Between the Lines

Time Change is a Good Time to Check Your Backup Solution

Many say with the time change to Daylight Savings you should check your fire & smoke detectors batteries and test them, that is a great idea.

Equally as important to many with gigabytes and terabytes of data, documents, design files, photo memories and basically our digital lives is to take the time and make sure you are backing your data up regularly, reliably and of course securely. Backup methods fail sometimes faster than a Vegas wedding, so double and triple check your backup methods and I possible don’t rely on just one method. whether it is external drives, physical media, cloud solutions, offsite media chiseled into stone whatever it is make sure it works and you can get your data back safely and securely. I once had my main hard drive go out and then I checked my back up solution and murphy struck and that too failed and I lost photos and documents I can never get back.

You should be doing these things more than twice a year with the time change but twice a year is better than never as both can cause memories to go up in flames.

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Tip: Using an Updating Text Field to Display Area of Hatch

In this example I am using AutoCAD for Mac 2013 but it is also applicable to AutoCAD for Windows.

So you have an area of a drawing in AutoCAD that is closed and has a Hatch pattern applied. What you want is an easy updated way to show the area in text even when the area hatched is changed. No problem use an AutoCAD Field.

Compare DWG File Changes in AutoCAD

Have you ever ended up with two drawings of the same name, just different time stamps on the file or an added suffix on the file name? Perhaps another team member was trying to be helpful (or not) and edited the file, now you need to know what changed.

Lucky for you there is an Autodesk App for that, and FREE.

I am using AutoCAD 2013 which is the version compatible with this app. Go to the Autodesk exchange from within AutoCAD using the icon in the upper right.

Or you could go to the Autodesk Exchange page http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/

Search for DWG Compare App, and the install it. while there grab the Drawing Tabs App.

After setting the original source drawing and the second version you select the little green arrow in the top of the DWG Compare plugin palette.

Now the results will be listed on the palette and you can select them and it will highlight that specific change. You can see what has been added, modified, or deleted as they are colored green, yellow and red and to make it obvious the non-altered objects are changed to a grey.

Cheers,
Shaan

Valentines Day Giveaway

I received several great tips covering both AutoCAD and Revit and had to pick just one to give the license of Techsmith Snagit to. I chose Owen Wengerd for his type on cycling through objects.

Here is Owen’s tip:

In AutoCAD, you can cycle through each entity beneath the pickbox during object selection to get the specific entity you want in a crowded drawing without needing to mess around zooming in and back out. If selection preview is enabled, you can press <Shift>-<Space> to cycle through the available entities. If selection preview is disabled, you can hold the <Shift> key and left-click to cycle through the available entities.

SnagIt, will you be my Valentine?

Owen your license is on its way in email!

Computer Reboot and Tech-xersism

Not a normal reboot by any means but actually a new drive and starting from the fresh Operating System and rebuilding as well a performing a tech-xersism to rid the machine of evil bits and bytes. I had to reinstall everything to get back to where I was before my drive and OS decided to get sick or possessed by ancient evil spirited code for the past two weeks seriously hobbling my ability to work between crashes, lockups and blue screens. I am very rough on hardware due to all the unreleased technology I install and uninstall or the crazy things I research and try as well as travel incidents like last year in remote Northern Turkana basin Kenya and having to place my laptop on blocks of ice due to the 115+ degree heat, and then AU 2011 where static electricity built up from all the walking and then I touched my laptop while it was running and the motherboard fried.

One of the biggest challenges when rebuilding your machine is knowing what your hardware is, what is installed, and what are you registration keys for the installed application. You can do it manually but that could seriously take forever and I found a free tool from a company that sells enterprise tools that give a tool for individuals to use to create a report of more details of your computer than you could ever do manually. From all your hardware details, OS and updates, driver versions, software and keys, to a list of the installed software you are not using frequently.I looked very closely into the tool to make sure it was not a scam tool or transmitted my data to their servers which it did not and was amazing to document my laptop hardware and software.

How do I know what is installed on my machine?
The Belarc Advisor http://belarc.com/free_download.html

 

One other thing I did when rebuilding my laptop is that I went with a Solid State Drive “SSD” instead of a standard drive. My bootup time of Windows from the power being off to logged in and ready to rock went from about 90 seconds to around 14 seconds with the same software installed. A SSD drive has no mechanical parts and is essentially flash memory like your cameras, iPads, and smartphones use. I am blown away at how fast a laptop can be running completely on a SSD drive.

Now I hopefully can get back to work with a healthy PC.

Cheers,
Shaan

Related articles

Whoa. I should have upgraded to an SSD last year

Three mistakes I made with my last laptop

CAD Americas Training Days in Several Cities This Fall

Learn from the Industry's Best and Brightest

Paul Aubin Revit Expert More	Rick Ellis Civil 3D Expert More	Robert Green CAD Mgmt. Expert More	Steve Schain AutoCAD Expert More	Tod Stephens Revit Expert More

And many more!

