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AutoCAD 2007+

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AutoCAD Tips & Tricks

Usage

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Application Interaction

Is there a limit on rows/columns from my OLE spreadsheet?

There is a limit, and that limitation is not

necessarily AutoCAD's fault. To see a graphical

example of this, select a large range in the

spreadsheet, then look at the clipboard viewer.

You will find the clipboard viewer in the

accessories or system tools section of the

Windows start menu. If you don't have this

program you will need to use the Add/Remove

Programs applet of the Windows Control Panel to

add it. It will be in the System Tools section of

the Windows Setup tab.

When you look at the clipboard viewer, you

should see that the Windows clipboard has

limited the data when presented in certain

'flavors'. When you use the ole link, you lose

rows and/or columns.

If the link is not required, you may be able to

get more of the data into AutoCAD by using the

Paste Special option from the menu and choosing an option like 'AutoCAD Objects'.

Shaking the OLE from Excel Graphs

When you paste pie/bar graphs from Excel into

AutoCAD, they can exhibit all the problems of a

typical OLE insert, including plot rotation, etc. Use this procedure to 'shake off' the OLE.

1. In Excel, copy your graph to the

clipboard.

2. In AutoCAD, issue the PASTESPEC

command, choose Excel Chart, your only

choice at this point.

3. In AutoCAD, right click on the chart and

choose CUT.

4. In AutoCAD, issue the PASTESPEC

command again, choose AutoCAD

entities.

5. Erase the outer border and background

solid to reveal a good looking collection of native geometry

Block/Attribute

How do I control the prompt order for attributes?

When building the block definition,

the selection order is the key. If

you simply window off the geometry

there is a good possibility the

prompt order will not be as

desired. When selecting objects for

a block definition, first individually

pick the attribute definitions

individually in the order you want to

be prompted, then select the rest of the geometry.

Importing Block Definitions

If you want to bring in only the

definition of a block (such as a

symbol on disk), you can use this

little known trick. After issuing the

insert command and selecting the

file, press the ESC key at the first

(insertion point) prompt. You will

have the definition in the current drawing for latter use.

Add Descriptions to Blocks

Later versions of AutoCAD have the

ability to add descriptions to the block definitions in the drawing.

1. Issue the BLOCK command.

2. Select the block from the list

at top.

3. Click in the lower

'Description' section and

enter the description.

4. Choose OK to redefine the

block with the new description.

Building a block with fields

(2006+)

This procedure will explain how to

create a coordinate label block that updates as you move or copy it.

1. Issue the BEDIT (block edit)

command.

2. Enter the desired name, like

COORDBLOCK and chose OK.

3. Draw the desired point

identifying geometry, such

as a circle at 0,0 with a

radius of 0.25.

4. Issue the ATTDEF command.

5. Turn on the Preset toggle in

the upper left, this makes for

faster inserts as AutoCAD

won't prompt for the

attribute values (which is

automatic anyway).

6. Enter NORTHING for the tag

and prompt fields.

7. To the right of the Value

field, click the 'Insert Field'

button.

8. In the Field Names list on

the left, click

'BlockPlaceholder', this is a

special area only available

during block building.

9. In the middle column,

choose the 'Position'

property.

10. In the right column, format

your output as desired. In

this example turn off the X &

Z fields and 'Current Units' is

the recommended value.

While you can lock the

precision to a fixed number

of places, it's not easy to

modify a field based

attribute later.

11. Choose OK after completing

the field formatting.

12. Change 'Text Options' as

desired. For this example we

are only changing the height

to 1.0.

13. Most likely you will want to

turn off the 'Lock Position'

toggle so you can move the

attribute after the insert.

14. Choose OK to complete the

first attribute. When

prompted for the insertion

point, pick a location or

enter coordinates such as

1.0,1.2 for this example.

15. Repeat at step 5 for the

EASTING & ELEVATION field

attributes, the only other

difference being that the

'Align below previous' toggle

should be turned on to make

positioning easier.

16. Issue the BCLOSE command

or choose the 'Close Block

Editor' button at the top.

17. Choose Yes to save the

changes.

At this point the COORDBLOCK is

defined and ready to insert. As you

insert them into the drawing the

coordinates are filled in

automatically. After moving an

insert issue the REGEN command to

update the values. To make the

block available for inserting into

other drawings, it will need to be WBLOCKED to a separate DWG file.

1. Issue the WBLOCK

command.

2. Choose the Block button and

select COORDBLOCK in the

list.

3. Click the [...] in lower right

to specify a filename.

4. Changing the Insert Units to 'Unitless' is recommended.

Construct/Draw

Inserting Drawings, Consider the BASE

When inserting blocks (or entire

drawings) from a seperate DWG

file, it may not come in 'attached' to

the cursor, or in the right place.

When preparing a drawing and its

geometry to become 'insertable'

into another drawing, you must

consider its coordinates and then

optionally the BASE variable. The

preferred method for blocks is to

move the geometry from the

desired 'anchor' to coordinates of

0,0,0. If you don't want to do that,

you should issue the BASE

command and pick a point at the

anchor.

Another problem scenario to watch

out for is when the geometry has

been moved to 0,0 and the current

drawing had a base other than 0,0.

In this case simply issue the BASE command and type in 0,0,0.

Some offset distances are greater than specified?

This can expecially occur when

offsetting polylines. As the interior

angle decreases, the distance

between offset endpoints

increases. However in parallel

sections the perpendicular distance

'should' always be 100. For example with a 100 unit offset.

135° interior angle = 108.35 45° interior angle = 261.60

In general a more accurate

representation of the offset would

be achieved if you filleted the

resulting polyline to 100, making

most points along the path truly 100 units away, even in the 'bends'.

AutoCAD 2000 addresses this issue,

see the OFFSETGAPTYPE system variable.

Why won't AutoCAD create my

large array?

AutoCAD sets a default limit of

100,000 segments. If the quantity

of rows * columns would exceed

that, AutoCAD refuses to create the

offset. However you can change the

default value to any number from

100 to 10,000,000. To increase the

value, enter the following at the

command prompt. The example

shows increasing the value to

50,000. Note that the name

MaxArray is case sensitive and must be entered as shown.

