Lynn Allen's Blog

Queen's Day in Amsterdam?

I had no idea when I agreed to speak in the Netherlands that I would be staying over for Queen's Day.  What an experience!  All of the streets into the city are closed and no cars are allowed in until the end of the day.  The streets are packed full of people dressed in orange, celebrating the Queen's birthday.  All shops and museums are closed and it is an amazing holiday!  Below is my first step outside to this crazy party (I had a drink within 5 minutes...how does that happen?).  I bought an orange shirt to make sure I fit into the mix.

As was mentioned the streets were very crazy.  So many people made me a tad nervous (I am not a big fan of large crowds) - but nearly everyone was very courteous and it seemed very safe.

The canals were very busy with all of the party boats - absolutely amazing!  The pictures below are of one of the canals...it is a truly amazing sight!

The local fire department was giving rides on their trucks with ladders - here is yours truly going up very high above the city!  Notice the crazy guy next to me with the beer guzzle hat?  Oh my!

here I am alllllllllll the way up in the sky!  The only place where there are not thousands of people around is in up in the air!

Yikes!!!

If you ever have a chance to visit Amsterdam during Queen's Day I highly recommend it - I know that I will never forget the experience...

Great Education Conference in Amsterdam!

Yesterday I enjoyed a fabulous time with many educators in the Netherlands.  I shared a glimpse into some future technology trends, made recommendations regarding where they should lead their students and, of course, thanked them for all the hard work they put into training the architects, designers, and engineers of tomorrow.  Having taught in the collegiate system myself (many years ago) I can appreciate all the hard work that goes into being a teacher.  I really enjoyed sharing with them the new features in AutoCAD 2008 and Inventor - everyone was so appreciative!  All in all I think it was a very successful Education conference (thank you Denelise!).

Emlyn, an acquaintance of mine, was kind enough to offer up one more great suggestion to keep the size of your PDF files down.

Another AutoCAD Hip Tip on creating Small PDF files:

Be sure to lower the resolution of the PDF generator from 1200 down to 300 (or even 144 if you are working with a simple AutoCAD file).  this will dramatically reduce the size of your PDF file (thank you Emlyn!)

You can also reduce the size of the finished file by configuring the PDF resolution in AutoCAD as seen below (Custom Properties under graphics).

Enjoy your weekend!  I'm hoping to see some tulips...

Experience the Possibilities Tour - Week 2 (and an AutoCAD Hip Tip)

My speaking schedule didn't quite permit me to get back to California for the weekend so I enjoyed a nice weekend in Orlando doing the Disney thing.  I've been to the parks on many occasion (ok - I admit to really enjoying the parks) but this is the first time I had the chance to ride the new Everest Expedition ride in the Animal Kingdom - WOW!  I really enjoyed that (except for the scary Yedi monster!).  I have played tour guide through the parks many, many times so if you ever need some advice - be sure to send me an email.  It was very busy this weekend between some late spring breaks and cheerleading competitions so the lines were quite long (which is always such a drag). 

Tomorrow begins the third stop on the tour (also in Orlando) and then I catch a flight over to Europe for a couple more speaking engagements including a great user conference in Amsterdam I am looking forward to (put on by the wonderful CAD Company.)  I  presented at the conference last year and really enjoyed it, I'm hoping for some nice weather in the Netherlands.

I received some additional great information regarding publishing to PDF via DWF that I thought I would pass on...

An AutoCAD Hip Tip to create Multiple Page PDF files directly from AutoCAD:

Another advantage of creating a DWF file first (and then creating a PDF out of the DWF as mentioned in my previous post) is the ability to create a multiple page PDF file (for those of you on AutoCAD 2007).

When you move to AutoCAD 2008 you can set the new PUBLISHCOLLATE system variable to 1 to create a multiple sheet PDF directly from AutoCAD...very cool!  A big thanks to Philip Schlickenmaier for bringing this to my attention!

And Mitch Hefter (from Dallas) gave me some great stats to support my theory on saving to DWF first for smaller PDF files - check out these numbers!

