Atlas Intellicad Help

[tscottme]

A year or so ago someone in this NG posted a link to a free version of Atlas Intellicad CAD program. I got the program when it was posted, even though I've never used a CAD program. Anyway, I now want to use the thing but I don't have a clue where to start. The program works, but the operator is ignorant.

Can someone point me to some sort of help? I've searched through the program and the links to web sites or documentation don't lead anywhere.

For example, say I want to design a 4 inch by 6 inch piece with 1/4 holes precisely located in that 4 x 6 how would I do that? I can make a rectangle, and I suppose I could remember or say that rectangle is 4x6 but how do I precisely locate details?

Thanks for any help.

[CW]

[J. Clarke]

First off, not sure what "Atlas" Intellicad is--just google "Intellicad" and you'll find a lot of information.

Next, the freeware versions seem to be dead--the vendors seem to be laboring under the misconception that they can beat AutoDesk by playing Autodesk's game and I suspect have shot themselves in the other foot in the process--the only one who seems to have the right idea is .

Now, in answer to your specific question, there are generally several ways to do things in Intellicad, but they all translate to commands given on the command line, so I'll tell you how to do it from the command line.

First, you want a rectangle, 4x6. To get that, type "rectangle" (without the quotes) and hit the enter key.

In the command window you'll get a line that says: "Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Rotated/Square/Thickness/Width/:"

In all cases, whatever is between the will be the default, so the default is to draw by entering points.

I'm going to assume that you want to start at 0,0, so for the first point just key in 0,0 and then the enter key.

That gets you another prompt: "Other corner of rectangle:"

At that prompt key in 4,6 and then Enter.

You'll see a rectangle on the screen.

Now, you want to position your holes.

To do that, type "circle" (without the quotes) and then enter. You'll see as the default, so key in the position of the center. I'm going to use 1,1.

That will get you to another prompt: "Diameter/ :"

Since you want 1/4 inch diameter, instead of putting a number, just type "Diameter" and enter. You'll get another prompt: "Diameter of circle :"

At that prompt key in "1/4" (without the quotes of course) and Enter and you're there.

Note that you can enter dimensions decimally or as fractions--if you want more than an inch then you can use "1-1/4" for example.

You can also do this by drawing with the mouse. To get precise measurements that way you first have to turn on "snap". If you look on the lower right side you should see a group of boxes--the first one has 3 numbers separated by commas, the second has one number, probably 0, the third and fourth have words in them, probably "BYLAYER", the fifth has "SNAP". If "SNAP" is gray then double-click it and it should turn black. Now, move the mouse pointer around and you should see two of the three numbers in the first box changing as you move--that shows your current position on the screen. Note that it moves in jerks, not smoothly--that's because the mouse pointer is snapping to different positions on the screen. Go ahead and draw your rectangle--click the tool in the toolbar near the top that has a square shape with a colored circle on the lower left corner and a colored diamond on the upper right, then move the mouse pointer to your starting point (0,0 for example), click once, then move to the end point (4,6) and you should see the rectangle form as you want it. Note how easy it is to hit a precise position with the snaps on.

Now, the snaps are probably wrong for your circles, so you need to change the snap setting. Go to Settings/Drawing Settings/Coordinate Input and chane the "spacing" in the "X" and "Y" boxes under "Snap Settings" to .125 to give you a 1/8 inch snap, then click "OK".

Now to draw your first hole, you want the "Circle Center-Radius" tool, which is a circle with a small colored dot in the middle and a colored diamond on the rim--it should be about 4 to the left of the rectangle tool that you used earlier. Click that and put the mouse pointer wherever you want the center to be, then click there, move the mouse pointer to set the radius, click again, and you've got your circle. Repeat as required.

To show the dimensions, go to the Insert menu and pick "Dimensions" then "Linear" then whichever points you want to mark the dimension between. Save the whole thing and you're done.

There's a lot more--for example you can do this in three dimensions--but that's plenty to start with I think.

[tscottme]

Thanks JC. Very helpful