCAD prompts:

Enter first point

Position the cursor at a point the geometry line must

pass through and click or press [Enter]. AllyCAD will

prompt:

Enter second point

Enter Tan mode by clicking on the Tan Snap icon, or

type [Ctrl]T as a short-cut to this mode. The cursor

changes shape.

Position the cursor close to the arc that the geometry

line you are drawing must be tangential to. Click or

press [Enter].

The geometry line is drawn tangential to the arc.

Geometry 5-7

Switching geometry on and off

If you no longer need your geometry, you can delete it or switch it off.

To switch the geometry off, you select Geometry ►Switch Geometry On/Off. The

message

Geometry display is now OFF

will be briefly displayed in the prompt area.

The geometry will disappear from view, although it will still be there. Even though

you can’t see the geometry you will still be able to jump to it (see Jumping and

Snapping above). You can switch it on again at any time by selecting

Geometry ► Switch Geometry On/Off again. The message

Geometry display is now ON

will appear briefly on the screen.

Deleting geometry

To delete a single geometry line or circle, use the Geometry ► Delete Geometry El

function. To delete all your geometry, use the Geometry ► Delete All Geometry

function. Geometry deletion is permanent. The Undo function will not restore a

deleted geometry element.

5-8 AllyCAD 2010

Notes:

Tutorial 1 - The Screen 6-1

Tutorial 1 - The Screen

This section will demonstrate the basic screen handling features of AllyCAD. You

will learn how to:

• Load a drawing

• Magnify a portion of the drawing

• Pan across a drawing

• De-magnify

• Zoom into portions of the drawing

• Split the screen into different views

6-2 AllyCAD 2010

Important notes to read before you start

Dialog Boxes and Pull-Down Menus

The following chapters assume that you have a basic knowledge of Windows. If you

do not know how to edit a Dialog Box or access a Pull-Down Menu, read the

documentation that came with your copy of Windows.

Clicking

In this tutorial, clicking refers to clicking with your left mouse button unless

otherwise specified.

When a click with your right mouse button is required, the term right click or right

clicking is used.

Clicking is to press and release a mouse button quickly.

Notes

Notes provide alternative methods of accessing functions and extra information for

those who are interested.

Illustrations

The icons, menus, ruler bar and other items that surround the drawing area may be

slightly different on your own screen than the ones shown in the illustrations. This

will not affect your use of the tutorials.

In case you get lost or stuck ...

If you get lost or stuck while you are doing this tutorial, do the following:

• Press the Esc key to cancel all functions.

• Redraw the screen by pressing the short-cut key R, or View ► Redraw

• Repeat the tutorial from the previous subheading (e.g. Magnifying,

Panning etc.)


Open an existing drawing

To open an existing drawing click on the Open icon. A dialog box with the

title Filename to Read will be displayed.

This dialog box can be used to open AllyCAD 2010 drawings, older AllyCAD

drawings, AllyCAD 3.x symbol files, DWG drawings , DXF files, Caddie Exchange

Drawing (CEX) files, UCX files, DGN files, and SHP files.

The drawing you are going to open is called “Hydraulic Cylinder.sample.dr4”. By

default the Hydraulic Cylinder.sample.dr4 drawing is in the Sample Drawings

folder.

Click on “Hydraulic Cylinder.sample.dr4” in the list and then click on Open.

6-4 AllyCAD 2010

The file Hydraulic Cylinder.dr4 will be opened and displayed.


Redraw to the paper extents

Our first step is to redraw to the paper borders or extents which are defined as a

dotted line.

To redraw select the View ► Redraw function from the main menu or

simply press the R key. Alternatively you can click on the Redraw icon on

the Zooms toolbar.

AllyCAD will redraw the drawing showing the paper borders.

The paper borders are represented by the dotted rectangle around the hydraulic

cylinder.

These borders are just to make it easier for you to relate to the scale of your

drawing relative to the paper you will print it on. You are not restricted to drawing

only within the paper limits. You may draw inside and outside of the paper extents

and may change the scale and paper size of the drawing at any stage.

6-6 AllyCAD 2010

Magnifying and de-magnifying

You are now going to magnify part of your drawing so that the details can be seen.

Using the mouse wheel

Move your cursor onto the part of the drawing you want to magnify and simply roll

the wheel mouse forwards to zoom in to the drawing around the cursor position.

The more you rotate the mouse wheel, the more the view will be zoomed.

You may also de-magnify or zoom out by rotating the mouse wheel in the opposite

direction.

You may change the amount of magnification using the Wheel Mag. Factor option

in the Settings ► View Settings ► Magnification option.

Using the keyboard

An alternative option is to simply press the M key. The display will be zoomed in

around the cursor position by the magnification factor specified in the

Magnification factor option in the View Settings.


The M key is called an accelerator because it is a fast way of accessing the Magnify

command. You can define your own accelerator keys using the Accelerator Editor

which is accessed from the Windows Start menu:

Start ► Programs ► AllyCAD 2010 ►Tools ► Accelerator Editor

Similarly, you may zoom out or de-magnify at any time by pressing the D key.

6-8 AllyCAD 2010

Panning

Panning allows you to move around the drawing while it is magnified. There are

two ways of panning:

Pan - where the part of the drawing at the cursor position is moved to the screen

centre

Long Pan - where you place a box around the part of the drawing you want on the

screen.

Pan

This function shifts the view so that the current cursor position becomes the centre

of the screen.

Move your cursor to the part of the drawing that you want in the centre of

your screen. Click on the Pan icon in the Screen toolbar.

You can also Pan by using the shortcut key W, or via the View menu.

The part of the drawing that was at the cursor position is moved to the screen

centre.


