Lynn Allen's Blog

Printing to Raster in AutoCAD

The rainstorms have certainly been hitting California today!  Tomorrow I'm off to Cleveland - I just hope the airport will let us off the ground!  It looks like it's going to be pretty chilly in Cleveland...drats!

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Printing to Raster

The Add-a-plotter wizard makes it simple to print your file out to a variety of formats - but it's not typically the first place one might look for just such a capability.  Located under Tools>Wizards you'll find the Add-a-plotter wizard very easy to navigate.

Simply drop the Manufacturer's list down until you see Raster File Format, and then select the file format you'd like under Models (I know - not very intuitive)...

 

You can fine tune the output to your needs (use Edit Plotter Configuration in the wizard to control the resolution of the raster image).  And you're all set to go - use this as an additional plot option!

Happy AutoCADding!

A Very Happy Birthday to Shaan Hurley!

It's time for everybody to sing an exuberant Happy Birthday to everyone's favorite blogger - Shaan Hurley! What would the blogger world be without him?  For your enjoyment, I've provided a couple of snapshots of our illustrious techie...

This is a lovely pic of Shaan working hard in Latin America.

And this is the typical outfit Shaan wears to the office...as you can see he is a highly cultured individual.

A Happy 29th Birthday (tomorrow) to you Shaan!  Feel free to send your birthday  wishes to [email protected]. 

(We love you Man)

Exporting those Cool AutoCAD Tables

I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for springtime.  Here in Northern California the sun is out, but it's still really chilly (deceiving).  I know many of you are dealing with snow, which is beautiful - but I'm guessing you've had enough of that as well.

I'd like to include a heartfelt thanks to Glen Sartwelle and his dog from Texas.  They sent yellow roses to my office with a thank you card signed on behalf of my dog Alex...I teared up when I read the card...so very sweet...I was definitely touched. 

So how about a Hip Tip on Exporting your AutoCAD Tables?

The top secret command line driven command TABLEEXPORT will do the trick!  TABLEEXPORT will extract your table to a CSV file (Comma Separated format).  This CSV file can in turn be taken into Excel or Access.  You can also get to this command by right-clicking on your table and selecting Export from the shortcut menu.

Have a great one!

Back to Business...

First of all, a million thanks for the dozens of emails I received regarding Alex...I can't even begin to tell you how much it meant to me...Alex is wagging her tail up in heaven for sure.

Vacation was the absolute best ever!  I escaped to the Carribean for a fabulous much need holiday (even had a surprise snorkeling event when I ran right into a 3 foot long barracuda!).  Thanks to you all for your patience during the blog silence - let's move on to an AutoCAD Tip!

AutoCAD Tip for Speedy Selection of Touching Objects:

There's a cool Express Tool called Fast Select (FS).  Fast Select grabs all the objects that touch the selected object.  You can even go one step further by telling fast select you'd like to in turn grab all of the objects that touch those objects.  FS is also transparent so you can use it inside of another command (which is typically where you want it). 

Command: FS
Use 'FSMODE to control chain selection.
FSMODE = OFF
Select touching object: 22 object(s) found.
Exiting Fastsel

Notice the FSMODE comment. FSMODE is used to control whether or not you want all the objects that touch the objects to be selected or not.  The setting is easy enough - ON to select all linked objects or OFF to not...

Try this unusual tip of a setting.  You might just find you save some much valued time (or at the very least you shook it up a bit!).

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Sadly, my dog of 13 years passed away this week.  After a two year fight with pancreatic cancer, it was finally time (or so I keep telling myself).  I know I was very fortunate to have her around for so long after the original diagnosis and surgery...she truly became a poster dog for cancer survivors.  Two years ago I was told she wouldn't pull through the surgery or survive the cancer -  clearly she "didn't get the memo"... She went into full remission and had a wonderful 18 months before the cancer returned...A poster of her hangs in the vets office as inspiration to other pet owners of dogs with cancer.

She was a wonderful dog and I would have done anything for her...so here's to you Alex - I'll truly miss you greeting me when I come home and barking every time a leaf fell off the tree.  I'll miss wondering why you spent so much time looking up at the sky, as though something was going to swoop down and get you, the daily pawing you'd give me trying to get a biscuit, and the bone you dutifully brought to the door whenever anyone arrived.  You never really ate the bone...you just carried the bone (we never quite understood that).  I doubt the pool boy will miss you...or the deer...or the UPS man...but it breaks my heart that I'll never hear that courageous bark again...(such a big bark for a little dog).  You've touched my life and I'll never forget you.

As for me...I'll be taking a much needed vacation this week.  Consequently - I'll be signing off until I return on Feb. 21st.  But I promise to come back with plenty of tips and tricks...

So to all of you out there who have a dog, cat, or treasured pet - promise to give them an extra pet for me (and realize how lucky you are to have them in your life).

