3 Top AutoCAD Tips From A Lifelong AutoCAD User

 

This is a guest post by Nick Marchek, a lifelong AutoCAD user.

Check out his credentials here!

Over my years I have worked as a drafter and designer for many architecture businesses.

I have also been an AutoCAD consultant at an AutoCAD reseller.

From all this experience I have found some amazing time-saving tips, and collected them for you!

So here are my top productivity tips across the three key areas of AutoCAD.

Teach yourself here or attend some AutoCAD training, and get ahead of the competition.

1. Shortcuts & Commands

No AutoCAD ‘tips & tricks’ article would be complete without covering shortcuts and commands!

The best resource is the AutoCAD for Architects guide, which covers all the most useful shortcuts.

You can also create your own shortcuts or modify existing shortcuts and command!

Let’s look at some “command aliases” that I also think you’ll find very helpful.

1 – SELECTIONCYCLING (System Variable)

This allows you to select overlapping objects easily.

By setting the value to 2, once you have made a selection, a menu will appear containing a list of overlapping objects where you can select the object you want from the list.

By setting the value to 1, only the overlap icon will appear, letting you know there are overlapping elements but no selection menu.

2 – BURST (Express Tool)

This explodes the selected blocks while preserving the block layer(s) and converting the attribute values to text.

It is especially helpful if/when exploding blocks, but you want to retain the original layer definition and style.

3 – CHSPACE (Command)

This transfers selected objects between model space and paper space, or vice versa.

Useful if you document in both model and paper spaces.

4 – QSELECT (Command)

This creates a selection set allowing you to filter by object type and properties.

For example, if you need to filter out any line types in your file, you can choose which one to isolate so that you can modify, edit, or delete them from your drawing.

5 – TXT2MTXT (Command)

This converts or combines multiple text objects into a single Mtext unit (note: if possible, the text size, font, and colors are maintained in the combination process).

These commands are just the tip of the iceberg, but far and away the ones that I’ve used the most over the years.

2. Access Options & Toolsets

AutoCAD itself is often referred to as “vanilla” AutoCAD.

The software comes in a couple of different forms and can be accessed in different ways.

With specialized toolsets and mobile options, AutoCAD gives you the flexibility you need.

It is worth learning how to access them.

Specialised Toolsets

With the release of AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk has moved away from the separate ‘vertical’ cad program subscriptions.

It now provides access to “specialized toolsets” for each discipline within the same subscription of AutoCAD.

There is no longer a need to purchase different AutoCAD products depending on your industry!

Your subscription to AutoCAD contains both the “vanilla” version of AutoCAD and various industry-specific specialized toolsets that are available for download.

Note: Civil 3D has remained a separate product outside of the new offering.

Mobile App

Included in AutoCAD subscriptions is the “Mobile App.”

By downloading the app to your phone, you can access drawings from a free Autodesk cloud storage account.

Then you can view, edit, create and share your drawings!

This is great for field or remote work and presentations.

You can download drawings to your device and access them even if you are without Wi-Fi.

Autocad Web

With no installation required, you can view, edit, and share AutoCAD drawings via a web browser

This allows for an even more flexible option than installing software on a mobile device.

3. Autocad Data Management

Data is an important part of the design process and is becoming more critical as newer, and more advanced tools are available.

Below are a handful of useful tools and functionality associated with them that should help streamline your workflows.

External References

Most AutoCAD users are familiar with xRefs, and the ability to insert another drawing file into your file.

Any changes made in the xRef file itself will be reflected automatically in the current drawing.

Once you have done this, you may notice that by introducing xRefs into a drawing, the Layer Manager will start to get a little messy.

The default operation lists the layers from an xRef using the filename first by default, thus interrupting the layer list.

You can better organize your Layer Manager by changing the name of the xRef in the External Reference palette.

This can then group all xRef layers together at the bottom of your Layer Manager.

Blocks Vs. Groups

There is often confusion about the difference between “Blocks” and “Groups” in AutoCAD.

There are situations where each is better, but I think blocks are used more widely.

Blocks contain objects that can only be manipulated as a collection of objects.

The block is defined outside of a file, and once inserted, any changes in the “block editor” will permeate through the file.

A group is a saved set of objects within the drawing file that you can select and edit together or separately as needed.

Blocks are more permanent in that you want to use blocks for elements in a drawing that, once changed, you would wish to change throughout the entire file.

Groups are more unique and allow you to change them easily after they are created.

Etransmit

We have all have issues when sending drawings to consultants, owners, or even other team members.

One of the most common reasons for this is that they do not already have other files that may be xReferenced, or they may be using unique font styles, or even a custom plot style?

Without that information for the file that you’ve sent them?

Whoever you are sending the drawing file to will not be able to replicate your graphical or print settings.

eTransmit allows you to create a package that bundles all related dependent files such as xRefs, font styles, and plotter configuration files together and send them across as one.

Nick Marchek

Nick is a Building Information Modeling Specialist at Microsol Resources, a platinum Autodesk partner.

He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture from Pennsylvania State University.

He provides consulting, training, technical support, model and implementation services to their architectural and building engineering clients.

He is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Revit Architecture Certified Professional.