Command: (setenv "MaxArray" "50000")

Relative Coordinates

Frequently in designating points in

AutoCAD, you need to specify the

relative position of the next point.

There are several ways to do this:

Relative Cartesian: You simply

specify the X/Y difference as

positive or negative values. The

following example indicates the next

point is 12 units to the right

(positive X) and 6 units down

(negative Y). (Example)To Point:

@12,-6

Relative Polar: You specify the

distance and angle to the next

point. The following example

indicates the next point 15 units

away at a 45 degree angle. (Example)To Point: @15<45

Relative Cylindrical: Much like

relative polar except you have the

ability to designate the amount of

rise or drop at the new point. The

following example indicates the next

point 15 units away at a 45 degree

angle, but also is 6 units lower. (Example)To Point: @15<45,-6

Relative Spherical:Much like relative

cylindrical except the rise or drop is

determined by an angle. The

following example indicates the next

point 15 horizontal units away at a

45 degree angle in plan view, but

also lifts 12 degrees in the XY

plane. (Example)To Point: @15<45<12

AutoCAD's Geometry Calculator

People often don't know about

AutoCAD's built in geometry

calculator. While it lacks in

interface appeal it more than makes

up for it in capability. Take the

ability to snap to a point between to

endpoints. Consider this example

where a circle is placed halfway between the endpoints of two lines.

Command: CIRCLE

Specify center point for circle or

[3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: 'CAL

>> Expression: MEE

>> Select one endpoint for MEE:

>> Select another endpoint for MEE:

The key is when prompted for any

point, enter 'CAL and type in the

expression. In the case of MEE it

knows you want endpoints and you

don't have to use an object snap

when picking. Also bear in mind

that MEE is only one of dozens of

expressions available at the

prompt. Read your AutoCAD

documentation on the Geometry

Calculator for more.

How do I enter boundaries in bearing & distance?

First you need to set the

appropriate units in the DDUNITS

command. Set the angular units to

'Surveyor', then choose the

direction button and make sure that

'Angle Direction' = east, 'Rotation'

= counter clockwise. Even though

you have set to Surveyors Units it

won't work right unless set this way.

Then using the LINE or PLINE

command you enter the calls as relative polar coordinates.

Command: LINE

Start Point: (Pick One)

Next Point: @123.45<N45D30'15"E

Next Point: @234.56<S25D10'10"W

Notice the syntax for the relative

polar coordinate. You put the @

sign first, which means relative to

the last point. Next comes the

distance. Last is the bearing. Its

enclosed in the quadrant NE, NW,

SE, SW, note the use of letter D to

indicate the degrees.

The underutilized AutoCAD

MULTIPLE command

When you need to repeat a

command several times, consider

the MULTIPLE command. At the

command prompt type MULTIPLE

followed by the command. Take the

POINT command for example.

Without the multiple prefix you

would need to reissue the command

before each pick location, now you

can repeatedly pick the points until done.

Press ESC to cancel the repeating

command.

Using BPoly to Shrinkwrap

Users often need to generate a

boundary polyline around multiple

polygons or a collection of 3dfaces

forming a surface definition.

Bpoly/Boundary is overlooked as a

tool to help with this, because its

considered to only work from the

inside out. Simply surround your

geometry with a rectangular

polyline. Create a new layer and

set it current. Then issue the BPOLY

command, and pick a point inside

the rectangle.

Display

Why does AutoCAD regen every

time I zoom or pan?

You may occasionally receive a

drawing from an outside source that

causes this problem. Simply type

VIEWRES at the command prompt,

say YES to fast zooms, and set your circle zoom percent to around 200.

Why does the Object Properties Toolbar Stop Working?

When you pick objects at the

command prompt, they highlight

and grips appear. On the object

properties toolbar the layer and/or

color of the object usually appear so

that you can change them. But on

some systems this stops working.

This is because the noun/verb

selection has been turned off.

Simply type DDSELECT at the

command prompt and turn on the

'Noun/Verb Selection' toggle. The

Object properties toolbar will start

working again.

Number of Command Lines

When you press F2 and look back at

the command history, you may

notice that at some point it stops.

The default number of lines is set to

400. On R14 you could change it in

the preferences dialog.

Unfortunately 2000 and higher has

regressed. You have to use a to lisp expression setting like MaxHatch.

To check the current number of

lines set: Command: (getenv "CmdHistLines")

To set a new maximum number of

lines:

Command: (setenv "CmdHistLines" "1000")

The number you use must be in a range from 25 to 2048!

Lost Command Line

Almost all AutoCAD users utilize the

command line area to some extent.

Recent versions of AutoCAD allow it

to be turned off and it can be as

easy as accidentally pressing Ctrl +

9. You can use these commands to

control it.

Command: _CommandlineHide

Command: _Commandline

Keeping the UCSICON in the

corner

If you don't use a UCS you might as

well use UCSICON off. If you do you

might want to keep it in the lower

left corner. Use the 'Origin' and 'No

Origin' options of the UCSICON

command to control the position of

the UCSICON.

Hatches

Why won't AutoCAD create my dense hatch?

AutoCAD sets a default limit of

10000 segments. If the hatch that

would be created would exceed

that, AutoCAD refuses to create the

hatch. However you can change the

default value to any number from

100 to 10,000,000. To increase the

value, enter the following at the

command prompt. The example

shows increasing the value to

100,000. Note that the name

MaxHatch is case sensitive and must be entered as shown.

Command: (setenv "MaxHatch"

"100000")

Why is my hatch scrambled?

Sometimes when you attempt to

hatch an area (especially in large

coordinate drawings), the hatching

can appear scrambled. The hatch

pattern does not have enough

precision to work properly in the

larger coordinates. Use this simple workaround:

1. Issue the SNAPBASE

command and pick a point

slightly below and to the left

of the area to hatch.

2. Hatch the area, it will look

correct now.

3. Reissue the SNAPBASE

command and put in 0,0 (or previous value).

