First, Some Tips & Settings

AutoCAD Settings

This section will deal with settings within AutoCAD that you may or may not find helpful. Once this session is over, go back to your PC and try them. If they work for you, great. If they do not, just know that they are there if and when you need them.

Taskbar

One of the things that is so annoying is that when you are on just one session and you have multiple drawings open, you either have to open the window pulldown or use 'ctl' 'tab' to scroll through the drawings you have open until you get to the one you want.

You can eliminate this headache by typing in the following system variable: TASKBAR

As you can see from above, when 'taskbar' is set to 1, the task bar shows all the drawings you have open in the one session. This makes it far easier to find the drawing you want to work on.

Edgemode

Using the system variable EDGEMODE can simplify your trim and extend functionality. Did you know that you can TRIM and EXTEND to non-existent edges?

Setting To 0 = selected edge without an extension

Setting To 1 = Extends or trims the selected object to an imaginary extension of the cutting edge or boundary.

Annoying Variables

Under the annoying heading, here are a few system variables that may or may not speed up your day, but it sure won't seem as long if AutoCAD isn't constantly aggravating you. Simply type the system variable name at the command line and enter your desired value.

TRAYTIMEOUT

The default value of 0 (zero) leaves the system tray notifications for services up until you close them. Try setting it from 1 to 10 to indicate how long in seconds the notification should be displayed. Change this once and AutoCAD will remember in all sessions.

TRAYNOTIFY

The default is set to 1 which tells AutoCAD to display system tray notifications for services. Change this to 0 (zero) and get rid of them all together. Change this once and AutoCAD will remember in all sessions.

XREFNOTIFY

This is similar to TRAYNOFITY, but while TRAYNOTIFY enables or disables tray notifications for services; XREFNOTIFY enables or disables Xref notifications as one of the services that are used. In other words, if you want service notification but don't want Xref change notifications, set this to 0 (zero). Set it to 1 to use xref notification with alerts appearing only in the system tray, or 2 for tray and bubble alerts. Set this value once and AutoCAD will remember it from session to session.

PAPERUPDATE

The default setting of 1 warns if the printer doesn't support a paper size used by the layout. Set to 0 (zero) to disable this warning. You only need change this once.

PEDITACCEPT

The Default is 0 (zero). Changing this to 1 disables the "Object selected is not a polyline. Do you wish to turn it into one? <y>" prompt issued by the PEDIT command when you select objects that are not polylines. You only need change this once.

LAYERFILTERALERT

This system variable is intended to prevent your drawing from becoming bloated with so many layer filters that it's sluggish. AutoCAD's criteria for determining whether to take action is based on this setting if the number of filters is over 100 and there are more filters then layers. A setting of 0 (zero) does nothing. A setting of 1 (one) deletes all layer filters upon opening the Layer Properties Manager no questions asked. When set to the default value of 2, upon opening the Layer Properties Manager you are prompted if you want to delete the layer filters or not. Choosing to delete them removes them all. I recommend setting this to a value of 3. When set to 3, you are warned upon opening the drawing, not upon opening the Layer Properties Manager and offered the option of which to delete, and which to keep. Furthermore, there's a bug in AutoCAD 2007 that deletes all "Group" layer filters leaving only the "Properties" layer filters, no questions asked when this is set to 2. In other words, if there are Group layer filters that exceed AutoCAD's threshold, settings 2 & 1 (one) act the same. AutoCAD will remember your changes from session to session.

LAYOUTREGENCTL

With a default setting of 2, AutoCAD regenerates each tab (Model and Layout) the first time you access it. After that, it uses cached memory to restore that tab when you return to it. The more layout tabs you have in a drawing as well as the longer you work in it in one session, AutoCAD will gradually and continually slow down. This slowdown in magnified if you're running a "memory challenged" computer. Setting this to 0 (zero) regenerates each and every time you switch Model or Layout tabs. A good compromise is a setting of 1 (one) that only regenerates the Model and last layout tab. You can also make this change in the Display tab of the Options dialog.

Will AutoCAD Remember This Setting?

