AutoCAD is one of the most widely used Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software for electrical, mechanical, civil, and architectural drafting and designing. It provides a complete solution for drafting. AutoCAD was developed by a software company named, Autodesk in the year of 1982. This CAD software provides capabilities to draft high-quality 2D and 3D technical drawings. It is available to use on personal computers. This article is meant to provide a list of useful AutoCAD commands to speed up your electrical drafting work.
What are AutoCAD Commands?
AutoCAD commands, also called AutoCAD shortcut commands are characters or words which are typed in the AutoCAD command window to perform specific functions. The main purpose of using these shortcut commands is to avoid the use of a mouse and speed up the drafting process. Let us understand the meaning of the AutoCAD command with an example. Considering we need to draw a line in AutoCAD, then rather than looking for the line command in the ribbon area, we will just type “L” into the command window and press enter to draw a line.
AutoCAD Commands List
The following table gives a list of the most widely used AutoCAD commands for drafting electrical technical drawings. However, these commands are equally useful for mechanical and architectural drawings.
| AutoCAD Command |
Feature |
Description |
| F1 | Help | To display AutoCAD help window. |
| F2 | Command window | Displays command history in an expanded command window. |
| F3 | Object snap | To turn on and off the object snap. |
| F4 | 3D object snap | Turns on and off object snaps for 3D objects. |
| F5 | Isoplane | To change 2D isoplane settings. |
| F6 | Dynamic UCS | Turns on and off the automatic UCS alignment with planner surfaces. |
| F7 | Grid lines | Turn on and off grid lines. |
| F8 | Ortho | Lock the cursor movement in horizontal and vertical directions only. |
| F9 | Grid snap | Restricts the cursor movements to grid intervals. |
| F10 | Polar tracking | Guides cursor movements to certain angles. |
| F11 | Object snap tracking | Tracks the cursor from object snap locations in horizontal and vertical directions. |
| F12 | Dynamic input | Display the distance and angle inputs near the cursor. |
| CTRL + 0 | Clean screen | To hide ribbons and commands. |
| CTRL + 1 | Property palate | To display object property palate. |
| CTRL + 2 | Design center | Displays design center palate. |
| CTRL + 3 | Tool palate | Displays tool palates (symbols & components) |
| CTRL + 8 | Quick calculator | Display a quick calculator. |
| OP + Enter | Options | Displays options dialog box. |
| DS + Enter | Drafting settings | Displays drafting settings dialog box. |
| Limits + Enter; Z + Enter; A + Enter | Zoom to limits | Set working space of limited dimensions. |
| L + Enter | Line | To draw a line. |
| C + Enter | Circle | To create a circle of specified diameter or radius. |
| RECT + Enter | Rectangle | To draw a rectangle of specified dimensions. |
| EL + Enter | Ellipse | To create an ellipse. |
| POL + Enter | Polygon | To draw a polygon. |
| A + Enter | Arc | To draw an arc. |
| PL + Enter | Polyline | To draw a polyline. |
| SPL + Enter | Smooth Polyline | To draw a smooth polyline. |
| T + Enter | Text | To create text in drawings. |
| CO + Enter | Copy | To copy objects. |
| M + Enter | Move | To move objects from one place to another. |
| E + Enter | Erase | To erase objects from drawing. |
| TR + Enter | Trim | Trim objects to meet the edges of other objects. |
| TR + Enter + Hold Shift Key | Extend trim | Extend objects to meet the edges of other objects. |
| RO + Enter | Rotate | Rotate objects. |
| MI + Enter | Mirror | Creates mirrored copies of selected objects. |
| J + Enter | Join | Creates a single object by joining end points of curved or linear objects. |
| O + Enter | Offset | Creates parallel or concentric copies of objects at a specified distance. |
| AR + Enter | Array | Copy and arrange multiple objects in a pattern. |
| CHA + Enter | Chamfer | Creates beveled edges and angle lines. |
| F + Enter | Fillet | Creates rounded arc between two objects to eliminate sharp edges or corners. |
| PE + Enter | Poly Edit | Edit polylines and join objects to polylines and related objects. |
| Div + Enter | Divide | Create evenly spaced points and blocks along the length of an object. |
| H + Enter | Hatch | Fill a closed object with a solid fill, hatch pattern, or gradient fill. |
| D + Enter | Dimension style | Change the settings of dimension appearance in drawings. |
| DLI + Enter | Dimension linear | Create linear dimensions in the drawing. |
| DAL + Enter | Dimension aligned | Create aligned linear dimensions. |
| DAN + Enter | Dimension angle | Measure the angle between two lines. |
| DDI + Enter | Dimension diameter | Measures the diameter of the circle. |
| DRA + Enter | Dimension radius | Measures the radius of the circle. |
| DAR + Enter | Dimension arc | Measure the length of an arc. |
| DI + Enter | Distance | Measure the distance between two points. |
| AA + Enter | Area | Calculate the area and perimeter of objects. |
| B + Enter | Block | Creates a block from selected objects. |
| BE + Enter | Block edit | Edit a block to manipulate. |
| BS + Enter | Block save | Save an edited block. |
| BC + Enter | Block close | Close the block edit window. |
| LA + Enter | Layer manager | Starts the layer manager. |
| LAYOFF + Enter | Layer off | To turn off a layer. |
| LAYON + Enter | Layer on | To turn on all the layers. |
| LAYFRZ + Enter | Layer freeze | To freeze layers of selected objects and make them invisible. |
| LAYLCK + Enter | Layer lock | To lock a layer. |
| LT + Enter | Line type | To change the line type of a layer. |
| LAYDEL + Enter | Layer delete | To delete a layer. |
| X + Enter | Explode | Breaks a compound object into its component objects. |
| SC + Enter | Scale | Enlarges or reduces the size of objects while preserving their proportions. |
| P + Enter | Pan | Moves view of drawing while keeping magnification and viewing direction the same. |
| MA + Enter | Match | Copies properties from one object and applies to another. |
| XREF + Enter | External reference | Attaches a document to a drawing. |
| RE + Enter | Regeneration | Regenerates drawings within the current viewport. |
| UCSIC + Enter | UCSICON | Control user coordinate system icons appearance on screen. |
| CTRL + P | Shows the print settings dialog box. |
Important Points for Electrical Drafting in AutoCAD
- Electrical drawings and plans must be drawn separately from any other plans like architectural or civil plans.
- Electrical symbols should be drawn darker in the drawing for better visibility.