the best, the rest, the rare_ 100 autocad tips you should know _ cadnotes

8/10/2019 The Best, The Rest, The Rare_ 100 AutoCAD Tips You Should Know _ CADnotes

1/40

You are here: Home/ AutoCAD/ AutoCAD Tips/ The Best, the Rest, the Rare: 100 AutoCAD Tips You

Should Know

The Best, the Rest, the Rare: 100 AutoCADTips You Should KnowJune 28, 2010 by Edwin Prakoso 72 Comments

We all want to use AutoCAD better, more productive, and easily solve problem when we have one. So I

compile 100 AutoCAD tips in this article, and I hope can help you. Many of the tips were written by other

great CAD bloggers, you may want to follow their blog/site as well. So this is it: the best AutoCAD tips, therest that many of us miss, and some of them are very rare. If you happen about my age, you might know I

pick the name from Helloween compilation album;)

Create and modify

AUTOCAD AUTOLISP REVIT MICROSTATION INVENTOR
http://www.cad-notes.com/author/edwinp/http://www.cad-notes.com/inventor-articles/http://www.cad-notes.com/category/autocad/http://www.cad-notes.com/microstation-articles/http://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/category/autocad/autocad-tips/http://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/autolisp-articles/http://www.cad-notes.com/autocad-articles/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best,_The_Rest,_The_Rarehttp://www.cad-notes.com/revit-articles/


2/40

Tip 1. How to: Create an Arc with Specific Length

Everybody knows how to create an arc in AutoCAD. If you need to draw an arc with specific length, do you

know how to do it? See this tip how you can create an arc with specific length !

Tip 2. Align Tool: Move, Rotate, and Scale Your Object at Once

Align is often overlooked by many AutoCAD users. Instead of using move, rotate, and scale separately, you

can do it at once using this tool.

As Robin Capper said, its a forgotten AutoCAD hero! See the animation how to use it in Robins post .

Tip 3. How to Control Linetype Scale

We use linetype to control the object appearances. It can be dashdot for center lines, dashed lines for

hidden lines, etc. Sometimes we have a hard time to control the linetype scale. And we cant see the

linetype as we expected. It is not that difficult actually.

See this tip: Controlling Linetype Scale is as Easy as 1,2,3!

Tip 4. 10+ Ways to Select Objects in AutoCAD

When you use modifying tools, you need to select objects. Selecting objects sometimes can be tricky,

especially in quite a complex drawing. This tip have 10 ways how you can use the object selection. Useful

for beginners, and some methods might be missed by advanced users. See the complete list!

Tip 5. How to: Create Angular Dimension Larger than 180 degrees

Do you need to create an angular dimension that shows angle larger than 180 degrees like below? You

probably have found that you cant create dimension with angle larger than 180 degrees after selecting

those two lines.

SEARCH THE SITE ...

HOME STORE NEWSLETTER WRITE FOR CADNOTES ADVERTISE ABOUT

106
http://www.cad-notes.com/write-for-cad-notes/http://rcd.typepad.com/rcd/2007/06/align_the_forgo.htmlhttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pick_thumb.jpghttp://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/email-newsletter/http://www.cad-notes.com/e-store/http://www.cad-notes.com/advertise/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/linetype.pnghttp://www.cad-notes.com/about/http://cad-notes.com/2010/06/controlling-linetype-scale-is-as-easy-as-123/http://-/?-http://cad-notes.com/2010/05/how-to-draw-an-arc-with-a-specific-arc-length/http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/arc_length.pnghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AutoCAD_align_tool.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/07/10-ways-to-use-autocad-object-selection/


3/40

You can actually

You can create it by selecting the lines vertex. Read more, and see the animation howto do it here.

Tip 6. How to Match Only Selected AutoCAD Properties

MATCHPROP is a great tool to match object properties. I used to draw everything and match the attributes

later. It was quicker sometimes (but I wont recommend you). The most obvious is when we get a drawing

that is created with different standard. Sometimes we want to match only some properties between

objects. Many of us dont realize that we can choose which properties to match. I found this a couple years

ago, quite late I guess. There is See the options below.

Read the complete tip here.

Tip 7. How to Link Cells Between AutoCAD Tables

We can create and use tables in AutoCAD almost as powerful as in Microsoft Excel. We can also use

formula and do simple calculation. But do you know that we can use the value from cells in other table?

See the detail article in JTB Worldby Jimmy Bergmark.

Tip 8. How to Maintain the Attributes Value when Exploding

Block attributes is a nice tool to have. We can use it to preserve text style and size as annotation block.

Drawing title and title block is a good example. The problem is when we need it explode it somehow, we will

loose any information we put in the attribute.

To preserve the values, do not use explode. Use BURST instead.
http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dimangular.gifhttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/matchprop_properties.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/06/autocad-match-properties-settings/http://blog.jtbworld.com/2007/06/how-to-link-information-from-tables-in.htmlhttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/explodedattributes.jpghttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tableid.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/07/creating-angular-dimension-larger-than-180-deg/


4/40

Tip 9. How to Maximize Your Hyperlinks Usability

Hyperlinks are very useful to provide information for your objects. You can link any object to the

manufacturer/support website, technical support email, specification documents, etc. See the tip how to

reference to objects using hyperlink here. JTB World blog also has a good basic tutorial how to use

hyperlinks.

They even write in very detail tip how to extend the capabilities. You can refer to a specific page in pdf,

specific sheet and cell in Excel, etc. Find out the details in this page on JTB World Blog. Murray Clack also

gives a tip how you can use hyperlinks to navigate between paper space and model space. See tip no. 12

here.

Tip 10. How to: Enable Snap to Hatch

Old AutoCAD version allows you to snap to hatches. In later version, this is disabled by default to optimize

performance. However, if you want to enable this, you still can turn it on in drafting settings.

This behavior is controlled by OSOPTIONS system variable. Read more here.

Tip 11. Import XY Coordinates from Excel into AutoCAD

Do you need to draw lines using coordinate from excel file? The best application to do

this is Civil3D or other site modeling software. However, it doesnt mean that you cant

do it using vanilla AutoCAD! Read the details in Shaan Hurleys Blog.

Tip 12. Change Your MText to Lower Case or Upper Case

You might made a mistake and want to change the text caseeither to lower case or upper case. Do you

need to re-type it? No way! It is easy to do.

1. Right click in the editor and select the CHANGE CASE option.

2. Alternatively, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + U to set the text to upper Case OR press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + L to set

the text to lower case

Thanks to Brian for the tip!

Tip 13. Group When You Gotta Keep Em Separated!

If you need to modify object together, selecting them could be tedious. Especially when your drawing is
http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/06/import-xy-coordinates-from-excel-into-autocad.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/10/how-to-reference-objects-to-fileurl-in-autocad/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/hyperlink.pnghttp://blog.jtbworld.com/2007/09/autocad-hyperlink-command-basics.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/07/enable-object-snap-to-hatch/http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/object_snap_options.pnghttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/coordinate.pnghttp://blog.jtbworld.com/2007/09/autocad-hyperlink-command-advanced.htmlhttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/08/quick-tip-mtext-upper-to-lower-case-and.htmlhttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/change_case.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2010/03/25-readers-most-favorite-autocad-tips/


5/40

quite complex. Block is an option. However, working with blocks mean that we need to edit in as a whole.

Group might be more appropriate for this purpose. There are some benefits that you can get by using

groups when you think block is not the right solution. See below. Block will only allows you to have one grip

point, unless you create dynamic block. Groups will maintain the original objects grip, but you can easily

select them in one click.

See Brians tip about group in this article. And that is a funky title Brian!

Tip 14. Eleven killer AutoCAD macros for viewport

Do you work with viewport and layout? Paul Munfordshares eleven great macros to make you even more

productive with viewports! Read all the eleven killer macros here.

Tip 15. Get the Most of Multiline Attributes

AutoCAD now allow us to use multiline attributes. This of course will take many advantages from multiline

text (not all), not just using simple single line text!