There's a lot of places in AutoCAD you can make changes to its settings in a dialog box instead of directly changing its system variables. A lot of times, you won't even know which variable it is that's being changed so it's hard to look it up in the help to know if AutoCAD will remember the change or if it gets saved in the DWG file and needs to be made in all files. As a result, AutoCAD gives you some clues but it's so painfully obvious right in front of you that if you're like me, you probably missed it. If you look at some of the settings in the Options dialog, you'll notice that some of them have a DWG icon next to them. This is your clue that those values are not retained from session to session; rather they apply only in the current drawing.

Dynamic Input – Why Won't It Move?

With the introduction of Dynamic Input in AutoCAD, users have a whole new way of entering coordinates into AutoCAD. Unfortunately, this can lead to a lot of head scratching in some cases if you don't fully understand how it works. Try this…draw a circle someplace in AutoCAD. With Dynamic Input turned on, try moving the circle from its center point to the coordinate 0,0 by entering "0,0" (zero comma zero). Unless you or someone else changed it from its default settings, the circle doesn't move. The reason, is that AutoCAD's Dynamic Input defaults to "Relative" data entry, you know, like when you type the "@" at the command line. Relative input assumes the entered coordinate is a distance from where you picked prior. In this case, AutoCAD's assuming you want to move the circle 0 units in both directions from its center point. You can change this default behavior by right clicking on the Dynamic Input button in AutoCAD's status bar and selecting the Settings option. Then, choose the Settings button from the Pointer Input section of the dialog. Here, you can change the default behavior to Absolute Coordinates instead of Relative. Doing this means that when using Dynamic Input, you'll need to explicitly enter the "@" to force Relative coordinate entry just like you're always use to from AutoCAD's command line. But let's think about this for a moment, during most of your drawing, most of your keyboard entry is likely always Relative. Be defaulting to Relative Coordinate entry, you eliminate typing "Shift-2" to get the "@". The question then becomes, how to force Absolute Coordinate entry from Dynamic Input? The answer is by typing the "#" instead of the "@". Doing this tells AutoCAD that you're indeed using Absolute Coordinate entry. This is likely the best option for most AutoCAD users because the bulk of their use is Relative. However, if you frequently use Absolute Coordinate entry, like a CNC machine operator or an AutoCAD user preparing CAD geometry for CNC operations where machine coordinates are important in relation to geometry, then changing the default settings is possibly a better option. As an alternative, you could also temporarily disable Dynamic Input with the F12 key anytime you need to make Absolute coordinate entry. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that while the command line accepts the "@" symbol, it does not accept the "#" symbol which can only be used when Dynamic Input is active.

Miscellaneous Secrets

Some of you may already know these secrets while some of you may not. No matter, it always pays to review them again in case anyone doesn't know then or forgot they were available.

RefEdit – Other alternatives

Most AutoCAD users are familiar with the RefEdit command. It's the command that allows you to edit in place, an Xref or Block insertion without binding and/or exploding it. It's a very useful tool. However, there's times when RefEdit just doesn't cut it. When you use RefEdit, you edit a scaled instance of the Xref or Block. That is, if the Xref was attached or the Block inserted at a scale factor other than 1 (one), you edit the Xref or Block at the scaled instance, not in the base units the Xref or Block was created in.

For editing of an Xref or Block in the base scale (scale factor of 1) you have a couple options. For Xrefs, you can open the Xref's file and edit and save it. Upon returning to the parent drawing that references it, simply reload the Xref to make your changes visible. While this is nothing new, many don't know there's the Xopen command that will prompt you to select an Xref and automatically open it which makes this process a lot quicker.

That takes care of Xrefs, what about blocks? For Blocks, you can use the new Bedit (Block Edit) command that was introduced with the Dynamic Block feature of AutoCAD. While designed for authoring your own Dynamic Blocks, you don't have to use or make Dynamic Blocks to use the Bedit command. When you edit a block in the Block Editor with the Bedit command, you are editing the block at its 1=1 scale, not it's scaled instance like RefEdit does. There's Model Space (Model tab), there's Paper Space (Layout tabs), think of the Block Editor and the Bedit command as "Block Space".