Adding Custom Hatches

In AutoCAD versions prior to 2000,

you could put additional hatch

pattern definitions at the end of

your ACAD.PAT file, and add

the appropriate slides to the

ACAD.SLB file to make them show

up in the BHATCH dialog.

AutoCAD versions 2000 and later do

not use the ACAD.PAT/SLB at all.

Instead of putting all the definitions

in the ACAD.PAT, it is best to put

each pattern definition in a separate

PAT file. The path where these PAT

files reside must be in the AutoCAD

support paths as well. There is

some benefit to using a short path

such as C:\CADSTUFF, because the

BHATCH dialog shows the path

before the patten name, and long

paths make the pattern name fall

off to the right of the list.

To select your custom pattern, issue

the BHATCH dialog and choose the

pattern select button {...}, then

choose the Custom tab to select your pattern.

Hatch Pattern Snaps (2005+)

There has been a change in

behavior in AutoCAD 2005

regarding the object snaps on its

geometry. In previous releases

osnaps would honor hatches, in

2005 they are ignored by default.

To turn on the snap to hatch,

access the OPTIONS dialog (Tools

menu), go to the Drafting tab, and

in the lower left you will find the

toggle.

Also there is a command line

system variable OSNAPHATCH, set

to 0 for off (no snap), 1 for on

(snap).

Images

How can I make working with IMAGES easier?

If you frequently insert images,

having to position, scale and rotate

them each time, try this simple

trick. Begin a new 'empty' drawing.

Insert the image, position, scale

and rotate it into place. Make any

other changes such as contrast,

then save the drawing. From now

on, simply insert the newly created

drawing, not the image. The

attached drawing will contain all the settings.

Add Image Support to AutoCAD

By installing the Raster Design

Enabler, you can add support for

additional image formats (such as

MrSID) to your basic AutoCAD.

From the Autodesk Website: "The

Autodesk® Raster Design 2007

Object Enabler is a freeware

application that you can use to

display Autodesk Raster Design

2007 image files."

Simply visit the link below to

download the appropriate enabler

for the version of AutoCAD. After

you install it, check your image

insert 'files of type' popdown for the

new formats.

This is of course unsupported

(including by us), and while we

haven't tested all the formats, we

have confirmed the addition of the MrSID and ECW format.

Image Clipping Expanded

The first procedure explains how to

clip multiple areas of a single image

insert. It assumes you have the

image in place and know which

portions you wish to remain visible.

Assume in this case you want to

keep the lower left and upper right portions of the image.

Begin the IMAGECLIP command,

enter N for New boundary, then P

for Polygonal and pick the points in

this order. Note that picks for

C/I and D/H are the same location.

E F

--------x----

x ----

|

| | |

| D x x G ---

> /----

| H |

/

B x C x | ----

/

| I | |

|

A x----x-------- ----

J

Any number of points can be used,

just make sure you follow the path

back to the point of beginning. A

second procedure can be used to

create a blank hole in an image. In

this case C/J and D/I are the same

points.

C J

B x--------x-------x K

+--------x-------x

| I |

| | |

| E x x H x | --->

| +----+----+ |

| D |

| | CLEAR | |

| F x G x |

| +---------+ |

| |

| |

A x---------------- L

+----------------+

Finally, make sure IMAGEFRAME is

turned off. Note that this newsletter

is sent in plain text. If your mail

tool is set to force a proportional

font, these character graphics may

be skewed.

Inquiry

Horizontal Distance

To get the horizontal distance in a

drawing that has differing elevation

values, you can use AutoCAD's

point filters. In response to the

point prompt, enter .XY and press

the spacebar, pick your point with

the appropriate osnap, then enter 0 for the Z value.

Command: DIST

Specify first point: .XY of *PICK*

(need Z): 0

Specify second point: .XY of *PICK* (need Z): 0

Find Command to Select Blocks

You can use the Find command to

select blocks by their attribute values. Use this procedure.

1. Open the drawing containing

the blocks.

2. Initiate the FIND command.

3. Enter the value of the

attribute.

4. Choose the [Select Objects]

button and select all the

blocks.

5. Choose the [Select All]

button to select the matches.

Of course ToolPac users take this

farther by specifying multiple fields

to match and operators such as less

than, greater than, etc.

Interface

How can I balance right click behavior?

Starting with AutoCAD 2004, you

can find a compromise between the

old rightclick=enter, and the new

rightclick=menu. A new 'time

sensitive right click' gives you the

best of both worlds.

When this is turned on, a quick click

of the right mouse button is the

same as pressing enter. Holding

down the right mouse button longer

than the specified time yields a

context sensitive menu (when appropriate).

1. Command: OPTIONS

2. Choose the 'User

Preferences' tab.

3. Turn on 'Shortcut menus in

drawing area'.

4. Choose the 'Right-click

Customization' button.

5. Turn on 'Time Sensitive

Right Click'.

6. Change interval if desired.

Classic Commands

For those running AutoCAD for a

long time, the new image and xref

dialogs are a big change. To access

the old versions of the dialog, use

the CLASSICIMAGE and CLASSICXREF commands.

Restore Classic Appearance

Recent versions of AutoCAD are

evolving into an interface that

hardly resembles what many are

accustomed to. Here are a few

commands that can help return

AutoCAD (partially) to that state.

Command: WORKSPACE C AutoCAD

Classic (sets classic workspace)

Command: MENUBAR 1 (restores

pulldown menus)

Command: RIBBONCLOSE (turns off

the ribbon)

In addition, the WSSAVE command

can be used to save changes to a

workspace so they 'stick' and won't

revert when making changes.

Layers

Why isn’t my layer table sorted?

If you begin working with a large

number of layers (around 200), you

may notice that the layers are not

sorted in the layer dialog. Instead

they are shown in the order they

were created. AutoCAD uses a

system variable MAXSORT to

control how many layers to sort on

layer control as well as how many

files to sort on file open. Simply

type in MAXSORT at the command

prompt and put in a numeric value

larger than the default value of 200.

This value is stored in the

configuration files and won’t need to be reentered in your next drawing.

Don’t Plot That Layer!