Long Pan

The Long Pan function zooms out and allows you to position a window over the

area you want to pan to.

Click on the Long Pan icon.

The view will be zoomed out and a floating rectangle will be displayed.

6-10 AllyCAD 2010

The CAD will prompt:

Indicate target rectangle for long pan

Move the cursor so that this box surrounds the part of the drawing you want to

display click. Your chosen area will be displayed on the screen.

You can also Long Pan by pressing the ; key, or via the View menu.


Zooming

Zooming has the same effect as magnifying but you must first draw a box around

the part of your drawing that you want magnified.

Click on the Zoom Window icon on the Zooms toolbar.

The CAD will prompt:

Indicate first corner of zoom window

The cursor will also switch mode to display the following:

Click at a corner of the area you want to magnify into as shown above. The CAD will

prompt:

Indicate second corner of zoom window

The cursor will now display a rectangle which defines the zoom window.

6-12 AllyCAD 2010

Click at the diagonally opposite corner of the area you want to magnify into. The

area you have defined is enlarged.

Use the Zoom ► Paper command to return your screen to its original magnification

or press the shortcut key R on the keyboard

Alternatively, simply press the Z key. A popup menu will be displayed.

Click on the Zoom Window option.


Splitting the screen into different views

There may be times when you want to work on different parts of your drawing and

either view what is happening in each part easily, or switch between the different

parts quickly.

AllyCAD 2010 supports multiple views which allows you to do just that.

Setting up views

We use the View ► Setup Views function to split the screen into multiple

views. The View Layout dialog will be displayed.

Simply click on the layout that you require. In this case, we are going to split the

screen into 2 views arranged vertically as shown on the second button on the top

left of the View Layout dialog.

The screen will now look like this:

6-14 AllyCAD 2010

The active view is framed by a yellow rectangle. To make the view on the right of

the screen active, simply click within its borders. You may now work within this

view just as you would have on the single view.

Magnify the right hand view and pan until you see the upper mounting of the

hydraulic cylinder. Then switch to the left hand view and magnify around the lower

mounting as shown below.


You may even draw a line from one view into another simply by starting the line in

one view, then activating the second view by clicking on it, and then defining the

endpoint of the line.

Splitting the view horizontally

An alternative method to split the view horizontally is to simply use the

View ► Split View ► Horizontal function.

This will split the active view into two as shown below.

In a similar manner you may split any view vertically using the View ► Split View

► Vertical function.

Joining views

Views may be joined using the View ► Join Views function. You will be

asked to indicate which view will be the primary view, ie. which view will

be displayed after the join.

6-16 AllyCAD 2010

Finally

Return your screen to its original magnification using the Zoom Paper command by

pressing the shortcut key R (for Redraw) on the keyboard.

You have now completed Tutorial 1. You can either:

• experiment on your own

• exit the CAD using File ► Exit; or

• click on File ► Close to clear the screen. If you do this, the message

Drawing has changed. Do you wish to save it?

will be displayed. Click on (YES) to save ([NO] to discard, or Cancel to

return to drawing .

Tutorial 2 - Viewports and Layouts 7-1

Tutorial 2 - Viewports and Layouts

AllyCAD has a number of tools that you can use to create and print your drawing.

Drawing Space is the area you draw in. It works in the chosen drawing units and

scale that you have set up in the Drawing Settings.

While Drawing Space displays a paper border, you are not limited to drawing within

that border. With the help of viewports you can extract views or portions of your

drawing and place them onto one or more layouts at your chosen position, scale

and rotation.

Viewports are windows into your drawing and layouts are effectively the sheet of

paper that you will ultimately print.

Think of a Drawing Space as the area where you construct your model (or the

object you are drawing), and a layout as the final print, or series of prints. Each

layout can include one or more viewports, each with its own scale and rotation.

Earlier versions of AllyCAD only worked with drawing space and in order to have

different scales it used to use a layer magnification factor. The problem with this

system was that your dimensions would be incorrect if they were not created in the

magnified layer.

Drawing Space, on the other hand, always works in your designated scale,

therefore your dimensions are always correct. If you want to include a detail at a

different scale on your print you would insert a viewport into the layout at the

chosen scale.

This section will explain how to create viewports and layouts with different drawing

elements at various scales.

7-2 AllyCAD 2010

Drawing Space

Take a typical house plan. In order to provide the contractor with all the

information he requires we need to include a plan of the house at a scale of 1:100

as well as the elevations. We also need to include various notes, and possibly even

magnified details at a scale of 1:20.

The first step would be to draw our house layout in plan and elevation views in the

Drawing Space as shown below.

In the Drawing Space above we have the four elevations as well as a section at the

bottom right. Our plan views are not within the paper extents but just next to them

on the right.


And our notes for the title block are to the left of the paper extents:

Similarly, we also have a legend of our electrical layout in our drawing space.

7-4 AllyCAD 2010

In other words, all our drawing elements are created and maintained in drawing

space, regardless of whether they fit on to the paper extents or not.

So how do we place them onto our layout, which is ultimately what we will print?

Viewports

The first step is to create a number of viewports. These are “windows” or views

into our larger drawing and they can even be useful during the drawing creation.

For instance, often when drawing an elevation we would like to refer back to the

plan and vice versa.

By creating two viewports, one for the plan and one for the elevation we are

working on, we can switch between the two views quite quickly.

First we create a viewport for the plan view. Zoom in to the plan portion of your

drawing using the View ► Zoom Window function. Your screen should now look

like this:


We use the View ► Viewports ► Define Named Viewport function to create the

viewport we need. You will be prompted to specify a name for the viewport with:

Enter new name for Named Viewport

Type in the name “Plan” and click on the OK button or press Enter.