Facts from Mitch:

DWG File Size - 1.2 MB; 10 sheets, all in paper space

     DWF File Size - 318 kB
     PDF generated from DWF - 938 kB
     PDF generated directly out of AutoCAD 2008 - 2.1 MB
The above project consists of 47 DWG files (34.7 MB) and results in a 62 Sheet DWF of just 2.8 MB.  The DWF generated PDF is 9.1 MB-.

Big space savings here! Thank you both for such great info to share with others!

On to Orlando...and a Quick AutoCAD Tip!

First off - my heart goes out to all those affected by the tragic event that transpired yesterday at Virginia Tech.  Actually, I believe we are all affected in one way or another, but I can't imagine the pain the friends, parents and siblings are going through today.  Our hearts and thoughts are with you all.  So very sad and unnecessary.

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I just couldn't imagine getting up at 3:30am to catch an early flight to Orlando today so I changed my flight to later in the day...which of course means I land super late (hmmm...which is worse?).  But that does give me a few extra minutes today to blog.  An attendee at one of my presentations in Australia (or was it New Zealand?) gave me this great tip for those of you out there who absolutely have to use PDF files.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on reducing the size of PDF files:

First off - you are absolutely better off when you pass your drawing files around via DWF (vs. PDF).  These files are dramatically smaller and yet smarter than your standard PDF file but let's face it - sometimes you just have to use PDF files...hence I love this great tip.

Save your drawing file out to a DWF file.  Then create a PDF out of the DWF.  This will reduce the size of your PDF file significantly and make it much easier for you pass your drawings around.

So there you have it! So simple and yet such a great idea!  I've been sharing this tip along with many others in my AutoCAD 2008 presentations and I've already received several emails from people who love this new time-saver.

I'm off to catch my flight!

Experience the Possibilities Tour!

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying the spring (except for you poor guys back east!).  I have heard many stories about missed flights, lost loggage, delays, etc at the airports this past week.  Part of the Experience the Possibilities (ETP) tour lost their luggage and didn't get it back in time to look dapper for the conference the next day.  But everyone pitched in and somehow they made it through with borrowed clothes, hair products, and they looked dapper anyway! Talk about Teamwork!  If you are in one of the cities we are visiting on the tour be sure to sign up and join us for loads of great information.  And be sure to come up and introduce yourself as well!

This past weekend I attended COFES - the Congress on the Future of Engineering Software in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Many technology heads got together in discuss the trends and future of technology software.  And of course I have to include a promised "Hello" to Richard Doyle who was part of our User Group roundtable.  Jay Sunyogh won the 2007 Leadership award from the CAD Society and it was great to see someone who has worked so very hard for his students get this prestigious award.  I used to work with him when I taught AutoCAD at Rio Hondo Junior College - one of my most rewarding experiences ever.  Here's to you Jay!  Keep up the great work.

This week I'm off to Orlando for the Autodesk Tech Camp - today I get to unpack, finish my Cadalyst article (sorry it's late...again!) and pack back up for another 2 week trip.  I get to enjoy at least one day with my beloved dog Tiffany - and she's spent all morning stealing my slippers and taking them one by one off my feet and into the back yard...Sigh...she's impossible to catch as well (speedy little thing).

I'm off to get ready for my next trip! 

Bad Blogger...

Hi Guys...Just popping in to say I'm still alive - just running around like crazy for the "Experience the Possibilities" tour.  Rehearsing, presenting and traveling have kept me busy busy busy!

Thanks for all the emails...next week I will be a better blogger...(she says with her fingers crossed!).

Cheers!

The Australian Road show continues...

The crazy tour continues...Monday morning I had breakfast in Sydney, Lunch in Adelaide and then Dinner in Perth (well actually - two of the three meals were on planes to be fair...).  I'm sure these towns are great places to visit - but I can only vouch for the airport!  You can still get past security in Australia without a boarding pass which means you can still have friends and families waiting for you at the gate - ahhhhhhhhhhh...the good old days.

I am between flights - but thought I'd post a picture of a beautiful art museum in Christchurch, New Zealand (one of my favorite places ever is the South island of New Zealand!). 

and a beautiful view of the stunning Akaroa harbour...so gorgeous!  (also on the South Island).

I am convinced there is no lovelier place in the world...

And the bats just hanging around in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney...unwelcomed visitors apparently.

Bizarre!  Very, Very cool though...I'm off to catch my flight!