Book Review: AutoCAD 2006: A Problem Solving Approach

A reference manual and tutorial in one package

AutoCAD 2006: A Problem Solving Approach is a combination reference and tutorial for this release of AutoCAD. The text has 32 chapters, including An Introduction to AutoCAD, Sketching, Drawing Aids, Editing, the Drawing Display and Creating Text, Dimensioning and Dimension Styles, Model Space, Paper Space and Layouts, Plotting, Hatching, Blocks, Xrefs, Groups, UCS, Data Exchange, Isometric and 3D Drawing, Rendering and Customization. The last two chapters of the book, Creating Linetypes and Menu Customization, require that you download them.

The book is well organized and easy to follow, with the author providing tips and notes throughout. Each chapter begins with a learning objective listing; it is then broken into multiple topics. Generally, after each new topic, command or feature is defined, the author provides the reader with a tip, a note, examples and/or screenshots detailing how the item is used or accessed. At the end of each chapter, the author provides a list of additional helpful resources, a self-evaluation test and review exercises.

Novice users can use AutoCAD 2006 A Problem Solving Approach as a tutorial, while the more experienced user will find it an excellent reference to brush up on the new features found in AutoCAD 2006.

For educators, the author includes where to find additional resources to use the text effectively in a classroom environment. For students, a Web address is provided where you can download drawing exercises, tutorials and programs.

The book is available from Amazon.com and other booksellers.