You will now be asked to:

Indicate the first corner of viewport rectangle

Position the cursor at the top left corner of the area you wish to include in the

viewport and click. You will then be prompted to:

Indicate second corner of viewport rectangle

Move the cursor to the bottom right hand corner of the area you wish to include in

the viewport as shown below and click.

The viewport will be defined and you will be prompted to enter a new

name again. You may continue to define viewports or you may terminate

the function by clicking on the Done button or pressing the ESC key.

Now that you have defined one or more viewports you may zoom into

them very easily using the View ► Zoom ► Zoom Named View function or

by simply using the Z key followed by the N key.

7-6 AllyCAD 2010

The following list of named viewports will be displayed. Select the one you want to

zoom to and click OK.

A very easy alternative to defining a named zoom is to first select the

drawing elements we want to include in the viewport, and then to use the

View ► Viewports ► Named Viewport from Selection option.

In a similar way we can define a named viewport for our front elevation, drawing

notes and electrical legend. The next step is to define a layout, and to include the

plan view, front elevation view, notes and electrical legend in the layout.


Layouts

Think of a layout as your paper print. Onto the layout we can add a title block, a

frame and any text or other drawing entities we wish, but most importantly, we

can insert our viewports into the layout at the position we want and at the scale

that we want.

We use the Layouts ► Insert Layout function to define a new layout. You

will be prompted to enter a name for the new layout.

Call this layout “Sheet 1” and click on the OK button. The Layout Settings dialog will

be displayed:

Set up the parameters as shown above and click OK. A new tab will be added onto

the bottom of the drawing layout called “Sheet 1”.

7-8 AllyCAD 2010

You will now be asked if you want to add a default viewport to the new layout.

Click on No as we want to insert our pre-defined viewports. You will be taken to the

newly created layout which will be a blank sheet of paper.

Use the Layouts ► Add Viewport option to insert our named viewports

into the layout. The following prompt will be displayed:

Select the Plan viewport from the dropdown list and set the scale to 1:100 as

shown. Click on OK. You will now see the named viewport attached to the cursor.

Move the cursor to your preferred position for the view and click. The viewport will

be inserted into the layout at your chosen scale.

You may continue to add viewports until to terminate the function using the ESC

key, or the right-click Quit option. In our example we are inserting the Plan view,

the front and side elevations and the notes at a scale of 1:100. Now we will insert

the electrical legend at 1:50 as shown below.

If you prefer another scale for any viewport simply type in the preferred value into

the Viewport Scale box.

Our layout now looks like this:


If we want to change the position or clip limits of any viewport simply select it and

change the clip limits or position using the drag handles, or right-click and select

the Properties option.

You may now finish off your layout by adding a frame, title block or any other

drawing entities.

7-10 AllyCAD 2010

Notes:

3D Drawing and Solid Form 8-1

Tutorial 3 - 3D Drawing and Solid Form

AllyCAD 2010, when you are drawing in 3D, uses the concept of viewing and

drawing planes when constructing drawings.

Think of a plane (in this context) as a surface at which you can look and on which

you can draw. The plane you are looking at is not necessarily the plane on which

you are drawing.

There are an infinite number of planes in 3 dimensions but only a few principal

planes. These principal planes are Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Left and Right. The

following image shows the relationship between these planes:

8-2 AllyCAD 2010

Viewing planes

When you start a new drawing in AllyCAD 2010 the view plane is automatically set

to the Top plane (as if you were creating a standard 2D drawing) and the drawing

plane is also set to the Top plane.

When opening a new

drawing, the View Plane is

automatically set to the

Top plane

The Drawing Plane

is also set to the

Top plane

If you only need a 2D drawing then you will not have to change the view or drawing

plane at all. You can set the Viewing plane to the Top, Front, Left, Bottom, Back or

Right view by clicking on the respective icon (see below) in the View Axis toolbar or

you could select View ►View Direction and selecting the view you would like to

draw in.


You can also select an Isometric view. The isometric views that may be viewed are

the South West, South East, North West and North East Isometric views. To select

one of the Isometric views, you can click on the respective icon in the View Axis

toolbar (see below) or select View ► View Direction and selecting the view you

would like to draw in.

The cube below was drawn in the South West isometric view.

8-4 AllyCAD 2010

Drawing Planes

To create a 3 dimensional drawing, you need to understand how to operate with

planes.

The initial drawing plane that you start drawing on is set at zero (0). You can now

elevate a drawing plane above or below the current drawing plane if you are

drawing in the top view or offset the drawing plane if you working in the bottom,

front, back, left or right view.

You can set the drawing plane Relative to the current drawing plane position else

Absolute which is a specified distance from the world origin (0; 0; 0). The elevation

or DP offset will be shown in the command area.

In the illustration below the drawing plane has been elevated 50 above the origin.

You may set up a number of named drawing planes to make drawing easier. It is

advised that you use the DP Snap when drawing with elevated and offset drawing

planes.


3D Drawing

Here you will draw a Mallet in 3D and give it solid form to make it look realistic

when rendered.

Objectives

Once you have completed this session you should be familiar with the following

topics.

• Add Layers

• Move entities between Layers

• Rectangles

• Drawing Plane Elevation

• DP Snap

• Defining the Drawing Plane using 3 Points

• Setting the Drawing Plane indicator to the Origin

• DP Offset

• 3D Faces

8-6 AllyCAD 2010

Adding Layers

• Open a new drawing. The drawing opens in the Top view.

• Select Settings ► Layer Settings or click on the icon in the Main toolbar.

• Set up 2 Layers as shown below. Name the one Head and the other Handle.

Drawing the Mallet Head

• Select the Head layer.

• Select Draw ► Chained Line or click on the icon in the Drawing

toolbar.

