Quick Tip - Delete Layer

When working in AutoCAD or one of it's vertical platforms, have you ever had a layer that you couldn't get rid of?  If happens.  You can delete a layer if it is empty, meaning that there is nothing using it.  Sometimes it's a block that has an object in it that's on that pesky, non-deleting layer.  If you are 100% sure you have an empty layer and you still can't get rid of it "nuke" it with the LAYER DELETE command.  Just type LAYDEL on the command line.  It will fully purge the layer and delete it.  LAYDEL used to be an Express Tool, but now it's a core command in AutoCAD.

Quick Tip - Delete Layer

When working in AutoCAD or one of it's vertical platforms, have you ever had a layer that you couldn't get rid of?  If happens.  You can delete a layer if it is empty, meaning that there is nothing using it.  Sometimes it's a block that has an object in it that's on that pesky, non-deleting layer.  If you are 100% sure you have an empty layer and you still can't get rid of it "nuke" it with the LAYER DELETE command.  Just type LAYDEL on the command line.  It will fully purge the layer and delete it.  LAYDEL used to be an Express Tool, but now it's a core command in AutoCAD.

Quick Tip - "Shift+Spacebar" To select Stacked Objects

How many times have you tried to pick an object that was underneath another object? Some times it's not so easy, especially if you have several objects in a busy area.

Solution: Start your command (move, copy, delete, whatever). Place your cross hair over the desired object (or stack of objects).

If you can't select the proper object, press the shift key and spacebar (Shift+Spacebar) simultaneously to toggle through the stacked objects. When the object you want is highlighted, pick it and you are on your way.

Happy CADDing.

(I had to edit this post because I wrote that you press the CTRL+Shift to do this - what a Moron I am. Sorry about that.)

Quick Tip - "Shift+Spacebar" To select Stacked Objects

How many times have you tried to pick an object that was underneath another object? Some times it's not so easy, especially if you have several objects in a busy area.

Solution: Start your command (move, copy, delete, whatever). Place your cross hair over the desired object (or stack of objects).

If you can't select the proper object, press the shift key and spacebar (Shift+Spacebar) simultaneously to toggle through the stacked objects. When the object you want is highlighted, pick it and you are on your way.

Happy CADDing.

(I had to edit this post because I wrote that you press the CTRL+Shift to do this - what a Moron I am. Sorry about that.)

Quick Tip - Open Pallets With Shortcuts

If you need to open the Tool Pallets pallet, Properties Pallet, Design Center, Sheet Set Manager, or one of several pallets in AutoCAD, here is a guide to use. Simply Press the Control Key (ctrl) + (a number key) to open or close specific pallets. It helps to spend less time looking for the button, ribbon panel, or menu when your most frequently used pallets are but 2 keystrokes away.

ctrl + 1 = Properties Pallet
ctrl + 2 = Design Center
ctrl + 3 = Tool Pallet
ctrl + 4 = Sheet Set Manager
ctrl + 5 = empty (perhaps you can find a use for it)
ctrl + 6 = db Connection Manager
ctrl + 7 = Mark Up Set Manager
ctrl + 8 = Quick Calculator (2008 and up only)
ctrl + 9 = Command Line
ctrl + 0 = Clean Screen

Happy CADDing.

Quick Tip - Open Pallets With Shortcuts

If you need to open the Tool Pallets pallet, Properties Pallet, Design Center, Sheet Set Manager, or one of several pallets in AutoCAD, here is a guide to use. Simply Press the Control Key (ctrl) + (a number key) to open or close specific pallets. It helps to spend less time looking for the button, ribbon panel, or menu when your most frequently used pallets are but 2 keystrokes away.

ctrl + 1 = Properties Pallet
ctrl + 2 = Design Center
ctrl + 3 = Tool Pallet
ctrl + 4 = Sheet Set Manager
ctrl + 5 = empty (perhaps you can find a use for it)
ctrl + 6 = db Connection Manager
ctrl + 7 = Mark Up Set Manager
ctrl + 8 = Quick Calculator (2008 and up only)
ctrl + 9 = Command Line
ctrl + 0 = Clean Screen

Happy CADDing.

Quick Tip-Mtext Upper to Lower Case and Back

Here is an Mtext Quick Tip that I am "borrowing" from Cadalyst's latest Tips and Tools Weekly.

Have you ever typed a note in AutoCAD's Mtext editor only to find out that your caps lock was on (or off depending on what you want to accomplish)? There are a few things you can do to fix it. Right click in the editor and select the CHANGE CASE option. Or, press Ctrl + Shift + U to set the text to Upper Case, OR . . . . press Ctrl + Shift + L to set the test to Lower Case.