A trick in AutoCAD that has been

around for the longest time is a

layer name that won’t plot

regardless of its status. Create a

layer in your drawing called

DEFPOINTS. Use it to place notes to

yourself, construction lines, etc. It

also an excellent layer to put paper

space viewports into, since the frames don’t plot.

No Xref Layer Filter

If you want your layer dialog to

show only layers in the current

drawing and exclude all xrefs,

create a filter with a name like

NOXREF, then put this in for the

layer name "~*|*" (without the quotation marks).

Delete All Named Layer Filters

Later versions of AutoCAD have the

ability to delete all named layer filters quickly.

1. Open the Layer dialog box.

2. Open the Named Layer

Filters dialog using the [...]

button in the upper left

corner.

3. Choose the [Delete All]

button in the lower right.

Copy Layer Table

Beginning with AutoCAD 2005, you

can copy the contents of the layer

dialog to the clipboard for pasting

into other applications, mainly for

printing. With the dialog displayed,

issue the Ctrl+A keystroke

combination to select all the

records, then use Ctrl+C to copy the contents to the clipboard.

New Layers (Frozen in Existing Viewports)

Starting with AutoCAD 2008, the

layer dialog has a new icon just to

the right of the 'New Layer' icon.

Use it to create a new layer that will

be frozen in all existing layout

viewports!

Another Classic - ClassicLayer

Some users of newer versions of

AutoCAD are reporting slow

behavior in using the new Layer

dialog that floats and remains open.

This new dialog must constantly

monitor AutoCAD to maintain an

accurate reflection of the layer

status in the drawing, including

reacting to changing the active drawing, etc.

For those who want faster response

or those that like the old way

better, use the ClassicLayer

command to initiate the old dialog.

Layouts

Is there a limit to the number of layouts in a drawing?

Yes, it is limited to a total of 255.

Autodesk notes this as a limitation

of the tab control used to display

the collection.

Why don't my layouts plot in the

correct order?

This is a bug in AutoCAD that still

remains. Click here for a (confusing

at best) explanation by Autodesk.

Linetypes

Why won’t my linetypes

display?

Sometimes it seems that no matter

how you try, you can’t get line

types with breaks to show the

breaks. First thing to remember is

that 3D polylines in AutoCAD cannot

display a line type, nor can they

have width or contain arcs for that

matter. However, most other

objects should if things are set right.

First check the value of LTSCALE,

this master control variable

determines the scaling of the gaps

in linetypes. You may find this

variable set to 1.0, which would not

show breaks on a map. Enter

LTSCALE at the command prompt

and put in a value that is 50% to

66% of the scale at which you

would plot the map. For example, if

you would plot the drawing at

1”=50’, you should put in a value between 25-35 for LTSCALE.

If LTSCALE doesn’t set things

straight, there is a possibility that

your geometry has a CONTINUOUS

linetype set to each object, in which

case it won’t take on the linetype of

the layer on which it is assigned.

Simply issue the CHPROP

command, select the geometry,

type LT for linetype, and enter

BYLAYER for the value.

If this still doesn’t display the

linetype’s properly, you probably

have polylines with vertices that are

close together. To correct this use

DDMODIFY, select the polyline, and

turn on the LTGEN toggle in the dialog.

Arc Text Linetypes

When using text in linetypes it's

often difficult to control the

direction the text reads, especially

in arcs. For true arcs you would

need to convert them to polylines,

using PEDIT. Next, be aware of the

effect of polyline generation. This

flag needs to be turned on for the

polyline to honor the direction. This

flag can be set using the PROPS

dialog. Lastly, you may need to

reverse the polyline to control the

reading direction.

The main thing to remember is that

without the polyline generation flag

set, the text will always read

counterclockwise in the arc

segments of the polyline.

Modify

Changing Elevations Using Move

Many AutoCAD users only think of

the MOVE command for moving a

selection set of objects in an XY

direction. Don't overlook the fact

that the MOVE command can work

perfectly for moving objects up and

down the Z axis as well. To change

elevations of objects where you

know the distance you want to raise or lower, use this procedure.

1. Issue the MOVE command.

2. Select Objects to change.

3. For Base Point, simply pick

anywhere.

4. For 2nd Point, enter this:

@0,0,ZDIFF

Where ZDIFF is the amount you

want to raise or lower. Use a

negative number to lower and a

positive one to raise.

Misbehaving Trim/Extend

Sometimes users complain about

the TRIM or EXTEND commands not

creating the desired results. The

resulting point being short of (or

past) the target edge. These

commands are affected by the

settings of TRIMMODE and

PROJMODE system variables, which

should both be set to 1. You'll

notice these as options in the

commands as well.

Deleting Problem Objects

There are times when you would

like to erase all of a particular

object type from a drawing, such as

Wipeouts and Proxy objects. Paste

in the following at the command

prompt, then press enter.

Command: (command "ERASE"

(ssget "x" '((0 . "WIPEOUT"))) "")

You can use this same syntax and

replace the object type at the end

of the statement. For example on

proxies replace "WIPEOUT" with "ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY".

Toggling Groups

If you start to manipulate an object

and multiple objects are

highlighted, that means they are

bound in a group or a block. If you

use the list command, it will list as

a block if that's the case. If it lists

as objects, you have a group.

If you have a group, you can toggle

the status of group selection with

Ctrl+Shift+A on newer versions or

simply Ctrl+A on older releases.

The command line will echo the

status of the toggle.

Objects

Object Cycling

Object Cycling has been around

since R13, but isn't a widely known

ability, perhaps because it's not a

command. Whenever you are at the

'Select Objects' prompt and have

overlapping objects, simply hold

down the Ctrl key as you pick a

location. AutoCAD will cycle through

the objects at that location,

highlighting each one until you accept one and move on.

XLINEs and RAYs

AutoCAD R14 brought with it many

new object types. Many of these

such as images are widely

accepted. Many more (such as

XLINE and RAY objects) remain

underutilized.

XLINE objects make an excellent

construction line. They don't change

the drawings extents so they don't

affect zoom extents. They never

need to be extended because they

run infinitely in the direction they

are drawn.