CAD Americas Training Days is coming this Fall to several cities and hopefully one near you.

Autodesk is pleased to sponsor CAD Americas Training Days, an opportunity to work face-to-face with industry experts to build your Autodesk product skills.

9/06 – Seattle, WA
9/07 – Los Angeles, CA
9/11 – San Francisco, CA
9/13 – Phoenix, AZ
9/18 – Minneapolis, MN
9/20 – Denver, CO
9/25 – Boston, MA
9/26 – New York / NJ
9/28 – Rochester, NY
10/02 – Indianapolis, IN
10/03 – Chicago, IL
10/04 – St. Louis, MO
10/10 – Houston, TX
10/11 – Dallas, TX
10/16 – Charlotte, NC
10/17 – Washington, D.C.
10/18 – Pittsburgh, PA
10/23 – Tampa, FL
10/25 – Toronto
 

REGISTER FOR CAD AMERICAS TRAINING TODAY

Autodesk Knowledge Base & More Resources for Tips and Solutions on Autodesk Products

For Autodesk products there are knowledge base articles generated by our experts in Product Support. These Knowledge Base articles can provide you will helpful tips and troubleshoot known issues to help make using Autodesk products easier and more productive. Some product’s Knowledge Base articles are updated more frequently than others.

You can get the Knowledge Base at the Autodesk documentation web page or by Autodesk RSS feeds.

Here are some recent lists of articles:

AutoCAD Knowledge Base

• Startup switches for AutoCAD
• How to request Autodesk product media
• How to find the Serial Number and Product Key for your Autodesk product

AutoCAD LT Knowledge Base

• AutoCAD crashes when expanding the File menu
• AutoCAD requests to Autodesk servers blocked by proxy servers
• 2013 DWG file format change

Autodesk Revit Architecture Knowledge Base

• Revit 2011 or 2012 products crash when attempting to replace material render appearance
• 2012: Returning to the product's default user interface
• Location of Journal files
• An error has occurred while drawing the contents of this window
• 2011: Launch warning reads "Some features may not be fully supported by the video card and driver on this computer"
• 2011: Product hangs when creating or opening a project

Autodesk Inventor Knowledge Base

• Cannot install Inventor 2012 on a machine that has Inventor 2013 installed
• Autodesk Sync issues after installing a 2013 beta product
• 3DS Max problem in suite workflow
• Error 1905 when uninstalling Autodesk Design Review
• Language pack fails to uninstall
• Uninstalling Inventor
• Microsoft's "Fix it" uninstall utility

Autodesk 3ds Max Knowledge Base

• Export from Revit to 3ds Max loses coordinates
• 2010: Maps fail when Backburner submits files for rendering
• Scaling issues with RPC and other 3d data transferred from Revit into 3ds Max
• Program error on start-up using 16 or more CPU cores

Autodesk Maya Knowledge Base

• Hotfix for Turtle 2013 to address Attribute Editor issues on MAC
• 2011: Installing Hotfix 3 causes errors (blog)
• 2011. Using dockControl (blog)
• Backburner renders but will not write image files
• Maya 2010. Mental ray Satellite does not work
• How to render multiple files on Mac OS X using a batch script
• Backburner will not work on Windows 7 as a service

Check out the Autodesk discussion forums as many of the expert product users are in there and help each other in the community.

Secret Tip: OK it isn't really a secret just not well known. Each product has a Autodesk Product Feedback Form. You select the product and then in clear and concise detail explain your problem or feedback good & bad and it sends an email to most product managers and some on the product teams. Just let them know what they are doing right and should keep doing, suggestions, or issues.

You can also enroll in Autodesk Beta Programs and Autodesk Usability Studies to be on the cutting edge of shaping the future of Autodesk products.

Cheers,
Shaan

AutodeskCare Solving Problems Tweet by Tweet and More!

For the AutodeskCare crew, it was hard to pass up an opportunity to guest post on Between the Lines. So when we saw the call going out for guest bloggers a little while ago, we couldn’t resist. Because as the new voice of Autodesk Customer Service and Support, the more you know about us, the happier we get!

Many of you have probably already heard about AutodeskCare. Some of you have talked to us on online already. For those of you we haven’t met yet, this is the scoop on what we do, where we do it, and how we work social customer care at Autodesk these days.

We’re out there talking with you now on many social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Pinterest, Youtube, and our own Support Forum’s Installation & Licensing board. We do this 24/5 M-F, mostly in English, and with around nine crewmembers in Asia, Europe and Middle East, and the Americas.

We also patrol numerous external communities, forums, and social Q&A networks. See, we spend a lot of time listening to you guys out there.

And that’s why you might be surprised to hear from us out of the blue someday. If we find you wandering, unsure, confused, or struggling out there, we’ll chime in and help as best we can.

And we’ll do that in real time. Because imagining, designing and creating a better world doesn’t wait around. This doesn’t mean we’re able to resolve every issue instantly, but it does mean we’ll “get on it” pronto. Because in this day and age, anything less is just “old school”.

