60 autocad tips in 60 min

8/3/2019 60 Autocad Tips in 60 Min

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60 AutoCAD Tips in 60 MinutesLynn Allen - Autodesk, Inc.

AC330-1If you want a plethora of power user tips, then be sure to join Cadalystcolumnist and author Lynn Allen as she takesyou through a whirlwind of productivity techniques that are certain to improve your everyday drawing life. At a tip aminute, you are certain to discover some AutoCAD features that will remove some of the tedium and boost your abilityto meet project deadlines.

About the Speaker:

Lynn Allen, Cadalystcolumnist and Autodesk Technical Evangelist, speaks to more than 30,000 usersworldwide each year. For the past 16 years, she has written a monthly column in Cadalystmagazinecalled "Circles and Lines" and is the voice behind the popularCadalystvideos -Tips and Tricks Tuesdaywith Lynn Allen. Lynn started using AutoCAD software with Release 1.4 over 20 years ago, and taughtat the corporate and collegiate level for 13 years before joining Autodesk. A sought-after public speakerwith a unique comedic style, Lynn is always one of the highest rated speakers and host of Autodesk

University. The author of three AutoCAD books, her latest is entitledAutoCAD Professional Tips andTechniques.

Email: [email protected]: Lynn_AllenBlog: www.autodesk.com/lynnallen
mailto:[email protected]://www.autodesk.com/lynnallenhttp://www.autodesk.com/lynnallenmailto:[email protected]


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60 AutoCAD Tips in 60 Minutes

IntroductionWith so much going on in our everyday drawing life we have a tendency to get in an

AutoCAD rut. The goal behind this course is to show you a variety of tips that willspark a new awareness and lead you down the road to increased productivity!

User Interface Tips:

1) AutoComplete (Tab to cycle)After keying in a one or more characters - use the tab key at the command line

to cycle through all of the command and system variable combinations

2) Arrow to move up and down command list.Up and down arrows can take you through previously executed commands.

Great for Lispers.

3) Control+9 to toggle command line on/off.

4) Right Click on the command line to retrieve previous commands fromthe shortcut menu.

5) Move Model space/Layout tabs to the Status bar for more screen realestate.Move to and from the status bar via the right click Hide Layout/Model tabsoption.

6) Dynamic editing of Layout Tabs

Double Click to rename the tab. Use Control key to copy layout tabs, simplydrag to move them.

7) Drag and Drop layout tabs to Sheet SetAfter saving your drawing you can easily drag and drop your layout tabs to theactive sheet set.

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8) Maximizing ViewportsDouble click on a viewport to open and edit the contents as though you were inmodel space. No need to worry about accidentally modifying the scale factor

and yet zoom and pan all you want. Click outside of the red area to quickly getback to your paperspace layout.

9) Taskbar to 1Display all open files at the taskbar by setting the system variable TASKBAR to 1.

10) Customize the Quick Access Toolbar for maximum productivity!

(Layer drop-down, SAVEAS)

11)Search for commands in the Application MenuCant find a command in the Ribbon? The Application Menu will show you whereit is!

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Tool Palette Tips:

12) Quickly create a Tool Palette of your blocks in Design Center

Tip: Be sure to PURGE the drawing with the blocks first!

13)Drag and Drop blocks to your Tool PaletteHighlight a block and use a right click to drag a block to an open tool palette.

Your new tool with also remember the layer, rotation angle, scale, etc.

14)Set up tools to automatically scale to your drawingSet the Auxiliary scale factor to Plot Scale or Dimscale

15)Drag and Drop Hatch patterns to your Tool PaletteHighlight a hatch pattern and use a right click to drag thehatch pattern to the tool palette. The pattern, layer, scalefactor, and rotation angle are also saved with the hatch pattern.

16)Drag and Drop a Dimension to save all the settings and the layer for speedyadditions of new dimensions with the same settings.

17)Easily customize your icon with an existing image file.

18)Bonus tip: Use ADD Selected in AutoCAD 2011 to achieve muchof the same results

Layer Tips:

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19)Customize your Layer Columns

For maximum productivity be sure to turn off any columnsyou arent using.

20)Layer States for maximum productivity

AutoCAD gurus use Layers States so they can avoid constantly changing the

layer settings.

21) Applying Layer States per Viewport

After setting up your layer states you can apply them to individual viewports

22) SETBYLAYERThis is a fantastic command to set any object (including those within nestedblocks) back to BYLAYER!