1. Now we can use text mask.

2. Now we can create stacked text in attributes.

3. And more multiline advantages!

Note: To enable stacking in block attributes, we need to change the system variable ATTIPE to

1.

This tips was submitted by Murray Clack in our contest before.

Tip 16. The Forgotten Dimension: DIMROTATED

Do you ever have problem when dimensioning when the objects are staggered? Using DIMALIGNED cant

do this. A great tip from Murray mention that we can use DIMROTATED. See the comparison between

DIMALIGNED and DIMROTATED below.

There is no documentation or toolbar about it. It might be forgotten, but Im sure you will find it really

useful! This tips was submitted by Murray Clack.

Tip 17. Fillet and Chamfer for Quick Modify

OK, you know what are fillet and chamfer for. Do you know that we can use fillet and chamfer to quickly

modify objects?
http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/group.pnghttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dimrotated.pnghttp://cadsetterout.com/http://cad-notes.com/2011/12/eleven-killer-tool-palette-macros-for-working-with-autocad-viewports/http://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/06/groups-you-gotta-keep-em-seperated.html


6/40

1. Trim and chamfer can be used to quickly create a corner. Use 0 as the radius (or chamfer distance).

They will extend or trim the lines. Hold [shift] to override the radius/distance to 0 temporarily.

2. The method above will join the lines as polyline, if one of them is a polyline.

3. Use fillet to create arc to close parallel lines, regardless on the radius defined.

Tip 18. Align Texts Using Quick Properties Palette

Do you hate quick properties palette? Dont! I know that many users immediately turn it off because it

makes AutoCAD slow and when the palette appears, it can block your view. However, you should consider

using it after read this tip. You can use it to quickly align texts using quick properties palette. See this nice

tip on CAD Forum.

Tip 19. Filter Objects Using Quick Properties Palette

Another reason to use quick properties palette. We can use it to quickly filter our selection. Orhan Toker

shares this nice tip on Daily AutoCAD.

Tip 20. How to: Create Multi Colored Line

Do you need to create a line that has multi color like below? It looks impossible, but yes you can make it!

A nice trick by Vladimir Michl. See how to do it herein Xanadu!

Tip 21. How to: Convert Spline to Polyline

Do you need to convert your splines to polyline? The easiest way is if you have express tools installed. You

can use FLATTEN to quickly convert them. However, there are more ways if it fails. See the other ways to

do that in CAD Panacea.

Tip 22. How to: Modify Objects With Non-Uniform Scale

This is a challenge for me before. I tried to create a circular railing. In elevation view, it should be getting

tighter like below.
http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/qptextpostn.pnghttp://www.daily-autocad.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-filter-selections-using-quick_25.htmlhttp://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=4757http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/mcmline.gifhttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/nonuniform_scale.pnghttp://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=1818http://cadpanacea.com/node/70http://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/qpfiltertn.png


7/40

The solution is quite simple. But its a boring repetitive task. You need to create the railing panel as a block,

then insert it with different scale on one axis. See the complete explanation here.

Tip 23. How to: Create 2D Isometric Drawing in AutoCAD

AutoCAD has a setting that allows you to draw 2D isometric diagram. You can activate the isometric

mode by changing the snap grid style. See the details how to set it in this post: Isometric Drawing in

AutoCAD

Tip 24. How to Create Isometric Text and Dimension

In tip 23, you know how to create isometric drawing. But do you know how to create isometric text and

dimension like above? See how you can do it in AutoCAD Isometric Text and Dimension

Tip 25. How to: Create Isometric Dimension Arrow

Many people may not notice about this one. See the dimension arrow in the isometric drawing. It doesnt

look right. It suppose to look like below.

This tip will show you how to create an isometric arrow for your dimension. This tip can also be used to

create your own dimension arrow. See the tip here: Isometric Dimension Arrow

Tip 26. How to: Force Styles to Match Your Standard
http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dimensionarrow.jpghttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/isometric_arrow.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/09/autocad-isometric-text-and-dimension/http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/isometricdrawing.gifhttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/isometricdimension.jpghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/09/isometric-drawing-in-autocad/http://cad-notes.com/2009/09/isometric-dimension-arrow/http://cad-notes.com/2009/08/how-to-modify-objects-with-non-uniform-scale/


8/40

One problem we have in daily work: we need to match some drawings to our styles. Creating new drawing

to match our dimension styles, text styles, layers, etc is easy. The problem is when we already have a

drawing with different styles. Or worse, the styles have the same name but the properties are different!

This tip probably can help: enforcing Dimension Styles Across Your Drawings

Tip 27. How to: Select Objects with Windows Behavior

AutoCAD is a very unique application. It has different way to use shortcut. It has different way to ask input

from the users. While other application use dialog box, AutoCAD use command line. And selecting objects

is different to. In most Windows application, when we select a new object, then the previous selection setwill be cleared. We need to hold [ctrl] or [shift] to add objects to selection set. You may not use AutoCAD

that much, so you want AutoCAD to behave like other application you have. You can set the selection

behavior by changing the PICKADD system variable to 0. The default value is 2.

Manage

Tip 28. How to: Set All Objects Properties to ByLayer

I never like when I receive drawings with many of the properties are overridden. Especially if they are all are

drawn in Layer 0! Sometimes I need to change the properties back to ByLayer. It should be easy to do, just

select the objects and change it from the properties drop down menu

right? Not really! Objects

properties within blocks will not be changed. We are lucky that we have this tool: SETBYLAYER.

If you have problem using it, see the detail here.

Tip 29. How to: Purge Persistent Layer

Purge is the first tool that come in mind when we need to purge our layer. However, some layers are

persistent and cant be purged. If this annoys you, then this tip can be the cure. See this tip how to remove
http://blog.jtbworld.com/2008/11/purge-layers-that-dont-want-to-be.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/08/set-all-your-objects-properties-back-to-bylayer/http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AutoCADObjectSelection.jpghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dimstyle_properties_override1.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2010/06/enforcing-dimension-styles-across-your-drawings/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/SETBYLAYER.png


9/40

the persistent layerin JTB World.

Tip 30. Which Objects are on Which Layer?

When we have a quite complex drawing, it is become hard when we need to check which objects are on

which layer. Our hero to easily check this is Layer Walk or LAYWALK.

See the animation how it works here. Mark W Kiker also write a detailed tip on his blog here.

Tip 31. How to: Place Dimensions or Hatches to a Predefined Layer

Managing layer standard sometimes very hard to do. We might miss changing the layer accidently before

placing our dimension or hatches. If you do care about layering standard and want to prevent your user

from making mistakes, Vladimir Michl shares this tip. This is 5 ways you can do to prevent the mistakesin

Xanadu.

Tip 32. How to: Create Layer List from a Drawing to Excel Table

Need to report all your layers and their properties to an Excel table? Dont be afraidIts easy to do! You

can use this tipby Jimmy Bergmark.

Reusable contents

Tip 33. Reduce Your File Size by Using Block

Block is one of the most important productivity tools, I wrote many tutorials about it, even write an e-book

to cover only this topic. Using reusable content is faster, easy to manage, and can be used for many

automation later.

What interest me is Robin Capper found that using block will also decrease your file size significantly.

Thank you for sharing Robin. If you have more than one instance of your object, consider to use blocks.

Especially in 3D, it can reduce file size significantly.

