Lynn Allen's Blog

Back in the Saddle and an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Workspaces

Well...we all know how tough it is to go from a peaceful week of relaxation back into the frying pan (although - I can't really say the tour is equivalent to a frying pan).  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...a week off was exactly what I needed before picking the Experience Tour back up again.  Today the Experience Tour is in Denver and tomorrow we're off to Houston!

Last weekend our family had a monumental event as the first  of our sons graduated from Chico State University.  Hooray!  One down!  He looks so thrilled in the picture below:

Congrats Justin!!!  We are so proud!

Okay...back to work...

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Workspaces:

Did you listen to my latest Tips and Tricks Video from last week?  It talks all about the world of Workspaces which can definitely save you time (and aggravation).  More importantly - for you on AutoCAD 2009 - it shows you how to get your user interface back to "AutoCAD Classic".  This removes the new ribbon interface and puts back your pull-down menus and toolbars.  Can't find the Workspace toolbar in AutoCAD 2009?  The Workspace icon is now located in the lower right corner of the status bar.

Essentially - Workspaces are a snapshot of your user interface.  You can save as many different workspaces as you like.  For example - you may choose to have different toolbars on your screen when you're working in paperspace than you do in model space.  No problem - save a workspace for model space and then save one for paper space.  Then it's simply a matter of doing a quick pick to jump from one to the other.

How do you save a Workspace?  Set up the UI the way you want, drop down the Workspace listing and select Save Current As...

And finally...key in the name for your shiny new workspace!

Be sure to listen to the video...that's really your best bet to fully understand.  You'll hear that my dog Tiffany was sick while I recorded the video...the poor thing overdosed on dry dog food and was sick for two days!  Oh dear...bad dog parents...she won't go near the stuff now.

Lynn is on Vacation...

I'm afraid there shall be no blogging this week...I'm officially off the clock for a week courtesy of Autodesk.  I'm temporarily turning in my Experience Tour duties for a relaxing week in Hawaii - and I'm off to find a drink with an umbrella in it!

I'll be back at you on Tuesday - May 27th as I fly to Denver for week 4!

And so much is happening this week...who will win of the two David's on American Idol?  They are both fabulous and they both could easily win.  I personally think David Cook is better but then David Archuleta has the added benefit of all those teenage girls who are going to text for him all night long!  (having been a teenage girl at one point I completely understand and support them).  And David Archuleta is definitely super talented (and he's only 17!)

Ahhhhhhhhhh...I digress...I need to find a pool and that umbrella drink!

Lock Down those AutoCAD Toolbars!

Week 3 of the Experience Tour is over and we get a week off before week 4 kicks off in Denver.  This past week we hit Detroit and Toronto - where we had our largest crowd yet!  A very nice young man named Jorge took a picture with me in Toronto (below) and was kind enough to send it to me. 

I signed many of my AutoCAD Tips and Tricks booklets (I'll send you all checks later for asking) and did my best to answer the many AutoCAD questions that people came up afterward and asked. 

In Atlanta I spoke at an AUGI CAD Camp where I had a chance to catch up with the wonderful Matt Murphy, David Cohn and Robert Green (all three are top rated speakers at Autodesk University).  And finally I took a late flight back home to San Francisco where the United Airlines pilot decided to abort the landing at the last minute (Yikes!).  After two different explanations from the pilot (and of course they cut off the channel from the cockpit) we were told there was a warning light on and they were trying to fix it...Ok...Call me crazy - but I don't think you are supposed to fix warning lights...I think you are suppose to try and fix what the light is warning about!  After circling for an extra hour and a few frayed nerves later we finally landed...we all kissed the ground on the way off the plane (alright...slight exaggeration...but I definitely considered it!).

Did you get a chance to catch my latest Cadalyst Tips and Tricks last week on Toolbars 101? 

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Putting the Lockdown on your Toolbars:

Once you get your toolbars all set into place it can be so irritating when you accidentally move them so be sure to lock them down.  You'll find the handy toolbar locking tool on the far right side of the status bar.  If you have AutoCAD 2008 or AutoCAD 2009 you'll actually see two lock icons on the status bar.  The left most lock is used to lock/unlock viewports and the one on the far right is to lock/unlock your toolbars.

Select the far right lock tool and you'll see the following options:

• You can choose to lock your floating toolbars (or any of the new ribbon panels you've chosen to tear off and float)
• You can choose to lock your docked toolbars (or the new ribbon panels that are docked)
• You can choose to lock/unlock your floating windows or your docked windows (palettes such as Properties).

If you are in a release prior to AutoCAD 2009 you won't see the Panels option.

So enjoy this little Hip Tip - be sure to check out the Toolbars 101 video if you want to see it in action!

The Experience Tour Continues!