Ciao...

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

February 14th is nearly here - and it's the perfect time to chalk up a few extra points with your sweetheart!  If you are clueless as to what gift to give, flowers always say it so nicely.  And it's so easy to order flowers online you never even have to leave your desk!  The link to the left even saves you 15% (but you have to be prepared to order today).  There are all different price ranges - there's no need to go extravagant, flowers of any type are always appreciated.

And if he/she works in an office - be sure to send the flowers there for M.A.F.  (Maximum Attention Factor).  We love all the fuss our coworkers make when someone sends us flowers...(trust me on this one).

So get those flowers ordered today!  (and make someone very happy)...that's my Hip Tip.

Super Speedy Smart Selection Sets!

My Inventor training continues...so many very, very cool features...I'm in a cute town called Tualatin in the state of Oregon.  I went to high school for awhile in a very small town (population <2,000 people) not far from here so it's been a bit of a trip down memory lane for me this week.  It's so beautiful and green here, and the people are so friendly.  Ahhhhhhhhhh...On to the techie stuff.

A Hip Tip for Speedy Smart Selection Sets:

The Express Tool GETSEL makes it super easy to grab objects based on their object type and/or layer.  For example, you notice that all the text in a drawing was placed on the Walls layer, and you wanted to put it on the Text layer.  GETSEL can really help you out.

Command: GETSEL
Select an object on the Source layer <*>: Use a selection set method or press ENTER for all layers
Select an object of the Type you want <*>: Use a selection set method or press ENTER for all object types

So you would select an object on the Walls layer first, and select one of the text strings (or MTEXT - whichever the case may be).  AutoCAD would find all the text on the Walls layer for you.  Then you use the layer drop-down on the Styles toolbar to quickly change it to the Text layer.

If you grab a bunch of objects using GETSEL and intend to do something with them (like move, rotate, copy, etc) - simply enter the desired editing command and use the option of "P" for previous to use your handy selection set.

This is similar to the QSELECT option in the Properties dialog...just another route that's a little speedier (depending on what your goal is).

So there's your Hip Tip!

Time for Training...and a Wish!

I'm in Autodesk Inventor training for most of the week...it started today which meant I had to fly to Portland very very late last night (since I couldn't bare to miss the Super Bowl).  I admit to rooting for the Steelers after all, even though they tortured my poor Colts...at least my team lost to the Super Bowl winners!  It seemed to me the refs were rooting for the Steelers as well!  imho

We're all hear to learn about the latest and greatest features coming down the road for Autodesk Inventor and the Vault.  I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to sit back and take it all in (rather than being the one on stage).  I can tell you Autodesk Inventor fans you're in for a treat!

So have you submitted your wishes to AUGI yet?  The AUGI Wish List is collecting everyone's biggest desires (for Autodesk software that is)...and here's your chance to make a difference.  And I'm not just saying that - AUGI hosts the official Autodesk wish list and your wishes will be considered (and in many cases granted).  Here is your chance!

And I haven't forgotten the promised picture of the AutoCAD 21st birthday party...see below!

Controlling the Magnetic Strength of OSNAPS

Since I've last blogged I spent a brief day in Paris (such a shame to only have one day in such a beautiful city) and am now in London.  While in Paris I stayed at this great little hotel called the Hotel California (ironically) which wasn't expensive and yet it was located just two blocks from the Champs Elysees and quite close to the Arc de Triomphe.

I'm working away on my laptop in my room in London - the fire alarm keeps going off which I've chosen to ignore...so if you don't see a post in a few days it might be for good reason - poof!

Today I spoke at a birthday party for AutoCAD (yes AutoCAD!).  The 21st release of AutoCAD will be out soon and my colleagues in London chose to throw a little soiree for a dozen journalists from the UK and Denmark.  It was a grand time complete with balloons, poppers and cake (pictures to come at a later date).  I did a presentation on the 21 releases of AutoCAD - along with a history of the early days of Autodesk and AutoCAD - it was good fun actually!  For example...do you know how Autodesk got it's name?  Do you know the original name for AutoCAD?  Inquiring minds want to know! Much of my presentation was derived from a classic book that chronicles the early days of Autodesk called The Autodesk File.  It's a pleasant and fascinating read if you have the time - it's even downloadable from John Walker's site. 

So on to our Hip Tip!

AutoCAD Hip Tip to Increase (or decrease) the magnetic strength of object snaps:

As you get close to an object the various object snap grips appear.  But just how close do you need to get?  I've had a couple of readers write to me and ask to turn up their magnetic strength, if you will, so they don't have to get so darn close to the object.  So here's your answer - change the setting of the system variable APERTURE.  This setting controls how close (in pixels) to the object you need to get before the object snap grips appear.  The minimum value is 1 (way too low) the maximum value is 50.  Give it a whirl!