WorldCAD Access

TIP: Open "Any" File with Acrobat Pro Ext 9

In working with the beta of Adobe's updated Acrobat 9 Pro Extended (nee Acobat 3D) I found that it can import many kinds of supported files -- even though it doesn't look like it can. Here's how:

1. From the File menu, choose Open.
2. In the "Files of Type" droplist, the only file types available are PDF and All Files.  Choose All Files.
3. Navigate to a folder that holds CAD files, such as STEP, PRT, or DWG. Select one and click Open.

Acrobat converts and opens the file. Using this method, I was able to view the Pro/E files provided by Via's Open Notebook initiative.

(Warning: IGES files take a long time to open, and can bog down the system.)

# of Ways to Quit AutoCAD

After Visa balloned the number of ways to shut down the operating system, I wondered how many ways there were to end AutoCAD -- especially after seeing the new Exit AutoCAD button in the new menu browser.

1. Quit command.
2. Exit alias.
3. Press Ctrl+Q.
4. Press Alt+F4.
5. From the menu browser, choose File | Exit.
6. From the menu browser, click the Exit AutoCAD button.
7. From the menu bar, choose File | Exit.
8. On the title bar, click the X button.
9. Right-click the title bar, and then choose Close from the shortcut menu.

TIP: Use Memory Cleaner with AutoCAD 2009

Working with AutoCAD 2009 the other day, it suddenly complained of a lack of memory. The Vista computer upon which I am running it has 2GB RAM and 92GB free disk space.

Earlier, I found a memory cleaner that frees up memory that's being hogged by applications. When I ran it, it reduced the amount of used RAM from around 1500MB down to the normal 1000MB. After that, AutoCAD was happy again.

I now run Memory Cleaner just about every day after using AutoCAD 2009. You can get a copy of the utility from www.vasileios.gr/freesoft. (Strictly speaking, it is a graphical frontend for Vista's own FreeMem command. Mr Vasileios also has a version for XP.)

TIPS: New in AutoCAD 2009

I downloaded the 30-day eval version of the AutoCAD 2009 shipping version, and found three more new items:

* SkyStatus - new sysvar.

* LayerDlgMode - toggles which layer UI is displayed by the Layer command: dlg box or palette.

* Text Find -- new toolbar.

TIPS: Adorable Toolbars

The redesigned toolbars in AutoCAD 2009 are just adorable -- cute and tiny. Just one problem: how to get them to show up when the ribbon is the user interface.

In the past, the usual shortcut manner of accessing toolbars was to right-click a toolbar. This worked well, because there were usually a couple toolbars open. With AutoCAD 2009, zero toolbars are open by default.

The new workaround is to right-click the Quick Access toolbar (found on the title bar), and then choose Toolbars | AutoCAD.

(There is another method that should work, but doesn't: when I choose View | Toolbars from the Big Red A, AutoCAD 2009 displays the Customize User Interface dialog box -- which is useless for toggling the display of toolbars.)

The other method is to click the Workspace button (moved to the status bar) and select "AutoCAD Classic" as the user interface. All the familiar menus and toolbars return. Yet another method is to use the -toolbar command, but for this command you have to know the name of the toolbar.

Bonus tip: The new, undocumented MenuBar system variable toggles the display of the menu bar. This lets you have the traditional (legacy) menu bar just below the title bar -- even with the ribbon UI active.

Tips: AutoCAD 2009 Shortcut Keystrokes

AutoCAD 2009 has a couple of new shortcut keystrokes, and moves around a couple of others.

New
CTRL+SHIFT+H -- Toggle HidePalettes command, turns on and off the visibility of all palettes at once.
CTRL+SHIFT+P -- Toggles Quick Properties; can also use the undocumented QuickProperties command.

Changed
CTRL+D -- Toggle dynamic UCS (also available through F6).
CTRL+I -- Cycle through coordinate displays (used to be Ctrl+D).

Other Font Formats - They Exist

I knew about TTF and PostScript Type 1 fonts, but learned of another format that's actually supported natively by Windows.

My youngest daughter is becoming a designer. She asked how to install a font she downloaded from an online source, such as DaFont. I told her to put it into the \Windows\Fonts folder. But she got stalled, because the download was a ZIP file.

I opened the ZIP file for her, and found an OTF file. "Wha?" I wondered. A google search quickly informed me that (1) OTF files are open text fonts, and (2) are supported by Windows. Sure 'nough, was true, and my daughter went on to happily design a T-shirt.