Tip 34. How to: Create Tool Palettes From Block Libraries

If you already have a drawing that you consider as a standard, you may want to use the blocks from that

drawing. The easiest way to manage the blocks is using tool palette. So do we need to open the drawings,

drag and drop each block to the palette? No way! You can use design center and create the palettes just

with a few clicks! Open design center, find you file. Expand the (+) sign, right click on blocks. Do you notice

the create design center tool? Click it and you will have all blocks in that file in a palette!
http://blog.jtbworld.com/2008/11/purge-layers-that-dont-want-to-be.htmlhttp://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=5131http://blog.jtbworld.com/2008/08/copy-layers-in-autocad-to-list-or-excel.htmlhttp://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/09/autocad-2008-layer-walk/http://cad-notes.com/2010/01/autocad-block-best-practices/http://cad-notes.com/2009/06/autocad-layer-walk/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/rack.pnghttp://rcd.typepad.com/rcd/2010/05/use-your-blocks-autocad-will-reward-your-investment.htmlhttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/layertotable.pnghttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Layer_walk.png


10/40

This is why you should consider to have drawings as block libraries.

Tip 35. How to: Re-path AutoCAD Drawing Reference Files

How can you update and re-path AutoCAD drawing reference files such as other drawing files, fonts, or plot

configuration files after a path has changed? Reference Manager is the answer for this mess.

See the details in Shaan Hurleys Blog here!

Tip 36. How to: Duplicate Block Definition

When we want to create a similar block from existing block, how do you do it? Explode it and recreate block

with different name? You will have a lot of problem when you have block with many dynamic block

parameters and actions! In dynamic block editor, we can save the block as different name. Yes, there is

save block as tool in open/save panel!

Thank you for Murray Clack for the nice tip!

Tip 37. Using Mask and Alignment in Dynamic Block

Dynamic block can be very useful. There are so many tricks that we can do with dynamic block actions. In

this tip, you can use align tool for schematic drawings (P&ID, electrical schematic, etc).

Not cool enough? Add mask so when you place the symbol, your line is automatically trimmed. When you

need to move it, you dont need to modify the line, because we never actually trimmed it! Read the tip here.

See another magic with masking in door block here.
http://www.daily-autocad.blogspot.com/2010/01/dynamic-block-trick-alignment.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/08/dynamic-block-tutorial-3-creating-door/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/save_block_as.pnghttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/create_tool_palette.pnghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/circuit_breaker_block.pnghttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/refman.pnghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/06/autocad-reference-manager-refman.html


11/40

Interface and accessing toolsTip 38. Using Shift Key Combination

Every body want to work faster. And probably using less key or tools. Have you used the [shift] key to speed

up your work? You can access shortcuts, override tools, etc by using [shift] key. See the common 6 [shift]

key combination here.

Tip 39. AutoCAD Command Alias

The most powerful shortcut in AutoCAD is the command alias. You simply need to type L then [enter] to

activate line. C for circle, etc. If you are interested to see the complete list of the command aliasor may

be want to customize it, you can see and edit your acad.pgp file.

See how you can see and manage this alias commands.

Tip 40. AutoCAD Keyboard Shortcuts

Almost all AutoCAD users (99% I believe) know the AutoCAD pgp shortcut. At least how to use it. But do

you know the shortcuts using function keys (F1 to F12), using [ctrl], [shift], or [alt]? CADForum has the list.

See the AutoCAD shortcuts list here.

Tip 41. How to Cycle AutoCAD CommandsIf you new to AutoCAD, and saw how the veterans and AutoCAD ninjas using the command line, you

probably want to do the same. The problem is AutoCAD has so many commands and system variables.

Someone told me it was like 900 something. The good thing is, most command in command line also use

similar name in ribbon. Then we can cycle to find the tool. For example, you want to create a rectangle. You

tried to press R [enter], well its not the right one. Neither is RE. No need to guess like that. Enter the first (or

several) character and press [TAB] to cycle between commands!
http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/editaliases.jpghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/doormask.gifhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/06/6-shift-key-combination-you-might-not-know/http://cad-notes.com/2009/08/where-can-i-see-autocad-command-alias-list/http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=5976http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/shift.jpg


12/40

Tip 42. How to: Control Mouse Wheel Speed

Do you ever feel your mouse wheel is zooming to fast? You can change the ZOOMFACTOR systemvariable. The default is 60, higher value will increase the zoom speed and lower value will decrease the

speed. 3-100 is the valid value. Thanks to Shaan who share it on his blog.

Tip 43. How to: Reverse Mouse Wheel Direction

And do you ever feel the wheel direction is going the wrong way? If you use Inventor primarily, then you

want AutoCAD to behave like Inventor, not the other way. I know you can reverse Inventor wheel. But you

can use ZOOMWHEEL to control this behavior in AutoCAD. Shaan Hurley shares this tip in Between the

Lines.

Tip 44. Optimize Your Palette Placement

Autodesk has introduced palettes in AutoCAD. The advantage of using palette is, you can change the value

on the fly, without having to click OK and close it like in dialog boxes. It is much easier to use, and you can

always let it open and put it somewhere on your screen. The problem is having all the palettes open will

take a lot of screen space. This tip will share how you can optimize the palette placement. So you can have

the advantages without sacrifice your screen space. Read the detail here.

Tip 45. Setup Your Workspace with Initial Setup

Workspace is very useful when you need to work with different environment. Or at least when you need to

set your own interface, template, etc. Since AutoCAD 2010, Autodesk introduced Initial Setup. This is a

wizard that you can use to easily setup your settings. What I love the most about initial setup is we can

easily define our template and industry. Read about initial setup in Brians blog.

Tip 46. Pin to Make It Stick!

Do you have favorite files or favorite tools? You can make your favorites sticky in application menu or other

part of your screen. See the pin icon?

If you like it, then pin it! Brian shares this tip on his blog.
http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/mousewheel.pnghttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2009/02/autocad-2010-initial-setup.htmlhttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/04/autocad-2009-like-it-then-pin-it.htmlhttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/minimizedpallete.jpghttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pin.pnghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/04/change-the-direction-of-the-middle-mouse-wheel-zoom-in-autocad.htmlhttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/06/change-the-autocad-zoom-speed-with-zoomfactor.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/06/optimize-your-palette-placement/


13/40

Tip 47. Control UCS Icon Position

When we open a new AutoCAD drawing, UCS Icon becomes available and will be locked at the origin.

However, if the origin remains in the middle of our drawing, UCS Icon will disturb us as it will always be inthe view. The solution is very easyYou can change UCSICON system variable to Noorigin.

Try to see UCSICON properties too. You might like what you can change here.

Tip 48. Control Extended Tool Tip Behavior

Since AutoCAD has ribbon, Autodesk introduce extended help when you let your pointer a while on a tool.

This is a great feature for people who just learn using AutoCAD, and when we want to know a quick

explanation on a tool.

For the veteran users, this extended help might not be so great. You might feel the tool tip disturbs you.

See how Brians shares his tip to control this behavior.

Tip 49. How to: Use Classic Layer Dialog

Layer Properties dialog box is now using palette. You can change anything without having to close the

dialog box to apply the changes. However, if you for any reason the palette and want to use the classic

dialog boxdont worry. You still can have it.

Its all about system variable. See how you can control this behavior in Daily AutoCAD.

Tip 50. How to: Use Ribbon Shortcut Key

Every application has shortcuts. AutoCAD might be has unique shortcut in command alias. But now we

can use ribbon shortcuts that can be applied to applications that have ribbon! Microsoft Office applications

have this shortcuts, and all Autodesk applications with ribbon also have it. See how to Maximize Your

Screen and Speed Up with Ribbon Shortcut.
http://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ribbonshortcutkey.jpghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/layermanagerdialog.pnghttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/04/autocad-2009-extended-tooltips.htmlhttp://www.daily-autocad.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-do-i-bring-up-old-layer-dialog-box.htmlhttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/extended_tool_tip.pnghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/11/maximize-your-screen-and-speed-up-with-ribbon-shortcut/http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ucsicon.jpg


14/40

Tip 51. How to See Complete AutoCAD System Variable List

In many cases, you can change the options through option dialog box. However, there are many that

requires you to change it in system variable by typing it in command line. And if you seriously want to

create custom command or going further to programming, you need to know the system variables. System

variable might change from version to version. Even if you are a veteran programmer, you might need to

check them from time to time. Read this tip: how to: see Your Complete AutoCAD System Variable List

Tip 52. How to backup system variablesIf you have express tools installed on your machine, then you can see the system variable list and change

the system variable easily. You can open a dialog box that show you the list, show you the current value,

initial value, and the description about what it does. The nice thing about this tool is you can backup and

restore your system variables when things go wrong!

