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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Precisely control the size of OLE text and objects

When you paste content from another application into an AutoCAD drawing, the OLE Text Size dialog box opens.

AutoCAD picks up the font and point size and lets you convert text to your drawing’s units. Change the value in the Text Height box and click OK. AutoCAD adjusts the size of the text.

You […]

Place a dimension a fixed distance from an object

For consistency, instead of simply picking a location for a dimension, you can specify its distance from the object. At the Specify dimension line location prompt, you can enter one of the following to place the dimension .5 units above the object (for example):

@0,.5 @.5<90

Thanks to Adeel Abdullah of Amec Earth & Environmental […]

Secret mtext options: Remove formatting, combine paragraphs, change case

The Mtext Editor has three options that many people miss. In the Mtext window, select the text you’ve entered and right- click inside the text area. Choose one of the options:

Change Case to change the text to all uppercase or all lowercase. Choose Remove Formatting to return all text to Txt font and remove […]

Let AutoCAD do the math

There are several ways you can let AutoCAD do some quick arithmetic for you when you need a distance. Let’s say you’re drawing a line and you want to use direct distance entry to specify the length. What you know is that that line should be 4.372 plus 3.925. Of course, you could use a […]

How to format fractions

Some people (mostly architectural types) like their fractions like this:

Others (mostly mechanical types) like their fractions like this:

These are called stacked fractions. And some people like their fractions unstacked. Of course, unstacked fractions are easy; it’s the stacked ones that require a bit of knowledge.

For Multiline text, you can format […]

Automatically follow a linear dimension with a continued dimension

Ted Harris e-mailed me an AutoLISP routine that he uses to follow a linear dimension with a continued dimension. He notes, “one rarely enters one Dim, at least in a production environment.” I’ve updated his solution for recent versions of AutoCAD.

(defun c:dlc () (command “_dimlinear” pause pause pause) (command “_dimcontinue”) )

Add this to […]

Dimensions and associativity

Normally, dimensions are associative, meaning that they change when you edit objects to which they’re attached.

Drawings created in releases 2000 and earlier are not associative. Sometimes, you’ll get a drawing that was created a long time ago and realize that the dimensions aren’t associative.

To make them associative, type dimassoc (a system variable) on […]

Dimension an arc length

AutoCAD 2005 and earlier doesn’t have a way to dimension arc length, but Leonid Nemirovsky has come up with an AutoLISP routine that dimensions arc lengths very nicely. You can download it here.

Here’s the result:

Leonid has many, many more AutoLISP routines on his site, Better Than Nothing AutoLISP.

AutoCAD 2006 and later […]

Creating fields that update automatically (for 2000-2004)

The new fields in AutoCAD 2005 make it easy to add text that updates automatically. For example, you can put today’s date, the sheet number, and Drawn By initials in your title block. However, if you don’t have 2005 but have Express Tools (they come with 2004 and you can purchase them for $149 if […]

Create invisible supporting notes

Do you keep supporting notes for your AutoCAD drawings on a notepad next to your computer? Do you sometimes need to jot down tasks to complete, explanations of objects, or locations of supporting data?

Instead of using pen and paper, you can insert this information into your drawing and have easy access to it whenever […]