AutoCAD Productivity Articles - 2014

December - Making it Happen at Autodesk University 2014!

The annual event is always pretty stunning. Thousands of people with the full gamut of skill sets (and then some!) milling about Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on a mission to, basically, kick it up a notch. As this goes to press, I have practiced my hands-on Lab a few times and have worked out the missteps, made the appropriate notes, and have the timing down pretty well.

This final offering for 2014 includes some customizing, as well as a couple features that have been around for quite some time, but I had never thought about them until they were brought up by a customer… which is what has driven these topics for the last 12 years!

With an eye toward a more productive 2015, we have…

…A tip on automating the repetition of a viewport plot scale with the click of a button.
…Some old fashioned display tricks you may find interesting
…An option worth considering if your drawing ‘disappears’ when you Zoom/Extents
…How to keep track of the time you spend in a drawing

Thank you all for your continued interest in Michael's Corner. It was a good year for me with 21 new customers and another country added to my ‘Trained In’ list bringing the total to eleven! The first quarter of 2015 is shaping up nicely already with my calendar already booked into mid-March.

Wishing you all a relaxing and joyful Christmas season and a promising New Year!

Automating the Application of a Viewport Scale

Pan and Zoom Antiques

Zoom Extents = Air

Drawing Information

October - Inside Some A2015 Updates

At this writing, I have just returned from training this amazing group of AutoCAD users in Manila! They were very receptive and gracious to all I had to share with them, and I loved every minute! Through the efforts of my longtime customer, One Workplace, I thoroughly enjoyed an unforgettable training session with ProView Studio. You guys rock!! WootWoot!

If you are a current user of AutoCAD 2015, you have probably encountered at least a couple of the topics I have here. If you're not there yet, there may be something in here that will get you excited about upgrading. As I have been training this version over the last couple months, here are a few things I kept track of that I wanted to pass along…

…The new Text Align command—very nice.
…Insights into the new Block ‘Ribbon Gallery’—expanding upon an existing theme
…Quick View Layouts on the File tabs—and where you can find Quick View Drawings
…The new Cursor Badges—Yes or No

Also, if you haven't gotten it yet, Service Pack 2 is available and was released in mid-September. The best part of this update is we, once again, have the ability to copy a layout tab, by clicking and dragging and holding down the Ctrl key to make a copy!!

My Autodesk University Hands-on Lab, Click My Ride: Customizing AutoCAD for How You Work is being repeated!! I know there are many who were hoping this would happen (including ME!), so check the AU website—http://au.autodesk.com/—where you can sign up for class (AC8277-L) which is the repeat date of Wednesday, Dec 3rd at 2:45pm (it's a 75 minute lab). Please come up and say ‘Hello’… and sit on the front row! (I like to have my friends close when I do these big events).

Keep up the good work!

The A2015 Text Align Command

The Block ‘Ribbon Gallery’

Drawing Tabs = Quick View Layout

‘Sign Language’

August - Quick and Easy Customizing

One of my new-to-AutoCAD students nailed it this week, "I now realize just how much you can do with AutoCAD!" What's even more exciting is the relatively easy customization you can do if you know where to look… so here are a few places to turn your attention!

…Add a System variable to a Field on your Layout tab
…Assign an object snap to a Function key
…Display a toolbar in the Ribbon workspace of AutoCAD 2015
…Use the Copy option when you Rotate objects

I hope you have all had a grand summer. The highlight of ours was our son Joshua's graduation [BFA, Digital Filmmaking & Video Production from the Art Institute in Cincinnati], so if anyone works where you could use a Production Assistant, please let me/him know!

Keep up the good work!

The CTAB System Variable in a Field

Add an Object Snap to a Function Key

Add a Toolbar to AutoCAD 2015

Rotate with the Copy Option

June - Summer Simplicity

It seems like summer just kind of crept up on us and I can't believe we're nearly halfway through the year already! I'm still investigating AutoCAD 2015 and will present additional content in the months ahead, but this month I simply wanted to show you a few things I encountered in my training sessions recently.

…A very simple but effective method of creating a Solid with the Sweep command
…The new feature in A2015 that conforms to the simple motion of dragging to select objects
…Variables that will make life much simpler if you are aware of what they can do
…An object snap that makes snapping to the insertion point of a block quite simple

Needless to say, the point of summer is to hopefully find time to enjoy the simple things… in AutoCAD.

Safe travels!

Sweeping a 3D Shape around a Pline

AutoCAD 2015 ‘Lasso’

“Buriables” (Buried Variables)

Use the INSERT Osnap on Blocks

Where's the Layout tab gone?

April - Earth, Wind, & Fire (or in AutoCAD-speak: Layers, Text, & Solids)

When this goes to press, Autodesk's flagship product will probably be on the streets, and there will be dozens of blogs and websites trumpeting the new features. Rest assured, I will also be taking a look at what piques my interest, but what we have in these articles is another round of ‘under the hood’ features from training sessions since the beginning of the year. And as it turns out, all of these were procedures and features I wondered about, but had never taken the time to pursue… until now. Perhaps these are some things you have pondered, as well:

…How to use the Chamfer command with different Distance values on a 3D solid
…Why the OSMODE variable is different, even if you use the same Object Snap combination of modes
…What can be done about Find and Replace being applied to all the text in my drawing
…The Layer feature to set a layer to current by selecting an object

And given the track record of this past winter season… I fully expect snow in Kentucky in June. Hopefully, that won't be the case and Spring and Summer will get some traction and bring in more seasonal temperatures. The precipitation may be an entirely different issue. At least you can enjoy a new version of AutoCAD, whatever it decides to do outside!

Apply a Chamfer to a 3D Solid

Focused Find & Replace

OSMODE: With and Without Osnap Enabled

To or From the Current Layer

February - There He Is, Out Standing in His Field

It's old news to many of you by now, but I'm still pretty excited about receiving the Autodesk University Speaker Award for Hands-On Labs. My seminar, ‘Click My Ride: Customizing Autodesk® AutoCAD® for How You Work’, received the highest feedback rating among all the labs at AU. With over 700 seminars and labs, the competition was pretty substantial, so this award—for me—is the top of the heap. So however you may want to look at it, I guess I'm out standing in my field.

To continue with that ‘Click My Ride’ theme, in this (now bi-monthly) column, I want to take a look at a couple automation tools, as well as some of the things that we go back and forth with in our daily AutoCAD activities.

…Running a script from the Quick Access Toolbar
…Useful routines for the ACADDOC.LSP file
…Layer column arrangement options
…The fundamental power of Layer Previous

Hope this finds you all well on your way to a productive and prosperous 2014, and keep up the good work!

Running a Script with One Click

ACADDOC.LSP

Layer Column Positioning

Layer Previous