RAY objects work like XLINE, except

they extend infinitely only in one

direction. This can be used for radial

construction lines from a single point.

What are ProxyObjects and can I delete them from a drawing?

They are custom objects that

require the presence of the

application that generated them to

be 'fully' functional. Sometimes

when the application is absent they

will still appear/plot the same but

you can't edit them or acquire

information about them.

Sometimes you might even get a

box with an X through it as in the case of the RTEXT object.

The AEC group of Autodesk

deserves credit for releasing the

recent versions of the Object

Enabler. It is free and allows

recipients of drawings with their

proxies to see and do more with the

otherwise impossible representation.

Depending on your situation, saving

the drawing in an R12 format

(different file name of course) is a

brute force approach to purging the

drawing of proxies. However

depending on whats contained it

can have ill effects.

Paper Space

Transporting Paper Space

Viewports

During the process of wblocking or

copy/paste clip, Viewport objects

can appear to become zombies, not

displaying the model space

geometry they formerly showed.

Transporting viewports seems to

turn off the viewports. After any

wblock/copy+paste operation use

the MVIEW command with the ON

option to turn the viewports back

on. Once the viewports are turned

back on they should show their

previous contents properly, including the layer status.

How do I switch between overlapping viewports?

When you have two or more paper

space viewports that overlap or are

contained within another, it can be

difficult to impossible to switch with

the mouse pointer. Therefore the

keyboard command for this can be

indispensable. The keyboard

command USED TO BE Ctrl+V, but

since Windows knows this as paste,

Autodesk changed the command.

The new command sequence is Ctrl+R.

PSLTSCALE is per Layout

It's not widely known that the

PSLTSCALE variable has an

independent setting on each layout.

After you set the value for one

layout, you may need to switch to

other layouts and set it as

appropriate.

Layout Limit

Q: Is there a limit to the number of

layouts in a drawing.

A: Yes, there can only be 255

layouts in a given drawing.

PDF Related

Scanning to PDF a waste of time

Its recently came to our attention

that many scanners come with

software that scans old drawings to

a PDF, and that users are doing just

that. The follow up is how to put

that in AutoCAD.

This is a waste of time and effort.

The most efficient way is to scan to

a raster file and use AutoCAD's

IMAGE command to attach the

image to the drawing. Avoid using

JPG format, while it works well for

photos it does not work well with

line drawings. Use the PNG format if

available, or use TIF if not.

PdfUnderlay Performance

Some users are reporting slow

performance when they use the

new PdfUnderlay functionality in

2009 (w/subscription) and 2010. It

mostly depends on the content of

the PDF, which can often be a

bloated mess. Not all PDF creators

are equal. For example, while one

driver may write out text as a lean

text element, another may

(especially if its width factor is

changed) write out each letter as a

large collection of filled triangles.

Take for example this innocent

looking letter "S", which contained 471 objects!

AutoCAD doesn't know it's a letter S

and has to treat it with as much

importance as any other part of

your file. This users file (PDF Size

1.2mb) contained nearly 325,000

objects that obviously was bogging down AutoCAD.

You can turn off the PDFOSNAP

system variable to improve snaps.

Cannot Snap to PdfUnderlay

Not all PDFs contain geometry that

AutoCAD can snap to. Many times

the PDF is a scanned image that has

such high resolution that the

content looks like linework. You can

usually zoom in tightly to begin to

see the jagged edges of an image.

Check your PDFOSNAP system

variable; it should be set to 1.

Plotting

Quick & Easy Plot to Raster

While the highest quality result is

by defining a raster plotter (below),

it's easy to create a raster using the

BMPOUT, TIFOUT, or PNGOUT (our favorite) commands.

Plotting to a raster file

A popular inquiry from AutoCAD

users is how to plot a drawing to a

raster file (or bitmap/picture). This

is often in response to the need to

provide a 'picture' of the drawing

without actually providing the DWG,

or perhaps a drawing is to be displayed in a web page.

First is the simple to use (but less

control) command called BMPOUT.

It creates a Windows Bitmap .BMP

file, appropriate for Paintbrush but

not ready for a web page. It

captures the whole drawing

viewport so center your drawing as

well as possible before issuing the

command. The following procedures

can be used to 'plot' your drawing to a raster file.

Setup:

1. Choose File > Plotter

Manager.

2. Choose 'Add-A-Plotter

Wizard'.

3. Choose Next, then Next

again (accepting My

Computer).

4. Under Manufacturers, choose

'Raster File Formats'.

5. Under Models, choose

'Portable Network Graphics

PNG'. (details on why below)

6. Choose Next until the Finish

button becomes available.

Usage:

1. Issue the Plot Command.

2. On the Plot Device Tab,

choose the PNG output

created.

3. Choose the Properties

button, and choose the

output resolution desired.

4. In the lower right corner,

specify the path and

filename to create.

5. Switch to Plot Settings tab,

specify the window and complete the plot to file.

You may wonder why the PNG file

was chosen. It is a clean highly

compressed format. In comparison,

the JPG (JPEG) format is absolutely

NOT a desireable format for

representing linework in raster

format. While JPEG is fine for

photographs, it is a 'lossy'

compression and will produce

noticable 'snow' on line drawings, expecially diagonal lines.

The PNG file is your best choice for

raster output. It is very compact in

size and is a 'loseless' compression.

It can be displayed by all 'current' web browsers as well.

Plotting Multiple Sheets

Some may not know that in newer

versions of AutoCAD which support

the new layouts that you can select

multiple layouts to plot. At the

command prompt, simply hold

down the control key and click on

each layout you want to plot, or use

shift to select a range. Once you've

got the desired layouts selected you issue the plot command.

Auto Publish (2008+)

Newer versions of AutoCAD contain

the capability to automatically

create a DWF or PDF (added in

2010) file when you save or close

your drawing. To setup the system

go to the OPTIONS dialog, then

choose the |Plot and Publish| tab.

In the lower left you can turn the

system on/off and control the settings.

The settings dialog allows you to

designate when the publish is to

take place, where the files go, etc.

Various options exist in 2010 for

things like layer information, merge

control, and more.