Who are these masked AutodeskCare crew members you might ask? Far from being hidden away, we’re actually quite out in the open. Come meet us on the AutodeskCare blog. Every day, we cook up a compelling menu of “insider” stories mixed with live customer interaction excerpts. We then sprinkle on a healthy dash of self-help solutions, and top it all off with a splash of new innovative Autodesk service venues.

So don’t be bashful and drop by next time you’re in the area on Twitter, Facebook, the Blog, or the Forums. Your AutodeskCare crew ^CAM, ^CEL, ^SIM, ^PHL, ^AK, ^JES, ^APB, and ^JB are always at your beck and call – ready to help you whenever and wherever you need it most. The new voice of Autodesk Customer Service and Support is waiting for you!

Drawing with Surveyor’s Units in AutoCAD

Guest Post by Michael E. Beall the “CAD Trainer Guy” of the ‘http://www.cadtrainerguy.com/

I was training some folks at Cummins Engine Plant in Indiana, and one of the guys brought in a surveyor’s plan for his property asking how to enter the distance and bearing values from the site plan into AutoCAD.

The key to the exercise is knowing what AutoCAD requires when you type in the distance and bearing values. Surveyor’s Units are entered using the following format:

N 0d00’00” E

MEMO: Although setting the drawing units to Surveyor’s is not required to draw with distance and bearing values, you will find the options in the Format menu >Units.

The following exercise incorporates the DYN feature, just so you can understand how the dynamic entry feature works.

How to Draw with Surveyor’s Units

1. Begin a new drawing, then turn on Dynamic Input (DYN button) on the Status bar.

2. Launch the Line command, then specify the first point.

3. For the next point, enter the following value: @50.71'<N80d04'30"E

Breaking it down …

@ After specifying the start point, @ says the following values are to go from where you’re at.

Distance Enter the distance for that section of the property line (or road or culvert center line, etc.)

This says the angle or bearing value is to follow …

Bearing Enter the bearing values in the proper format for Surveyor’s Units shown in the example, above.

“These steps are for the ‘general AutoCAD user looking to draw accurate geometry from provided surveyor coordinates and bearings.  For those of you needing ‘Professional Grade’ mapping abilities, you may want to consider AutoCAD Map”.

Remove Proxy Objects From AutoCAD DWG

@JeffBartels reminded me on Twitter this weekend of a past tip & trick I wrote about a longtime ago that in AutoCAD if you want to remove proxy objects such as those added by AutoCAD Architecture or 3rd party applications to use the command AECTOACAD. This can remove intelligence and change some objects display by exploding them to native AutoCAD objects. It can also prevent other users that may need the proxy data if you send it back to someone requiring the proxy data. Test it on back up your original DWG file first.

Cheers,
Shaan

Be a Guest Author on Between the Lines

If you have read this Between the Lines blog over 8 years you know I am a big believer in promoting other blogs and product users tips and tricks as they say “a rising tide floats all boats” as it benefits all of us, and the of course you the readers. It has always been a real pleasure to publish a guest post from someone in the community to the community.

The idea is to share tips and articles that benefit Autodesk product and technology users as well as promote you, the expert and your, consulting, books, looking for a job, or promoting your blog, Twitter handle, or raise your Autodesk street cred among the CAD peeps. It helps the guest author get more visibility among peers as well as shares some valuable knowledge with the readers of the Between the Lines blog, a win – win for everyone in my book.

Share the knowledge as I don’t know everything and many bloggers are really knowledgeable on Autodesk products and technologies. You don’t need to be a blogger, just have some knowledge to share with the readers.

If you would like to publish a guest article on this blog about Autodesk Products, Tips and Tricks, or Autodesk Technology from 3ds  Max, AutoCAD, Inventor, 123D products and of course Revit really just and all things Autodesk.

To submit a guest post please Email Me for details and consideration.This is a great way to be seen by over 20,000+ people daily for free.

Some great examples of recent Guest Blog Posts:

Guest Post by R.K. McSwain of  ‘CAD Panacea’
Importing Inventor Models into AutoCAD

Guest Post by Brian Benton of  ‘CAD-a-Blog’
How to Trick Get Your Boss to Buy You an iPad (Tablet)
Autodesk Impression

Guest Post by Robin Capper of  ‘RobiNZ CAD Blog’
Moving AutoCAD Architecture Projects, even if Windows objects

Guest Post by Paul Munford of  ‘CAD Setter Out’ Blog
Five ways to use Autodesk Inventor’s End of Part Marker in your Daily Workflow
How to create a PDF from AutoCAD with a Single Click
How to turn off layers in your AutoCAD PDF Plots
How to create AutoCAD Hatches that use curved shapes.

