Lynn Allen's Blog

The Experience Tour...Week Two!

This week the Experience Tour hits Philadelphia and Dallas.  Last week was very exciting as we had some fantastic sessions on all of the new 2009 products in Miami and Washington D.C.  I really enjoyed sharing the new features in AutoCAD 2009 to the very receptive audiences.  I remember ever so clearly that Washington D.C. was my favorite audience last year - they were so pumped up it was great fun! 

I'm hanging in the Dulles airport enduring a 2 hour flight delay (ugh).  So let's chat about more the features in AutoCAD 2009!

How to get back to the standard User Interface in AutoCAD 2009:

AutoCAD 2009 introduces the new Ribbon into the User Interface.  Though the ribbon has some nice advantages - many of you have asked me how to get your old familiar user interface back.  So take a deep breath and relax - here's the deal:  You'll just have to change your Workspace back to AutoCAD Classic.

But easier said than done - Where is the Workspace toolbar with that handy drop-down list of saved workspaces?  You'll find a new Workspace icon sitting on the status bar in the lower right corner.

Select this icon and you'll find a list of your saved workspaces along with the ones that come with AutoCAD.  Simply select AutoCAD Classic and you find your UI is back to that comfy world you've grown to know and love.  You'll find your pull-down menus are back...your toolbars...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

See - no therapy needed after all! :-)

I''m off to find some food before my flight...sadly I have PLENTY of time to do that!

Let the Tour Begin!

The Autodesk Experience Tour is about to begin and tomorrow I'm flying off to Miami for round one!  If you haven't already signed up for one of the stops be sure to do so!  There is sure to be plenty of information on all the new 2009 Autodesk products...and no doubt a good time will be had by all!

And I promised Joseph Wurcher I'd mention that this is the final week to submit your papers to speak at this year's Autodesk University.  For more information on this you can visit the official AU Blog (BLAUG).  If you have a fabulous idea for a class and think you'd be a great presenter - then here is your big chance to shine!

AutoCAD LT 2009 brings FIELDS to its users!

I'm not sure how many of you AutoCAD users have delved into the incredibly powerful world of FIELDS but I am happy to announce that AutoCAD LT 2009 is now extending this great feature to its users as well!  Fields are really so much more powerful than attributes and they are smart enough to extend over multiple drawings (as opposed to just one).  I like to think of it as "change it once, change it everywhere". 

The world of FIELDS is a huge subject indeed but here is a very high level view of them as highlighted in my AutoCAD LT Tips and Tricks booklet (not published yet). 

Fields
One of the most powerful objects in AutoCAD, Fields are equivalent to “smart text” that updates automatically.  Use field data for such things as dates, sheet numbers, titles, etc.

Select fields from a list of predefined fields.  These fields can be inserted into text objects, attributes or table cells.

There are three methods for inserting a Field:

1.   Select the Insert Field… option in the shortcut menu when prompted for text in MTEXT, DTEXT, ATTDEF,  and BATTMAN.  Some of these commands also have an “insert field” button.
2. Press Control+F 
3. Execute the Field command (this will place the field as MTEXT).

Whichever route you take, simply select the field you wish to add.  The FIELDDISPLAY system variable toggles the display of a gray background for field text (intended for the easy recognition of Field text)

Tip:  Fields allow you to display object properties such as the area of a hatch, the length of a polyline or the diameter of a circle.

Editing Fields
Easily edit your fields by double-clicking. 

Updating Fields:
By default, field values automatically update when you open, save, plot, eTransmit or regenerate a drawing.  You can suppress this automatic evaluation by setting the FIELDEVAL system variable. You can also use the UPDATEFIELD command to manually update.

I'm off to convince my dog to get out of my suitcase again!  She definitely knows how to make me feel guilty...  :-(

More AutoCAD LT 2009 Features from Dallas

COFES continued to be a great conference along with an award for Autodesk CEO Carl Bass from the CAD Society for Leadership.  Carl wasn't able to pick up his award so Autodesk Executive VP Buzz Kross did the honors as seen below (ok...so it's not quite the best picture).

I flew straight from COFES to Dallas for Autodesk Tech Camp.  Louisa Holland from Mastergraphics was hysterical as she ran around taking pictures - be sure to check out her blog at Civil 3D for Beginners.  Here's the picture she snagged of her and me...

She was absolutely adorable!  All you Civil 3Ders be sure to visit her blog!

Who will please the American Idol Judges tonight?

AutoCAD LT 2009 Celebrates More Colors!

COFES (Congress of the Future of Engineering Software) is off and running here in Scottsdale, Arizona and we are on our second day of presentations.  The networking has been wonderful (along with the weather!) and I've already gleamed a few great morsels of information from the various discussions. 

I want to mention the official announcement of the new AUGI Portugal Country Chapter.  AUGIpt is up and running and I am SO excited for them.  Congratulations on all of your hard work!

I'm blogging between sessions so I'll just jump right to the point with some more AutoCAD 2009 LT Features.

AutoCAD LT 2009 brings new Colors to everyone!

AutoCAD LT 2009 has expanded the color possibilities from the usual 256 colors to include True Color and Color Books.  Now you can select a specific color from a variety of Pantone and RAL color books making it easy to match up with real world colors of actual materials.  There are two new tabs in the Select Color dialog box.  The True Color tab allows you to select the Hue, Saturation and Luminence (HSL) or Red, Green and Blue (RGB) levels.  The Color Books tab displays a variety of Pantone and RAL color books.  You can even add additional color books in the Options dialog box (Files tab).