Polylines

Why won't my 3D polylines display a linetype?

3DPOLY's cannot contain arcs,

display linetypes or show width or

thickness. However, you can assign

a linetype style to a 3D polyline and

it will retain the information.

Simply save the drawing, explode

the 3D polylines before you plot

(the LINES will display the

linetype), then undo to restore the 3D polylines.

Why don't my splined polyline

vertices go through the original

vertices?

As you probably know, using the

Spline option ofthe PEDIT command

creates a splined polyline but the

path of the spline does not run

through the original control points.

In contrast the spline created with

the SPLINE command does run

through thecontrol points and is the

end result you want. Back on the

negativeside the SPLINE command

has an option to convert an existing

polyline, but only one that has been

splined. The converted spline is still not what you want.

So the best way with stock AutoCAD

is to turn on the endpoint

osnap,issue the SPLINE command

and get starting picking points.

ToolPac users will find Convert

Polylines to Splines that will process

a selection set of un-splined

polylines and give you the results

you want.

How can I draw a tangent line

off an ARC within a polyline?

You may have noticed that when

you go to the ARC mode within the

PLINE command, the first and

consectutive arcs are tangent to the

previous segment. To create a

tangent line off the last segment,

first press L for Line mode, then

press a second L for Length. Pick or

enter a distance and the segement

drawn will be tangent off the last

arc. Its the 2nd L that does the

trick.

How can I convert R14 LightWeight Polylines back?

At the command prompt type

CONVERTPOLY. This undocumented

command built into AutoCAD R14

allows you to convert lightweight

polylines to the old 'heavy'

polylines, preserves arcs and

polyline width. Some 'not so

current' applications may require

standard polylines.

Security

How do I disable 2004 Drawing Passwords?

The password on 2004 (and higher)

is a potential nightmare. One

scenario is a disgruntled employee

who decides to password protect

important drawings on their way

out the door.

When installing, consider choosing

the Custom Install, and turn off the

Drawing Encryption option in

Special Features. After installation

use this procedure.

1. Choose Start > Settings >

Control Panel.

2. Choose Add/Remove

Programs.

3. Find AutoCAD on the list.

4. Choose the [Change] button.

5. Choose 'Add or Remove

Features'

6. Choose 'Drawing Encryption'

7. Choose 'Entire Feature will

be unavailable'

8. Choose [Next] until complete.

Splines

How can I convert a SPLINE to a

POLYLINE?

The new SPLINE objects introduced

in R13 are nice, but there arelimits

on what you can do with them. So

conversion to a polyline is

necessary. Carefully erase all the

geometry except for the splines,

then save the drawing in R12 DWG

(A2K users use R12 DXF) format.

Then open the original drawing,

erase the splines and insert the R12

file.The spline will now have

become polylines. If the splines

haddiffering elevations on the

vertices, the resulting polyline will

be a 3D polyline.

For ToolPac users, use Convert >

Splines > To Polylines. For others

SPL2PL.VLX in the Free Stuff section

will convert, but does not contain

the arc option like the one in

ToolPac.

System Variables

What happened to my PLOT/FILE dialogs?

You may occasionally find yourself

in a situation where the NEW,

OPEN, and SAVE commands do not

provide a dialog. Simply enter

FILEDIA at the command prompt

and enter a value of 1. If you

attempt to PLOT and fail to get a

dialog, simply enter ` at the

command prompt and enter a value of 1.

Using File Dialog at prompts

Sometimes settings (such as

FILEDIA) can cause certain routines

to ask for a file name at the

command prompt. In these cases

you can enter the tilde ~ character

followed by enter to bring up the

file selection dialog.

Ignoring Object Snap Elevations

A frequent problem in objects snaps

is the inheritance of the Z value

when snapping to a point. AutoCAD

2006 addresses this with the new

OSNAPZ system variable. If set to

0, osnap uses the z-value of the

snapped point. If set to 1, it uses

the x+y of the snapped point and

the current value of the ELEVATION system variable.

Also note that when creating

lightweight polylines, the elevation

of the first snap will determine the

elevation. After that, any snap to other elevations will be ignored.

What is the OFFSETGAPTYPE variable in AutoCAD 2000?

This system variable can have a

drastic effect on the appearance of

offsets. Its stored in the registry so

it affects all drawings. The initial value is 0.

0 Extends the segments to

fill the gap (the old way)

1 Fills the gaps with a

filleted arc segment (the

radius of the arc segment is

equal to the offset distance)

2 Fills the gaps with a chamfered line segment

What is TREEDEPTH?

Users with HUGE drawings may

want to consider changing the value

of the TREEDEPTH variable. It

controls the AutoCAD Oct-Tree

Spatial Index, which specifies the

number of times the tree-structured

spatial index may divide into

branches. Setting the value to -

3020 flattens the Z index giving you

more granular nodes in the XY

which yields faster object selection.

It has no effect on the elevations of

your objects.

PELLIPSE System Variable

If you want the ellipse command to

create polylines instead of the true

mathematical ellipses, set the PELLIPSE variable to 1.

SKPOLY System Variable

By default, the SKETCH command

creates a collection of line objects.

To create polylines instead, set the

SKPOLY variable to 1.

Tables

Table Spanning (2008+)

Tables can now be broken into

multiple parts but still be part of the

same table. At the bottom of every

table object is a triangular grip.

Simply click and drag this grip to

set the breaking height for the

table.

Text/Mtext

How can I do subscript/superscript text?

There is no way to do it in standard

TEXT. However you can do it in

MTEXT using the stack mechanism.

As an example bring up the MTEXT

editor dialog and paste in

something like:

Raise to the 3rd^ Power!

Basically the formula is to use the ^

carat symbol along with the same

number of spaces as you have

characters to shift up/down. In my

example above I would enter this

into the MTEXT editor dialog box,

there are three spaces after the ^,

two to balance the shift of the 'rd'

and a third for the natural space

between the words. In the MTEXT

editor I would highlight the 5

characters "rd^ ", then press the

A/B stacking button in the dialog.

The 'rd' then becomes superscript.

