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"Congratulations on writing the best AutoCAD reference/ manual that I've ever seen. I've been an AutoCAD user since R10 and I've seen and used many, many books on ACAD. Yours is an exceptional work...thank you for providing such a complete resource."
- Mike Cauley

"I want to thank you for the AutoCAD Bible. I am a worshipper...in the space of a few months I've reached a level of proficiency with AutoCAD that I wasn't expecting to achieve so quickly...Your book lays it out very intelligently and the CD-ROM provides the hands-on experience that is necessary to truly imbibe the knowledge. The skill I have acquired has been a considerable contribution to my company."
-Jack Eastman

"I own four AutoCAD books and this one is by far the most useful. My computer suffered a major crash recently and I had to reload and recustomize AutoCAD. I could not have done it on my own without your book to guide me through some of the more difficult tasks. Thank you for such a great reference.
-Janice Owens

"I've been a fan of your AutoCAD books since the 2004 edition...I'm working my way through 2006 right now. This time I even went through the competitors' books in the library before coming back to yours. Great work!"
- Dave Maynard

"I am paying so much for school and have learned more from just your book alone...I love and learned so much from your book already; people in my class are envious. Even my teachers are impressed with what I have learned and now ask me how to do things. I love the tutorials."
- Steven Scholtes

"The AutoCAD Bible is a textbook that is an object lesson in good design, concise and helpful writing, and a near-genius level of organisation. . . Your book has been the single most significant factor in my successful mastering of a new skill. . .there is not a paragraph that I would rewrite."
- Paul O'Kelly

"Just a note thanking you for the excellent AutoCAD resource book...Although an expert user of AutoCAD for the last ten years and a certified instructor, the book is a great source of new ideas, techniques, and review...Again, thank you for the superb reference book.
- Andrew Tait

"I picked the 2004 Bible to use as a textbook in an advanced AutoCAD class that I teach 6 or so times a year...I can not say enough good about Ellen's writing style, her use of graphics throughout the book and her expertise. It is all there in the Bible. Excellent AutoCAD Book - Something for everyone.
- Mary Ann Fugier

"I'm a teacher at Oak Creek High School and I just purchased your book on AutoCAD 2004...and I am very impressed with the book. I teach drafting and architecture with CAD and this is the best book I ever purchased."
- Jim Ludeman

"Thanks for writing AutoCAD Bible ..... I'm finding information that I can use and understand!!!!"
-Bob Tuttle

"It is a real pleasure reading and learning with the aid of your book, the AutoCAD Bible. I literally was able to set up standard templates and do some basic parts drawing in the last two days (I bought the book two days ago). I immediately started into solid modeling to describe the parts I wanted to produce -- Unions, Subtractions, Intersections, etc. were no problem with your expert advice...Your lesson structuring and functional explanations are superb."
-Werner Kramer

"Most complete, concise & to the point AutoCAD book I have! ... clear, concise & to the point... We didn't have to spend as much time calling CAD consultants when we could find the information we needed at the flip of a page." Bravo!
-Bruce Hodder


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-Braden


"Great book. This is the first time that I have ever used AutoCAD or any other CAD software and you have made it so easy & enjoyable to learn. I really appreciate your ability to convey the concepts in your book and I really like the Step-by-Step Exercises."
-Howard Groves

"Every once in a while I run across a technical manual that is actually a joy to peruse and from which to learn. Your AutoCAD Bible is one such example. In the local bookstore I held four different versions of [books], and after reading through them all on the subject of 3DOrbit, yours alone was clear, concise, easy to understand, and got me out of a bind. It's also the only one I took to the checkout counter. You did a nice job and I just wanted to tell you so."
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-Peter Elkin, AIA

"I have been using and recommending your work since I first noticed your work with the AutoCAD Bible... I've recommended this work as the 1st choice because of the logical layout, clarity of detailed explanation, common sense approach to meeting needs of a large group of users and finally, I felt that you stayed on task providing a user reference. I support, train and use AutoCAD and I appreciate your work as a suitable, readable, usable and reliable tool! Well DONE!"
-Dan Brewer

AutoCAD News

AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 LT Bible available for pre-ordering at Amazon.com!
AutoCAD 2010 new features
AutoCAD 2010 announced!
AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 Bible published!
AutoCAD 2009 new features
Autodesk University 2007 -- a report
AutoCAD 2008 new features
Syllabus & test bank for AutoCAD 2007 instructors
AutoCAD 2007 new features
AutoCAD 2006 new features (download)
Errata

AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 LT Bible available for pre-ordering at Amazon.com!