• The following prompt will be displayed.

• Enter the first point.

• Press the DOWN arrow, type in 150 and press Enter and Enter again.


• Press the RIGHT arrow, type in 80 and press Enter(only once).

• Press the UP arrow, type in 20 and press Enter and Enter again.

• Press the UP arrow, type in 110 and press Enter and Enter again.

• Now move to the first point, press J and press Enter to close the polygon.

• Right click in the drawing area and select Quit or press Esc on the keyboard.

Move RIGHT 80 and enter once. Move UP 20 and enter twice to move to the correct position.

8-8 AllyCAD 2010

View Directions

• Select View ► View Direction ► SW Isometric or click on the icon

in the View Axis toolbar.

We want to draw the other side of the head exactly 100mm above the existing

side. To do that we will elevate the DP by 100mm.

DP Elevation

• Select View ► Drawing Plane ► Elevate DP or click on the icon in

the Drawing Plane toolbar. The Elevate DP dialog will be

displayed.

Change the View Direction to SW Isometric.


• Check the Relative Elevation radio button and type 100. Click OK. Your DP

will now be elevated by 100mm in the direction of the “RED” arrow of the

Drawing Plane indicator.

Drawing Plane Snap

• Select Draw ► Chained Line or click on the icon in the Drawing

toolbar.

• Check the DP Snap button in the bottom right of the screen.

• Use the Point snap to snap to the corner points of the polygon and

trace the outline. Note the indicators.

• End the draw function by Right clicking and selecting Quit or pressing [Esc].

• Deselect the DP Snap option.

• Set the Elevation back to 0 (zero).

• Select Draw ► Line or click on the icon in the Drawing toolbar.

Note the Visual Indicators.

DP Snap is active.

8-10 AllyCAD 2010

• Draw in the edges of the Mallet head.

Defining the Drawing Plane using 3 Points

• Select View ► Drawing Plane ► 3 Points or click on the icon in the

Drawing Plane toolbar.

• Enter over the 3 points as indicated below.

Deselect the “DP Snap” option. Use the “Lines” draw function to draw in the edges.

Note that the DP Indicator changes.

Enter over the 3 point to define the drawing plane.


Setting Drawing Plane indicator position

You can set the Drawing Plane indicator to the origin if you like by selecting

Settings ► View Settings ► Visibility and the following dialog box will be

displayed.

• Click on the Visibility tab on the left hand side then Check the Draw DP at

DP origin button. DP has not been set to DP Origin in the example. This is

optional and has not been done in this example.

• Select Geometry ► Lines ► Point-to-Point Line or click on the icon

in the Drawing Plane toolbar.

• Draw in the geometry lines from points 1 to 2 and 3 to 4.

Select the Visibility tab. Check this.

8-12 AllyCAD 2010

• Set the Viewport to Left view by selecting View ► View Direction ►

Left or click on the icon in the View Axis toolbar.

• Set the Drawing Plane to the left view using View ► Drawing Plane ► Left.

• Select Draw ► Rectangle or click on the icon in the Drawing toolbar.

• Jump to the geometry intersection by pressing [ I ] on the keyboard.

• Press the UP arrow and move up 10.

• Press the LEFT arrow and move left 20

Set the view to the LEFT view.


• Enter to set the point.

• Press the RIGHT arrow and move right 40.

• Press the DOWN arrow and move down 20. Press Enter twice (2×).

• The rectangle is drawn.

• Delete all the geometry.

Add Solid form to the Drawing using 3D Face

We will now add a Solid Face to this side of the Mallet head to give it a realistic

appearance in a Rendered View.

• Select Draw ► 3D Face ► Face or click on the icon in the Drawing

toolbar.

• Select the Point snap mode.

• Select a colour for the face.

• Enter over the points numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4.




Move the cursor to the correct position to start the rectangle.

8-14 AllyCAD 2010

• Select View ► View Direction ► SW Isometric or click on the icon in

the View Axis toolbar.

Drawing Plane Offset

By using the DP offset value, you can draw at an offset from a DP (in the direction

of the RED arrow).

• Type in -80 in the DP Off text box and press Enter.




• Enter over the corners numbered 1 and 2.

Set the offset to -80.

DP Snap is active.


The rectangle is drawn in as shown below.

• Deselect the DP Snap by clicking on the button at the bottom right of the

screen, pressing the [ F7 ] key or selecting Settings ► Toggles ► DP Snaps.

The mode is deactivated when the text is “BLACK”.

• Set the DP Off back to 0 (zero).

• Set the Viewport to Right view by selecting View ► View Direction

► Right or click on the icon in the View Axis toolbar.

• Select Draw ► 3D Face ► Face or click on the icon in the Drawing

toolbar.

• Select the Apparent intersection snap mode.





Note the Visual Indicators.

DP Snap is not active.

8-16 AllyCAD 2010


• Select View ► View Direction ► SW Isometric or click on the icon in

the View Axis toolbar.






Drawing the Mallet Handle

• Set the layer to the Handle layer.

• Type in -280 in the DP Off text box and press Enter.




• Enter over the corners numbered 1 and 2.

• The rectangle is drawn in as shown below.

DP Snap is active.

8-18 AllyCAD 2010

• Type in 30 in the DP Off text box and press Enter.

• Enter over the points numbered 1 and 2.

• The rectangle is drawn in.

The rectangle is drawn in.

The rectangle

is drawn in.


• Reset the DP offset to 0 (zero) by typing 0 in the DP Off text box and

pressing Enter.

• Deselect the DP Snap option.

• Select Draw ► Line or right click on the icon in the Drawing toolbar.

• Draw in the edges of the Mallet handle.

Reset the DP offset to “0”.

DP Snap is not active.

