Contribute a tip, become famous

[CADTutor]

Hello boys and girls. I'm going to be launching the new CADTutor site homepage this week and here's your chance to see your own name up there on the busiest page of the site.

 

"OK, what do I have to do?"

 

Well, I'm putting a new section on the homepage called "Tip of the Day" (original eh?). Each day, a new AutoCAD tip will be published and the author will be credited. So, all you have to do is reply to this thread with your favourite AutoCAD tip or trick and I'll add it to the database.

 

"OK, what information do you need?"

 

Your tip needs a title, a paragraph or so describing what it is and how it works and attach any images that need to be included. You should also include the name you'd like to see your tip credited to if it's anything other than your forum name.

 

That's it.

 

You may enter as many tips as you like but each one must be in a new post.

[CADTutor]

Hmm, OK, so no one wants to be famous

 

Well, you can at least see the new "Tip of the Day" feature live on the homepage now: http://www.cadtutor.net/#tip

 

If anyone does have a tip to contribute, please do - not that I'm desperate or anything

[yedan]

ok a tip that has helped me a few times,

 

The midway point osnap command,

 

Drawing a line or circle that starts midway between two points is easy enough if the midway point falls on a line or other object but what if it falls in the space between two other objects like say a circle in between two squares like this

 

 

there is an osnap that for some reason is not included on the osnap tool bar, its is called Midway 2 points or m2p for short to use this command start the circle command and before choosing anything else type m2p in the command line you will be asked for the first mid point in my example i use two squares and select the mid point of one side

 

 

you will then be asked for the second mid point select the mid point of the other squares side

 

 

all that is left to do is give your circle a dia or radius

 

 

there you have it, a circle exactly midway between two objects floating in the space between without the need for any construction lines,

 

happy drawing

andy "yedan" perry

[CADTutor]

Excellent tip Yedan - that one is definately going onto the database - thank you

[CromCruithne]

Here's another along those lines that I found whilst customizing toolbars.

Although it's not on the draw menu or even part of the circle sub-menu there is a Tan, Tan, Tan option for circles. I'm not sure what the command line command is, but you can add it to the Draw toolbar easily enough through the CUI interface.

 

-Crom

[yedan]

crom, wouldn't that be the same as using a 3p circle and tangent osnaps?

[dbroada]

Expanding on this subject, mid between 2 points is now included as one of the standard snaps on 2006.

 

It appears from watching others work in this office that not everybody knows that shift-right click pops up a temporary OSNAP setting box - ideal for this sort of work!

[yedan]

yes it does indeed and i was one of those that didnt know about the right click box, or at least had forgotten about it, i have now added the snap to my tool bar as i don't use alot of the right hand click menus

[CADTutor]

It appears from watching others work in this office that not everybody knows that shift-right click pops up a temporary OSNAP setting box - ideal for this sort of work!

 

Good one - it's in the database. Thanks

[CromCruithne]

crom, wouldn't that be the same as using a 3p circle and tangent osnaps?

Yes and no. It's essentially the same thing, but when doing machine drafting, a circle tangent to 3 points is fairly common and it's handy to have it right there. Also, I tend to work with barebones Osnap setttings to avoid accidentally snapping to the wrong point. I know folks who keep every Osnap on, but I can't work that. The tan,tan,tan circle might not be revolutionary, but it makes my life easier.

 

=-Crom

[CADTutor]

Here's another along those lines that I found whilst customizing toolbars.

Although it's not on the draw menu or even part of the circle sub-menu there is a Tan, Tan, Tan option for circles. I'm not sure what the command line command is, but you can add it to the Draw toolbar easily enough through the CUI interface.

 

-Crom

 

This is a bit weird. I found the Tan Tan Tan option in the CUI editor and even got the macro:

^C^C_circle _3p _tan \_tan \_tan \ 

But I can't work out how to implement this on the command line.

[WagglyFawn]

Are you trying to keep these tips of the day within a certain skill level?? I've got a few 3D tips that have come in very handy.

[CADTutor]

Are you trying to keep these tips of the day within a certain skill level?? I've got a few 3D tips that have come in very handy.

 

No, we have users at all levels, so tips could be beginner stuff, intermediate or advanced.

