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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Combine or subtract 2D shapes to create custom shapes

Sometimes you need to create a 2D profile that is a combination of the basic geometrical shapes that AutoCAD creates. While you might be able to use the PLINE command to create what you want, in some cases, 2 other methods may be easier.

Subtract shapes with the SUBTRACT command

For example, let’s say that […]

Working with linetype scales

Simple linetypes allow you to apply a repeating series of dashes, dots, and spaces to your objects. Complex linetypes can also include text or shapes.

Recently, a reader said that his linetype was defined as dash-dot but displayed as a continuous linetype. If you have this situation, zoom in and see if you can see the […]

Rename named objects–blocks, dimension styles, layers, and more

It really helps to have a naming system for named objects, including:

Blocks Dimension styles Text styles Multileader styles Table styles Layers Linetypes UCSs (User Coordinate Systems) Viewports (viewport configurations) Views

But due to various reasons, you may decide to change their names. Maybe you made a mistake or you’re working on a drawing created […]

3D tutorial: Draw a fancy square glass bottle cap in AutoCAD

This is a guest blog post by Parvez Mahmood, General Manager, Engineering Systems/ER Solutions in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has been teaching AutoCAD for last 10 years to industrial and university students.

It’s a tutorial that will show you how to draw a fancy square glass bottle cap in AutoCAD. It’s a great AutoCad tutorial to […]

Create a scale for plotting

You should draw full size, but rarely do you plot at full size. That’s because your models are not usually the same size as your sheet of paper. Therefore, you have to scale your drawing when you plot. There are a number of ways to do this, but here is the most direct method I […]

Label the scale of individual viewports

A reader asked me how to label the scale of individual viewports when they have different scales. You can use fields to accomplish this.

If you only have 1 viewport, you can also let the system automatically show pre-set scale in the title block

Let’s look at the example below with 2 viewports, each one […]

Easily import text and dimension styles from other drawings

There’s no reason to recreate the wheel – or text or dimension styles, if you have them elsewhere. The easiest way to import a text or dimension style from another drawing is to use the DesignCenter.

Follow these steps:

Go to the View tab then locate DesignCenter icon under the Palettes section or simply type […]

Create stylish leaders with a multileader style

autocad_tips_multileader-style-1

If you use leaders, you should consider creating a style. Once you save the style, you can use it whenever you need a leader.

Here are the steps to create a multileader style:

Go to Home tab, Annotation panel and click the down arrow to expand the panel. Click the Multileader Style icon to open […]

Do you know that you can adjust setting of your mouse’s wheel to zoom quickly and efficiently?

Most mice have a wheel and you can use it in a number of ways — scroll it in 2 directions, click it, and double-click it. Plus, you can combine keys such as the Shift key with the mouse wheel to get even more capabilities. AutoCAD makes good use of your mouse wheel. Here are […]

Reduce file size and eliminate unwanted drawing settings with the WBLOCK command

Several people have asked about inexplicably large files.

Kerry Overall wrote me,

I’ve seen unusually large CAD .dwg files. I had the same problem when a colleague stumbled onto a solution that greatly helped me. Open the drawing….wblock, click on “Entire Drawing” and save it. I had a simple file that was 73mb and by […]