Organizing Objects with Blocks and Groups

Organizing Objects with
Blocks and Groups
Drawing the tub, toilet, and sink in Chapter 3 may have taken what seemed to you an inordinate
amount of time. As you continue to use AutoCAD, however, you’ll learn to draw objects more
quickly. You’ll also need to draw fewer of them because you can save drawings as symbols and use
them like rubber stamps, duplicating drawings instantaneously wherever they’re needed. This
saves a lot of time when you’re composing drawings.
To make effective use of AutoCAD, begin a
symbol library
of drawings you use frequently.
A mechanical designer might have a library of symbols for fasteners, cams, valves, or any type
of parts for their application. An electrical engineer might have a symbol library of capacitors,
resistors, switches, and the like. A circuit designer will have yet another unique set of frequently
used symbols.
In Chapter 3, you drew three objects—a bathtub, toilet, and sink—that architects often use. In
this chapter, you’ll see how to create symbols from those drawings.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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Creating and Inserting a Symbol
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Modifying a Block
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Understanding the Annotation Scale
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Grouping Objects