8-20 AllyCAD 2010

Add Solid form to the Drawing using 3D Face

We will now add Solid Faces to the Mallet handle to give it a realistic appearance in

a Rendered View.

• Select Draw ► 3D Face ► Face or left click on the icon in the

Drawing toolbar.



• Outline the Quad areas of the handle by selecting the rectangular faces.

• Escape out of the 3D Face option by Right clicking on the drawing area and

selecting Quit or pressing Esc.

• Right click on the drawing area and select Render View.

• Quit the render view by Right clicking and selecting Quit Render View.

• Save the drawing in the appropriate training folder as Mallet.

Appendix A – Toolbar Icons 9-1

Appendix A - Toolbar Icons

This section lists all the toolbars, their associated icons as well as the function

names.

Applications Toolbar

Switch between simple CAD mode and installed applications such as the toolkits

Change to the Applications menu and toolbar. These items are dependent

on the installed applications.

Open the Sheetfile Editor. The menu will change to allow you to define

paper sizes, plotting regions and other sheetfile parameters.

Change to the standard AllyCAD menu and toolbars.

9-2 AllyCAD 2010

Dimensions Toolbar

Functions to add dimensions to the drawing

Icon Function Name Description

DIMLINEARALIGNED Create a aligned linear dimension

DIMLINEARVERTICAL Create a vertical linear dimension

DIMLINEARHORIZONTAL Create a horizontal linear dimension

DIMANGULAR3POINT Create an angle dimension by indicating 3 points

DIMANGULAR2LINE Create an angular dimension by indicating 2 lines

DIMARCLENGTH Create an arc length dimension

DIMRADIAL Create a radius dimension

DIMDIAMETRIC Create a diameter dimension

DIMCENTREMARK Add a centre mark to an existing circle or arc

DIMORDINATE Create an ordinate dimension

DIMSURVEY Create a survey dimension

DIMLEADER Create a leader line with an arrowhead

DIMTOLERANCE Create a tolerance annotation

LABELCOORDS Create a coordinate label

COORDTABLE Create a coordinate table

TABLESTYLES Create and manage table styles

DIMSTYLES Create and manage dimension styles

SURVDIMSETTINGS Create and manage survey dimension styles


Draw Toolbar

Functions used to create drawing entities such as lines, circles, arcs, etc.


POINT Draw points

CHAINEDLINE Draw connected lines

LINE Draw a point-to-point line

RAY Draw a ray

SKETCH Freehand sketch

LWPOLYLINE Draw a 2D polyline with smoothing or bulges

POLYLINE Draw a 3D polyline

SPLINE Draw a spline

RECTANGLE Draw a rectangle

POLYGONCEN Draw a polygon by the centre point and a corner

POLYGONADJ Draw a polygon by specifying adjacent corners

POLYGONCENMID Draw a polygon by centre and midpoint of a side

MULTILINE Draw a multiline

PARALLELCOPY Draw an entity parallel to a existing entity

MULTILINESTYLES View and edit multiline styles

ARC3PTS Draw arc through 3 points

ARCCENSTARTEND Draw arc by centre start point and end point

ARCSTARTENDDIR Draw arc by start point end point and direction

CIRCLECENPT Draw circle by centre and point on radius

9-4 AllyCAD 2010


CIRCLE3PTS Draw circle through 3 points

CIRCLE2PT Draw circle by the end points of a diameter

CIRCLECENRADDIA Draw circle by centre and radius/diameter

CIRCLE2TANRAD Draw circle tangent to 2 entities

CIRCLE3TAN Draw circle tangent to 3 entities

ISOCIRCLE Draw isometric circle by centre point and

radius/diameter

ELLIPSE Draw an ellipse

ELLIPTICALARC Draw an elliptical arc

FACE Draw a 3D triangle or quad face

SOLIDQUAD Draw a 3D solid (filled) quad

POLYMESH Draw a 3D polygon mesh

FILLGEOM Trace over any geometry entities

FILLGEOMCIR Draw a circle by tracing over a geometry circle

FILLGEOMARCLINE Tracie over geometry arcs and lines

TEXT Draw single line text

TEXTMULTI Draw multi-line text

CREATEATTRIBUTE Create a new attribute tag

TEXTSTYLES View and edit text styles

HATCH Add solid fill or pattern hatch

REVCLOUD Draw a revision cloud


Drawing Plane Toolbar

Set the drawing plane (DP)


DPFROMVIEW Set the DP to the view direction

ELEVATEDP Elevate the DP to a specified height above origin

DPORIGIN Graphically specify the DP origin

DPFROMUSER Graphically define the DP by 3 point

DPFROMENTITIES Graphically indicate the DP by entities

DPTOP Set the top view as the DP

DPBOTTOM Set the bottom view as the DP

DPFRONT Set the front view as the DP

DPBACK Set the back view as the DP

DPLEFT Set the left view as the DP

DPRIGHT Set the right view as the DP

DPNAMED Name and manage DPs

9-6 AllyCAD 2010

Geometry Toolbar

Functions to create geometry entities which are the equivalent of construction

lines.


