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AutoCAD - Tips'n'Tricks |
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Element K Journals at http://www.elementktips.com offer a weekly tip service for a number of Software packages.
Here are some of the less dangerous tips that I’ve received from this service.
I’ve also included some answers to frequently asked questions, and good tips from other sources.
Check out the Links section for other sites with TipsAutoCAD - Tips'n'TricksAutoCAD - Tips'n'Tricks
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To label rooms in space plans with names, lengths, widths, and areas, start by defining a space plan style for each type of room you plan to
create.
Attach the Space Styles property set to each space plan style.
Modify the display properties to make the Space Styles property set override the default property set.
Create the rooms in your space plan. Go to Documentation > Schedule Tags > Room & Finish tags.
Apply the Space Tag symbol to each room in the plan. Your labels will appear.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
Multi-storey
Buildings
Do not try
to create all the geometry for a multistory building in a single Autodesk®
Architectural Desktop file. Instead, create eachcomponent (shell, interior
walls, mechanical systems, electrical systems, landscaping, etc.) as a separate
drawing. Create new drawings with the correct views displayed in the correct
Paper Space layouts and then Xref the building geometry you created.
This
ensures you can plot all the sheets you need and allows multiple designers to
create and maintain the Autodesk Architectural Desktop geometry over time.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
From Space Plans to Walls
To convert space plans into walls, go to the Concept menu, choose Space Boundaries, then select Convert to Boundaries. Type SP at the command line then select a space plan and press Enter. Right-click on the newly created space boundary, then choose Boundary Modify. Choose Solid Form, then OK to exit this window. Right-click on the space boundary, then choose Generate Walls. The walls will be created based on the parameters defined by the space boundary.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
Multiview Blocks
Multiview blocks can be baffling, especially for new Autodesk® Architectural Desktop users. Simply put: you'll see different symbols based on your layout view (display representation). In a 3D perspective view, you might see a 3D light fixture; in an elevation view, it might appear as a much simpler 2D symbol. You can create your own multiview blocks appropriate for different views. From the Design Content menu, choose Define Multiview Block, specify its name, then select Edit to specify which standard block goes with which display representation.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
Use the Style options on the Autodesk® Architectural Desktop Design menu to modify the dozens of included standard symbols, such as windows, doors, and stairs, or to define new ones. Changing an existing style updates all occurrences of the objects that depend on that style in a drawing. That makes it easy to, say, replace all of a building's single-glazed windows with double-glazed ones.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
Editable Section Views
From the AEC Utilities menu, select Quick Slice. Select
two points to put a window around the geometry you want to section. Press
Enter, then select two points to define the section line; the 2D section will
be generated automatically and you can place it in your drawing. Then explode,
trim, extend, and hatch entities in the section as required to create the
desired section view. You can also create 3D sections of your geometry that
automatically reflect changes you make to your drawing's 3D geometry
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
When you create windows and doors
using the window and door styles in AutoCAD Architectural Desktop™, all the
elements of these objects are, by default, placed on a single layer in the same
color. To specify individual colors for door and window elements, go to the
Design Windows menu and choose Window Styles. Select the window style you want
to edit. Choose the Edit button, then the Display Props tab. On the Display
Props tab, select the Window Style entry. Then, select the Edit Display Props
button and specify the desired color for each element in the window or door.
This tip was contributed by Nancy Fulton, Autodesk
Point A
You may find yourself in a
situation, such as a cost proposal, where you need to determine the quantity of
a certain block within your drawing. AutoCAD provides you with an excellent
tool for counting the blocks in a drawing: the Count command.
Simply type the Count
command at the command line, then select the objects you wish to count, or the
entire drawing. The command opens the AutoCAD Text window and gives you a list
of all the blocks in your drawing and their overall quantity.
This tip was contributed by Blair Didway, bd-rla@pacbell.net
Gain more control of block properties in AutoCAD with the XPLODE command
When you use the XPLODE
command on a block, the block reverts to its original properties. In most cases
this is exactly what you want. However, what if you need a little more
flexibility and control? With XPLODE, you can be more specific about the
properties that your block reverts to. Type XPLODE at the command line, then
select the block or blocks you want to explode. If you choose more than one
block, you can make the same changes to all the blocks, or you can make
individual changes to each block one at a time.
