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AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD LT 2015 Bible

The most comprehensive AutoCAD book around!

Tutorial: Automate tasks with a script file

A script is a macro, a list of commands that you can run all at once, and as many times as necessary, allowing you to automate tasks that would take a long time if you did them manually. Using Scripts in Autocad can be very powerful and you can run them on objects in one […]

Create a custom keyboard shortcut

Would you like to create a keyboard shortcut to your favorite command-option combination? For example, I would like a version of the COPY command that doesn’t repeat, that is, that ends after one copy operation. Here are the steps:

Enter cui to open the Customize User Interface dialog box. In the Command List pane, […]

Productivity boost ideas

Note: This is an article by Fran Golding, Senior Drafter at Parsons Brinckerhoff, a large planning, environment and infrastructure firm with offices in Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps you can add your own productivity boost ideas.

When I first started to drive a car, I had the feeling that I was not the one in […]

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: […]

Speed up your work with command aliases

When I give instructions, I usually provide ribbon access instructions for commands, but the quickest way to work is to type command aliases on the command line. You just need to know them. Print out this list and keep it by your computer for a couple of weeks until you learn them. You’ll be amazed […]

Manage the user interface–the ribbon and the menu bar

AutoCAD 2009 introduced the ribbon, a completely different way of specifying commands. Some people like it; some don’t. However, if you want to use the ribbon (and it’s not going away), you can create a hybrid user interface that gives you the best of all worlds.

One reason to continue with menus is if […]

Create a shortcut to a template and workspace

You probably have a shortcut to AutoCAD on your desktop. If you do, you can customize how that shortcut works. You can even create several shortcuts and tell them to open AutoCAD in different ways. This is called using command-line switches.

First, select the shortcut and press Ctrl+C. Then press Ctrl+V to create a […]

Transparently enter 3D Orbit in 2007

One of the nicest new features of 2007 is the ease with which you can change your viewpoint using a poorly-documented keyboard shortcut for 3D Orbit. Press and hold Shift and press your mouse’s wheel (or middle button) to temporarily and transparently enter 3D Orbit.

While doing this, use that wheel to drag in […]