GEOMCROSS Geometry cross

GEOMPARLINE Geometry line parallel to an existing line/circle

GEOMSLINE Geometry line at an angle

GEOMPPLINE Point to point geometry line

GEOMCIRCLE Geometry circle by centre and radius point

GEOMCIRCLERADDIAM Geometry circle by radius/diameter

GEOMCIRCLE3PNTS Geometry circle through 3 points

GEOMCIRCLETANL Geometry circle tangent to a line

GEOMCIRCLETANLL Geometry circle tangent to two lines

GEOMCIRCLETAN3L Geometry circle tangent to three lines

GEOMCIRCLETANLC Geometry circle tangent to a line and a circle

GEOMCIRCLETANC Geometry circle tangent to a circle

GEOMCIRCLETANCC Geometry circle tangent to two circles

GEOMLINETANC Geometry line tangent circle

GEOMLINETANCC Geometry line tangent 2 circles

GEOMPBISECT Geometry line perpendicular bisector

GEOMDIVIDEEQ Geometry divide equally



MAKEGEOM Copy line/arc/circle as geometry

GEOMDELENT Delete geometry entity

GEOMDELALL Delete all geometry

GEOMTOGGLE Toggle display of geometry entities

Insert Toolbar

Insert blocks, tables, XRefs, images and OLE objects


INSERTBLOCK Insert block

INSERTTABLE Insert table

INSERTXREF Insert XREF

INSERTOLEOBJECT Insert external document

INSERTVIEWPORT Insert viewport

INSERTIMAGE Insert image

BLOCKSTATS Display block usage statistics

MANAGEXREFS View and manage external drawing references

MANAGEBLOCKS Block manager

IMAGES Image manager

PURGE Remove unused blocks, styles and duplicate

entities from the drawing

REMOVEDUP Remove duplicate entities from the drawing

9-8 AllyCAD 2010

Jumps Toolbar

Shortcuts to often used jumps such as coordinate, polar, intersection and nearest

entity


JUMPGRABALL GrabAll jump

JUMP Jump to a point

JUMPINT Jump to any intersection

JUMPCP Jump to circle centre

JUMPNEARCP Jump to nearest circle centre

JUMPCIRCLEQUAD Jump to circle quadrant

JUMPMID Jump to midpoint

JUMPGRD Jump to grid point

JUMPGEOM Jump to geometry intersection

JUMPNEAR Jump to nearest entity

JUMPRATIO Jump to ratio on entity

JUMPPOLAR Jump a specified distance and angle

JUMPCOORD Jump to a specified coordinate

JUMPLAST Jump to last entered point

GRABALLSETUP Set GrabAll snap mode options

GRIDSETTINGS Grid display settings


Lock Cursor Toolbar

Lock cursor to line, circle angle and perpendicular


CURSORHOLD Toggle the cursor angle lock state

LOCKANGL Lock the cursor to a line

LOCKANGG Lock the cursor to a geometry line

LOCKANGA Lock the cursor to an arc or circle

LOCKANGC Lock the cursor to a geometry circle

LOCKANGK

Lock the cursor to an angle entered from the

keyboard

YPERP

Toggle the lock angle by 90 degrees from the

current setting

ISO120

Set the lock angle to 120 degrees for isometric

drawing

LOCKANGU Unlock the cursor from the current angle lock

Main Toolbar

File handling, printing, clipboard and layer functions


NEW Create a new drawing

NEWTEMPLATE

Create a new drawing based on an existing

drawing

OPEN Open an existing drawing

9-10 AllyCAD 2010


LOAD Insert a drawing into the current drawing

LOADLAY

Insert specified layers from another drawing into

the current drawing

CLOSE Close the current drawing

SAVE Save the current drawing

SAVEAS Save the current drawing with a new name

SAVESELECTED Save selected entities in a new drawing file

SAVEVISIBLE Save visible entities in a new drawing file

SAVEVIEW Save the current view to disk as an image

PRINT Print the current drawing

PRINTPREVIEW Preview the current drawing

PRINTZOOM Do a zoom print of the current drawing

PRINTSETUP Select and set up a printer

TOOLBARS Toolbar selector

SELECTFILTER Selection filter

SELECTALL Select all visible selectable entities

SELECTPOLY Select entities by polygon

SELECTINVERT Invert the current selection

SELECTCLEAR Clear all selections

TOGGLEHANDLES Toggle between node and handle modification

DELSELECT Delete all selected entities

CUT Cut the current selection to the clipboard



COPY Copy the current selection to the clipboard

COPYBASEPT

Copy the current selection to the clipboard along

with a base point

VIEWCOPY

Copy the current view to the clipboard as an

image

PASTE Paste the clipboard contents as a new selection

UNDO Undo the previous action

REDO Redo the previous undo

VISIBLELAYERS Set the visible layers

CURRENTVISIBLE Set only the current layer visible

LAYERSETTINGS Set the layer options

CURRENTLAYER Set the current layer

LAYERFROMENTITY Set the current layer from an existing entity

9-12 AllyCAD 2010

Misc Toolbar

This toolbar contains shortcuts to function to create and manage layouts and views


INSERTLAYOUT Add a new layout page to this drawing

DELETELAYOUT Delete the current layout page

RENAMELAYOUT Rename the current layout page

NAMEDVP Edit and manage the named viewports

ADDVIEWS Add a named viewport

ADDVIEWFROMSEL

Create a named viewport from the current

selection extents

VIEWCREATE Set up the view layout

VIEWSPLITHOR Split the current view horizontally

VIEWSPLITVER Split the current view vertically

VIEWJOIN Join two adjacent views

VIEWACTIVE Select a view as the active view

VIEWRENDER Render View

OUTPUTBAR Toggle output bar display

CONTROLCENTRE Display the drawing control centre

PROPERTIES Edit properties of selected entities

PLOTGENERATE Generate a plot

EXIT Exit this program


Modify Toolbar

Move, copy, rotate, stretch, mirror, fillet & chamfer selections as well as to trim,

divide and extend lines


MOVE Move the current selection set

STRETCH Stretch the current selection set

SCALE Scale the current selection set

REPEAT Repeat the current selection set (multiple copy)

DROP Drop the current selection set (single copy)