Guest Post by Jimmy Bergmark of ‘JTBWorld’ Blog
AutoCAD - Update Sheet List Table and Edit Sheet List Table Settings

Guest Post by Edwin Prakoso of ‘CAD-Notes’ Blog
AutoCAD Data Extraction: Take Your Drawing to the Next Level

Guest Post by Michael Beall of ‘CAD Trainer Guy‘
AutoCAD Command Aliases
The Governing Body of AutoCAD Workspaces

Guest Post by Jeff Bartels @JeffBartels on Twitter
Adding AutoCAD Related Blog or Twitter Feeds in AutoCAD InfoCenter

Cheers,
Shaan!

Importing Inventor Models into AutoCAD

Guest Post by R.K. McSwain of the ‘CAD Panacea’

One of the new features of AutoCAD 2013 is the ability to import 3D models from a variety of sources including Autodesk Inventor. All versions of Inventor Part (.ipt) and Assembly (.iam) files are supported.

To get started, click the Insert tab, Import Panel, Import button. Change the files of type to Inventor, browse to find your file, and then click Open. The following information dialogs may appear.

Click OK on both and the Inventor model will be imported in the background while you continue working. Depending on the size and complexity of the Inventor part or assembly, it may take several minutes. Once the import process is complete, a bubble will appear in the tray.

Click the link in the bubble and the part will be inserted as a block, on layer 0, into the drawing at coordinate 0,0. This block contains the 3d model which can be used just like any other 3D model in AutoCAD. Use the new tools on the layout tab to create 2D documentation from this model. Kate Morrical has just finished a nice three part article on documenting 3D models in AutoCAD 2013.

The completed part as imported is shown here.

Thank you R.K. McSwain of the ‘CAD Panacea’.

If you would like to publish a guest article on this blog about Autodesk Products, Tips and Tricks, or Autodesk Technology. To submit a guest post please Email Me for details and consideration.This is a great way to be seen by over 20,000+ people daily for free. The idea is to share tips and articles that benefit Autodesk product and technology users as well as promote you, the expert and your, consulting, books, looking for a job, or promoting your blog.

Five ways to use Autodesk Inventor’s End of Part Marker in your Daily Workflow

Guest Post by Paul Munford of the ‘CAD Setter Out’ Blog

The ‘End of Part Marker’, or ‘EOP’ sits at the end of Inventor’s feature browser to let us know that there are no more features.

But that isn’t all it does! The End of Part Marker can be used as a productivity tool in its own right. Here are five great tips for making use of the EOP.

Five EOP Productivity Tips.

There are five ways to use the EOP:

• You can step through the feature tree to see how the part was created.
• You can use the EOP to place features at the correct place in the tree.
• You can use the EOP to help repair broken features.
• You can delete all the features below the EOP.
• You can roll the EOP up to make the part file smaller.

Stepping through the tree

This technique is pretty simple. Grab the EOP and drag it all the way to the top of the browser. Now drag it down, one feature at a time. You will see the inner workings of the part revealed before you!

This is great if you are working your way through someone else’s part and you want to see how it was put together.

Placing features at the right spot

Any new feature that you create will automatically be placed just above the EOP. Just roll the EOP up to the point that you want to insert your new feature and go for it.

New in Inventor 2013, you can now right click on any feature and chose ‘Move EOP [To Here]’ to slide the EOP up under your chosen feature.

You can also right click on the EOP itself and choose ‘Move EOP to Top’ or ‘Move EOP to End’ to send the EOP to either end of the tree.

Repair broken features

Occasionally you might change a feature at the beginning of the model tree which causes errors as features further up the tree fail to build (we’ve all done it!)

A good tactic is to roll the EOP up to underneath the first failed feature before you fix it. Now roll the EOP down one feature at a time. Nine times out of ten the rest of the failed features will now build successfully.

Delete all the features below the EOP

If there are features under the End of Part marker, you will find that you can delete them all in an instant simply by right clicking on the End of Part Marker and choosing ‘Delete all features below EOP’.

Shrinking part file size
Rolling the End of Part Marker up to the top of the feature browser will make the size of the part file much smaller.

This is a great tip if you need to send a part file via Email or if you want to upload a part to a forum.

I hope that you found these tips useful, and that they help you work more productively.

About the CAD Setter Out.

Paul Munford is a Joinery draughtsman (a ‘Setter Out’) for Beck Interiors; a UK based international Interior Fit out contactor which specializes in Museum Interiors.

Paul uses AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor to create manufacturing ‘Workshop’ drawings day in – day out.

Paul also writes for the ‘CAD Setter Out’ Blog, concentrating on Autodesk Inventor tips tricks & tutorials for Architectural Fabricators.

Tips and Trick for AutoCAD 2013 - Content Explorer and Autodesk 360

Guest posting by AutoCAD QA Team member Rohit Arora on the AutoCAD 2013 Content Explorer and Autodesk 360, a pact made in heavens (Cloud actually)!