Read how you can backup system variables here.

Tip 53. Cool Way to Open Your Drawing: Drag and Drop Your File!

Sometimes I just hate to open files from dialog box. Some files are not easy to find from a small dialog box,so I need to find it from my Windows Explorer or doing search/find. It would be a waste of time if I have to

point my open dialog box to that file location. So what do I do? Just drag and drop to open it! This is also

useful if you have several application that can open the same file type. You can drag to application that you

want to open it. See the other way to do it in this tip !

Tip 54. How to: Use Sub Object Selection Filter

Autodesk now allows us to modify objects using the sub-objects. We can use sub objects to quickly modify

objects, either in 2D or 3D. To easily select the sub-objects, you can use the object selection filter.

See how to use sub object selection filter and modify your objects here .

Tip 55. How to: Protect Tool Palettes

Currently I and my colleague are trying to submit a project to develop a drawing system. It means we are

going to create their reusable contents, templates, drawing standards, and some customization tools. Thenhere comes a question: How we can protect the tool palettes?

See this tip how you can protect your palettes!

Tip 56. Make Your Ribbon Panels Sticky!
http://cad-notes.com/2009/08/how-to-see-your-complete-autocad-system-variable-list/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/lockedpalettes.gifhttp://cad-notes.com/2010/09/backup-and-restore-autocad-system-variables/http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/subobjectfilter.jpghttp://cad-notes.com/2010/12/how-can-we-protect-autocad-tool-palettes/http://cad-notes.com/2009/09/cool-way-to-open-your-drawing-drag-n-drop/http://cad-notes.com/2009/09/subobject-selection-filter/


15/40

Having ribbon interface sometimes so annoying when we have to move to different tabs frequently. We

can just tear off some panels I use frequently, and stick to home tab. See Shaan Hurleys tip on AutoCAD

2010 Sticky Ribbon Panels.

Plot, publish and share

Tip 57. Pack Your Files as an e-Transmit

We are now living in 21st century (unless you read this in the next century). Most of us rely heavily on

digital data. Also when we work with AutoCAD. The problem when we send our files to the others is

sometimes we left our files behind. Either a reference file (XREF), plot style table, custom fonts, etc. Dont

worry, AutoCAD has the right tool to pack all files that relate to the drawing to a zip file, ready for you to

send. You will not miss any files again! Read the detail here.

Tip 58. How to Rotate Viewport in Layout/Paper Space

If you are a surveyor, civil engineer, or architect, we need to draw in model space the real-world coordinate

and orientation. However sometimes we want to rotate the drawing orientation to match the paper for

plotting/publishing purpose. See this tips how to rotate your viewportin Xanadu.

Tip 59. Five Steps Preparing AutoCAD Plot

Setting up plot for beginners often become confusing. Using scale, setting up title blocks, etcPlotting is

actually very easy. Simple. Just click plot or publish then youre done. But there are some rules and steps

you have to do when you draw and arrange your model in layouts, its already started when you create your

file! See the tip how you can prepare your AutoCAD plot easily

Tip 60. How to: Render 3D Drawings as Wireframe

This question has been asked a couple times. Can I render my 3d drawing as wireframe image? Not really.
http://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/plotter.jpghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/briefcase.jpghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/05/autocad-2010-getting-sticky-with-ribbon-sticky-panels.htmlhttp://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=3249http://cad-notes.com/2009/06/pack-your-files-with-etransmit/http://cad-notes.com/2009/08/5-steps-preparing-your-autocad-plot/http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/stickyribbonpanels.jpghttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AutoCADWireframe.png


16/40

But you can plot your drawing to imageas wireframe, sketches, or anything you can define as visual

styles. Read how you can render Wireframe Image from AutoCAD

Tip 61. How to Plot .PLT or .PRN file

Do you get .plt or .prn file, and want to plot it? This is a tip on Xanadu how to plot your .plt or .prn files .

Tip 62. How to Create High Resolution Image From AutoCAD

DrawingDo you need to present you drawing in Word or PowerPoint document? We need to create an image from

the drawing. The common way to do it is by capturing the screen, but the image is not good enough when

we place it. We want to have high resolution image and apply our plot styles. Have you ever try to plot it?

AutoCAD has Publish toWeb plot drivers, so you can get JPEG or PNG format! If you need more file format,

you can also add new plotter drivers, so you can get uncompressed image like TIFF, TGA, or BMP! Read

the detail here.

Visualize

Tip 63. How to: Create Sketch Like Drawing

The image above was a regular drawing. I didnt actually create a sketch, but we can manipulate the visual

styles, so it looks like a sketch. See how to create the sketch here.

Tip 64. How to: Show Bump Maps Real Time in AutoCAD 2011

AutoCAD has developed further than just a 2D drawing application. The biggest advantage is when you use

it as vertical product platform like AutoCAD Architecture. But in vanilla AutoCAD, you can also can impress

people with the 3D capabilities. In AutoCAD 2011, you can show bump maps in real time. Shaan Hurley

shows you how to do it here.

Tip 65. How to: Create Different Drawing Representation withLayer States

Do you need to turn on/off layers frequently to show different drawing representation? Or do you need to

represent your drawings differently in different viewports? You can do that easily using layer states. See

how you can create different drawing representation here

Automate and customize

Tip 66. Take Your Drawing to the Next Level with Data Extraction
http://cad-notes.com/2009/07/how-to-get-hi-res-image-from-autocad/http://cad-notes.com/2009/09/creating-different-drawing-representation/http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=2096http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/sketchplan.jpghttp://cad-notes.com/2010/02/can-i-render-wireframe-image-from-autocad/http://cad-notes.com/2009/07/creating-sketch-from-your-autocad-drawing/http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/realtimebumpmap.pnghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/06/autocad-2011-pop-goes-the-material.html


17/40

Again, AutoCAD can be used further than just as drawing tool. You can use the data and create reports

such as schedules, set out points, part lists, and holes table. This is a post that list how you can use data

extraction. Shaan Hurley also give an example to use data extraction for creating part list.

Tip 67. How to: Quickly Count Your Block

Although DATAEXTRACTION can give very detailed information, sometimes you need to just quickly count

your blocks to give an idea about your design. BCOUNT is the right tool for this. Brian Benton mention this

tip in his blog.

Tip 68. Reporting Hatch Area With Field

Text field is also a useful automation to report almost anything in your drawing. In title block, you can use

title block to automatically show the plot date, file name, etc. You can also report area using field.

Shaan Hurley wrote a nice tutorial about this here.

Tip 69. How to Create Your Own AutoCAD Linetype

AutoCAD already has many linetypes. However, to fulfill your needs or to match local standard, you might

need to create your own linetypes. If you have express tools installed, it is not hard to do. Read the

complete tutorial here.

Tip 70. Georeferenced Image in Vanilla AutoCAD

This functionality only available for AutoCAD Map, Civil3D, and Raster Design. If you use vanilla AutoCAD,

you can use this free utility. See the details and download it here.

Tip 71. Translate Your Text Object to Other Language

Need to translate your texts to other language? This is a tool thats design to do that!

See the details and download it here.

Tip 72. Using AutoCAD Startup Dialog Box
http://cad-notes.com/2009/05/creating-your-own-autocad-line-type/http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/06/autocad-data-extraction-take-your-drawing-to-the-next-level.htmlhttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/field.pnghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/03/autocad-tip---reference-a-block-count-in-a-field.htmlhttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-data-extraction-tips.htmlhttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/gtrans.gifhttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/startupdialog.jpghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/02/displaying-the-hatch-area-with-a-field-in-autocad.htmlhttp://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=4540http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=2280


18/40

Do you miss the old AutoCAD startup dialog box? I love the startup dialog because we can choose our

template before let AutoCAD create a new file. For the simplest template, we can choose metric or

imperial. If you want to show this dialog box every time create a new drawing, set system variable

STARTUP to 1.

