Skip to main content
Dan Perico/3 min read

Zooming, Panning, & Navigation Part 2

AutoCAD Drawing Basics

Lines & Polylines

The core drawing primitives — most CAD work is built from these.

Layers

Organize geometry by purpose: walls, dimensions, hatches, annotations.

Blocks

Reusable symbols for doors, windows, fixtures — edit once, update everywhere.

Dimensions

Annotate distances and angles with proper drawing standards.

Master AutoCAD at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's AutoCAD Certification teaches drafting, layouts, blocks, and dimensions.

Learn more about the basics of AutoCAD navigation. Please read Part I if you haven't done so already.

Topics Covered in This AutoCAD Tutorial:

Using the Mouse Wheel & Navigation Bar

Exercise Preview

ex preview clubhouse zoom

  1. Open the file Clubhouse Zoom.dwg.

  2. Turn the mouse wheel to zoom in on one of the two trees in front of the clubhouse. Press down on the mouse wheel to click and hold down the wheel pan to the other tree. Double–click on the mouse wheel to use Zoom Extents so all the objects in the drawing will fill the screen.

  3. Start the Line command by pressing the L key and then pressing Enter. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in on the upper-right corner of the uncompleted steps. The Line command is still active, so you can click on the point specified in the diagram below to start the line segment. An endpoint snap symbol will appear on the point, allowing you to precisely place the start point. This will be explained in a later chapter. Click and hold on the mouse wheel to pan right to the other endpoint where the diagram specifies to finish the line. When you let go of the mouse wheel the cursor will turn back into crosshairs from the hand icon and the Line tool line tool button will still be active. Click on the point specified in the diagram below to complete the steps. The endpoint snap icon will appear again to ensure precision. Press Enter to end the line command.

    clubhouse zoom draw lines

  4. Undo the line you just drew. Double–click on the mouse wheel to activate Zoom Extents. Because you used Zoom Extents, the line will not reappear if you Redo. You will need to redraw the line.

  5. Click and drag on the View Cube to shift away from a top down angle of view. Click the Top side of the View Cube or undo to return to the top down view used in 2D drawing.

  6. Click on the UCS Icon UCS icon to select it and move it to another point to shift the XY Plane. Click on the UCS menu below the View Cube and select WCS to revert to the default UCS and reset the Origin Point. Start the UCSICON Command and press S Enter to get the Selectable option, and then press N Enter for No. The UCS Icon can no longer be selected and moved.

  7. On the Ribbon, click on the View Tab. Click on the View Cube and Navigation Bar buttons to turn them off and on. You may decide to keep them off if you are working in 2D with a mouse. Remember if you turn off the View Cube it will only be deactivated in the drawing you are in. Most of the drawing files used in the book were saved with the View Cube turned off so that when you open the files the View Cube will not appear.