In this “Tips and Tricks” write-up, I’m going to show the self-professed ‘Hackers and Tinkerers’ out there, the benefits of the newly released Autodesk 360 Sync service in AutoCAD 2013, when used in conjunction with the ‘Content Explorer’. Although the ‘Content Explorer’ was released last year, some people may not have taken a serious look at it. Well, after reading this tip, you may want to leverage these two features for your workflow.

Steps:

1. In order to use this tip, please ensure you have an Autodesk login. Then sign in (or register) by clicking on the ‘Sign In’ button, on the top right corner in AutoCAD.

·

2. Now open ‘Content Explorer’ by clicking on Explore button under Plugin Ribbon tab or type CONTENTEXPLORER at command prompt. By default you should see two local folders listed under ‘Content Service (Localhost)’: Downloaded Content & Sample. Here, you could also search for content on the Autodesk’s Seek service.

3. Type ONLINEFOLDER in the Command line. If you are successfully logged to Autodesk 360, you should get result as a folder path:

· C:\Users\<user login id>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Autodesk Sync\Cloud\<login.name>

4. Copy-clip this path, shown within quotes, from the Command line editor.

5. In the Content Explorer palette, click on “Add Watched Folder…” button at the bottom.

·

6. Under ‘Select Watched Folder’, click on any of the presented folders, say Documents, click OK.

·

7. In the next window ‘Edit Watched Folder’, you can edit the Local Path and paste the Autodesk Sync folder you had copied in Step 4. Add a Description and click OK to exit.

·

8. Now in Content Explorer palette, you should see a new folder named as your login for Autodesk 360 service. (e.g. ‘john.doe’). Done!

9. Now you have access to all the goodness of Drawings and Entities inside the drawings from within Content Explorer, all indexed and searchable!! Whoa!

·

10. Doing this allows you to drop Blocks/Layers/Dim-Styles, etc. from your Autodesk 360 drawings into your current drawing. Since all your content is synced to the Autodesk 360 documents, it’s always ready for sharing and collaboration. Off course, if you log out, then you lose this ability, so don’t!

11. So here are a few pointers: Store your office’s CAD standards, Block library or drawing templates in Autodesk 360, and use them anywhere, anytime; all indexed and searchable. If you explore further, Autodesk 360 allows you to access all (drawing) files via the web, and mobile devices using AutoCAD WS.

Best of Luck!

About the author: An architect turned technology professional; Rohit brings in 15 plus years of experience as an AutoCAD user, and the expertise of a CAD and IT Manager to Autodesk, while currently working as the AutoCAD Software QA Engineer.

Thank you for the guest post Rohit.

RefMan A Shy but Powerful AutoCAD Tool

How can you update and re-path AutoCAD drawing reference files such as other drawing files, fonts, or plot configuration files after a path has changed?


Reference Manager is the answer

In AutoCAD 2004 the Reference Manager was added and it is included with other AutoCAD based products like AutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD Mechanical.

You can locate the Reference Manager from the Windows Start Menu > Programs > Autodesk > AutoCAD 20xx > Reference Manager
(C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2012 - English\AdRefMan.exe)

The tool is easy to add drawings and see where reference files were found or not.

You can search, select all, invert selections, edit selected paths and even use find and replace paths in batch. There is no need to launch AutoCAD as this tool runs stand alone.

You can load a great deal of drawings into the Reference Manager to make sure you have all the reference files required.

I can isolate the problem reference files and in this case it is a plot style. I can click on it and enter a new path or even browse for the new path.

I can click on the problem reference and enter a new path or even browse for the new path.

Cheers,
Shaan

Snagit Trick - Export all Captured Images

Have you ever wanted all the images you captured in Snagit to be saved elsewhere and in another format than the .SNAG format? This is one of those Snagit tricks that are not well known but are seriously powerful like adding the bacon callouts in Snagit or the custom export option to create an animated Gif from the other Techsmith must have application Camtasia.

Perhaps you are a designer, manager, or trainer working on standards, documentation, or presentation or perhaps an author capturing thousands of images like Donnie Gladfelter author of “AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required” and have left all those images managed by Snagit. But now you want to export all the captures to a directory for safe keeping or perhaps all your images for the entire year of 2010 named by capture dates.

Now you need the fast and easy way to place all the images to one directory fast and painless? Well here is the method I have used for years to archive all my Snagit images in a  folder in the JPG format.

First lets make sure you understand there are two parts to Snagit.

There is the Snagit Capture and the other the Snagit Editor.

In the Snagit Editor select images in the right side Search Pane by tag, date or folders. I use the date option to export all my recent Snagit captures. To see all images instead of the last one select the Library which is a folder with images looking icon in the lower right of the application.

Select all the images you want in the Canvas or by selecting individually using Ctrl+Left Mouse Button (LMB). The highlighted images will have a orange’ish highlight.

In the Snagit Editor Start Menu select Convert Images.

You will now see the Selecting Files dialog.

Selecting Next

You now see the Conversion Filters dialog.

You can change the resolution, rotation, add watermarks, captions, and more filters if you want.

In all most all cases I do not select any and select Next.