Very simple but handy.

Happy CADDING!

Quick Tip-Mtext Upper to Lower Case and Back

Here is an Mtext Quick Tip that I am "borrowing" from Cadalyst's latest Tips and Tools Weekly.

Have you ever typed a note in AutoCAD's Mtext editor only to find out that your caps lock was on (or off depending on what you want to accomplish)? There are a few things you can do to fix it. Right click in the editor and select the CHANGE CASE option. Or, press Ctrl + Shift + U to set the text to Upper Case, OR . . . . press Ctrl + Shift + L to set the test to Lower Case.

Very simple but handy.

Happy CADDING!

Quick Tip - Set Your Limits

Here is another Quick-Tip from CAD-a-Blog on using AutoCAD.

If you work with the GRID on set your limits. This will define the area where your grid will be shown. If you want to work in a small area of a drawing, set your limits there to display your grid. It is a better practice to set the limits to cover your entire drawing area and not a small portion.

Another reason to use limits is to help control the area covered inside your file. If limits are set, and LIMIT CHECKING is turned on, then you will not be allowed to select points outside of the limits area. This will help to prevent accidental insertion to points far away from your desired working area.

Quick Tip - Set Your Limits

Here is another Quick-Tip from CAD-a-Blog on using AutoCAD.

If you work with the GRID on set your limits. This will define the area where your grid will be shown. If you want to work in a small area of a drawing, set your limits there to display your grid. It is a better practice to set the limits to cover your entire drawing area and not a small portion.

Another reason to use limits is to help control the area covered inside your file. If limits are set, and LIMIT CHECKING is turned on, then you will not be allowed to select points outside of the limits area. This will help to prevent accidental insertion to points far away from your desired working area.

Quick tip - Annotated text

Here's a quick tip from CAD-a-Blog using AutoCAD's Annotative Text. If you need to use text in drawings to lable something in multiple drawings use Annotative Text. Just set up a text style that is Annotative and have at. It can be set to show up through an x-ref file ant several different scales eliminating the need for multiple entities of text each having to be updated. And if your views are rotated you can turn on the MATCH TEXT ORIENTATION TO LAYOUT setting. That will automatically rotate your text so you can read it!!

Happy CADDING!

Quick tip - Annotated text

Here's a quick tip from CAD-a-Blog using AutoCAD's Annotative Text. If you need to use text in drawings to lable something in multiple drawings use Annotative Text. Just set up a text style that is Annotative and have at. It can be set to show up through an x-ref file ant several different scales eliminating the need for multiple entities of text each having to be updated. And if your views are rotated you can turn on the MATCH TEXT ORIENTATION TO LAYOUT setting. That will automatically rotate your text so you can read it!!

Happy CADDING!

Quick Tip - Fielding Your Object Data

If you make a bill of material, parts list, quantities, etc. to put on your drawing, try using fields and tables to help yourself out. For example, I often need to show acreages for a residential site plan and total them.

The old way: measure the areas, add them up, and enter the text. If they changed, I had to do the same process, again.

New Way: for those areas, use a closed polygon, boundary, region, or hatch. Where you text is for your list, use a FILED, link it to the objects and display that objects area. If the area of the object changes, your text will update. Put these in a table, have the table do the math for you and you are done.

It's a little more complicated than this to set it all up and there are some things to be careful with, but this is a quick tip. It's meant to get you started.

If you have any questions, just comment them here or e-mail.

Happy CADDING!

Quick Tip - Fielding Your Object Data

If you make a bill of material, parts list, quantities, etc. to put on your drawing, try using fields and tables to help yourself out. For example, I often need to show acreages for a residential site plan and total them.

The old way: measure the areas, add them up, and enter the text. If they changed, I had to do the same process, again.

New Way: for those areas, use a closed polygon, boundary, region, or hatch. Where you text is for your list, use a FILED, link it to the objects and display that objects area. If the area of the object changes, your text will update. Put these in a table, have the table do the math for you and you are done.

It's a little more complicated than this to set it all up and there are some things to be careful with, but this is a quick tip. It's meant to get you started.

If you have any questions, just comment them here or e-mail.

Happy CADDING!

Quick Tip – Blending Styles in Impression

If you are working in Impression and are trying to get a blended shade, but you can’t quite get it to work with a gradient fill, try placing multiple fills.

