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

Gindis introduces AutoCAD with step-by-step instructions, stripping away complexities to begin working in AutoCAD immediately. All concepts are explained first in theory, and then shown in practice, helping the reader understand what it is they are doing and why, before they do it.

Divided into three parts, the book covers beginning through advanced AutoCAD, including 3D features. Also included is an extensive appendix for each part, detailing additional useful CAD-related information not often found in other textbooks. The book contains supporting graphics (screenshots) and a summary with a self-test section at the end of each chapter. Also included are drawing examples and exercises, and two running "projects" that the student works on as he/she progresses through the chapters.

1. Strips away complexities, both real and perceived and reduces AutoCAD to easy-to-understand basic concepts.
2. Teaches only what is essential to operating AutoCAD first, thereby immediately building student confidence.
3. All basic commands are documented step-by-step, meaning that what the student needs to type in and how AutoCAD responds is all spelled out in discrete and clear steps with screenshots added as needed.
4. Using the author's extensive multi-industry knowledge of what is important and widely used in practice versus what is not, the material is presented by immediately immersing the student in practical, critically essential knowledge, with no padding of text or filler material.
5. All concepts are explained first in theory, and only then is AutoCAD introduced and the actual "button pushing" discussed. This is one of the key concepts in having students understand exactly what it is they are doing and why, before they do it.

Elliot Gindis is the founding author of the Up and Running with AutoCAD series of textbooks. He is a former AutoCAD drafter and designer who got his start in New York City in 1996 and has logged in over 25,000 hours of screen time with a wide variety of architecture and engineering companies. From 1999 to 2008 he was on staff with the Pratt Institute of Design and as visiting instructor at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), teaching beginner, intermediate, and advanced (3D) AutoCAD classes. He was also the president of Vertical Technologies Consulting and Design, an AutoCAD training firm, and has advised, consulted, or assisted more than 60 companies nationwide in using and optimizing AutoCAD. Elliot was part of the AutoDesk Developers Network and was a Certified Technical Trainer. He published the first edition of the Up and Running textbook with Elsevier in 2010, and has supported each subsequent edition until 2020, when Robert Kaebisch took over full-time. Elliot currently resides in the Los Angeles area, and is an engineer in the defense industry.