Tip 73. AutoCAD Info in Windows Explorer

Every file has meta data information. The information can be useful to have a quick look before you

actually open the file. You can set the windows explorer to show the meta data when you choose to view

details.

See how to do it here.

Tip 74. Working with DWG Properties

This is the advanced tip of exposing the file meta data. Further more, you can customize more information

to show on windows explorer.

Interested to see more? This is a very nice detailed tutorial how you can optimize this DWG properties.

Tip 75. How to Set Previous Version as Default When Saving

Do you have different AutoCAD versions in your company? If you do, one problem that you will find is the

file version. You need to save it as to lower version. Sometimes you forget to do it, and your colleague cant

open it. To prevent that to happen, you can set AutoCAD to save the files to older version of AutoCAD, by

default. In the file dialog box, select tools>options.

In this example, I set it to AutoCAD 2000.

Tip 76. DWG TrueView: Open and Convert to Any DWG Version
http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2009/10/autocad-info-in-windows-explorer/http://blog.jtbworld.com/2010/05/propulate-tutorial-for-dwg-properties.htmlhttp://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/saveasversion.jpghttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/DWGWindowsColumnHandler.pnghttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/DWGInfoWindowsExp3.jpg


19/40

This is the opposite problem from tip 75. What if you have older version of AutoCAD, but you receive files

saved by later version? One file might be easy, you can ask someone to convert it to old version. What it

you have dozens, hundreds drawings?

You can use DWG TrueView, a free DWG viewer. Not only open DWG, you can save the files to older

version. You can also batch convert all files in a folder. Download DWG TrueView here:

http://autodesk.com/dwg

Tip 77. How to Add Your Own MTEXT Symbol

If you right click your mouse when using MTEXT, you will see a contextual menu that allows you to add

predefined symbols. You can add your own symbols or text to that menu.

To put your own symbols/text, you can use this AutoLISP code herefrom JTB World.

Tip 78. Using Custom Field

Field is very useful in many cases. Many drawing and object properties can be shown by fields. However,

you might need to create your own field. Brian write this step-by-step tutorial how you can do it here. Brian

uses sheet set custom properties on his post.

Tip 79. How to: Create a New Command in AutoCAD

If you want to learn how to create a new AutoCAD command, this tip could be useful. This is not an

advanced tutorial, but at least can give you a quick look how to do it. This tutorial use some simple macros,

changing the current layers properties to ByLayer. See the tip here.

Tip 80. How to: Add Command to Contextual menu

Now that you know how to create a new command, how can we add it to contextual menu? We want to

select objects, right click, and see the tool. If you want to know how to do it, read this tip here.

Tip 81. How To Create A Ribbon Panel
http://cad-notes.com/2009/08/creating-new-command-in-autocad/http://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/cui.jpghttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dwglogo.jpghttp://www.jtbworld.com/lisp/PersonalMtextSymbols.htmhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/08/adding-command-to-your-right-click/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/mtextsymbols.pnghttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/06/displaying-reoccurring-data-in-drawing.htmlhttp://autodesk.com/dwghttp://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/mousebutton.jpg


20/40

Now you can create a new command on toolbar, new command on contextual menu. How about creating

a ribbon panel? If you do love using ribbon, then you would like you have your new command on ribbon.

See Brians tip how to create a ribbon panel.

Tip 82. How to Use Local Help File as Default in 2011 Version

AutoCAD 2011 (and other Autodesk products) now use online help file as default. For some reason, you

probably dont like it. You can change the default help file to local help file. It is still using html file, but at

least it always use local file. See How to: Set Local Help File as Default in 2011 Version If you still dont

like the html help file and want to use the old chm style, see the tip from Shaan Hurley here.

Tip 83. How to: Label Coordinate in AutoCAD

This is a tip how you can use dynamic block and field in vanilla AutoCAD. You can easily place an

annotation block to label your coordinate. It is very easy, and you only need AutoCAD to do it! This is quite

popular tip in CAD Notes.

Read how to do it in How to: Label Coordinate in AutoCAD

Tip 84. How to: Report Multiple Coordinates in a Block

This is similar with tip 83. The challenge here is having more than one set out points and report them from

a block. The example is extracting set out points from a Gully.

Read this tip: Reporting Multiple Coordinates in A Block

Troubleshooting

Tip 85. AutoCAD Installation Troubleshoot

Having problem installing AutoCAD? Then you are not alone. Installing AutoCAD mostly is easy. But there

are many prerequisite that installed before AutoCAD installation. Most of the installation failure happen at

that stage. You may want to check everything before start installing AutoCAD. Or you can check this list

when the installation fail. Read the installation check list here.

Tip 86. Troubleshooting AutoCAD Graphic Issue

Every year AutoCAD configurations get more complex. For example, one large jump in complexity

happened in AutoCAD 2007 when Autodesk introduced Hardware acceleration. This is a check list oftroubleshooting AutoCAD crashes that could be graphics related. See the information hereon Between the

Lines.

Tip 87. AutoCAD is not Accurate
http://cad-notes.com/2010/02/autocad-installation-troubleshoot/http://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/04/autocad-2009-customize-ribbon-panels.htmlhttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/coord.jpghttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/04/autocad-2011-chm-based-help-files-available-for-download.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/http://cad-notes.com/2010/04/how-to-set-local-help-file-as-default-in-2011-version/http://static2.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/coordinatereports.jpghttp://cad-notes.com/2009/12/reporting-multiple-coordinates-in-a-block-using-attribute-extraction/http://cad-notes.com/2009/11/how-to-label-coordinate-in-autocad/http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2010/06/troubleshooting-autocad-graphics-issues.html


21/40

If you work on a large drawing or draw objects far away from 0,0,0; you might find out that your drawing is

no longer accurate. To solve this problem, you can try to reduce the coordinate number by do the

following:

1. If you dont need to use global coordinate for your model location, then move your model closer to

0,0,0.

2. If you need to use global coordinate, consider to use larger unit (m or feet, or even larger. This occur

mostly in mm unit)

3. You can also consider to draw your model at 0,0, and use global coordinate in master plan only. Placeyour model as external reference (XREF) using global coordinate in master plan.

4. Another good workaround suggested by Dave Wolfe: We can draw the model at 0,0. Then create a

saved UCS to define project location. Anytime you need to retrieve coordinate for project location,

you can activate the saved coordinate.

Tip 88. Fixing AutoCAD Ribbon

Sometimes ribbon is just broken and you will see only this text: The ribbon does not have any tabs or

panels currently loaded.

If you see that error, this is a tip how you can fix your ribbonin JTB World.

Tip 89. Enabling/Disabling Multi Processor in AutoCAD

Have you used your Workstation multi processor support for AutoCAD? Not sure? See how to control the

system variablein Xanadu.

Tip 90. How to Improve Sheet Set Manager Performance

If you feel your sheet set manager (SSM) has a performance issue, then this might be able to help. Read

the complete tips to improve Sheet Set Manager performance.

Tip 91. Clear Sticky Sheet Set From Recent Document List

Even if you select Clear Recent Document List the Sheet Sets comes back to Recent Documents in the

Menu Browser after a while. They actually comes back if you run the Sheet Set manager (command SSM)

and have anything in that SSM Recent list. A side effect is that todays date is used even if you have not

even used that Sheet Set for a long time.

If you have problem getting rid of the AutoCAD sheet set from recent document list, try this tip.