Create a fill with one style and place it in your object. Create a different style and place a second fill on your object. Mess with that fills opacity until you get a pretty neat effect. You can blend different colors together too, and remember to try gradient fills with this trick.

Quick Tip – Blending Styles in Impression

If you are working in Impression and are trying to get a blended shade, but you can’t quite get it to work with a gradient fill, try placing multiple fills.

Create a fill with one style and place it in your object. Create a different style and place a second fill on your object. Mess with that fills opacity until you get a pretty neat effect. You can blend different colors together too, and remember to try gradient fills with this trick.

Quick Tip – Slow Printing

If you are using AutoCAD 2008 or even AutoCAD 2009, you might have noticed the printing seems to move a little bit slower. Here is a quick tip on speeding up your printing.

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.

BUT (there’s always a but in there somewhere), when I need to print single sheets, I don’t like it so much. What often happens to me is that I have two to three drawing files open and I want to print them. They might be from different drawing sets or whatever. The point is that I can only print them from the DWG files, one at a time. The background processing printing won’t let me print the second file until the first one is finished. So what’s the big deal?

The problem is that when you print behind the scenes, it takes longer. It takes longer because the computer is processing the printing, and processing 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.

I usually don’t encourage people to turn off new features, because I want all of us to give them a chance. But this one works better for me when it is off. Perhaps the speed is not an issue (and even for me it isn’t always an issue) for you, and that’s ok too.

To turn it off, open up the OPTIONS (type in OP at the command line). Go to the PLOT AND PUBLISH tab. Near the left center area there is the option to toggle on/off Background Plotting. You have the ability to turn off Plotting and/or Publishing. I left the publishing on but turned the plotting off. Set it to fit your needs.

Happy CADDING.

Quick Tip – Slow Printing

If you are using AutoCAD 2008 or even AutoCAD 2009, you might have noticed the printing seems to move a little bit slower. Here is a quick tip on speeding up your printing.

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.

BUT (there’s always a but in there somewhere), when I need to print single sheets, I don’t like it so much. What often happens to me is that I have two to three drawing files open and I want to print them. They might be from different drawing sets or whatever. The point is that I can only print them from the DWG files, one at a time. The background processing printing won’t let me print the second file until the first one is finished. So what’s the big deal?

The problem is that when you print behind the scenes, it takes longer. It takes longer because the computer is processing the printing, and processing 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.

I usually don’t encourage people to turn off new features, because I want all of us to give them a chance. But this one works better for me when it is off. Perhaps the speed is not an issue (and even for me it isn’t always an issue) for you, and that’s ok too.

To turn it off, open up the OPTIONS (type in OP at the command line). Go to the PLOT AND PUBLISH tab. Near the left center area there is the option to toggle on/off Background Plotting. You have the ability to turn off Plotting and/or Publishing. I left the publishing on but turned the plotting off. Set it to fit your needs.

Happy CADDING.

Quick Tip - Annotated Text Won't Move, Delete, Rotate, Etc.

While you were working in AutoCAD and were using Annotated Text, (available since AutoCAD 2008), have you ever noticed that after you save the file, you can't manipulate it anymore? It's some sort of "glitch". I have found that if you close the file and open it again you can once again move, rotate, delete, etc. once again. Until you save the file that is. This is very annoying to me because I have developed the habit of saving nearly every five minutes or so (I have trust issues with the autosave and my battery back up!)

Note: Anonymous (I'm not sure who you are but thanks!) left a comment on this post saying that he/she would run the AUDIT command and make sure that you press Y (meaning yes) to make sure that any errors are fixed and that will allow you to edit your annotated text again. I tried it out and it works great!! Keep the tips and comments coming! Great work

Happy CADDING

Quick Tip - Annotated Text Won't Move, Delete, Rotate, Etc.

While you were working in AutoCAD and were using Annotated Text, (available since AutoCAD 2008), have you ever noticed that after you save the file, you can't manipulate it anymore? It's some sort of "glitch". I have found that if you close the file and open it again you can once again move, rotate, delete, etc. once again. Until you save the file that is. This is very annoying to me because I have developed the habit of saving nearly every five minutes or so (I have trust issues with the autosave and my battery back up!)

Note: Anonymous (I'm not sure who you are but thanks!) left a comment on this post saying that he/she would run the AUDIT command and make sure that you press Y (meaning yes) to make sure that any errors are fixed and that will allow you to edit your annotated text again. I tried it out and it works great!! Keep the tips and comments coming! Great work

Happy CADDING