You'll then see several options available at the
command line. If you simply press [enter], the command works the same as
normal. Otherwise, you can change
the colour, layer and linetype of the block. In addition, you can inherit the colour,
layer and linetype from the parent block. You'll find this command gives you
more control than simply using XPLODE
This tip was contributed by Element K
Journals – Inside AutoCAD
Bonus
Tools – R14 / Express Tools – R2K
Using the Cookie
Cutter Trim in AutoCAD 14
When you need to trim many
lines which cross the outline of an object, instead of individually trimming
each line, you can use the Cookie Cutter Trim bonus tool. Select Bonus | Modify
| Cookie Cutter Trim. You'll be
prompted to select a
polyline, line, circle or arc for a cutting edge.
Select one of these options
on your screen. Next, you'll be prompted to pick a side of that object to trim on.
All of the lines on that side of the object are trimmed automatically.
This tip was contributed by Element K
Journals – Inside AutoCAD
AutoCAD ignores extra
spaces that you include at the end of your dimension text. If you want to
include extra spaces after the text, you must enter a format code that
instructs AutoCAD to not ignore the spaces. Simply type DIMPOST at the command
line, then type the suffix you want with the number of spaces, followed by \~.
Press [Enter] to complete the command.
This tip was contributed by Element K
Journals – Inside AutoCAD
AutoCAD (2000i/2002)
In AutoCAD 2000i and 2002
you can quickly modify text or attributes by double-clicking on the text or an
item.
When you double-click on
text, the Edit Text dialog box is displayed allowing you to make your change.
When you double-click on an item, the Properties window is displayed allowing
you to change an attribute.
This tip was
contributed by. Rick
Rivera of Nutec Facilities Corp.
Using the PEDIT
command to close an arc or circle
AutoCAD (R14
/ 2000 / 2002)
If you've ever had trouble
closing an arc or circle in AutoCAD, you can use the PEDIT command to do so. As
an example, create an
arc and then enter pedit
on the command line. Press [Enter] and select the arc. AutoCAD notifies you
that the selected object isn't a polyline and asks if you want to turn it into one. Enter y
for yes and then enter c for close at the next prompt. The circle is now a
polyline that you can edit, such as changing its width.
This tip was
contributed by. C. Greg Silva of Owasso Drafting & Design.
Quickly close polylines and line segments in AutoCAD (14/2000)
Normally, to close a
polyline or multiple line segments, you have to drag the last line to the end
point. To help find the end point, you probably first turn on OSNAP. However,
there's another way to do this that involves fewer steps. When you're ready to
close the polyline, simply type c on the command line. Then when you press
[Enter], AutoCAD automatically finds the end point and draws the last line to
close the polyline.
This tip was contributed by S. Joe
Martin of Chevron Phillips.
Inserting drawings containing different fonts that have the same text
style name
AutoCAD (R14 / 2000)
If
you insert a drawing that contains the same text style name as the one in your
original drawing but that has a different font attached to
it,
the inserted font changes to the original font.
To
get around this, before inserting the drawing, type xref on the Command line
and then press [Enter] to display the External Reference dialog box (Xref
Manager dialog box in AutoCAD 2000).
Now
click the Attach button and navigate to the drawing you want to insert in the
Select File To Attach dialog box (Select Reference File dialog box in AutoCAD
2000), then click Open.
Adjust
the options as needed in the Attach Xref dialog box (External Reference dialog
box in AutoCAD 2000) and click OK.
The
text style is inserted with its proper font.
This tip was contributed by Jim Vakis.
In
AutoCAD 14 when you use the PASTECLIP command to paste an object in your
drawing, you're prompted for scaling and rotating options.
AutoCAD
2000 doesn't prompt you for these options but they're still available.
To
use them, at the Specify insertion point prompt, type r for the rotate options or s for the
scale options, as shown in the following example:
Specify
insertion point: r
Specify
rotation angle: 90
Specify
insertion point: s
Specify
scale factor for XYZ axes: 2
Then
at the next Specify insertion point prompt, either enter a point or click in
the drawing to paste the object.
This tip was contributed by Element K
Journals – Inside AutoCAD
If
you have multiple drawings open at the same time, you can cycle through them
quickly using the [Ctrl][Tab] key combination.
To
cycle through them backwards, press [Ctrl][Shift][Tab].
This tip was contributed by Mike Piazza
of Mathews Conveyor,Danville, Ky.