Tip 92. Open File Dialog is Missing

Have you ever find when you try to open or save file, you dont see the dialog box? Instead of dialog box,

you see the text below on command line or dynamic input.
http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=4905http://static3.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/recentsheetset.pnghttp://blog.jtbworld.com/2008/10/sheet-set-manager-performance-tips.htmlhttp://blog.jtbworld.com/2010/05/ribbon-problem-solutions-for-autocad.htmlhttp://static4.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ribbonerror.pnghttp://blog.jtbworld.com/2008/09/clear-sticky-sheet-sets-from-recent.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2010/07/autocad-accuracy-issue-how-do-you-deal-with-it/


22/40

The problem is system variable has changed. Type FILEDIA in command line then press [enter]. Enter value

1 then [enter] again. You should now see the open file dialog box back to normal.

Tip 93. Open Multiple Documents in A single AutoCAD Session

AutoCAD can open multiple files in one AutoCAD session. We expect that AutoCAD will open another file in

opened session when you double click a DWG file in Windows Explorer. But what if every time we double

click a file in explorer, it will open the file in another AutoCAD session? To make AutoCAD open the file in

one session, you need to set the system variable SDI to 1. If it still doesnt work, try this tip from a

discussion in CADTutor Forum.

Tip 94. Speed Up the Print Process

AutoCAD 2008 introduced to us BACKGROUND PROCESSING for plotting. The theory behind it is that it will

free up your computer while printing so that you can continue to work. It sounds good. I like it when I am

publishing something or batch plotting through the sheet set manager. The problem is that when you print

behind the scenes, it takes longer. It takes longer because the computer is processing the printing, andprocessing your work. So I tried it. I switched it off and WOW!! The old printing speed returned. I have kept it

off and my printing is much faster. See the complete tip from Brian how he optimize the printing speed.

Tip 95. Mouse Pointer is not Moving Smoothly

Do you ever find your mouse pointer not moving smoothly and jumping all around? If you take a good look,

the pointer is actually snapping to drawing grids, and jump to the next grid intersection. You probably turn

on the grid snap by accident. Press [F9] or turn it off from drafting settings.

Learn and knowledge updateTip 96. A Simple Guide: 12 Steps to Master AutoCAD

Learning AutoCAD can be difficult when you try to learn by yourself. This tip has 12 steps you can follow to

learn until you finally mastering AutoCAD. Do not rush it. No body can become a master in anything

overnight! Read A Simple Guide: 12 steps to Mastering AutoCAD

Tip 97. Ten Ways to be More Efficient at AutoCAD

While tip 96 talks about the steps to learn AutoCAD, Brian Benton shares a tip to learn to be more efficient

or productive with AutoCAD. It is a nice guide after you follow tip 96. But dont jump to this tip if you juststarting to learn! Read Ten Ways to be More Efficient at AutoCAD

Tip 98. How to Stay Up to Date with AutoCAD

This is a guest post by Ellen Finkelstein on CAD-a-Blog. This post shows you many channels and resources

you could follow to stay up to date with AutoCAD. There are so many of them, either online or offline. Read

How to stay up to date with AutoCAD

Tip 99. New Features Workshop

Do you update (I would say UPGRADE, but new doesnt guarantee better) your AutoCAD software regularly?

Or do you update it in intervals? Regardless, it can be difficult to know and understand what the new

version has to offer. There is a built in tool inside of AutoCAD that will help you know and understand the

new features and improvements in AutoCAD. It is called the New Features Workshop!
http://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/05/quick-tip-slow-printing.htmlhttp://cad-notes.com/2009/07/a-simple-guide-12-steps-to-mastering-autocad/http://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-stay-up-to-date-with-autocad.htmlhttp://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/open_dialog_box_missing.pnghttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-ways-to-be-more-efficient-at.htmlhttp://cadablog.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-features-workshop.htmlhttp://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18461&highlight=multiple+session


23/40

Tip 100. Using Info Center to Follow Your Favorite CAD Resources

The last one. We spend most of our time using AutoCAD (well, some of you do). When we get busy, we

miss the updates from our favorite CAD resources. Dont be! The good thing about web 2.0 technology is

RSS. We can see the updates using RSS readers, or even AutoCAD! If your computer connects to internet,

do you notice the pop up from info center on your right screen? It is the updates from predefined

resources!

See how you can Use Info Center to Notify RSS Update.

Filed Under: AutoCAD Tips, Featured

Tagged With: autocad tips, customize, productivity, troubleshoot

ADVERTISEMENTS

You may also like

Troubleshoot: AutoCAD text overlapped in some palettes

Do you see AutoCAD text label overlapped in some palettes? Try this troubleshooting

tips!

Do you know great AutoCAD tips? Submit to us

We're going to update 100 AutoCAD tips list. Submit yours to the list today!

What's new in AutoCAD: Annotations

This is AutoCAD new features roundup in annotation features. Read it if you want to

implement AutoCAD new features!
http://www.cad-notes.com/do-you-know-great-autocad-tips-submit-to-us/http://www.cad-notes.com/category/autocad/autocad-tips/http://www.cad-notes.com/tag/autocad-tips-2/http://www.cad-notes.com/category/featured/http://www.cad-notes.com/tag/customize/http://www.cad-notes.com/tag/productivity/http://www.cad-notes.com/autocad-text-overlapped-in-some-palettes/http://cad-notes.com/2009/09/using-info-center-to-notify-rss-update/http://www.cad-notes.com/whats-new-in-autocad-annotations/http://www.cad-notes.com/tag/troubleshoot/http://static1.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/CAD_Notes_Updates.png


24/40

About Edwin Prakoso

I work as an Application Engineer in Jakarta, Indonesia. I've been using AutoCAD

since R14 and Revit since Revit Building 9. I occasionally write for AUGIWorld

magazine and also active in Autodesk discussion forum.

I'm certified as Revit Architecture 2010 and AutoCAD 2013 certified professional.

Connect with me on twitteror LinkedIn

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

twitter (Without @)

Comment

POST COMMENT

Confirm you are NOT a spammer

Notify me of replies to my comment

yudhistira saysAugust 5, 2014 at 9:33 am

hi, im a newbie in autocad and have some problem now. i have drawing, a map. i want to make

the layer uniform by using only one layer but every time i try to do it the autocad stop responding

and i have to go to task manager to kill it. i have tried some way to solve it by explode all the block
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-159405http://forums.autodesk.com/http://id.linkedin.com/in/edwinprakoso/https://twitter.com/edwinprakoso


25/40

i make in the drawing it get lighter but when i try to change the layer it stuck again. do you have

any suggestion?

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

August 8, 2014 at 8:17 am

Yudhis,

How do you change the objects layer? By selecting objects and change it from layer

dropdown? What is your AutoCAD version and Windows version?

It might be your computer doesnt meet the system requirements or the installation is

damaged. If your computer meets the requirements, try to repair the installation.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

yudhistira says

August 8, 2014 at 12:02 pm

some block i make by select multiple object and paste it as a block, but some of it i take

from other drawing and put in one. when i select all and then i change the layer by

dropdown, autocad stop responding. so, like i said before i try to explode all the block

one by one, but it not helping also. by the way, i use autocad 2012 sp2 and window 7

profesional sp2, Proc Core I5, RAM DDR3 4GB, VGA nvidia geforce GT220 1GB, i hope

this information help.

PS: i ever sent this problem direct from the application, but they only suggest to installthe updated service pack. i install it anyway, but the problem still happen. hope you can

help me out of this matter. thanks

Reply

yan says

June 11, 2014 at 6:55 pm

nice.very useful.tnx

Reply

fredrick saysJune 11, 2014 at 12:12 am

What

are blocks? How are they used, and why would they be useful?in autocad
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-154535http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-159808http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=159405#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=154541#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-154541http://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=159808#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-159828http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=159828#respond


26/40

Reply

fredrick says

June 11, 2014 at 12:11 am

What

are blocks? How are they used, and why would they be useful?

Reply

Ticha says

May 20, 2014 at 4:28 pm

Thank you so much, helped me a lot. But I have one problem, I start working with AutoCAD few

days ago and my supervisor want that I use Open street for chacking streets in AutoCad Map 3D.

