Free AutoCAD Tutorials and Tips

How to get free 3D orbit viewing quickly in CAD?

Issue:

The 3D Orbit is convenient to control the interactive viewing of objects in 3D. But running it may be a bit inconvenient, you need to run command RTROT or select it from toolbar. Is that any short cut key to run it?

Solution:

The short cut key to run 3D Orbit is Ctrl+Shift+the left mouse click.

As a bonus tips, there are more short cut keys for 3D viewing:

· Ctrl+Left mouse button: Realtime 3D Zooming

· Ctrl+Right mouse button: Realtime 3D Paning

· Ctrl+Shift+Right mouse button: 3D orbit around Z-axis

ZWCAD hot tips: how to use image as render material?

Issue:

There are a lot of materials in ZWCAD+ render Material dialog box, but sometimes you may want to use an image as material.

Solution:

Run command MATERIALS to open the material editing dialog box, press NEW button to create new material, select ‘Image’ in the Pattern Type drop-down list, then you can Browse to import image as material.

ZWCAD tips: how to convert Mtext to Text?

Issue:

Sometime you may want to convert Mtext to Text.

Solution:

There are two ways to convert Mtext to Text:

1. Express> Text> convert Mtext to Text.

2. Use EXPLODE command to convert Mtext to Text.

Another article talk about MTEXT here

Questions about "MTEXT" in CAD Forum

1. Text to Mtext and back

2. MText plotting - text color

3. Lisp routine to convert objects into Text or Mtext

4. Is it possible to change the width factor with MTEXT

How to Draw a Cone with Round Top and Square Bottom in 2D CAD?

Many CAD users may be very familiar with the object—cone with round top and square bottom. Here I would like to explain to some of CAD beginners what this is and how to draw it. First of all, this special cone is often used as a transition part to join together square and circle pipeline. Next I will use ZWCAD and ZW3D to draw this object.

A:ZWCAD

1. Draw the following graph and adopt the isometric view to finish the rest of operation.

2. Lift the circle inside the square for certain height in the direction of Z axis

3. Use the command Loft and the following graph will be gernerated.

4. Solid edit the graph and then color it

Execute the command of Solidedit and choose the 3d oject. When there’s reminder that the 3 surfaces are found, hit on the ENTER button and type in “a”, choose the outside surface you would like to keep as noted below.

With the above steps, we have finished the drawing of a cone with round top and square bottom in ZWCAD.

B: ZW3D is very cost-effective CAD/CAM software. In ZW3D, we can use the same steps as above (sketch—loft—solidedit). But it is somewhat difficult to unfold this model through above drawing steps as generally speaking sheet metal will always be unfolded for measurement. When outside contour only has one surface we can use Unfold Surface in Curved Surface to achieve it, while when there are 8 surfaces in the outside contour, regardless of the thickness, we will not be able to find the way to unfold the object.

Users can choose either ZWCAD or ZW3D to draw this object. The two CAD software will both meet your needs.

Related Questions:

1. SolidEdit in LISP

2. solidedit -won't work ??

3. Loft (ing) shapes with 3ds max 9

4. Can't loft: selected entities not valid

5. What’s the difference between ZWCAD and ZW3D?

How to Create Custom Linetype for CAD?

One of the commonly encountered problems is that the linetypes provided by CAD software can’t satisfy various demands in CAD Design. In order to make the design work easier, I will talk about how to create custom linetype in ZWCAD in today’sCAD topic,

To create the custom linetype, let’s start with the rules in customization.

In the ZWCAD, we can find a zwcad.lin file in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\ZWSoft\ZWCAD\2012\en-US\Support . Open the file by Notepad, and the linetypes provided by CAD have been listed.

*BORDER,Border __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ .
A, 12.700, -6.350, 12.700, -6.350, 0, -6.350

The linetype definition is composed of two parts. The first part is name and description for the particular line. Start the definition with “*”, then we could name the line. Leave a simple description after the comma. Specify the codes of lines in the second part. “A “ stands for alignment. The first parameter value should be equal to or more than “0”. The second parameter value should be less than “0”. Positive value means drawing a straight line with certain length. “0” means draw a point. Negative value means space. The punctuation after codes should be input with half-width.

Let’s take the center line as an example. The source code for which is A,1.250,-0.25,0.25,-0.25，According to the definition rules stated above, it means drawing a line with length of 1.25, ‘-0.25’ means a space with length of 0.25, ‘0.25’ means a line with length of 0.25.

