This document provides 80 tips for increasing productivity in AutoCAD. It covers tips for customizing the user interface, layers, dimensions, text, and tables. It also provides tips for keys, embedding drawings in PowerPoint, using Autodesk design review tools, and the new Autodesk Freewheel tool for sharing designs online. The objective is to show techniques that help users work smarter in AutoCAD.
CUI tips
Trim and Extend
Bmp,tif,png,jpgout
IMAGEFRAME
DIMTMOVE sysvar – position text of new dimensions
Control whether or not object snaps work on hatch patterns
Fillet
M2P/mtp osnap
Easter Egg
Groups
Auxilary scale factor for blocks and hatch patterns on palettes
PEDITACCEPT
Maximize viewport
ATTDIA
Digital Signatures
ATTEDIT
Layer Previous
Options
CAD Standards Checker
Dimreassociate
Create pallette with design center
Styles Toolbar
Right click Customization
Mbuttonpan
Startup icon
Xref – relative path
Options dialog – Previous View combines Zoom and Pan
Ignore Hatch objects and Replace Z Value for Osnaps (Options
Replace Z Value with Current Elevation for Osnaps (OSNAPZ system variable)
Imageframe
Find Permits wildcards
Join
Shift to remember distances and angles in gripmode
Drawing version comparison - Design Review can compare 2D DWF files and vector content to allow a reviewer to understand what has changed between versions. This is a significant benefit to the collaboration process, particularly when new drawings are received without explanation of changes.
How it works:
Compare multiple versions of drawings in a “lightboard-style” fashion, with versions overlaid upon one another. Design Review automatically highlights additions, deletions, and other modifications.
This same Compare feature can be used to overlay HVAC, survey data, or other design information over a building design. Select a unique color using the Compare Options feature, to identify the overlaid information. Note, the drawing files need to be the same size to perform this task.
Freehweel is our new Software as a Service solution – to share your designs with clients, suppliers, consultants, etc. – without requiring them to install any software.
We started testing Freewheel on Autodesk labs last summer and had such a strong response that we’ve made it a fully released product, available free of charge
Once you publish a DWF file, simply go to Freewheel.Autodesk.com – and upload the file, then email it to anyone on your team
That team member can click on the link and go to the view you want them to see. Review that file – even print it.
Several customers are already finding it to be a great way to display product catalogs online