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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Tutorial: Create a custom command for AutoCAD using AutoLISP

AutoLISP offers powerful programming capabilities to AutoCAD, but you don’t need to be a programmer to use it. You can fairly easily create a simple custom command that can make your work go more quickly. In this tutorial, you’ll create a custom command that draws a red circle in any location and with any radius. […]

Tutorial: Create a command alias (keyboard shortcut)

Many people like to use the keyboard to enter commands, but some of the commands are long, hard to type, or difficult to remember. You can create keyboard shortcuts for commands, such as DL for DIMLINEAR or RVC for REVCLOUD.

AutoCAD comes with a large number of aliases already made for you. You edit the […]

Troubleshooting problem drawings

The most obvious problem is that you can’t open a drawing. Here are some techniques to try:

Rename the drawing’s BAK (backup) file by changing its filename extension to .dwg and see if you can open that. Find any temporary files (auto.sv$ by default) and rename them with a DWG extension and try to open […]

Record macros with the Action Recorder

Since AutoCAD 2009, you can record macros for later use. You can include requests for user input and messages to make the macro work interactively.

When you save a macro, it has an ACTM filename extension. You’ll find it in your Support\Actions folder of your AutoCAD installation. You can share ACTM files with others.

Start […]

Tutorial: Create a custom workspace in AutoCAD 2006 and later

A workspace defines your user interface — which toolbars, menus, and palettes (including the command window) appear, and where. Workspaces are a great feature because you can save multiple workspaces to reduce the time you spend fussing with these objects — opening them, closing them, and moving them around.

AutoCAD comes with default workspaces and […]

Tutorial: Create a custom command

If you find yourself using the same combination of commands and options over and over, you can easily create a custom command that executes the combination with a click of a button or a menu item. In this tutorial, I explain the basics of AutoCAD’s menu syntax so that you can create your own commands. […]

Quickly Find Files in Support File Search Path

AutoCAD places your support files in all sorts of hard to find places, such as:

C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2008\R17.1\enu\support\

Moreover, you can have many folders in your support file search path, including those that you add yourself. (To add a folder to the search path, choose Tools>Options and click the File tab of the […]

Get lots of information about your drawing–all in one place–with this command

How many objects are in your drawing?

What are the limits and the extents of your drawing?

What are the running object snaps?

What’s the current elevation setting?

Is FILL on or off?

What’s the current linetype?

How much free space does your hard drive have?

How much memory is free?

How many places do […]

Save layouts with layout templates

When you create a layout, including viewports, a title block, text, and so on, you can save it as a template to use in the future. If you would sometimes like to use a layout from a different drawing, one that isn’t included in your drawing’s template, and therefore not available to you in your […]

Plot on a black & white printer

Do you ever print out draft plots on a black & white laser printer? If so, you may have found that the plots were in grayscale and some of your objects were such a light gray that they were hard to see. Instead, you’d probably like all objects to appear in full black.

Here’s a […]