All those color possibilities will definitely make it easier for your clients to visualize your design intent!

OK...back to the conference!  Have a fantastic weekend everyone...

 

More AutoCAD LT 2009 Features

A friendly reminder that you can download my AutoCAD 2009 Tips and Tricks booklet by hitting the promo box over on the left side of my blog!  This is a short and sweet booklet that is basically "Just the facts, Maam".  Read a page a day and you'll have yourself up to speed on AutoCAD 2009 in no time!  As I mentioned I am also working on the AutoCAD LT version of the same booklet and I'll be sure to post that as well when it's finished.

Have you signed up for my Cadalyst Tips and Tricks Tuesdays videos yet?  Here you'll find some quick tips you can watch (especially nice if you are in a time crunch).

I'm going to continue writing about another standard AutoCAD command that made its way into AutoCAD LT 2009.  Even if you are an AutoCAD user, it doesn't help to get a quick refresher on the feature.

Finally...AutoCAD LT 2009 has Nonrectangular Viewports!

Ok...we are really spoiled in AutoCAD.  We've been able to create nonrectangular viewports since AutoCAD 2000!  You AutoCAD LT users, however, have been forced to live with those plain old boring rectangular viewports.  Well welcome to the 21st century!  Now, AutoCAD LT 2009 give you the power to create all the funky shaped viewports you want!. 

You can create nonrectangular viewports in the MVIEW command by selecting the Polygonal or Object option.  Polygonal lets you select the points that make up the viewport boundary (much like creating a polyline).  The Object option lets you select an existing closed object created in paper space such as a circle, ellipse or spline.

You can also clip an existing viewport with a nonrectangular boundary.  Objects used for clipping can include a closed polyline, circle, spline, or ellipse.

You LT users will really enjoy this new option...I'm so glad it finally made its way into LT!

AutoCAD features that made their way into AutoCAD LT 2009

My goodness...does it seem as though Spring is really taking its time this year? I just want to be able to eat outside and enjoy the sunshine!  This Wednesday I'll be attending COFES in Phoenix, Arizona and I hope I'll finally get my wish.  I love COFES because it's a conference where all the leading design software companies attend and for 4 days we all play nicely together.

I am working on the AutoCAD LT Tips and Tricks guide now and I was thrilled to see that some more AutoCAD commands have made their way into LT.  Let's take a look at one of them:

Attaching Raster Images in AutoCAD LT 2009:

Now AutoCAD LT users can attach raster images in the same fashion they do an XREF.   This can be done in the External References palette with the new Attach Image option or by using the new IMAGEATTACH command.  Simply select the desired image file as seen below:

After selecting an image you'll be asked for the usual questions such as insertion point, scale and rotation angle (much like the XATTACH command).

All the other cool Image commands are in AutoCAD LT 2009 as well!  You'll find the IMAGECLIP command that lets you clip your image to a polygonal or rectangular shape.  You'll find the IMAGEADJUST dialog box the lets you control the brightness, contrast and fade of your image.  IMAGEFRAME controls the visibility of the image frame. and IMAGEQUALITY can be set to Draft if you find your images are slowing your drawing down by too much.

Bonus Tip:  Set IMAGEFRAME to 2 so that the frame displays but doesn't plot!

AutoCAD 2009 Tips and Tricks booklet has arrived!

My latest Tips and Tricks booklet for AutoCAD 2009 is finally finished!  A great big thanks to Dana Kelly and her team along with the brilliant Heidi Hewett who always helps me out with the booklet by providing great images, and making sure I have all the correct information. 

 

I'm hoping to get an "official" link to the booklet but for now you can download the PDF here:

Download ACAD2009_tipsntricks.pdf

Let me warn you it's a BIG file so be patient.  Here are a couple of pages to give you a sample:

And I noticed that Heidi Hewett posted some AutoCAD 2009 demo videos on her blog.  Be SURE to check those out!

An April Fools Day Blog

Well I started off my April Fool's day with an email from Richard Doyle, who leads the SolidWorks User Groups, pointing me towards the website of fellow blogger Mike Puckette.  Silly me - I jumped the gun after reading the first couple of sentences and started making calls about this mysterious speaking engagement (you'll have to click on the link to understand).  If I had continued to read I would have realized it was all an April Fools joke (nice work Mike!).  Too funny...I am going to blame all this nasty cold medicine on my inability to read past sentence number two (how embarrassing).

Other than that my April Fool's Day was unexciting...although I was very excited to have my first tulip appear in the garden.  I planted these tulips (from Holland) late in the season and feared the worse, that there was no chance of them coming up.  I'm not exactly known for my green thumb (plants cry when I bring them home).  But much to my surprise and delight - I was wrong!

Isn't she beautiful?  I am so proud...(are those bugs on my tulip?)

Back to business - on to another new feature in AutoCAD 2009.

New FINDTEXT Toolbar in AutoCAD 2009:

I like this new handy toolbar that I can dock on my screen for quick search and rescue of text.  Right click on any toolbar (assuming you haven't moved over to the land of Ribbons yet) and select FindText.  That will display the toolbar (with no "real" tools) as seen below.

You simply key in text at any point and AutoCAD will proceed to search through your document for the indicated text string.  And you might recall my mentioning earlier that you can now search through blocks and Xrefs for text (and I'm not just talking about attribute values here).

  If you find yourself frequently searching for text then you might find it valuable to just dock this toolbar for easy access.

Happy April Fool's Day and I hope none of you were fooled too badly!