Lynn Allen's Blog

A Honolulu Hip Tip

ok...so I'm not there yet - still at home packing up...but at some point today I will be in beautiful Hawaii.  Tomorrow is another fun AUGI CAD Camp and a day of learning will be had by everyone (me too).  I love attending the CAD Camp sessions as well - I always learn something!

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Reverting Back to your Previous Design:

So you're drawing along in AutoCAD and you realize you are not pleased with any of the design changes you've done.  You could undo back to when you first opened the drawing, or you could use the cool Express Tool REVERT.  This command will first prompt you to see if you do indeed want to abandon the changes you've made (just for insurance purposes), will close the file and then open it right back up again. 

Think of it as shaking that Etch-a-Sketch!  It's super speedy - so give it a try!

I'm off to the airport!  (hope I didn't forget anything...oh yeah...sunscreen!)

An AutoCAD Tip from Home!

Home at last...though I love Europe - there's no place like home (imagine me clicking my heels together).  The evil bug has finally set me free and I'm ready to enjoy the nice California summertime.  Last weekend I saw the extremely entertaining Marriage of Figaro opera in San Francisco (big Mozart fan) and enjoyed some beautiful San Francisco sunshine (which is very rare if you've ever been to San Francisco).  Wednesday I head out to Honolulu for the next AUGI CAD Camp.  There are plenty of CAD Camps scheduled throughout the next few months - be sure to check out the schedule just in case there happens to be one in your neighborhood. 

A couple of cool AutoCAD Keyboard Tips:

If you are a decent typist then you can appreciate knowing your way around the keyboard as it relates to AutoCAD so here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Control+Tab to quickly cycle through any open drawings

Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to recall previously executed commands.  This is great if you misspell something and would like to recall it and correct the error - also great for retrieving a command you used a couple of steps ago.  PageUp and PageDown will go back through all the command information one line at a time (including the prompts).

Fellow user Doc mentioned that he was surprised how many people did not know you could use the Spacebar as an Enter (or Return).  This big key is easy to hit and allows you to really go quickly when executing commands from the keyboard.  Of course the spacebar acts as a standard spacebar should when inputting text information.

Enter (or Spacebar) at the command prompt always repeats the last command.

When keying in commands the End key jumps you to the end of any input information and the Home key jumps you back to the begining of the line.

If one or more objects are selected, the Delete key will erase them (this does not work if no objects are highlighted).

I won't go through all the Function keys but each of those has a command assigned to it as well (these are also customizable in the CUI command)

And after keying in one or more characters at the command line you can use the Tab key to cycle through all of the commands that start with those characters.  For example, key in the letter S followed by the tab key and each of the commands and system variables that start with an S will be cycled through.  Great for system variable names you just can't remember how to spell!

That's a few for starters...have a great Monday!

An AutoCAD Hip Tip from England

The AUGI CAD Camp was so much fun today...I did a bonus Tips and Tricks session that was just so much fun!  Tomorrow I'm finally going home...and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again...(in a room with no ghosts!).  There were definitely some suspicious noises last night in my haunted hotel...(or was it just my imagination?).

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Exploding Blocks with Attributes:

When you explode a block with attributes, the attribute values disappear and they are reset with the attribute tag info.  What if you'd like to keep those values you worked so hard to key in?  The awesome Express Tool BURST to the rescue!  BURST will explode a block while maintaing the attribute values.  Give this cool command a try the next time you feel the need to explode a block with attributes...

I'm off to watch the WorldCup!

A Haunted AutoCAD Tip from England

Prague is definitely a beautiful city and I enjoyed a weekend of touring with my coworkers.  The bug I picked up still lingers on but I've now decided to just ignore it (and then perhaps it will go away?).  Last night we flew to England and tomorrow is the AUGI CAD Camp in Guildford.  I'm staying in a hotel called the Angel Posting Hotel which is apparently haunted!  Supposedly the wood was brought in from the timbers of old ships and consequently old sea-faring ghosts have been seen in the mirrors...(the only scary thing I've seen in the mirror so far has been me in the morning!).  No ghosts have been seen so far...knock on wood...well - not the haunted wood. 

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Dividing an Object:

AutoCAD veterans know the power of the old DIVIDE and MEASURE commands...those who are new to the program (and by "new" I mean within the last 5 years or so) might not have been exposed to these two very powerful commands.  You won't find these two commands easily anymore because they are buried underneath the Draw menu under Point (which I believe are terribly misplaced).  Today we'll focus on DIVIDE.