ROTATE Rotate the curent selection set

ROTATE3D Rotate the current selection set in 3D space

MIRROR Mirror the current selection set

ALIGN Align selection horizontally and/or vertically

ALIGNSETTINGS Align Settings

TRIM Trim two entities

FILLET Fillet two entities

CHAMFER Chamfer two entities

TRIMLENGTH Trim a single line to a specific length

TRIMMULTILINE Trim multiple entities to a specified entity

DIVIDEEXTEND Divide or extend entities

9-14 AllyCAD 2010


JOINLINES Join two lines into one

CUTRUB Cut an entity and delete a segment

SNIP Snip out a box or a circle

MOVELAYER Move selection to a layer

COPYLAYER Copy selection to a layer

MOVETOFRONT Move to front

MOVETOBACK Move to back

MOVEBEFORE Move before

MOVEBEHIND Move behind

Pens Toolbar

This displays the colours that the first 15 pens are mapped to. Simply click on

one of the colour buttons to change the current (active) pen.

You also have an option to display 31 pens in the Settings ► System Settings

function.


Scripts Toolbar

Scripts are programs or macros which allow you to automate or customise AllyCAD

functions. Our scripting language is similar to VBA.The Scripts toolbar contains the

function create, edit and run programmable scripts.


NEWSCRIPT New script

LOADSCRIPT Load script

EDITSCRIPT Edit script

RUNSCRIPT Run script

STOPSCRIPT Stop script

Settings Toolbar

Items from the settings menu


DRAWINGSETTINGS Set drawing options

RECENTREPAPER Re-centre the sheet of paper on the drawing

VIEWSETTINGS Set view options

FILESETTINGS Set file options

SYSTEMSETTINGS Set system options

9-16 AllyCAD 2010


DIGISETUP Setup the digitiser for use

GRABALLSETUP Set GrabALL options

GRIDSETTINGS Set grid display options

LIGHTS Manage light source objects in the drawing

SURVDIMSETTINGS Set survey dimension default settings

TEXTSTYLES View and edit text styles

DIMSTYLES View and edit dimension styles

LINESTYLES View and edit line styles

MULTILINESTYLES View and edit multiline styles

TABLESTYLES View and edit table styles

ALIGNSETTINGS Edit align settings

LAYERSETTINGS Set the layer options

CURRENTLAYER Set the current layer

CURRENTVISIBLE Set only the current layer visible

VISIBLELAYERS Set the visible layers


Snaps Toolbar

Shortcuts to often used snaps such as graball, point, intersection and nearest entity


SNAPFREE Turn off snap mode

SNAPGRABALL GrabAll snap mode

SNAPJUMP Point snap mode

SNAPINT Intersection snap mode

SNAPGEOINT Geometry intersection snap mode

SNAPMID Entity mid-point snap mode

SNAPGRID Grid snap mode

SNAPNEAR Nearest entity snap mode

SNAPAPPINT Apparent (3D) intersection snap mode

SNAPPERP Perpendicular snap mode

SNAPTAN Tangent to circle snap mode

SNAPCEN Centre point of nearest arc/circle snap mode

SNAPNEARCEN Centre point of circle snap mode

SNAPRATIO Ratio snap mode

GRABALLSETUP Set GrabAll snap mode options

GRIDSETTINGS Grid display settings

9-18 AllyCAD 2010

Tools Toolbar

Various functions to measure and group entities, find and replace text , and toggle

snap modes


QUERYENTITY Entity details

MEASURE Measure distance

QUERYAREA Measure area of a region

GROUPSEL Group selection

UNGROUPSEL Ungroup selection

MAKEBLOCK Block from selection

MANAGEBLOCKS Block manager

EXPLODE Explode

EXPLODERECURSIVE Explode repeatedly

LINESTOPOLY Convert connected line segments to a polyline

DATALINK Link to database

FINDTEXT Locate text using a search string

REPLACETEXT Find and replace text within text-based entities

TEXTTOMULTITEXT

Convert existing single-line text entities to multi-

line text entities

TAKELINEPEN Set pen and linestyle from existing entity

LAYERFROMENTITY Set layer from existing entity

PICKSETTINGS

Set current pen, linetype, lineweight or layer

from existing entity



PICKTEXTSETTINGS

Set text style, height and pen from an existing

text entity

TOGGLEFILTER Toggle the state of the entity filter

TOGGLEVSNAP Toggle the state of the visible snaps indicator

TOGGLEDPSNAP Toggle the DP snap mode

TOGGLEDPLOCAL Toggle the DP local coord mode

WINDOWCASCADE Cascade all open windows

WINDOWTILEVERT Tile open windows vertically

WINDOWTILEHORZ Tile open windows horizontally

WINDOWARRANGE Arrange icons at the bottom of the screen

WINDOWCLOSEALL Close all open windows

HELP Open the help file

ABOUT Display programming credits

9-20 AllyCAD 2010

View Axis Toolbar

Functions to set the view axis for 3D drawings


AXISROTATE Rotate the drawing about the axes

AXISDP Set the view direction equal to the Drawing Plane

AXISTOP Set to top view

AXISBOTTOM Set to bottom view

AXISFRONT Set to front view

AXISBACK Set to back view

AXISLEFT Set to left view

AXISRIGHT Set to right view

AXISSWISO Set to isometric view from South-West corner

AXISSEISO Set to isometric view from South-East corner

AXISNEISO Set to isometric view from North-East corner

AXISNWISO Set to isometric view from North-West corner


Zooms Toolbar

Shortcuts to view functions such as zoom, magnify, etc.