Misc. Layer Tips:

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23)Layer Translater (LAYTRANS) Great for mapping layers from one naming convention to another

9) LAYWALK (View layers individually)

Use the LAYWALK command to quickly view individual layers

10)LAYDEL (Delete even the most stubborn layers!)Use this fantastic Express Tool to delete any layer (except for 0 anddefpoints)

11)LAYISO Isolates layer(s) for easy editing. AutoCAD 2008 and aboveallows you to fade the other layers so you can see the objects on theother layers but not accidentally modify them.

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31) CHANGE command to shorten/lengthenUse the age-old CHANGE command to quickly lengthen/shorten line segments toa specific point (Ortho on)

32) Highlight objects and use a right click to Move and Copy

33) Speedy Array (Control key)Select objects, select a grip, C for Copy and hold the Control key down to do aquickie array!

34)Shift for more than one hot grip

35)Speedy Trims/ExtendsHit an extra enter to turn the entire drawing into a cutting edge (objects donthighlight though!).

36) More Trim/Extend:Shift key to switch between Trim and Extend and Edgemode

37) Fast Corners using Shift in FILLET commandUse the Shift option in the FILLET command to quickly square off corners (noneed to set the radius to 0)

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38) FILTERS commandGo directly to the undocumented FILTERS command to quickly delete excesslayer filters.

System Variables:

39)PEDITACCEPTSet PEDITACCEPT to 1 to avoid the irritating Do you want to turn it into apolyline question.

40) OSNAPZ to replace Z Value with Current ElevationWhen snapping to objects with different elevations, you may want the currentelevation to be used for the Z value. Set OSNAPZ to 1.

41) PLINEGEN - Sets how linetype patterns generate around the vertices of a 2Dpolyline.

42) WHIPARC to 1 for smooth arcs and circles (forget dealing with VIEWRES!)

43) SELECTIONANNODISPLAY

Set to 0 to turn off ghosting with annotative objects

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OPTIONS Tips:

44)Default Template File for QNEWUse the Files tab to set a default template file for starting new drawings. This

will eliminate you needing to select a template file each time (use the NEW

command if you want to select a different template file).

45) Right Click CustomizationConfigure your right mouse button to do BOTH a shortcut menu and an enter inOPTIONS (user preferences tab)

46) Speed up drawings with Annotative Scaling

Turn off Maintain Visual Fidelity while you are drawing. Turn it back on rightbefore saving to a lower release number.

Display Order:

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47) TEXTTOFRONT command

Bring all of the text to the top of the draworder with the TEXTTOFRONTcommand.

48) HATCHTOBACKcommandSends all hatch patterns to the bottom of the draworder.

Table Tips:

49) AutoFill AutoCAD Tables

Use AutoFill to do automatic numbering in Tables.

50) Tables wrap automatically over multiple columns (as long as Table Breaksare enabled)

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Misc. Tips:

51) Control the Text Sample string with MTJIGSTRING

52) Fade External References (by default they are faded by 70% in 2011)XDWGFADECTL

53) Use OSNAP Tracking to quickly find the center of a box(in fact use Object Snap Tracking to make your life much better period!)

54) BURST to explode blocks with Attributes and maintain their attribute value (notdefinition)

55) Reverse Search for XrefsIn Design Center, Use the Search tool to do a reverse search for drawing filesthat are xrefd into other files.

56) The Magical QDIM command Use for speedy dimensioning!

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Zooming Tips

57) ZoomwheelControls the direction of the Scroll Wheel for zooming in and out

58) ZoomfactorControls the speed of the mouse wheel (3 to 100) undo doesnt work onZOOMFACTOR

59) VTOPTIONStop secret command that controls the transition speed of zooms (or whether ornot there is a transition)

60)Turn your mouse into a Joy Stick with Ctrl+Wheel

61) Double Clickfor Zoom Extents

Keys, Keys, Keys

62) Control+R to cycle through all of your viewports

63) Control+A to select all the objects in your drawing

64)Tab to cycle through object snaps

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65) Hold down right mouse button to clear grips

66) Visit my blog: www.autodesk.com/lynnallen

67) Go to Autodesk University 2011!

Visit Autodesk University Online to view my other 30 tips!

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http://www.autodesk.com/lynnallenhttp://www.autodesk.com/lynnallen


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60 autocad tips in 60 min

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