To achieve subscript simply reverse

the order putting the spaces and

carat first, for example " ^rd".

If you wanted to underline the

superscript or overline the

subscript, simply use a "/"

(forwardslash) instead of the carat symbol.

How can I select all TEXT that contains a word fragment?

When you need a selection set of

text objects that contains a word or

word fragment, you can call upon

the FILTER command to help. When

at the select objects prompt, type

'FILTER and press enter. Pull down

the Selected Filter and choose Text

Value from the list. In the X field

enter the text fragment you are

looking for with appropriate *'s

included. For example *LINE* will

find all text string with the wordLINE anywhere in the string.

Dtext Placement (2006+)

Changes in the default behavior

make it difficult for those who still

place single line text in various

locations. To restore the previous

behavior, enter DTEXTED at the

command prompt and enter a value of 1.

Mtext Editing (2006+)

The new method of editing small

mtext (especially when rotated) can

be difficult with the in-place editor.

To bring back the old method, enter

MTEXTED at the command prompt

and enter OLDEDITOR. If you need

to change it back, enter the

command again and put in the

previous value of INTERNAL.

Background Masks

Recent versions of AutoCAD have

provided the best way to mask the

content under mtext objects. Unlike

all other approaches, the built-in

functionality grows/shrinks with the

mtext content. To control the mask,

make sure your Properties dialog is

displayed (command PROPS) then

select your mtext.

In the PROPS dialog you will see

Background Mask, click the [...]

button to bring up a dialog where

you can toggle the status as well as

control the size, color, etc. Note

that in AutoCAD 2007 you can only

turn the mask on/off.

Customization

Using the Startup Suite

Users often come across usable

code they want to add to their

systems but don't know how to

proceed. You may obtain a file with

the extension LSP, VLX, DVB, etc.

Another case is lisp code in the form

of text on a newsgroup or web

page. In this case we need to get it into a file with this first procedure.

Inline LSP Code to File

1. Highlight the text in the

source window (email,

newsgroup reader).

2. Right click and choose Copy.

3. Open a Notepad or any pure

ASCII editor.

4. Right click and choose Paste.

5. Choose File > Save As.

6. Choose an appropriate folder

and enter the name

"FILENAME.LSP" including

the quotation marks.

Otherwise Notepad will name

the file FILENAME.LSP.TXT,

which won't work.

Also, it's highly recommended that

you create a dedicated folder (like

C:\CADSTUFF) to place these files.

If you place them in the AutoCAD

folder they may be removed if you upgrade/reinstall.

Adding functions to Startup

1. Command: APPLOAD

2. Choose the (Contents)

button in the Startup Suite.

3. Choose the (Add) button,

then browse to the location

of the code file and select it.

4. Choose the (Close) button to

close the Startup Suite.

5. Choose the (Close) button to close the Appload Dialog.

From this point forward, the

commands defined in these code

files should be available in future

sessions without needing to load

them each time.

Other Information

Tiny URLs

This is not CAD specific but is still worth

mentioning. Sometimes when you try to

refer to a long link URL in an email or

news post, the link can become broken

because the mail/news tool wraps the link

into two (or more) lines. Unknowing users

are frustrated because the link doesn't

appear to work when they click it, and

even experienced users have to paste it

into a notepad and remove the line breaks.

In this situation, head to

http://www.tinyurl.com and paste in your

long link. A tinyurl 'mapped' link will be

returned that's usually 20-30 characters and will never break.

How do I change the default drawing open directory?

Right click on your launch icon and

choose Properties, choose ShortCut, then

change the path shown in the 'Start In'

field. Note that if your new path contains

spaces like "C:\My Drawings" it should be

enclosed in parenthesis, otherwise they are not necessary.

The default behavior beginning in 2000i is

for the application to remember the last

folder accessed, even between sessions.

This can controlled by the

REMEMBERFOLDERS variable which

defaults to 1. This is an integer (0/1) and

is stored in the registry, meaning you

only need to set it once. When set to 0 it

causes AutoCAD to behave as previous

versions, honoring the settings described above.

AutoCAD 2000 Properties Dialog doesn't do Previous

A favorite procedure for some in older

versions of AutoCAD was to build a

selection set, then issue the DDCHPROP

command and specify P for the previous

set. With the new AutoCAD 2000

Properties command, which totally

replaces the DDCHPROP command, you

can't specify the previous set. A little bit

of LISP to the rescue. Place this code

snipped in your ACAD.LSP file so that its

automatically loaded, and simply type

issue CHGPREV command to wake up the

properties dialog with the previous

selection set.

(defun C:CHGPREV ()

(setq sset (ssget "P"))

(if sset

(progn

(sssetfirst sset sset)

(command "_.PROPERTIES")

)

) )

How do you DXFIN into an existing drawing?

In the old days of R12/R13, you could be

in a drawing full of objects, and do a

DXFIN to merge additional objects from a

DXF file. But that changed in R14,

requiring you to begin a new drawing,

DXFIN, saveas a DWG, reopen the

original drawing, and insert the newly

converted file. Now using AutoCAD 2000,

you can once again bring DXF based

geometry directly into the existing

drawing.

1. Issue the INSERT command.

2. Choose the BROWSE button.

3. Pull down 'Files of Type' and

choose *.DXF.

4. Select your DXF file and choose

Open.

5. Turn on the 'Explode' toggle.

6. Turn off the rest of the toggles.

7. Choose OK to complete the operation.

Starting AutoCAD 2000 with no

starting drawing!

If you would like to start AutoCAD 2000,

but don't want a blank empty drawing,

and you are not using the 'Startup Dialog'

you can put this in your ACAD.LSP and

it'll create this effect.

(defun-q mystartup ()

(while (eq 1 (logand 1 (getvar

"CMDACTIVE"))))

(command "_CLOSE")

)

(setq S::STARTUP (append S::STARTUP mystartup))

In LISP code, don't (regapp) until you have to!

It may be tempting to place the (regapp)

code at the top of your LISP code so that

you won't have any problems adding EED

during your application. But doing so

changes the status of the DBMOD, and

disables the already fragile ability to

DXFIN. Place the (regapp) in the specific

function that creates/modifies the object,

right before the code that actually creates

it.