If you've ever wanted to quickly divide an object into a specific number of equal sections then the DIVIDE command is for you.  The DIVIDE command uses Points as markers so you'll need to change the Points to something you can see.  Points, by default, appear as one pixel dots on the screen (you won't be able to see those)...you'll need to change the points to something easy to see such as an "X".  To do this - set the system variable PDMODE to 3. 

Note:  See all the different settings for displaying points by keying in DDPTYPE

Now you are ready to use the DIVIDE command.  Select the object you wish to divide (such as a polyline) and simply indicate the number of segments you wish to divide it into.  Voila!  You'll find that the object now has points at even increments based on the input you provided. 

Command: PDMODE
Enter new value for PDMODE <0>: 3
Command: DIVIDE
Select object to divide:
Enter the number of segments or [Block]: 10

Note:  The DIVIDE command doesn't physically divide the object - it just places markers.  If you wish to physically divide the object you'll need to BREAK the object.  You can use the NODE object snap to easily snap to the points.

You might also notice the Block option in the DIVIDE command.  Instead of using points as markers, you can choose to use a block.  You can get very clever with this option.  Simply create a block of an object that you want to place evenly along an object and the Divide command will do the rest.  You can even indicate that you'd like to block to align with the object or remain at a 0 degree rotation.

Get creative!  Think of some very clever ways to use the DIVIDE command to make your job easier...

Wish me luck tonight with the ghost!  I'll keep my eyes on those mirrors!  Here are a few shots from last weekend in Paris...

The Eiffel Tower (of course) and the front of the Louvre...(for you DaVinci Code fans)

The Arche de Triomphe (my hotel was a few blocks away from here)

and finally Notre Dame...on a hot 90+ degree day in Paris! Bon Jour!

Prague and an AutoCAD Hip Tip!

Well...long time no blog!  I'm afraid that that evil bug got the worst of me and consequently my blogging has fallen by the way-side (please forgive).  I've moved on to the beautiful city of Prague for an ATC (Autodesk Training Center) conference.  I am a huge fan of hands-on-training for learning a new Autodesk product and highly recommend going with the ATC's...also great for upgrade training (so you don't keep using the new release the same way you did the one before!).  It's always such a shame when we upgrade to a new release and don't take advantage of the cool new features...I'll get off my soap box now.  It's been fabulous hanging out with all the great ATC managers at this conference (big thanks to all of you who introduced yourselves to me!).  Of course the World Cup is front and center everywhere in Europe and last night during the Awards dinner we actually took a break to watch the last half hour of the game...SOOO different from the USA (but very cool). But then the World Cup comes along just once every four years...

AutoCAD Hip Tip for Batch Plotting:

I've had a number of people ask me what happened to the Batch Plot program that shipped with AutoCAD 2005 and before...well that's been replaced with the much easier to use PUBLISH command.  This command, which runs inside of AutoCAD (as opposed to the separate external program) makes it easy to print multiple drawings and layouts.

 

Simply select the drawings you wish to print by selecting the below toolbar button:

Unfortunately all the commands are icons - so you  will need to tour around to find all the various commands.  You'll also need to indicate whether you want to print the Model Tab, Layout Tab or both. 

A right click on any of the sheets will allow you to change the page setup, reorder the sheets, remove sheets as well as a few other options as seen below.  If you plan on printing the same list over and over again - be sure to save the file (so you don't have to set this print list up again).

If you don't have AutoCAD but still need to print then you can download Autodesk DWG TrueView (although you won't be able to do a batch plot of the drawings).

So there is your Hip Tip from Prague!  Tomorrow I'm hoping to be well enough to do some touring since I've never been to this beautiful city before (would be such a shame to miss out!).  And just for the record...the cough syrup in Prague isn't nearly as tasty as the cough syrup in Paris...(for those of you following my blog). 

Happy AutoCADding!

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Turning Surfaces into Solids

Unfortunately for me I haven't had much chance to enjoy Paris (despite the 80 degree weather!)...that pesky cold of mine has kept me in my room for most of the weekend - such a terrible shame.  I did get a glimpse of the Eiffel tower from my taxi...does that count?  I discovered some wonderful tasting cough syrup here in one of their pharmacies - why can't we get that in the US?  Why must we be stuck with that icky Robitussin stuff?  I simply must stock up!  (How pathetic am I that I'm talking about cough syrup while in Paris...)

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Turning Surfaces into Solids:

The new LOFT command in AutoCAD 2007 makes it easy to create some very nice curved surfaces...but sometimes we need to convert our surfaces into solids.  The new THICKEN command does exactly that!  Simply select the surface you would like to thicken and AutoCAD will evenly distribute that thickness.  The end result is a solid.

