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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Zoom to objects

Often, you need to zoom in to see a specific object. Since AutoCAD 2005, the ZOOM command has had an Object option that makes this easy, but many people still don’t know about it.

Just select the object and choose Zoom Object from the Zoom flyout. The view zooms in to display that object as […]

Close an arc to make a circle or ellipse; connect splines

Starting with AutoCAD 2006, you can use the JOIN command to join objects that are colinear, meaning that they’re along the same line. Usually, you use JOIN to join lines or polylines. For example, you may have broken a line and now you need it whole again. The command fills in gaps, if necessary.

You […]

Return to previous view in pan or zoom realtime, or in 3D Orbit

When you click either the Pan Realtime or Zoom Realtime button on the Standard toolbar, you can drag to pan or zoom. At this time, you’re in a special mode and you need to press Esc or Enter to return to the command line.

If you don’t like the result or just want to return […]

Copy as you stretch, move, rotate, or scale & create multiple leader arrows

When you edit with grips, you can use the Copy option to copy as you edit. For example, if you are scaling a circle, use the Copy option to make concentric circles.

If you want to create a leader that points to more than one object, first create the leader pointing to one object. Then […]

Setting a system variable on the tool palette

You can adjust the dimension (the DIMSCALE system variable) or plot scale of a tool that you created by dragging a block, hatch, or xref from a drawing. To do so, right-click the tool and choose Properties. Click the Auxiliary Scale item. Then click the down arrow that appears at the right and choose either […]

Redefining a block without losing your insertion point

Have you ever had the experience of redefining a block and finding that the insertion point is way off? Or perhaps the block just seemed to disappear and you couldn’t figure out where it went! It turns out that how you redefine the block makes a difference.

After you have exploded and changed the objects, […]

Joining Two Lines Into One

Doug Merkley contributed an AutoLISP routines that “mends” lines. It joins two lines into one, using the start point of the first line selected and the end point of the second line selected to create the new line. Download it.

Mark McDonough contributed a different type of AutoLISP file, which he calls heal.lsp. It only […]

Drag and drop moving and copying

Are you used to dragging and dropping objects in graphics programs or even word processing programs? In AutoCAD 2000 you can drag and drop objects, either to move them or copy them. This is the easiest method when you don’t need exact precision about where your objects end up. There are two methods:

Select an […]

Temporarily override object snap settings

Object snap settings let you quickly choose geometric points on an object. For example, you can set up a running (ongoing) Endpoint object snap (osnap, for short), so that whenever you get near the endpoint of an object, you can snap to it.

But sometimes, object snaps get in the way, especially if you want […]

Use the Dashboard to display a related tool palette

The Dashboard was introduced in AutoCAD 2007 for 2D tools and expanded in 2008 for 3D tools. Starting with 2008, it is also customizable.

The Dashboard has a little-known feature that lets you quickly display an associated tool palette. This tip works in both AutoCAD 2007 and 2008.

Each control panel (section) in the Dashboard […]