SubscribeI suppose I am starting to relax a little...(still haven't touched that closet though!)...I have been able to indulge myself in one of my favorite hobbies (possibly my favorite)...cooking! Today I baked the below peach pie...completely from scratch...(who says AutoCAD geeks can't cook!)...
And no...I did not draw the pattern for the heart (in the middle) on AutoCAD! :-)
Sadly, this past week we saw my daughter Ashley off to school and an acting career in Los Angeles...if anyone can make it in the business - it will certainly be her! (If you've met Ashley...you would understand). We did throw her a going away bash the night before she left...I miss her already!
(fyi - that's a temporary tattoo of a clapboard on her arm). It was a Hollywood themed party (but of course!) and I made those cupcakes you see in front of us (I even painted those edible stars!). I mean let's face it - who has time to paint stars when you're working full time? I certainly wouldn't...so let's see...so far we can equate my sabbatical successes to painted stars and a pie...hmmm...I think I need to aim higher!
Are you keeping up on my Cadalyst Video Tips and Tricks? For those of you who prefer your tips via video rather than by reading them you should really check them out. Last Friday while I was recording some new ones this pesky fly just would NOT leave me alone. I am sure you will be able to hear the evil fly buzzing during the video - so annoying! He even taunted me by actually landing on the fly swatter...the nerve! I won't lie...he eventually met his demise that day.
On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip on isolating layers:
Last week's Cadalyst Tip was on LAYISO. This fabulous command can be used to quickly isolate one or more layers. You simply select one or more objects and AutoCAD will turn off all the layers except for the ones the selected object resides on. This is a quicky means of isolating objects so you can easily work on an area that might be too crowded. The LAYUNISO command kindly does the opposite and puts everything back. Both commands used to be Express Tools (ahhhhh...don't we all love the Express Tools?) but grew up and became real live AutoCAD commands a couple of releases ago. That is especially good news for our AutoCAD LT fans as that means they can use the commands as well (LT users can't use the Express Tools). You'll find these two killer commands on the Layer panel of the Home tab in AutoCAD 2009 as seen below.
Releases before AutoCAD 2009 can find this command in the Format pull-down menu under Layer Tools. (how did this command possibly make it under the Format menu is beyond me!).
In AutoCAD 2008 and higher you'll find that rather than turning off the unselected layers, you can lock and fade them. I love that! That way you can still see the other objects - but they won't get in your way. You can't accidentally select any of those objects because they are locked. You can control the fade factor manually in the command or visually in the Layer panel.
Be sure to watch my video for other info on the LAYISO command.
As for me...I am off to cook something else...dinner!