There
may be times when you want to use the Revision Cloud feature in AutoCAD 2000’s
Express Tools to create a partial cloud. To do this, enter REVCLOUD on the
command line and then choose Options to display the Revcloud Options dialog
box. Here you can set the arc style and chord length of your partial cloud.
Click OK and then click in your drawing to begin the cloud. When you draw the
partial cloud you want, simply press [Esc] to end the command. You now have a
partial cloud polyline made up of arc segments.
This tip was contributed by Dave Wilhelm,
Drawing freehand lines as single object polylines in AutoCAD ( R14/2000)
If you
sketch irregular lines or use a digitizer, you can use the SKPOLY system
variable with the SKETCH command to turn your lines into polylines so they
become single objects.
To do
so, on the command line enter SKPOLY and change the default of 0 to 1.
Then
enter SKETCH and choose an increment for your line segments.
Now
enter P to activate the pen and trace the lines.
This
tip was contributed by Tom Hyde, LearnCAD@aol.com.
Use the DefPoints layer to
prevent border printing in AutoCAD
After creating viewports in paper space, you probably won't want the viewport borders to print. You could create a VPORT layer, then freeze the VPORT layer to prevent the viewport borders from printing. However, there's an easier way to prevent the borders from printing. Try changing the viewport borders to the DefPoints layer.
The DefPoints layer is automatically created with your first dimension. This layer contains the points that define the start and end of the dimension extension lines. The points in the DefPoints layer don't print, and neither do any objects that are changed to that layer. You can see the borders, move them and stretch them, but they don't print--even if you forget to freeze them.
Normally, you'd never make DefPoints the current layer. However, you can also use this technique to prevent text from printing. Text typed on the DefPoints layer can be used to mark up revisions that you don't want to print.
This
tip was contributed by Tom Hyde, LearnCAD@aol.com.
Rotating AutoCAD viewports in paper space without changing model space
If you ever need to have a
viewport rotated in paper space, but you want the model space to remain
unchanged, try this procedure.
In paper space, activate
the viewport to be rotated, then switch to model space in that viewport. Now
enter the command "dview". Select the objects to be rotated and then
choose Twist. Enter the desired angle of rotation and press Enter. Go back into
paper space within the viewport and you should see your desired results. The
image appears rotated in your viewport, butremains unchanged in model space.
This tip was contributed by Paul White, Pwhite@ncgarch.com
Use the Multiple
command to repeat AutoCAD commands
Have you ever wanted a
command to repeat itself, like some AutoCAD commands automatically do? For
example, the Fillet command only runs through the command once. You can tell
AutoCAD to repeat any command. At the command line, type the Multiple command.
AutoCAD asks for the command that you would like to repeat--in this case,
Fillet. Now, the Fillet command continues to be the active command until you
exit by pressing [Esc]. Try this on any command and you'll find many uses for
it.
This tip was contributed by Tim
Chatterton
When you have multiple
lines on top of each other and you need to select one of the lines that's below
the others, you can press [Ctrl] while clicking on the line. This turns Cycle
on, and begins to cycle through the various lines on that spot. When the
desired line is selected, press [Esc] to turn Cycling off.
This tip was contributed by Sean Mathurin,
sean@capitaloffice.com.
Change your
coordinate display in AutoCAD
You have a few different options for displaying
coordinates in the status bar in AutoCAD.
If you'd like the coordinate display to be updated as
you specify points with the mouse pointer, type coords at the command line, then
press [Enter]. When AutoCAD prompts you for a new value, type 0.
If you'd like to display
absolute coordinates that are continuously updated when you move the pointer,
type coords at the command line, press [Enter], and then enter a new value of
1.
Finally, if you want the
display of absolute coordinates continuously updated, and the distance and
angle from the last point to be displayed when a distance or angle is
requested, type coords at the command line, press [Enter], then type 2 for the
new value.
These coordinate display
options will help you use coordinates for displacement or for checking the
distances between objects.
This tip was contributed by Mike
Verheyden, Foth & Van Dyke
If you're making the
transition from a previous release to AutoCAD 2000, one of the features that
you may have trouble adapting to is the ability to work with the Multiple
Document Interface, or MDI. In previous releases, it's only possible to have a
single drawing open at one time, which is known as Single Document Interface,
or SDI.