REDRAW Redraw to paper extents

REFRESH Refresh display

ZOOMALL Zoom to the visible drawing extents

ZOOMEXT Zoom to the drawing extents

ZOOMLAST Zoom to the previous zoom state

ZOOMWIN Zoom in to an area of the drawing

ZOOMSEL Zoom to the current selection

ZOOMSCALE Zoom to a specific scale

ZOOMREALSIZE Zoom so that 1mm on screen = 1mm on paper

ZOOMVIEW Zoom to a named view

ZOOMIN Zoom in to drawing

ZOOMOUT Zoom out of drawing

PANWINDOW Pan the drawing to a new position

LONGPAN Indicate pan position on ZoomAll view

9-22 AllyCAD 2010

Screen Toolbar

Contains shortcuts to often used functions like Magnify and Zoom. This toolbar is

normally hidden. Double click on the mouse wheel in the Drawing Area to display

it.


SNAPFREE Turn off snap mode

SNAPGRABALL GrabAll snap mode

SNAPINT Any intersection snap

SNAPGEOINT Geometry intersection snap

SNAPPERP Perpendicular snap

SNAPTAN Tangent snap

JUMPPOLAR Jump a specified distance and angle

JUMPCOORD Jump to a specified coordinate

CURSORHOLD Toggle cursor hold

LOCKANGL Lock cursor to a line

SELECTCLEAR Clear all selections

DELSELECT Delete all selected entities

CHAINEDLINE Draw connected lines



LINE Draw a point-to-point line

CIRCLE2PT Draw circle by the end points of a diameter

CIRCLECENRADDIA

Draw circle by centre and specified

radius/diameter

RECTANGLE Draw a rectangle

TEXT Draw single line text

REDRAW Redraw to paper extents

REFRESH Refresh display

ZOOMWIN Zoom window

ZOOMALL Zoom all

ZOOMIN Zoom In

ZOOMOUT Zoom Out

MEASURE Measure

QUERYENTITY Query entity

QUERYAREA Measure area of a region

LAYERFROMENTITY Set layer from existing entity

PICKSETTINGS

Set current pen linetype lineweight or layer from

existing entity

PICKTEXTSETTINGS

Set text style height and pen from an existing

text entity

9-24 AllyCAD 2010

Toolkit Toolbars

The following toolbars encompass the functions of the toolkits which are accessed

from the applications menu item or toolbar.

• Architectural

• General

• Mechanical

• Structural

• Survey

Index

A Arrow Keys ....................................................................................................... 4-2, 4-5

C CAD Folder .............................................................................................................. 2-2

Control Bar .............................................................................................................. 3-6

Cursor

unlocking permanently ....................................................................................... 4-5

Customising AllyCAD ............................................................................................... 2-5

D Default accelerator keys ....................................................................................... 3-37

F Files Installed by the CAD ....................................................................................... 2-2

Fill Geom ................................................................................................................. 5-3

Folders Installed by the CAD ................................................................................... 2-2

G Geometry

available constructions ....................................................................................... 5-2

deleting ............................................................................................................... 5-7

inking in .............................................................................................................. 5-3

jumping and snapping to .................................................................................... 5-4

projecting from existing lines / arcs .................................................................... 5-4

properties ........................................................................................................... 5-2

switching on and off ........................................................................................... 5-7

tan snap mode .................................................................................................... 5-6

tracing over ......................................................................................................... 5-3

Geometry Trace-Over ............................................................................................. 5-3

Grid ......................................................................................................................... 4-9

jumping or snapping to ....................................................................................... 4-9

Guest Sub-folder ..................................................................................................... 2-3

H Home (Screen Centre) ............................................................................................ 4-5

I Icons ..................................................................................................................... 3-12

Installation .............................................................................................................. 2-2

J Jumps ...................................................................................................................... 4-6

difference between jumps and snap modes ....................................................... 4-6

K Keyboard ............................................................................................................... 3-37

Editing ............................................................................................................... 3-39

File Handling ...................................................................................................... 3-41

Jumps ................................................................................................................ 3-37

Navigation ......................................................................................................... 3-39

Snaps ................................................................................................................. 3-38

L Layer Display ......................................................................................................... 3-11

Layers

changing ............................................................................................................ 3-11

current .............................................................................................................. 3-11

Learning AllyCAD ..................................................................................................... 2-4

Line Type

current .............................................................................................................. 3-11

setting ............................................................................................................... 3-11

Line Type Display ................................................................................................... 3-11

Lines

drawing orthogonal ............................................... see Lock Cursor; Move Distance

Lock Cursor .............................................................................................................. 4-4

see also Move Distance ....................................................................................... 4-4

M Make Geometry ...................................................................................................... 5-4

Minimum Requirements ......................................................................................... 2-1

Mouse ................................................................................................................... 3-42

Move to Coordinates .............................................................................................. 4-5

Moving

nudging ............................................................................................................... 4-2

Moving the Cursor

to a specific point ............................................................... see Jumps; Snap Modes

N Nudge ...................................................................................................................... 4-2

P Pen Selection ........................................................................................................ 3-10

Polar Move ............................................................................................................. 4-3

Program Home Folder ............................................................................................ 2-2

Prompt Area ........................................................................................................... 3-6

R Reference manual ................................................................................................... 1-2

S Screen Centre, jumping to ...................................................................................... 4-5

Screen layout .......................................................................................................... 3-2

Snap Modes ..................................................................................................... 4-6, 4-8

difference between jumps and snap modes ....................................................... 4-6

Symbol Sub-folder .................................................................................................. 2-2

System Requirements ............................................................................................. 2-1

T Tangent (Snap Mode)

using with geometry ........................................................................................... 5-6

Things You Should Know ......................................................................................... 2-4

Toolbar.................................................................................................................. 3-12

U Unlock (Cursor) ....................................................................................................... 4-5

Users Sub-folder ..................................................................................................... 2-3

X X, Y Coordinates .................................................................................. see Coordinates