Now you should be staring at the Output Options dialog. In this dialog select the output directory and the image format you want to convert them to and I suggest to leave the file name as the original capture date.

Now select Next and it will process the files in a flash to the directory.

I do this to archive all the images for later use so I don’t accidently lose them moving from machine to machine or years down the road. One thing to note is that in the .SNAG format you retain and the vector objects like Snagit callouts but those are flattened to raster when you convert to a raster format like JPG.

Since you are backing up your Snagit images why not back up your computers at the beginning of this new year to be safe and also replace batteries in the smoke detectors.

This is not a commercial in any way just a tip for all those people that use Snagit. Snagit and Camtasia are two software tools I use daily, and have for over 12 years with Snagit and Camtasia since its release date. There is nothing out there on the market to buy or even free that comes even close. There are also Mac versions of both. I also love the people at Techsmith, they are awesome.

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Tip: How to use Ellipses and Splines as Island Boundary Objects with Presspull

Problem: Ellipses and Splines are ignored by the Presspull command when used as island boundary objects.

Workaround: Turn off Selection Preview.

Original geometry	Presspull with Selectionpreview = 3	Presspull with Selectionpreview = 0

Hint: When using Presspull with Selection Preview off, you must place your cross hairs within the boundary before the command is executed.

Thanks to Cliff Young of the AutoCAD QA Team for this AutoCAD Tip.

The Governing Body of AutoCAD Workspaces

This is a guest post by Michael Beall (www.autocadtrainerguy.com).

Word to the Wise: Workspaces.

Workspace definition (per the Help menu): Workspaces are sets of menus, toolbars, palettes, and ribbon control panels that are grouped and organized so that you can work in a custom, task-oriented drawing environment.

The Workspace named 2D Drafting & Annotation provides several Ribbon panels and tabs containing common features needed for 2D drawings. The Workspace named 3D Modeling provides Ribbon-based 3D-related features. Both of these are good starting points. You can then refine the Ribbon a bit more, then save it as another Workspace.

GOLD STAR TIP: At the office, if you have already ‘arranged’ your Ribbon, I would recommend that you first create a workspace of your current arrangement so you can return to that condition when you’re finished ‘experimenting’.

How to Create a Workspace

1.. To save your current workspace by name, click the Workspace Switching icon on the right half of the status bar, then click Save Current As.

2.. Enter a name for the current workspace, then click Save.

Quandary: How do you update a Workspace with the changes you have made to the Ribbon that you now want to keep?

MAJOR, MAC-DADDY MEMO: If you have created a workspace after configuring your Ribbon, PLEASE save your Workspace before you open the CUI [Customize User Interface] … because when you close the CUI and save your changes, AutoCAD uses the most recently saved condition of your workspace.

How to Update Your Workspace

1.. Make the necessary changes and position edits to your Ribbon.

2.. On the Status bar, click Workspace Switching, then click Save Current As.

3.. In the drop-down list, choose the name of the workspace for the changes, then click Save.

4.. When you see the notice regarding replacing the workspace that already exists, click Replace.

You will find this tip and a couple hundred other insights in The AutoCAD Workbench, available from Michael’s website, www.autocadtrainerguy.com

If you would like to submit a guest post please Email Me for details.

Display Plot Style in AutoCAD Layout

I received the following question today while in my hotel room in LA and wanted to write a blog post with images to make the solution more clear, and perhaps assist others with the same question.

“My background in paper space is white with color lines, I want to change the color lines to black lines, I did once but is impossible to remember how I did it.”

What we want to do is change the Layouts Plot Style to black and white which is “monochrome”, and then select the option to show the Layout with the applied plot Style just as it will plot.

A Layout is essentially what you plot as a large preview, think of it as a piece of paper. Here we see the drawing with a white Layout background just like paper and the color layer based lines. The only thing not shown is the plot style you may apply to the Layout. In this case we want the color line work that will use the monochrome Plot Style to show as Monochrome in the Layout.

Use the Page Setup Manager. I used the PAGESETUP command at the AutoCAD command line or you can right-click on the Layout tab and select Page Setup Manager.

Now select your layout then select Modify.

Now in the Page Setup dialog in the upper right change the plot style to monochrome and be sure to select the option to "display plot style" as that will make your layout display the monochrome.

Select OK and you are done.

Cheers,
Shaan

AutoCAD Command Aliases

This is a guest post by Michael Beall (www.autocadtrainerguy.com).

For all you veteran AutoCAD users out there who like to TYPE most of your commands (and want to type C to launch Copy), this is for you.

How to Modify Your Command Aliases

1.. On the Manage tab >Customization panel, click Edit Aliases to open the file ACAD.PGP in the Windows Notepad.

2.. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the acad.pgp file where you will see a paragraph beginning with “-- User Defined Command Aliases ––”.

MEMO: With a new release of AutoCAD coming out each year, this note basically states that if you want your custom aliases to be migrated to the next version (if you still own that computer), make your edits below that paragraph because that’s what will be automatically appended to the next version’s alias list.

