Up and Running with AutoCAD 2012, Second Edition: 2D and 3D Drawing and Modeling

Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Elliot Gindison on Up and Running with AutoCAD 2012

Dear Reader,

Few software products soared to the heights achieved by AutoCAD. Exploding in the early 90's in synch with the popularity of the personal computer it ran on, for a time AutoCAD seemed to be everywhere, and the answer to everything.

It was the ultimate personal design tool, needing only an imagination and some practice to begin creating anything you could envision, a true extension of your mind. Students and professionals alike flocked to the software in droves, as Autodesk's share value rose into the stratosphere.

But like all genius--and simple--ideas, AutoCAD was destined for complexity. Taking up a mere dozen floppy disks in 1996, today’s AutoCAD loads its massive 6GB girth from not one but two DVDs; a victim of what can only be described as an overdose of functionality. As expected, the challenge of educating new users rose proportionally.

I stepped into AutoCAD education almost by accident, as a substitute teacher for a colleague who turned her backpacking trip to Europe into a permanent stay. Taking over her classes at Pratt Institute of Design, I was shocked to see how bewildering this software seemed to students.

I had sympathy because I earned my stripes the hard way, by sitting down and drafting until I got it right, with an angry engineer supervisor over my shoulder most of that time. There were no books, classes, or time for leisurely exploration. I needed things done fast, and I fought, reasoned with, begged, compromised, cursed, cried, and pushed the software until it revealed its secrets.

When I got to the classroom I swore it would be an easier ride for my students than it was for me. I crafted the basics into simple language and ideas. My passion for exposing the sleek and elegant core of AutoCAD, hidden underneath a coat of mindboggling complexity guided the progression of this book. I hope you enjoy learning AutoCAD from it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s a skill well worth pursuing!

-- Elliot Gindis