Dynamic Input

How far back do you go? Do you remember when all of a sudden there were these little blue boxes showing up all over your drawings? If you can just go ahead and admit it like I had to. Yes, my first reaction was "How do I turn these dad-burn things OFF!?!?" (Are you the ones that still have your right click mouse button set to "Enter?" You can at least try the time sensitive setting for right click menus.)

I know that by now you have made those grip boxes your friend. OK, so let's give this Dynamic Input a try. Go ahead, turn it back on, and turn it up full volume. Check all the boxes!

You now have a place to input your coordinate information directly on the screen. You can TAB your way from one location to another. If you put input the first value when prompted for coordinate input then follow that with a comma, it will assume the X,Y input without using the TAB key.

Do NOT be fooled by the down arrow like I was! It is not a place where you can pick but instead it alerts you that if you pick the down arrow key on your keyboard you will see the options for the command you are in. (Right click will produce a menu that you can pick from without having to move your hand off the mouse.)

We Don't Need No Stinkin' F8!

A new feature to the 2006 release but was never really publicized was temporary overrides. Everyone has been using F8 for years to toggle the ortho on and off. There are a few overrides but the best one is the ortho override.

Try it. Start the line command with ortho turned off. Select a starting point somewhere in your drawing. It is easy to see that ortho is turned off because you can make the angle of the line anything. Before selecting the end point of your line, hold down the <Shift> key. Now move your mouse around. Ortho is enabled but only while you hold down the shift key. It's amazing!

Zoom to Object

This new ZOOM TO OBJECT command zooms to one or more selected objects in the center of the drawing area. You can select objects before or after you start the zoom command.

In this example we have an overall site layout:

In this example we have selected the footprint of Building 6 then 'Zoom' - 'Object'. It zooms right to the object(s) we have selected. This works on blocks and xrefs alike.

Multi Leader Arrows

For years there has been no easy way to create multiple leaders. You either just repeated the QLEADER command as many times as you needed leaders or you copied them then moved the arrowheads to where you wanted them. No more!
Step 1: Select the Dimension Leader and select the grip at the "arrow" end of the line.

Step 2: Position your cursor at the new "arrow" destination in the drawing.

Step 3: Press and hold the <CTRL> key when you click the new destination location.

Note: You do not need to continue to hold down the <CTRL> key for additional leaders, you are in a "copy" mode now.

Trim & Extend Dimensions

I wasn't aware of this one but I think you will find it comes in pretty handy. Use either the TRIM or EXTEND command to modify dimensions as well as lines.

Trim Hatches?

Yes you can trim hatching. Please be aware though, that what ever boundary you use to trim a hatch, that boundary must not be deleted or the trim goes away. In effect, it is using a wipeout to hide the hatching not really trim it.

Tracking

TK is a very versatile tool. When you need to position an object in relationship to other objects, type TK BEFORE you place your first point. In the examples below, you start a circle command and type TK. Select the intersection of the two lines and move your cursor vertically up (with ortho on). Type 2 and press <enter>, then move your cursor to the left and type 2 then press 'enter' twice. Enter the value of the circle's radius. You have created a circle from the intersection of the two lines 2 units up and 2 units to the left.

EXOFFSET

There are a couple of very handy options buried in the EXPRESS TOOLS. EXTENDED OFFSET is a command that allows you to offset objects to the current layer instead of the same layer as the original object.

Step 1: Key in EXOFFEST or select EXTENDED OFFSET from EXPRESS Modify Extended Offset

Step 2: Key in offset distance

Step 3: Key in O for Options

Step 4: Key in L for Layer

Step 5: Key in C for current and hit <Enter> one more time

Step 6: Select the object to offset and the direction.

If you watch the options while in the command, there is a toggle for multiple so you can copy multiple objects while in the one command.

Importing Text from MS Word

One of the nice features now is you can import text from word into AutoCAD by using the cut and paste function. Just launch Microsoft Word and open a document. Cut/Copy your document onto your clipboard (CTL C). Paste the contents into the MTEXT editor. You will notice that all the bullets from MS Word will also appear now in AutoCAD.

I hope you find these to be useful. Spread the word on these. If you liked this post either comment on this post or shoot me an email. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, fee free to send me an email.

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Thank you and keep CADing