AutoCAD 2010 BibleI'm pleased to announce that AutoCAD 2010 & AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible is available for pre-order from Amazon.com! I'm especially proud because this is the 10th anniversary edition! Wow!

The first edition was called AutoCAD 14 Bible. Since 2004, I've updated the book every year. Starting with 2005, the book also covered AutoCAD LT. It's now the best-selling AutoCAD book on Amazon.com.

The book is about 1200 pages and takes me about 6 months each year to update, including editing and review. I've been lucky in recent years to have the help of Melanie Perry, Brian Benton, and Lee Ambrosius.

Go check it out today

AutoCAD 2010 announced!

In a live Web seminar, Autodesk announced AutoCAD 2010, as well as the 2010 versions of its related vertical applications, such as Map and MEP. AutoCAD LT 2010 was also announced. I'll provide a full rundown of all of the new features tomorrow, but I just wanted to highlight the two biggest ones right away.

Parametric constraints for 2D drawing: Parametric constraints control the relationships between objects. Geometric constrains can force an object to be perpendicular, concentric, colinear, coincident, or parallel to another object, for example. Dimensional constraints can control the length, radius, diameter or angle of an object. You can create more complex relationships. For example, you can constrain one line to be twice the length of another line.

Parametric constraints can change the way you draw in a major way, reducing errors, and facilitating modifications. They bring the capabilities of AutoCAD to a new, more professional level.

Mesh modeling for 3D: A new type of object, called a mesh, allows you to mold models to an extent not possible before. You can create complex, "organic" shapes quite easily. This feature borrows from much more advanced programs, such as 3D Studio Max and Maya.

AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 Bible published!

The 9th edition of my book, AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 Bible is now available! I've completely updated the book to conform to the new interface and of course, I cover the new features, such as the ribbon, Quick View, ShowMotion, the View Cube, the SteeringWheel, and more.

If you're planning to upgrade to AutoCAD 2009 or AutoCAD LT 2009, and will use the new ribbon and menu browser, you really need this book to avoid wasting lots of time trying to find your favorite commands! Find out how much easier it is to switch between drawings with the new Quick View feature.

New syllabus and test bank for AutoCAD instructors

For the first time ever, I've completed a syllabus and test bank for AutoCAD instructors. It's posted on the Wiley Higher Education site and effectively turns AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 Bible into a textbook. The test bank includes additional exercises that instructors can use in class if they don't want to use them for the text. I created one set for a beginner's course and a second set for an intermediate course. (No advanced course yet.) Here are the instructions. Note that you must be a teachers at a training, school, high school, or upper education institution.
  1. Go to http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/HigherEdTitle/productCd-0471788864.html. (Alternatively, go to www.wiley.com/college and do a search for AutoCAD). 
  2. On the right hand side of the book's title page is a box for instructors. Click on the link that says, "Go to the Instructor Companion Site." 
  3. You will be brought to a page that asks you to Login to your Wiley account. If you already have a Wiley instructor account, please login using your username and password. If you do not, click the "Please sign up" button. 
  4. A new page will appear. Enter your instructor type (training, high school, college).
  5. You will then need to fill out all of your information--state, school, name, etc.
  6. Once you fill out your information, the request is sent to your college or school sales representative, who needs to approve your access to the site. This process usually takes 24 hours. You will then be sent an email that lets you know that you are approved. <
  7. You will then be able to use your username and password to access the instructor materials. Follow the above instructions to access the page materials.

If you are a college instructor and would like to get in contact with your sales representative directly, go to www.wiley.com/college/rep to look up the contact information. You can also call or email your rep if you experience any difficulties.

Note that the reason for this process is to keep all instructor materials safely password protected. Since many of the Wiley sites contain materials that instructors use for testing purposes in the classroom, the publisher wants to make sure that students can't get access to these materials.

AutoCAD® 2006 new features

In detail, I discuss the new feature of AutoCAD 2006. Download the new feature list in PDF format.


Errata

AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 Bible:

AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 Bible: The file ab26-f.dwt for the exercise, "Creating and Configuring a Sheet Set," on p. 931 is incorrect. Here is the correct file. Thanks to Andrew Poush for pointing this out.

AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 Bible drawings for the exercises (6MB), and the results of the exercises (9MB).

The AutoCAD 2004 Bible CD-ROM is missing three drawing files for Chapter 27. Download them. I've also collected some corrections here.

The AutoCAD 2002 Bible CD-ROM is missing two files. You can download them here. 

3dhouse

3dtrees



The AutoCAD 2000 Bible is missing Figure 11-9. Here it is. Right-click it and choose Save As to download it.










 

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