This means that the active
drawing is closed when a new one is opened. If you find that you end up with
too many active drawings in AutoCAD 2000 because you're forgetting to close
them, you can force AutoCAD 2000 to work in SDI mode. Either type SDI on the
command line and change the numerical value to 1, or select Tools / Options /
System and select Single-drawing compatibility mode.
You can only make changes
to this system variable if you don't have multiple drawings open.
This tip was contributed by Ryan Small, Braemar Building
Systems.
When you have AutoCAD
objects selected with warm grips, you can cancel the grips by just holding down
the right mouse button. It has the same effect as hitting the <Esc> key
twice or using the right mouse click menu
to deselect all.
It's a bug in the system
and one of those good bugs.
This tip comes courtesy of Gary D. Williams from MTI College
in California
Do you often copy viewports
in paper space, then use the handles to crop the image? If so, you might find that when you copy or
create a new viewport, it's automatically turned off. But you probably want
that viewport turned
on, so what can you do?
When REGENAUTO is turned
off and you copy viewports, the new ones are automatically turned off. But when
REGENAUTO is on, the new viewports are automatically turned on. Simply type
REGENAUTO at the command line, then type ON and press [Enter].
This tip was contributed by Alan Dobbs.
If you type cal at the
Command line, AutoCAD allows you to perform math calculations. In addition,
AutoCAD can also plug values into the current running command if you precede cal
with an apostrophe. This issues a transparent command. Transparent commands
don't terminate a command in progress. For example, we can perform a
calculation within the offset command.
The AutoCAD command
sequence would look like this:
Command: offset
Specify offset distance or
<Through> <1.0000>: 'cal
Initializing...>>
Expression: (1/8+3/32)/2
0.109375
Select object to offset or
<exit>:
The answer is stored as the
default offset distance. It isn't necessary to retype the number, which allows
for less possibility of a typing error. In addition, the number is carried out
to more decimal places than appears on your screen, or on your pocket
calculator. The CAL commands works with many commands that prompt you for a
value. Some command examples are offset distance, rotate angle, fillet radius,
move (drag distance), copy (drag distance), and the array distance between rows
and columns.
This tip was contributed by LearnCAD.
AutoCAD LT has a
REGENERATION command that allows you to refresh your drawing on the screen to
clean it up after manipulation. This command is useful, but it can sometimes be
tedious because it takes a while for more detailed drawings to regenerate. One
way to avoid using the VIEW/REGEN command, while still refreshing the drawing
on the screen, is to delete the objects on the screen that need to be
regenerated and then select Edit | Undo. Objects recovered from the database
are refreshed as they're placed on the screen. This takes much less time than a
full regeneration of the view.
This tip was contributed by Element K Journals – Inside
AutoCAD
An
undocumented zoom command I find very helpful is Zoom to VMAX, or Zoom to Virtual
screen MAXimum. Start the Zoom command at the command line, then type V. This
zooms out to the maximum screen attainable without a Regeneration. This makes
it superior to Zoom Extents or All.
This command was last documented in Release 12.
This tip was contributed by Allen S. Jessup.
Most
experienced AutoCAD users know how to change the coordinate display on the
status line by pressing [F6]. However, you might not be aware of the new option
in the 2000 and 2000I versions (LT and full). You can now change the display
mode just by clicking on the coordinate set on the status line.
This tip was contributed by Element K Journals – Inside
AutoCAD
If you need to import or export vector files on a regular basis but aren't sure what formats are supported, the following list
describes
which vector formats can be used in AutoCAD and whether they can be imported or
exported.
Drawing
Web Format (DWF): export only
Drawing
Exchange Format (DXF): import and export
ACIS
(SAT): import and export
3D Studio
MAX Format (3DS): import and export
Windows
Metafile Format (WMF): import and export
PostScrip
(EPS): export only
Stereolithograph Format
(STL): import and export
This tip was contributed by Element K
Journals – Inside AutoCAD
Prevent associated objects from being deleted when erasing hatches in AutoCAD
Erasing a hatch object in AutoCAD when the PICKSTYLE setvar
(system variable) is set to 3 causes objects associated with the hatch to be erased as
well. This occurs because AutoCAD is instructed to treat the hatch and any
associated objects as a single entity. If you don't want associated objects to
be deleted when erasing hatch objects, set PICKSTYLE to 1 so that AutoCAD
treats the hatch and any associated object as separate entities.
Thi