Lynn Allen's Blog

AutoCAD Trick for Super Speedy Move and Copy

Here’s a simple tip for you that’s been around forever.  When using the Move or Copy command, most of us don’t realize that the real default for the command is displacement.  For example, if you wanted to move an object 5 units at an angle of 45 most of us would highlight the object, select a base point and then input @5,<45.  right?  Well let me shave two steps off of this for you!

Let’s look at the actual command structure:

Command: MOVE

Select objects: 1 found

Select objects:

Specify base point or [Displacement] <Displacement>:

Did you know that at the first prompt you could just enter in” 5<45”?  Follow this up with an extra enter to complete the command and AutoCAD will use this as the displacement.  This saves you the step of selecting a base point, and you don’t have to key in the pesky “@” symbol either!

It looks like this:

MOVE

Select objects: 1 found

Select objects:

Specify base point or [Displacement] <Displacement>: 5<45

Specify second point or <use first point as displacement>: (enter)

Try it…saving two steps here and there adds up during the day!

AIA Show in Las Vegas

Here are some delayed pics of the AIA show last week - I think Autodesk had the best booth we've ever had at the show!

Above is yours truly doing one of the mainstage presentations in the Autodesk booth.  The crowds were fantastic!

Mel Persin and some other dynamic ATC instructors did some mini-training sessions in this year's Learning Lab.  Here you'll see the back of Mel's head (sorry Mel!) and a group of attendees learning all about Autodesk Revit Building.

This year the Subscription team added in a fun addition that allowed subscription members to spin a wheel for the opportunity to win an iPod!  Everyone left a winner (logo merchandise was given to everyone who participated), and we had quite a few lucky IPod winners as well!

And last, but certainly not least, Autodesk VP of the Building Solutions division was one of the speakers during the AIA general session...since I'm Phil's number 1 fan I had to include a picture of him in all his glory!

If you are in the architectural world and ever get a chance to attend AIA I highly recommend it - it's a fantastic show filled with great information, networking and opportunities to see what's on the architectural horizon!

Over and out...now back to the sun (still in Hawaii)...

AutoCAD Tips and Tricks Booklet...Section1

I'm in Hawaii this week enjoying a much needed vacation...so my blog posts might be a tad slow...(aloha!).  So how about a special treat for all of you?  I will post one section per week of my new AutoCAD 2006 Tips and Tricks booklet.  This booklet is filled to the brim with plenty of tips on the latest release of AutoCAD...so here you go!

 

AutoCAD Quick Tip - Extend or Trim Objects on Dfferent Elevations!

Last week at AIA I had two different people ask me the same question - How do you get AutoCAD to trim to an object that is on a different elevation?  Consequently I assumed there might be many of you who have run into the same scenario...

So here is your quick tip:

After selecting your cutting/boundary edges, select the Project option and switch the setting to View.  This will tell AutoCAD to use the current view to determine the end result.  You can also cut to the chase by setting the system variable PROJMODE to 2.

AIA is fantastic!

I am thoroughly enjoying hanging out at the Autodesk booth and chatting with everyone.  Even did a couple of presentations yesterday - two more to do today.  It's a great opportunity to wander around and check out our competition as well, I must admit everyone has been quite cordial to me.  I have some pics for posting later to show you some great snapshots of the Autodesk booth.  We even have a learning lab where you can get 45 minute snippits of free training from some fabulous Autodesk Training Center instructors!  And the subscription customers can spin the wheel for prizes (including an iPod!).  I hear it's quite hot outside (Las Vegas) - but I have been so busy with the show I haven't been able to leave the hotel since I got here! I'm hoping to enjoy a show tonight though!

AutoCAD 2006 Tip for Quick Ortho

I'm at the AIA convention in Las Vegas for the rest of the week - if you're attending the conference please be sure to stop by the Autodesk booth and say "hello"!  I'll also be doing some presentations on AutoCAD 2006 if you'd like to see the live and uncut version of Lynn...  : )

Quick Tip for you today:
If you've upgraded to AutoCAD 2006 - there's a very handy feature you might never trip across unless someone mentions it to you.  Holding down the shift key in a command will temporarily toggle Orthomode.  Unlike hitting F8 or selecting Ortho from the status bar, this is only temporary - it only toggles the setting while the shift key is held down, and then puts it back to it's original value...give it a whirl!

A gift from Canada

While I was in Montreal on the Realize Your Ideas Tour, a very thoughtful attendee who had been following my blog named Truuta was kind enough to present me with a cigarette box that had the Canadian means of deterring smokers...so for your amusement:

yuck!  Apparently there are other strong messages on the Canadian cigarette boxes - but this one certainly gets the point across!  Thank you Truuta, and it was nice chatting with you again...

AutoCAD Tips for Speedy Move or Copy

This tip is for anyone who wants to grab objects and move or copy them ever so quickly!

1.  While at the command prompt - Select the objects to move/copy.
2.  While holding down the left pick button drag them to the desired location (do not accidentally select a grip)
3.  To Copy instead of move hold down the Control key while dragging (which requires a bit of coordination on your part).

or...what if there are so many grips on the objects you are trying to move or copy that you can't easily select a point on the object without nabbing one of those pesky grips?

Try this:

1.  Same as before, select the objects you want to move/copy.
2.  With the RIGHT mouse button, drag the objects to the location you want to move or copy them to
3.  The following menu will display making it easy for you to accomplish your goal!

Note:  The latter only works in AutoCAD 2005 or higher.

Enjoy!

AutoCAD 2006 tip about Layer Filters

Big thanks to all of you who found it amusing that I brought back an empty cigarette box from Finland.  : ) According to a colleague (thanks Joni), apparently the entire European Union has the same very strong anti-smoking messaging on their cigarette boxes.  Compared to them, our US cigarette warnings seem so wimpy:

"the Surgeon General believes that possibly, maybe, it could happen that smoking might someday, somewhere, somehow lead to cancer...but we're not absolutely sure".

I was also informed that the EU is looking to have even stronger warnings on their cigarette boxes than they do now - have a look at this website with some very very scary boxes they are proposing to use:

European Cigarette boxes

Talk about tough messaging!

Now on to the tip:  Too many layer filters in a drawing file can really slow you down (not to mention irritate you).  A new undocumented command called FILTERS will kindly display a dialog box that makes it easy for you remove any unwanted layer filters.

Note:  Don't forget the crucial "s" at the end...otherwise you'll end up in another cool command called FILTER - which has a different goal in life.

AutoCAD 2006 - Tip for 3D Object Snapping

Last week I started talking about some new settings you can find in the Options command...and then I never came back to it!  Let's explore another cool setting that has been added into AutoCAD 2006.

When you use an object snap on a 3D object, AutoCAD always grabs the elevation of the object selected. Often you'd rather just have AutoCAD use the current elevation (Z) instead.  Now it's your choice - see the new toggle in Options below.

For you behind the scenes power users - you can get the same results by setting the new OSNAPZ system variable.