[tzframpton]

Here's my "tip":

 

AutoCAD 2007 - Where's my old XREF Manager??

 

To bring up the "old" XREF Manager, you have to type CLASSICXREF at the command line. well, if you want things back the way they were and use the classic XREF Manager as the default, a few adjustments will get you there.

 

1st go to Tools > Customize > Edit Program Parameters to locate the ACAD.PGP file.

 

 

Next, scroll down until you see XR, then change it from *XREF to *CLASSICXREF and save. Return to AutoCAD, type REINIT, check the PGP File checkbox and click okay.

 

 

To change your Menu, type CUI at the command line, go to Menus > Insert > External References... and click on it once.

 

 

Now under Properties, change the Macro setting to ^C^C_classicxref and you're done.

[CromCruithne]

This is a bit weird. I found the Tan Tan Tan option in the CUI editor and even got the macro:

^C^C_circle _3p _tan \_tan \_tan \ 

But I can't work out how to implement this on the command line.

 

 

I had the same problem. I tried any number of ways to use it from the command line and got nowhere. I can only make it work as a toolbar button.

I had been compressing toolbars into short bars with flyouts and added that one on a whim.

 

-Crom

[hendie]

I had the same problem. I tried any number of ways to use it from the command line and got nowhere. I can only make it work as a toolbar button.

-Crom

 

Command: c
CIRCLE Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: 3p
Specify first point on circle: _tan to
Specify second point on circle: _tan to
Specify third point on circle: _tan to

just choose the 3 point option for the circle, when asked for each point specify Tangent snap

[Seann]

I like the new front page by the way! Mostly because my name is on it as a top poster for the week! I rule! And thanks for your email for my Birthday today (2/15) got here the day before due to time difference but it was still nice. Any way to my tip:

QNEW:

Have you ever wanted to change your QNEW command or your new button to open a certain .dwt file? Here's how:

-Go to the options menu and select the Files Tab

-Go down to Template Settings

-Select Default Template File Name for QNEW

-Select your .dwt file you want to use

Now when you open AutoCAD or hit the new button this .dwt will load every time.

I got a few more but time to get to work.

[SEANT]

Imprint to Sub-divide Face

 

The “Imprint” command (Modify-Solids Editing-Imprint) gives the first impression of nothing more than adding graffiti to solids. Upon closer investigation, however, we find that it actually modifies the face on which it is placed.

 

Here, I’ve created a “Sub-Divide Face” procedure. A line is drawn at the seam and imprinted on the solid.

This new face subdivision is then “Extrude Face”ed (Modify-Solids Editing-Extrude Faces) to generate the addition feature.

To generate this modified part with Boolean operations would not be difficult but, as we all know, speed and accuracy are the name of the game. The procedure describe above can be auto-executed with the command macro:

 

^C^C_line;\\;_solidedit;b;i;\last;y;;;f;E;\;\\;;

 

The UI could benefit from some advanced programming, but if one pays attention to the Command Prompts it’s not so bad.

[CADTutor]

Thanks Syk, Seann and Seant; all those tips will go into the database.

 

Really good tips guys. Keep 'em coming.

[Seann]

AutoCAD Expert:

Are you an expert in AutoCAD? Well according to Autodesk you aren't, well not unless you tell the program otherwise. The EXPERT system variable (default 0) can be changed so that annoying "Are you sure?" commands will go away. Here is the list and what they do: (CADTutor-copied this below from help so I didn't have to re-type it)

0- Issues all prompts normally.

 

1- Suppresses “About to regen, proceed?” and “Really want to turn the current layer off?”

 

2- Suppresses the preceding prompts and “Block already defined. Redefine it?” (BLOCK) and “A drawing with this name already exists. Overwrite it?” (SAVE or WBLOCK).

 

3- Suppresses the preceding prompts and those issued by the LINETYPE command if you try to load a linetype that’s already loaded or create a new linetype in a file that already defines that linetype.

 

4- Suppresses the preceding prompts and those issued by UCS Save and VPORTS Save if the name you supply already exists.

 

5- Suppresses the prompt, “That name is already in Use, redefine it?” issued by the -DIMSTYLE Save option when you supply the name of an existing dimension style.