Wiley AutoCAD 2008 For Dummies 978-0-470-11650-0 用户手册

In This Chapter

Getting the AutoCAD advantage

Using AutoCAD and DWG files

Meeting the AutoCAD product family

Using AutoCAD LT instead of AutoCAD

Upgrading from a previous version

M

aybe you’re one of the few remaining holdouts who continue to prac-
tice the ancient art of manual drafting with pencil and vellum. Or

maybe you’re completely new to drafting and yearn for the wealth and fame
(would I lead you on?) of the drafter’s life. Maybe you’re an engineer or archi-
tect who needs to catch up with the young CAD hotshots in your office. Or
maybe you’re a full-time drafter whose fingers haven’t yet been pried away
from your beloved drafting board. Maybe you tried to use AutoCAD a long
time ago, but gave up in frustration or just got rusty. Or maybe you currently
use an older version, such as AutoCAD 2004 or even (if you’re into antiques)
AutoCAD 2000.

Whatever your current situation or motivation, I hope that you enjoy the
process of becoming proficient with AutoCAD. Drawing with AutoCAD is chal-
lenging at first, but it’s a challenge worth meeting. CAD rewards those who
think creatively about their work and look for ways to do it better. You can
always find out more, discover a new trick, or improve the efficiency and
quality of your drawing production.

AutoCAD first hit the bricks in the early 1980s, around the same time as the
first IBM PCs. It was offered for a bewildering variety of operating systems,
including CP/M (ask your granddad about that one!), various flavors of UNIX,
and even Apple’s Macintosh. By far, the most popular of those early versions

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