If you are still not so clear about how to customize the linetype, you could draw the line first. Here is an example for double dot dash line. Let’s see how it’s defined.

Open the file zwcad.lin in ZWCAD installation path. And enter the name of this linetype as “double dots”. The source code for the line should be

*DOUBLE_DOT,double_dot ______..______..______

A,1.0,-0.1,0,-0.1,0,-0.1

Save the file after we add the source code.

With the same method, we could customize the linetype in design.

Related Questions

1. Why the curved line break into straight line segments?

2. Create Linetype with texts

3. Linetype and linetype scale

4. How to get the dot linetype spaced?

5. Linetypes for dot drawings

ZWCAD Hot tutorial: Scaling Objects with Different X and Y Scale Factors in CAD Software

Sometimes in 2D drafting, we need to apply different X and Y scale factors to change the size or shape of existing objects. For example scale it only on X axis without scaling on Y axis. But it seems impossible for ZWCAD to do this with the Scale command. In ZWCAD users are not allowed to specify different scale factors on different axis at the same time. So it is difficult for us to change window “a” to a narrower window “b” just by scaling as shown in Figure 1.

Are there any other ways to scale X an Y axis separately? Here is one way--we combine scaling with block insertion. Make the objects into block, and then insert with uniform scale factors, after which we explode the block to get the original objects back. The detailed steps are as follows:

1. Select the objects which you want to scale, and then turn the objects into a block with the Block command.

2. With the Insert command, insert the block made in step 1, into your drawing.

3. In the Insert Block dialog box, change the X and Y scale factors, as required. Remember to uncheck the “Uniform Scale” option before inputting the scale factors.

4. Put the block at the purpose location of your drawing.

5. Run Explode command to make the block into original objects.

One exception is polyline with arc segments. After exploding a uniform scaled block that is made up with polyline, you will find the arcs become elliptical arcs. Even so, converting objects into block is a good way to scale object in different directions. But in practical term, it is a roundabout way to achieve. Is it possible to make it work by a simple command? Luckily I found a lisp program from some website to save steps for this task. Users may refer to:　Scaleaxis．　

With all above, users will surely find scaling in different directions independently in ZWCAD has never been so easier!

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Similar threads on ZWCAD forum:

Block -XScaleFactor,YScaleFactor (VBA)

Polygon View Point - How to Scale?

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ZWCAD+: A New Name for the Next ZWCAD

Guangzhou, China: May 2—ZWSOFT, a leading supplier of 2D and 3D CAD/CAM solutions to the AEC and MCAD industries, today officially announced that the next ZWCAD will be named ZWCAD+. This name change signifies breakthroughs, including excitingly new and enhanced features, and powerful APIs that will be integrated into ZWCAD+.

The plus in ZWCAD+

“The upcoming ZWCAD+ has so many ground-breaking improvements. It was born to give users a much faster, easier, and more stable design experience than most CAD software could possibly provide,” stated Kingdom Lin, the ZWCAD+ Overseas Business Director. “More accuracy and better compatibility take design experience to a whole new level. That’s why we’ve decided on the new name ZWCAD+. It conveys exactly the core value we want to deliver to CAD designers. ”

ZWCAD+ will offer increased performance, including greatly improved compatibility making cross-platform communication easier than ever. Industry leading memory optimization also insures non-stop work throughout the day. Another plus in this version is that it provides more add-on solutions. Code-level API compatibility enables the ported applications to run up to 8 times faster than before.

“Plus” means more to offer in future

In addition to the above mentioned benefits in ZWCAD+, more innovative features and functionalities which are beneficial to CAD users will be added in the future version of ZWCAD+.

“ZWCAD+ is not just a new name for the next ZWCAD. It means more possibilities for future product development,” said Kingdom Lin. “I strongly believe that this product will open a new and exciting chapter in the CAD user’s design experience.”

About ZWSOFT

ZWSOFT’s a world-renowned CAD/CAM solutions provider for the AEC and MCAD industries, with over 180,000 clients in more than 80 countries. ZWSOFT's products, ZWCAD and ZW3D, have satisfied the needs of 2D & 3D designers for over a decade.http://www.zwsoft.com

Contact

ZWSOFT

John Chow

86-20-38289780-858

zhouzehong@zwsoft.com

http://www.zwsoft.com