3.. Put your cursor after the text that reads “DO NOT REMOVE”, then press [Enter] a couple times.

4.. Use the following context for your aliases:

C, *COPY

Which breaks down as…

The character(s) you want to type at the command line to launch the command
Comma (very important, won’t work without it)
Tab (or however many spaces you want; Tab makes ‘em line up)
Asterisk (very important, won’t work without this either)
Full name of the command

Here are a few examples that I have added to my own acad.pgp

GOLD STAR TIP: For commands that start with the same letter, use a single character for the command you use most often (such as Copy), and a double character for the other one (such as Circle). Don’t move your finger, just hit the character more often for the lesser used commands. [Yes, you will remember.]

5.. Close and Save your ACAD.PGP, then read on ...

Initializing the ACAD.PGP File

Here’s how to force AutoCAD to look at ACAD.PGP now that you have made these changes.

How to Make Your Aliases Take Effect Now

1.. At the command line, enter REINIT to open the Re-initialization dialog box.

2.. Check the box for ‘PGP File’, then click OK.

3.. Test your new alias(es). Have a nice day!

You will find this tip and a couple hundred other insights in The AutoCAD Workbench, available from Michael’s website, www.autocadtrainerguy.com

If you would like to submit a guest post please Email Me for details.

Adding AutoCAD Related Blog or Twitter Feeds in AutoCAD InfoCenter

Guest post by Jeff Bartels @JeffBartels.
If you would like to publish a guest article on this blog about AutoCAD please email me at shaan@autodesk.com. This is a great way to be seen by over 20,000+ people daily for free. The idea is to share AutoCAD tips that benefit AutoCAD users as well as promote the AutoCAD experts looking for work, consulting, books, promoting their blogs, or more.

Adding Blog RSS and Twitter Feeds to AutoCAD Communication Center/InfoCenter

• Start by visiting your favorite blog, or Twitter page, and look for this icon -   This icon means the data on the page is available as an RSS link.
• Right-click on the icon and select “Copy Shortcut” from the menu.  This action “steals” the link and places it temporarily on your clipboard.
• Next, open AutoCAD and click the Communication Center icon (circled in red) at the top right of the interface. 
• After opening the Communication Center, click the InfoCenter Settings icon (circled in green) to open the InfoCenter Settings dialog box.
  
• Make sure that RSS Feeds is selected on the left side of the dialog box, and click the “Add…” button in the upper right. 
• When the Add RSS Feed dialog box opens, Right Click in the address bar and select “Paste” from the menu.  In the example image, I have pasted the link for Shaan Hurley’s Blog, “Between the Lines”.
• Click the Add button, followed by OK to finish.  (Repeat these steps for as many additional blogs, or Twitter pages as you like.)

From now on the Communication Center can be a “one-stop-shop” for all of your CAD related blog entries and tweets.  To view the latest information, simply open the Communication Center and look beneath the “RSS Feeds” heading.  As a bonus, try selecting an entry to be taken directly to the blog, or Twitter page. 

Jeff Bartels has been using AutoCAD professionally, and teaching AutoCAD since Release 12.  Jeff has authored ten AutoCAD training titles for Lynda.com – www.lynda.com/jeffbartels
You can follow him on Twitter @JeffBartels where he regularly posts AutoCAD tips and shortcuts.

Thank you Jeff!

Here is a list of  Blogs, RSS feeds, and Twitter for other CAD Blogs compiled by Shaan. You can also add RSS feeds to your RSS feedreaders like the Google Reader.