On the subject, its not a bad idea to check to see if its already registered like:

(if (null (tblsearch "APPID" "MYAPPID"))

(regapp "MYAPPID") )

AutoCAD Temp & Backup Files

In AutoCAD, other than the DWG file,

there are other files you are working with, whether you know it or not.

1. BAK files: Unless you turn it off in

OPTIONS, when you save a

drawing that already exists on file,

the .DWG is renamed to .BAK,

then the new data is written to

.DWG. Don't rely on this for true

safety of your files, because .BAK

files have been known to become

corrupt.

2. AC$ Files: These are temporary

files created by AutoCAD during

the process of creating the

drawing. They are only of value to

AutoCAD during editing and are

usually cleaned up when AutoCAD

closes. These files are useless if

AutoCAD crashes.

3. SV$ Files: These are autosave

files, controlled by the setting

inthe OPTIONS dialog. These files

are the equivalent of a DWG, you

would only need to rename them if

AutoCAD crashes. It's important to

note that if AutoCAD closes normally, these files are deleted!

Launch without the Logo

Save yourself a second and eliminate

some visual noise every time you start

AutoCAD by turning off the logo. Right

click on your launch icon and choose

Properties. On the Shortcut tab, in the

Target field, carefully append a space and the /nologo switch.

How do I restore from a BAK file?

By default AutoCAD makes a backup file

with the extension .BAK as you work with

drawings. Some users aren't aware of

how to use this file when the DWG

becomes corrupt. The problem is mostly

to the fault of Microsoft and their explorer defaults.

1. Launch Windows Explorer and

navigate to the folder that contains

the file(s).

2. Choose Tools > Folder Options.

3. Click on the View Tab.

4. In the 'Files & Folders' section,

turn off the toggle on 'Hide

extensions for known file types'.

5. Choose OK (extensions should now

show).

6. Left click on the BAK file to

highlight it.

7. Right click and choose Rename (or

press F2).

8. Change the name to something

like RECOVER.DWG.

9. Open the file as normal in

AutoCAD.

Note that AutoCAD has been known to sometimes corrupt the BAK file as well.

Educational Plot Stamp

Be careful when inserting blocks or

drawings from outside sources, especially

those you have never worked with before.

If the party providing the file was using

an educational version of AutoCAD, you

can find your plots from a full license of

AutoCAD saying "PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT".

If you find yourself in this situation, you

can usually save the file in a DXF format,

then reopen it to strip the message. If

you're concerned about files of this nature

lying in wait to be batch plotted, you can

scan for these files with a tool from ManuSoft.

EDU-Scan at

http://www.manusoft.com/Software/EDU-Scan/Index.stm

Little Known Reference Manager

Because it's not shown on the AutoCAD

menus, it's often overlooked. For recent

versions of AutoCAD, click the Windows

Start Menu, choose Programs > Autodesk

> AutoCAD. In the same group as the

AutoCAD launch you will find the

Reference Manager, which can be used to

repath xrefs, images, etc.

Prevent Unnecessary Problems with Autodesk Service Packs

Many AutoCAD users don't realize that

after installation their system still needs

service packs applied. Failure to do this

can mean that they suffer through

problems that have already been fixed.

Autodesk does a good job of making

service packs available for all the versions

you are likely to run. We found patches going all the way back to R12 for DOS!

1. Click on this link

http://www.autodesk.com/support

2. Pull down the list and choose the

Autodesk product you use.

3. In the lower left corner of the

menu at left, click on "Data &

Downloads"

4. Under that section, click on

"Updates & Services Packs"

5. Find the version you are running and the patches available.

Third Generation of OS Commandline

Copy

First there was the DOS copy command,

then people discovered XCOPY which was

faster and more capable. Now there is a

third generation called ROBOCOPY, which

stands for 'Robust Copy'. Take for

instance the need to create an exact

backup of an entire drive to a folder on

another drive, including the ability to

remove files from the copy if they have

been deleted from the source. Essentially

a mirror backup!

RoboCopy is one of many handy tools in

the 'Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit

Tools', but you don't need to be running

server to use them. You can download it

directly from Microsoft using this link.

Microsoft Download: http://tinyurl.com/6p6cy

Viewing Slides (Inside Libraries)

Although interest has dimenished over

the past few years, users still want to

work with Slide (SLD) and Slide Library

(SLB) files. One process thats not well

known is how to view a slide that is

contained within a slide library. Use this

procedure:

Command: FILEDIA

Enter new value for FILEDIA <1>: 0

Command: VSLIDE

Enter name of slide file to view

<Drawing1>: ACAD(ANSI31)

Command: FILEDIA

Enter new value for FILEDIA <0>: 1

Command: REDRAW

Note the syntax on the VSLIDE command.

You specify the library name, then the slide name in parenthesis.

AutoCAD 2007 on Vista

While Autodesk provided a service pack

for this case, there was a remaining issue

with file dialogs (they constantly show as

large icons). To fix this, use this procedure.

1. Right click your launch icon,

choose properties.

2. Switch to the Compatibility tab.

3. Turn on the top toggle 'Run in

compatibility mode'.

4. Pull down the list and choose 'Windows XP SP2'.

Using Design Center

The Design Center included with AutoCAD

several versions back can be used for

many purposes. To launch it you can use the ADCENTER command or the alias DC.

First consider it as a Symbol Manager.

You can navigate to a folder in the left

pane and it fills the upper right pane with

the symbol drawings in that folder, with a

small preview. Clicking on one of the

icons shows a larger preview, then

dragging the icon to the AutoCAD drawing window initiates the insert process.

Next is symbol table imports, such as

layers. Navigate to a folder on the left

pane, click the [+] box to the left of a

drawing and the tree will expand to the

available tables. For example, clicking the

Layers item under the drawing shows all

the layers for that source drawing. Select

one or more layers and drag them to the

drawing window and they will be created

in the current drawing. Objects contained

in the source drawing will not be

imported, only the definition (including

the default color, linetype, etc).

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