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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Create a custom toolbar in AutoCAD 2006 or later

In this tutorial, I’ll explain the steps for creating a new toolbar using the Customize User Interface dialog box. This dialog box is new for 2006 and the method of customizing toolbars, menus, etc. is very different from previous releases.

Choose Tools>Customize>Interface, or type cui on the command line. Click the drop-down list at the […]

Convert slide libraries/image tile menus and tablet menus to tool palettes

(For Releases 2004 and 2005)

If you have custom menus that you have been using for inserting blocks, you know that creating and maintaining these menus is a major project.

If you have a digitizing tablet, you may be using the Tablet 1 section of the tablet menu. If you change a block, you […]

Changing the Multiple options of AutoCAD commands (or sometimes you feel like a multiple option, sometimes you don’t)

AutoCAD 2005 changed the COPY command so that it defaults to a multiple option, continuing to prompt you for more locations for your selected objects. On the other hand, the FILLET and CHAMFER commands now have a multiple option, but it isn’t the default. Would you like to change the COPY command back to […]

Add commands to tool palettes from the CUI dialog box in AutoCAD 2007

As you probably know, you can add commands to a tool palette. Before AutoCAD 2007, you could only do this by choosing Tools > Customize > Tool Palettes to open the Customize dialog box. Then you could drag commands from toolbar buttons.

Now, you can also drag commands from the Customize User Interface dialog […]

Tutorial: Create a custom visual style in AutoCAD

In 3D drawings, you’ve had some display options for years: wireframe, hidden, and various types of shading. These were the SHADE or SHADEMODE options on the View menu. AutoCAD 2007 introduced a new concept: visual styles. The main difference is that you can customize them to create your own visual style.

AutoCAD comes with several […]

Work faster with AutoCAD keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can make your work go much faster. You can use the default keyboard shortcuts and create your own.

Here are the defaults that come with AutoCAD:

F1: Displays Help

F2: Toggles the Text Window

F3: Toggles OSNAP

F4: Toggles Tablet mode

F5: Toggles ISOPLANE

F6: Toggles Dynamic UCS

F7: Toggles GRID mode

F8: […]

MTEXT-how to get a better clue of text size

When you start the MTEXT command, by default, you see the letters “abc” at the cursor to give you an idea of the size that the text will be. But those letters aren’t very helpful; it would be nice if you had more letters and more variety of sizes.

The MTJIGSTRING system variable (since AutoCAD […]