Shaan Hurley’s Between the Lines Blog	Blog:http://autodesk.blogs.com/ RSS http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blogs/btl Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrcadman
Lynn Allen's Blog	Blog: http://lynn.blogs.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/typepad/lynnblog/lynn_allens_blog Twitter: http://twitter.com/lynn_allen
Heidi Hewett's AutoCAD Insider Blog	Blog: http://heidihewett.blogs.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HeidiHewettsBlog Twitter: http://twitter.com/heidihewett
Guillermo Melantoni What a Mesh Blog	Blog: http://whatamesh.typepad.com/ RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/WhatAMesh
Kate Morrical's LT Unlimited Blog	Blog: http://ltunlimited.typepad.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ltunlimited Twitter: http://twitter.com/katemorrical
AutoCAD Support Team Without a Net Blog	Blog: http://withoutanet.typepad.com/ RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/typepad/withoutanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/WithoutANet
Autodesk University Speakers Blog	Blog: http://auspeaker.wordpress.com/ RSS: http://auspeaker.wordpress.com/feed/
The AUGI Blog	Blog: http://augi.typepad.com/ RSS: http://augi.typepad.com/augi_news/rss.xml Twitter: http://twitter.com/BLAUGI
Brian Benton's CAD-a-Blog	Blog: http://cadablog.blogspot.com/ RSS: http://cadablog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default# Twitter: http://twitter.com/bcbenton
Robin Capper	Blog: http://rcd.typepad.com/rcd/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RobinzBlog Twitter: http://twitter.com/robincapper
Edwin Prakoso CAD Notes	Blog: http://cad-notes.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/CADNotes Twitter: http://twitter.com/cad_notes
Melanie Perry Mistress of Dorkness	Blog: http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MistressOfTheDorkness Twitter: http://twitter.com/melanieperry
R.K. McSwain CAD Panacea	Blog: http://cadpanacea.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cad_panacea
Curt Moreno Kung Fu Drafter	Blog: http://www.kungfudrafter.com/ RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/kungfudrafter Twitter: http://twitter.com/wkfd
Mark Kiker CADDManager Blog	Blog: http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/caddmanager/WP-feed Twitter: http://twitter.com/caddmanager
Jimmy Bergmark JTB World	Blog: http://blog.jtbworld.com/ RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JtbWorld Twitter: http://twitter.com/jtbworld
Vladimír Michl Budweiser Blog	Blog: http://budweiser.xanadu.cz/ RSS: http://budweiser.xanadu.cz/feeds/posts/default# Twitter: http://twitter.com/VMichl
David Cohn CADman-DO	Blog: http://cadman-do.blogspot.com/ RSS: http://cadman-do.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default#
Dean Saadallah LT is still AutoCAD	Blog: http://ltisacad.blogspot.com/ RSS: http://ltisacad.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default#

AutoCAD Layout Background Color to Solid Black or Other Color

As a follow-up to the posting How to Change the AutoCAD Layout Background Color earlier this week in response to a Twitter request. I showed how to change the Layout paper background color. But what if you just want a solid black background in Layout with no paper like Modelspace, here is the solution.

The AutoCAD 2011 default white Layout background with paper and printable area background.

If you want to change you AutoCAD Layout background color from the defaults go to Options>Display. Now uncheck the first four Layout Elements.

Now select the Color button to change the AutoCAD UI element colors.

1. Select Sheet Layout
2. Select Uniform Background
3. Select Color Black or whatever color you want the entire Layout background color to be. In my case I am setting it to black like Modelspace.

Select Apply & Close and you are done.

Now you have a complete single color background Layout.

Follow me on Twitter at
@mrcadman or @autocad

Cheers,
Shaan

How to Change the AutoCAD Layout Background Color

I received a question on Twitter today asking how to change the AutoCAD 2011 background color of the Layout.

The default color of the paper in a Layout is white, but perhaps you would like it to blue or maybe black.

If you want to change you AutoCAD background colors from the defaults go to Options>Display> then select the Color button.

In the Drawing Window Color dialog you have complete control over the color settings of most everything in AutoCAD. For the Layout paper background select Sheet/Layout > Uniform Background and then set the color you want.
from the default white.

Slightly related: If you want the old AutoCAD classic icons instead of the ribbon, change your Workspace to the AutoCAD Classic Workspace.

You can even get your AutoCAD to look like it did back in AutoCAD R14 and earlier. AutoCAD UI ~ Best of Both Worlds is Flexible with Traditional Menus or New Ribbon +Plus+ AutoCAD UI Retro Mod’ing Fun

Cheers,
Shaan

The Best, the Rest, the Rare 100 AutoCAD Tips You Should Know

This post on cad-notes.com has to be the best AutoCAD blog post I have seen this year. One hundred tips compiled and organized by Edwin Prakoso of CAD Notes.

The Best, the Rest, the Rare: 100 AutoCAD Tips You Should Know

AutoCAD eTransmit Secret Ninja Trick the Text Template

Have you ever wondered how you can pre-populate your custom notes included in an eTransmit transmittal package? This is one of those secret AutoCAD Ninja trick that is not well known.

First an overview of eTransmit for those that may not be aware of this awesome feature of AutoCAD. eTransmit used to be an AutoCAD Express Tool many years ago named Pack n Go. With eTransmit you can organize a transmittal set of files including drawings, spreadsheets and more using the Add Files option, reference files like fonts and more packed into a single folder (or preserve folder structure), Zip file, or self extracting EXE. You can convert the DWG files to a specific DWG version, bind external references “Xrefs”, set the plotter to None, purge, password protect, and send as an email. eTransmit is not only a great way to pack up files to send externally, but a great way to quickly take all files from multiple directories and formats and with one click set to a single directory and the required format.

When creating a eTransmit transmittal package of drawings you might be entering the notes for your companies standard transmittal form or your notes to a client such as instructions, contract text and legal disclaimers manually. There is a way to set the default notes text used by eTransmit. You simply create a text file named etransmit.txt in your support directory. Now the notes field will be pre-populated with your standard text automagically. 

You can easily select the View Report option to see the text and all correct files are listed and ready to go to insure your customer/client receives the files in the format requested along with your standard transmittal text.

Share the tip to fellow eTransmit users and if you don't use eTransmit give it a try.

Cheers,
Shaan