Command:  THICKEN
Select surfaces to thicken: Select one or more surfaces to thicken into solids
Specify thickness <default>: Specify a thickness value

Very simple and straightforward...give it a try...

Now I'm going to go and find some French chicken soup!

We'll Always Have Paris...

Up and about at 3:45am to catch my flight to Paris...it's certainly going to be a long travel day...I should pass out the second I hit the seat on the airplane!  Thought I'd better log in quickly to blog before I disappear from the radar for a couple of days.  I was hoping to get upgraded on this very long flight - but I bought one of those cheapo tickets - I did get the pleasure of watching the check-in lady bust up laughing when I asked about the possibility though...(who knew?)

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Layers:

You can select an object and tell which layer it is on by looking at the Layers toolbar.  Have you ever wanted to know what layers are being used for more than one object?  Here's a twist on the ever-cool Express Tool LAYWALK...Use the Select Objects button in the upper left corner to select the objects in question.  LAYWALK will highlight all of the layers the objects reside on.  You can then save those layers to a layer state by right clicking and selecting Save Layer State from the shortcut menu as seen below:

You can even take it one step further by selecting the Inspect option.  This will tell you the total number of layers, the number of layers selected along with the number of objects selected.

LAYWALK grew up and became a real live command in AutoCAD 2007 so even you AutoCAD LT users can use it!  So give it a try...(it's a fabulous command)...It's main goal in life is to show you which objects reside on which layer.  This can be accomplished by selecting each layer name in the dialog box and AutoCAD will display the objects that reside on that layer.  This is absolutely fabulous if you end up dealing with somebody else's drawing who has never heard of the words "Layer Standards"...  : )

I have to run and catch my plane...see you in a couple of days...(I do believe I can still hear the check-in lady laughing...)

AutoCAD 2007 Screen Cast

I spent all day yesterday (and will do the same today) recording the sound for the AutoCAD 2007 screencast.  Similar to the one I did for Inventor (link at the side), this will be filled with tips and techniques for AutoCAD 2007...look for it to come out sometime within the next month or so.  Unfortunately I am still trying to shake this evil cold so you might notice a touch of a raspy voice in the presentation...we managed to edit out the occasional cough (thank goodness!).  We are recording in a very cool sound studio in Berkeley where En Vogue just finished recording their last CD...and rumor has it Destiny's Child also recorded there...Do you think Beyonce sat in the same chair I did?  How cool would that be? Below is a picture taken during the recording...(is that a bottled water on the floor?)

On to a Hip Tip on Splitting Faces on AutoCAD 2007:

It's super easy to split a face inside of AutoCAD 2007 - start by drawing a line across the desired face where you want to split it as seen below.

Use the IMPRINT command to imprint the line into the face. 

Command: IMPRINT
Select a 3D solid: pick the cube
Select an object to imprint: pick the line
Delete the source object [Yes/No] <N>: N

Then it's easy to use the new 3D Grips to split the face as seen below!

Remember to use the Ctrl key to select the individual edge...

I'm off to Day 2 of recording...

Tips and Tricks in Tampa

Today was so much fun!  With nearly 300 users in the audience we covered 3 hours worth of AutoCAD Tips and Tricks...such an enthusiastic audience (who were very patient with my sniffly cold).  I could have gone on and on (but I spared them after 3 hours).  I am currently stuck in the Tampa airport praying for the thunder storm to stop otherwise I'm going to miss my connecting flight through Denver...Drats!  I was really looking forward to getting home and petting my dog!

AutoCAD Hip Tip for Disappearing Object Snap Tracking Vectors:

One of the attendees at today's event came to me with an interesting issue - her Auto tracking vectors appear and work great in Model space (AutoCAD 2007), but they disappear when she is in a paper space layout.  That was a real head scratcher but after a little digging around I thought of a possible solution.  AutoCAD 2007 has a much more robust interface for modifying the various components of the user interface and one of those options is the Auto tracking vectors.  If your tracking vectors are white on a white background they obviously aren't going to show up!

To check this out, simply go to the Drafting tab in the OPTIONS command.  Select the Colors... button and you'll see the dialog below.  Here you can fully customize many different user interface elements.

I did not get this young lady's email address so I'll just cross my fingers she logs onto my blog sometime soon...but I'm guessing this might just solve her problem!

Please do the "anti-rain" dance for me so I can get home tonight!