I do not know how to do that and I cant aks him for help. Plese help mebeginner

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

May 22, 2014 at 8:02 am

Hi Ticha,

Unfortunately I dont know about AutoCAD Map 3D. Try to ask in Autodesk discussion

forum for AutoCAD Map 3D here. There are some experts that can help you there.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Ticha says

May 22, 2014 at 2:32 pm

Hi Edwin,

Thank you

Reply

Ticha says

May 22, 2014 at 2:37 pm

Sorry I have one more questionIs it possible to make relation between two

AutoCad tables?

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=154535#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=143081#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=140980#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-143082http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=154534#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-143081http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=142854#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-154534http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=143082#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-142854http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-Map-3D-General/bd-p/85http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-140980


27/40

Edwin Prakososays

May 22, 2014 at 2:55 pm

No, its not possible to link between tables.

@EdwinPrakoso

Krzysiek says

July 18, 2014 at 6:02 pm

Im not sure what exactly do You want to do, but check TIP 7. Maybe this will

help You.

Jakub Kares says

May 16, 2014 at 3:17 am

Hello, thank you for the tip but I cant force the block to work :( What am I doing wrong?Everything is OK until I create block. I have a circle and an atribute refering to its center. But once I

create block and set up the base point the atribute show just zero.

I would say it is logical but according to your manual It should work differently. Any advice?

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

May 19, 2014 at 2:47 pm

Hello Jakub,

Which block are you referring to, specifically? There are 100 tips here :)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Jakub Kares saysMay 19, 2014 at 6:23 pm

Ah, sorry :) I wanted to post it anywhere else. I mean Tip 83. How to: Label Coordinate in

AutoCAD
http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-157404http://www.cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-137148http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=137148#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-140220http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-140041http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=140041#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-143090


28/40

Reply

yonah aninipot says

January 9, 2014 at 12:41 am

hello Mr. Edwin! Im having problems getting accurate elevation when im getting elevation (z) of

the center of circle (pile representation) via cad polyline listing. im getting same "z" all through out

the data. can you please explain me the reason behind and can you please suggest other method

of getting its elevation efficiently?

Reply

Edwin PrakososaysJanuary 9, 2014 at 6:14 pm

Hi Yonah,

It would be better for you to post this on forums.autodesk.com

You can upload your file and necessary screen shot to understand your problem better.

There are dozens of experts willing to help there :)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Miguel F says

December 16, 2013 at 3:10 pm

just type tk [space] while moving or drawing lines, etc. this allows you to use reference points

from which to set lines from or to in orthogonal offsets of existing objects in the drawing.

Reply

Hsn says

August 6, 2013 at 11:54 am

Great compilation indeed! It should be available as a download for future reference. May be in a

nicely

compiled PDF file.

Thank you for sharing!
http://cad-notes.com/http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-111070http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=111878#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=140220#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-111878http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=111917#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-111913http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-111917http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=111913#respond


29/40

Reply

Didin says

July 23, 2013 at 8:55 pm

Please share about "AutoCAD SheetSet" Thank

Reply

rafat says

May 21, 2013 at 8:03 pm

hai how can I generate 2d views from 3d model for printing purposes and how title blocks are

created.

Reply

Ronald EM says

March 27, 2013 at 10:15 am

Thanks a lot!!!! is top information

Reply

Anfal Kuniyil says

October 4, 2012 at 1:40 am

thank u very much..

Reply

Andy Collinssays

June 23, 2012 at 12:16 am

Have you heard of the 'Tracking' command? I was at a AutoCAD class and the instructor told the

class about it. he mentioned that he learnt it off a teacher who taught him but has searched many

books and founf no information on the command?! I was just wondering if anyone has hear of it

and/or uses it regualry?

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=109785#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-109785http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-110839http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=110201#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=109144#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-109144http://www.facebook.com/acollins1994http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-110201http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108483#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108483http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=111070#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=110839#respond


30/40

Edwin Prakososays

June 24, 2012 at 3:56 am

I think you meant object snap tracking, right? It's part of drafting tools, like object snap, ortho

mode, etc.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Btaryana says

June 8, 2012 at 6:08 am

Good Job Win!!

I bet this link is super useful for many CAD users! dan gw bangga orang yang bikin page ini orang

Indonesia, once again great job!!.

Reply

Ana Moreira says

April 19, 2012 at 10:17 pm

He went searching, found the Prakoso Edwin and I can already say that I'm your fan. Two tastes

in common: CAD and Hellowin! Ana Moreira

Ser que quis dizer: Andava a pesquisar e encontrei o Edwin Para

Escreva texto ou o endereo de um Web site ou traduza um documento

Cancelar

Alpha

Reply

Vj says

March 25, 2012 at 8:37 pm

Thank u very much sir for your precious help. I want to ask you about how we can plot x,y,z co-

ordinates at one time as in case road construction.

Reply

Marko says

March 21, 2012 at 2:44 am
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108489#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108219http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108437http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108277#respondhttp://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108229#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108489http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108229http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-108277http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108437#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakoso


31/40

awesome!

Reply

Jannatul says

February 24, 2012 at 5:40 pm

Extreamly good job indeed..Hoping it will help me time to time.

I need a help How can I make several "View Ports" with selective objects, all are consists in one

layer?

Example In a long way tube routine, different numbre of tubes run in different elevation; I want

to show side view & elevation of selective tubes. Please help. I am using "Autocad 2012"

Reply

Stephen Sparrow says

December 31, 2011 at 9:32 am

I've been using AutoCAD since R14, and I still found several useful tips in this post. Thanks a lot!!

Reply

Zali_razali says

December 26, 2011 at 10:16 pm

any body can help menow i already scale my drawing from icon in toolbar.so my distance are

chance.so how i want to convert back to normalplease

Reply

N8_t8 says

October 18, 2011 at 7:54 pm

Does anybody know how to turn on the alias suggestions? For instance, at school when I type a

letter in the command line it cad automatically pops up suggestions for possible commands that

I may want. Does Cad 2011 have this feature?

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

October 18, 2011 at 11:04 pm
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=107340#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=107279#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=108219#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=107124#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=107942#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-107124http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-107279http://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-107942http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-107125http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-107340


32/40

AutoComplete is a new feature in 2012. 2011 doesn't have it.

You can find command suggestion by pressing [tab] to cycle between commands.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Toni says

August 14, 2011 at 10:41 pm

Open file dialog box slow to open on Cad 2010

Any suggestions on hoe to fix

Reply

Caesar - Nigeria says

July 4, 2011 at 5:56 pm

Really great collection of Cad tips. I've been scouring the web looking for something like this. It's

very helpful as I am a beginner. Thanks a lot.

Reply

Randy says

June 29, 2011 at 8:19 am

I've worked with AutoCAD for over 20 years now and I still have room to learn new things.

Excellent article, Edwin.

Randy Washington USA

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

June 30, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Thanks randy :)

There's always room for us to learn new things.

Many of those tips are written by other great bloggers. Not all are mine ;)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-75339http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-89585http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-76095http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=75446#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=107125#respondhttp://cad-notes.com/http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=89585#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=75339#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-75446http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=76095#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakoso


33/40

sugeng says

June 9, 2011 at 5:03 am

pak edwin.

gret job, salut. btw yang saya cari masih gk ada e.

mohon ijin ctrl+d. jika ada sesuatu

thaks

Reply

Farooq Bhutta says

May 27, 2011 at 7:38 pm

I am very glad. i did not see such article before.

Reply

Paul Munfordsays

April 13, 2011 at 8:33 pm

Hi Edwin,

This is a great post, and what a resource!

