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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Happy New Year for 2014!

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Draw a donut (yum!) in AutoCAD

A donut looks like a wide circle with a hole in it but is actually made up of 2 semi-circle polylines. You can use donuts for electronic schematics, as trees or bushes, or as symbols.

Here are the steps to create a donut:

Choose Home tab and expand the Draw panel to find the DONUT […]

Know when unwanted layers creep into your drawing with layer notification

Layers are a big issue when it comes to maintaining drawing standards. Where you work, you may have lots of rules about which layers your drawings can have.

Xrefs can be a problem for drawing standards, because when you attach an xref, its layers come along for the ride. This is especially an issue when […]

Add a new tab to the AutoCAD ribbon

When you start customizing the ribbon, you may want to create a new tab to hold all of your custom commands. On the other hand, you may want to add custom commands to existing tabs and put them in context.

If you want a new tab, here are the steps:

Type cui to open the […]

Batch check multiple AutoCAD drawings against a standards file

In a previous post, “Use a Standards file to bring an AutoCAD drawing into line,” I explained how to check a drawing for certain standards, such as layers. This process is important for maintaining drawing standards where you work.

But suppose you want to check standards for many drawings at once? You can, using the […]

Create layer overrides to create plot variations

Recently, a reader asked how to plot a drawing in black & white except for text. I had a few thoughts — plot styles and layer states, for example — but one idea was layer overrides.

Let’s say that you want to create some plot variations of your drawing. One way to do this is […]

Insert data from an Excel worksheet

A reader asked how he could display data that was linked to an Excel spreadsheet. It might be easier to update the data in the spreadsheet or you might be keeping the data there anyway for other purposes. For whatever the reason, it can be very efficient to create a data link and display the […]

Change the color of almost any AutoCAD screen feature

A reader told me he was having problems with his 3DCLIP command after upgrading to AutoCAD 2013. He wrote:

“I create 3 or 4 different 3d models that I then xref them together into an arrangement drawing. I then create my viewports for the different views I will need. In the past, I […]

Synchronize backups and create a quick PDF with the AUTOPUBLISH command

The AUTOPUBLISH command is a way to quickly publish to a DWF, DWFx, or PDF file. To specify the settings that this command uses, choose Application Button > Options and click the Plot and Publish tab. In the Auto Publish section, click the Automatic Publish Settings button. There you can specify settings similar to those […]

Create a thumbnail for opening a drawing

Do you have old drawings that don’t show thumbnails when you select them in the Select File dialog box?

Even though this drawing says it was last modified in 2010, it was created much earlier. It’s probably at least 15 years old.

The system variable that determines whether a drawing saves a thumbnail […]