60 AutoCAD Tips in 60 Minutes

Lynn Allen Autodesk Technical Evangelist

Objective:
Show you some tips and techniques that will increase your productivity and help you work smarter!

2005 Autodesk

User Interface Tips

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Workspaces AutoComplete (Tab to cycle) Move Model space/Layout tabs Easy Copy of Layout Tabs New! Drag and Drop to Sheet Set New! New 2D Dashboard New! Status Bar and Tray customization Anchored Palettes Clean Screen (or Ctrl 0) Taskbar to 1 Lock Toolbars Double click toolbars to float Lock/Unlock Viewport on Status Bar New! VP Scale on Status Bar New!3

2005 Autodesk

Quick Customizing Tips

15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) CUI now customizes the Dashboard New! Drag and drop toolbars to the Dashboard New! Easier to Search and Create New Commands New! Get rid of F1! Quickly create a Tool Palette of your blocks in Design Center Customize the File dialog

2005 Autodesk

Layer Tips
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Layer properties per viewport New! Control of visual properties Easy reset to global properties Customize your Layer Columns New! Deactivate the Status Column to save time Speedy Layer State Manager Access New! Applying Layer States per Viewport New!

2005 Autodesk

Misc. Layer Tips

SETBYLAYER New! Layer Isolate now fades layers New! LAYUNISO is back New! Layer Translater (LAYTRANS) Translates layers to a standard (dws, dwg or dwt) Force objects to bylayer 30) LAYWALK (View layers individually) 31) LAYDEL (Delete even the most stubborn layers!)
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2005 Autodesk

TimeSavers!
SCALELISTEDIT Plot, Page Setup, Vport toolbar, Properties, etc. 33) JOIN Command (Glue) works on plines, lines, arc, elliptical arcs and splines Use to turn an arc into a circle 34) LAYERFILTERALERT (Set to 3) 35) FILTERS command 36) PEDITACCEPT 37) IMAGEFRAME 38) JPGOUT, BMPOUT, PNGOUT, TIFOUT 39) OVERKILL
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AutoCAD 2006

2005 Autodesk

Text Tips
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Word Docs maintain spacing, font, etc. New! Text wraps automatically over multiple columns New! Tab styles and paragraph line spacing control for selected lines New! New Spell Checker Improvements Multiline Attributes! New! Control the Text Sample string

(MTJIGSTRING)

Click outside of the dialog box to exit command quickly Control+Enter to exit command MTEXT TEXTTOFRONT command
8 2005 Autodesk

Table Tips
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AutoFill available in AutoCAD Tables Tables wrap automatically over multiple columns Insert blocks and text in same cell

2005 Autodesk

Dimensioning tips (all new)

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Multiple Leaders Multiple segments Leading or trailing position on text Options for placement of leader with respect to text MLEADERALIGN MLEADERCOllECT DIMBREAK DIMJOGLINE DIMSPACE

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2005 Autodesk

Misc. Tips in AutoCAD 2008

58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) Inverse Xclip Layer control for attached DWF files Create smaller PDFs with DWF PUBLISHCOLLATE multipage PDF Import/Export DGN Recover for Xrefs

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2005 Autodesk

Keys, Keys, Keys

64)Control+R to cycle through all of your viewports 65)Control+A to select all the objects in your drawing 66)Control to cycle through objects 67)Tab to cycle through object snaps 68)Navigate through layouts with Control+PageUp and Control+PageDown 69)Hold down right mouse button to clear grips 70)Shift for more than one hot grip 71)Arrow up and down through commands 72)Control+Tab to cycle through open drawings 73)OSNAP Tracking to find the center of a box 74)M2P or MTP to find the midpoint between two points

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2005 Autodesk

Tip #75: Embed Drawings into PPT!

Insert menu Object > Autodesk DWF Viewer Control Right click on image Autodesk DWF Viewer Control ->Properties Select DWF File DWF will only display when the Slide Show is playing
13 2005 Autodesk

Tip #76 Autodesk Labs: labs.autodesk.com (commandcomplete)

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2005 Autodesk

Tip #77: DWG TrueView (now includes True Convert)

Supports viewing and plotting of DWG files, and publishing to DWF Batch converts drawings to previous releases Stand alone product no need for ACAD to be installed Same fidelity as Save as in AutoCAD Conversion of pen widths to line weights and the addition of page setups. www.autodesk.com/trueview

Pricing FREE

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2005 Autodesk

Autodesk Design Review 2008

www.autodesk.com/designreview

Pricing
FREE

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2005 Autodesk

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2005 Autodesk

Tip # 78: Autodesk Design Review 2008

www.autodesk.com/designreview

Pricing
FREE

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2005 Autodesk

Tip # 79: Autodesk Design Review

Drawing Version Compare Feature
Highlight additions/ deletions
Select Tools > Compare 2. Browse and load the DWF files 3. Select sheets to overlay and click OK
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Free Download: autodesk.com/designreview 19 2005 Autodesk

Tip # 80: Introducing Autodesk Freewheel

Share designs online - Free
Publish DWF 2. Upload & Email Link 3. View & Print 2D & 3D designs online without install software 4. Utilize for drawing catalogs and archives
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freewheel.autodesk.co m

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2005 Autodesk

lynn.allen@autodesk.com www.autodesk.com/lynnallen
21 2005 Autodesk