You must have worked really hard on it well done :)

I have included a link from my Blog:

The Best, the Rest, the Rare: 100 AutoCAD Tips You Should Know | CAD Notes

@cadsetterout

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

April 13, 2011 at 8:52 pm

I think I need to update this post one day. Now there are more than 100 great tips I can put in

here. Including yours here:)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-54323http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=54322#respondhttp://twitter.com/cadsetterouthttp://cadsetterout.com/resources/autocad-edwins-100-free-tips/http://cadsetterout.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-62628http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-67634http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=62628#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=54323#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-54322http://cad-notes.com/2011/04/autocad-tip-remove-alternate-unit-bracket-in-dimension/http://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=67634#respond


34/40

Jim says

February 8, 2011 at 6:05 am

Could you put the 100 Tips in a PDF format. That way I could download the file, read it and look

up the tips off line.

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

February 8, 2011 at 3:56 pm

Hi Jim,

The tips are collected from many sources, from other bloggers too. That's a good idea, but I

need to talk to the others first :)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

NTWsays

December 2, 2010 at 4:43 am

Great tips! They will certainly come in handy. Any interest in guest blogging on my CAD Systems

Help blog?

Reply

Francescsays

September 14, 2010 at 12:26 pm

Many thanks for you work. It's an excellent compendium of tips!

Reply

Jon says

July 26, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Number 87 is just a plain old bad tip. Try to draw your objects as close as possible to 0,0? In the

land development world (surveying, civil engineering, etc) that really defeats the purpose of using

CAD in the first place and is not good advice. You don't need to draw your objects closer to 0,0 tofix the hatches, you just need to set the hatch origin closer to your drawing. The default hatch

origin is 0,0 but you can set it closer to the hatch object to fix this problem.

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-51126http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=10851#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://cadsystemshelp.blogspot.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=46608#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=51125#respondhttp://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5752http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=5752#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-51125http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-10851http://barrancat.blogspot.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=51126#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-46608


35/40

Edwin Prakososays

July 26, 2010 at 8:20 pm

Jon,

Probably I didn't explain it clear enough. Tip no 87 is not for fixing the hatches. The hatches

is like an alarm that telling you something is going wrong. When you go further, then you

might loosing accuracy when you draw.

I found this problem when an architect firm that use mm in designing their building, and

place the building in real world coordinate using mm. As you know, the coordinates become

to have too many digits. And the drawing is no longer accurate. And I mean literally. When

you draw 10 length line with 3 degrees, it can be less/more than 10 and not 3 degrees. This,

is also defeats the purpose of using CAD, right? This is a 32 bit machine limitation. You can't

go further than that point. 64bit machine also has limitation, but it can handle this problem

better than 32bit. If you want to read more about this limitation, you can find articles about

'floating points' in wikipedia or other references.

Land surveyor usually don't use mm. In metrics, they use m or km. I'm not sure what unit

they use in imperial. That's why they get away with this problem.

What I'm suggesting with 'trying to draw as close as possible to 0,0' can also mean that to

avoid the problem we could consider using xref with different units to achieve it. For

example, the architect can still use mm, but in the master plan, they use m. And if the

problem still exist, probably they can consider km. AutoCAD doesn't understand 'real world

unit'. So we are the one who should arrange this to make the coordinate simpler. I did

mention it in the post, but probably it's not clear enough.

Probably because I'm not from English speaking country :)

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Jon says

July 26, 2010 at 9:04 pm

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Hatch patterns have display issues due to the relatively low

precision that is used to define them. This is not necessarily an indication that you are

working beyond the precision that autocad affords. The hatch problem can very easily

be fixed without destroying the coordinate information of the drawing by moving it to

0,0. Land surveyors and others in industries that deal with 'real world units' often use

predefined coordinate systems with very, very large numbers. 'trying to draw as close

as possible to 0,0' is not a practical solution.

By the way, AutoCAD has had 64-bit floating point precision since the early 1980's. 64-

bit processors are not required for this. 64-bit processors define the limit of addressable

memory, not precision. If you don't believe me, ask Autodesk:

http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2004/

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5766http://cad-notes.com/http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2004/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=5767#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5767http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=5766#respond


36/40

Edwin Prakososays

July 26, 2010 at 9:36 pm

Thank you for the information Jon. Maybe I do should correct the tip.

In the case I found, the inaccurate drawing in mm unit, what would you suggest to

fix it?

I found a suggestion in a forum (can't find the link now) that it was caused by the

large numbers. I suggested them to create the model in mm at 0,0, but place it in

the master plan using m using real world coordinate, does solve the problem. May

be you have better suggestion? I'll use it to update tip no. 87.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Jon says

July 27, 2010 at 12:15 pm

Perhaps the best solution would be to simply remove the statement about

hatches, or provide a separate tip on how to fix the hatch problem. If a user is

truly running into a limitation where the linework is not accurate enough

because of the coordinates & units, then it is a valid work-around. However, I

would also suggest removing the erroneous statement about 32-bit

machines.

Edwin Prakososays

July 28, 2010 at 12:12 am

Thanks for the suggestion Jon, I have updated the tip. Feel free to give your

opinion if you feel it's still not correct. Or if you find other mistakes in my other

posts.

@EdwinPrakoso

Coen says

July 15, 2010 at 10:56 am

Comment on tip 58 rotating viewports:

Before acad 2010 I used MVSETUP to rotate viewports and its content,
http://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5074http://cad-notes.com/http://cad-notes.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=5770#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5866http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5809http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-5770


37/40

but you can use the normal ROTATE command to rotate viewports and everything in it since acad

2010, as far as I know.

Reply

edi ismantosays

July 8, 2010 at 1:26 am

very good dan mantep tenan. kayaknya lg sibuk nyusun posting ini jd agak terlantar

tentangcad-nya. sekedar usulan gimana klu 100 posting itu di translate ke bahasa indonesia dan

di re-posting di tentangcad.com. karena banyak yg kurang mengerti bahasa inggris seperti saya

ini.

makasihthe best posting

Reply

Coen says

July 7, 2010 at 11:01 am

Like the post, a lot of new and forgotten tips

Tip 16:

I prefere alligning my crosshairs with (UCS _OB) the object first and then using DIMALIGNED.

Lines ar not always a nice angle, You have to measure them all first wich takes more time then

my method and is not precise enough for me

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

July 8, 2010 at 4:16 am

Thank you Coen. I usually rotate my UCS too. But I believe it can be useful for the others. And

what a coincidence. It looks like everybody love UCS today. Autodesk just publish a video

tip on YouTube, and I write about it today!

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Louisa G Hollandsays

July 1, 2010 at 8:24 pm

GREAT post. Many of these are new to me. One teeny nit-pick on #95 I think you mean F9,
http://www.gambarteknik.blogspot.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=4661#respondhttp://twitter.com/EdwinPrakosohttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=4665#respondhttp://cad-notes.com/http://civil3dnovice.blogspot.com/http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=5074#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=4635#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4635http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4665http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4399http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4661


38/40

rather than control +9 (which turns off the command line).

Reply

Edwin Prakososays

July 2, 2010 at 12:33 am

Thank you Louisa :)

I don't know how can I write [ctrl] + 9! Orhan did write [F9], but somehow I write it like that.

Thanks again for notifying.

@EdwinPrakoso

Reply

Silleke says

July 1, 2010 at 10:37 am

Very good compilation.

Thanks a lot.

Reply

R.K. McSwainsays

July 1, 2010 at 12:52 am

Oh, and thanks for this list, and double thanks for putting it all on one page so we didn't have to

step through 10 or even 100 separate pages :-)

@cadpanacea

Reply

R.K. McSwainsays

July 1, 2010 at 12:51 am

Can you please update tip 21 to point to http://cadpanacea.com/node/70instead? Thanks.

@cadpanacea

Reply
http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=4361#respondhttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4361http://twitter.com/cadpanaceahttp://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/comment-page-1/#comment-4360http://cad-notes.com/http://cadpanacea.com/node/70http://www.cad-notes.com/100-autocad-tips-you-should-know/?replytocom=4399#respondhttp://twitter.com/cadpanaceahttp://twitter.