Well we are on week three of The Experience Tour now...(last week we took off to work on content for Autodesk University).  Detroit yesterday, Toronto today and tomorrow I hit an AUGI CAD Camp in Atlanta - phew!  Then I get to enjoy a much needed weeks vacation (you probably won't be hearing from me) before we jump into another 5 weeks of The Experience Tour.

I noticed that my AutoCAD 2009 Screencast is on the Autodesk home page.  Be sure to have a look at that if you miss the actual tour.

AutoCAD Hip Tip:  How to quickly find the properties of an object in a block or Xref!

Yesterday in Detroit someone asked me how to quickly find layer information of an object in an Xref.  I rattled that around in my head while another attendee blurted out the XLIST command (thankfully!).  The XLIST command is actually an Express tool that was created to list the type, block name, layer name, color and linetype of a nested object in a block or an xref. This fabulous command is simple.  Select the object within the block or Xref and AutoCAD will display the properties (unlike the standard Properties command).

It doesn't get much easier than that!

I wonder who is going to get the boot on American Idol tonight!  I wasn't able to watch it last night due to traveling (such a drag) but I do have it on Tivo! 

I'm off to do my presentation!

Autodesk University Planning Week and an AutoCAD Hip Tip!

Well we've been plugging away all week working on the content for Autodesk University 2008.  With over 600 courses and over 1400 submittals we want to make sure we have the best possible slate of classes.  Joseph Wurcher, June Nakatani and Matt Olding have been locked up together in a room for three days now - two to go!  We are all going to need a break from each other after this for sure!

So who is going to get voted off of American Idol this week?  Sorry to say it but I REALLY hope it's Jason.  I know he has his fans but I think he's the least talented of those who are left.  I absolutely believe it will get down to the two David's but can't we please keep adorable Sayesha for just one more week?  Please???

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Mining Data with Design Center:

Another of my  Tuesday Tips and Tricks videos came out yesterday - this one was on Design Center.  Design Center is one of those tools that I find so many of us have forgotten about!  It's actually quite a powerful tool that makes it easy for us to mine data from one drawing to another.  Did you make a great dimension style in a previous drawing that you'd like to use in your current drawing?  Design Center to the rescue!

The easiest way to get to Design Center is with Ctrl+2.  You can also get to it from the Tools menu, from a toolbar, or the new ribbon if you prefer.  Using Design Center simply navigate to the drawing you'd like to grab some data from and you'll see a listing of the all types of things you can bring into your current drawing:  blocks, layers, table styles, dimension styles, layouts, linetypes....the list goes on and on. 

Simply select the category you want and right click on the data you want to add to your drawing.  Below I've selected a layer and accessed "Add layer" from the shortcut menu.  Depending on the category you can highlight multiple items to migrate over to your current drawing.

It's just that simple - so don't recreate your data - use Design Center!  To see me demonstrate this tip be sure to go to the Cadalyst Tips and Tricks video.

Two more hours until American Idol - Yikes!!!  I am crossing my fingers for Syesha tonight...

Converting AutoCAD Drawings to Raster and the AutoCAD 2009 Screencast!

Well...week two of the tour is over and I'm back home with the little white fluffy dog (hoorah!).  I have really enjoyed the audience members who've come up to me and introduced yourselves - or asked me to sign their Tips and Tricks booklets - you are all so nice to me (and oh so flattering)!  I truly love presenting to so many friendly faces and hopefully sharing some productivity tips that will make your life easier.  A great big thank you to Larry Swinea for driving a bunch of us to the airport (you are truly a saint Larry) and for being such a great host at the Dallas Fort Worth Autodesk User Group on Wednesday night.  Larry's wife Lisa was kind enough to bring their adorable son "Will" to the user group meeting for a short while (which definitely brightened up the evening for everyone!). 

Moving along- I want you all to know that the AutoCAD 2009 Screencast has been posted.  If you don't get a chance to hear all about the new features live on the tour you can watch the recorded version free of charge up on the Autodesk website.  I think the easiest way to get to it is via the AutoCAD webpage - you will have to fill out a short form to view it, but I hope you'll think it's worth it!

Converting AutoCAD Drawings to Raster:

I recently recorded a short video on converting AutoCAD drawings to raster files for Cadalyst and strongly suggest you take a quick look if you've run into that issue.  Click here to view my latest Tips and Tricks Tuesday video.

AutoCAD does allow you to print to the raster file of your choice by setting it up as a printer.  This can be done in the Add a Plotter Wizard (Tools pull-down=>Wizards). 

 

You can also configure the resolution of the raster file by editing the plotter configuration as seen below:

If you want to change the background color (something I am always asked about) do so by selecting Custom Properties as seen below:

I really suggest you watch the video  - that will make it all so much easier.

Enjoy the weekend - we are having a "Cuatro de Mayo" shindig on Sunday (since it's a day before Cinco de Mayo).  Complete with a crazy pinata, hats, and good Mexican food (one of my favorites).