Adobe explains it:

The OpenType format is an extension of the TrueType SFNT format that also can support Adobe PostScript font data and new typographic features. OpenType fonts containing PostScript data, such as those in the Adobe Type Library, have an .otf suffix in the font file name, while TrueType-based OpenType fonts have a .ttf file name suffix.

Does CAD support OTF?

I tried out AutoCAD 2008, but its Style command does not recognize .otf files. Its Compile command converts PostScript fonts for use in drawings, but it also does not recognize .otf files.

Non-CAD programs do, such as PaintShop Pro and the Atlantis word processor.

What Needs to be Fixedin AutoCAD

With AutoCAD 2009 shipping in a half-year, it's time to begin ranting on how the top-seller needs to be improved. Not how it could be improved, but needs to be.

#1 on the list of emails I get is frustration with linetypes, a technology essentially unchanged in nearly 25 years. It's disappointing that Autodesk didn't fix linetypes with AutoCAD 2008, which it had touted as the "annotation" release. Linetypes not a form of annotation? Tear up my engineering degree!

Blog reader shachar_k asks avery sensible question:

I have trouble to create a linetype with a attributed blocks. I want that when I make a line [it] will ask me the question of the attribute. I hope that will be possible to do this.

No, it's not.

I follow Mr Shachar's thinking: it would be much more efficient to have one linetype that can be used for many different situations simply by responding with a different attribute value. One linetype to rule them all, whether each line needs different numbering (Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, etc) or lettering (Line GAS, Line A, Line HW, etc).

But, as is often the case in AutoCAD, there is a possible workaround. I haven't tried this, but this might be possible:

1. Draw the line or spline or whatever.
2. Use the Measure or Divide commands to place the block along the line.
3. Respond to attribute prompt.

Any why doesn't AutoCAD pre-load all linetypes with its template drawings? Inventor does.

Multilines, Grrr

#2 that needs to be fixed in the 15-year-old multiline. Mlines need to be more than just "lines" -- if Generic CADD was able to do multiline splines, and if Autodesk bought the code, then what's the excuse?

That intersection cleanup is not automatic is an even bigger scandal. The MlEdit command is as relevant today as AutoCAD's original numbered menu ("Enter 1 to start a NEW drawing" => click icon in dialog box to select pair of intersecting mlines to cleanup; reopen dialog box; click another icon for another type of cleanup; ugh!) It's just not 1982 anymore. Even AutoCAD LT has auto cleanup of its dumbed-down version, DLine (draws double lines).

[end of rant]

AutoCAD Tip: "Free" Lights

AutoCAD 2008's biggest changes weren't even emphasized during the new software's rollout: lights for rendering.

One group of commands had me really puzzled when I first read about them: "free" lights, as in FreeSpot and FreeWeb. The documentation says, "Creates a free spotlight, which is similar to a spotlight but without a specified target". What's the point of a spot light that doesn't point at anything? Its whole purpose is to point at some spot!

Playing around with them I found that the documentation isn't quite accurate: the target point of FreeSpot lights is implied, rather than not specified.

FreeSpot lights do point at targets: they point straight down. This feature makes them useful for placing them in ceilings and streetlights, because you don't have to specify the target location.

Once the free light is in place with its target pointed at -Z, you can adjust the target point like this: in the light's properties, change Targeted to Yes; the target grips appear, allowing you to relocate it.

TIPSAutoCAD Keyboard Modifiers

Even as Autodesk works to make AutoCAD more interactive, the company is also adding more keyboard modifiers. Trolling the Web, I came across two that I didn't know about:

Ctrl+Shift

Credit Autodesk's Heidi Hewitt for this shortcut that acts like AutoCAD 2007's PressPull command:

1. Draw a closed 2D object, like a circle, and then change to a 3D viewpoint.
2. Move the cursor inside the circle.
3. Hold down Ctrl+Shift. (Notice that AutoCAD highlights the circle; on the command line, it reports "1 loop extracted. 1 Region created.")
4. Move the cursor. (Notice that the circle turns into a 3D solid cylinder.)

Notice that this key combo automatically creates a region of the circle.

Ctrl for Increments

The Ctrl key is used for several different things in AutoCAD, and credit CAD Tutor's Michael Beall for uncovering yet another one: setting an increment distance during copying by grips editing. Effectively, these steps create linear and "random" arrays:

1. Draw an object, like a circle.
2. Select it to show the grips; select a grip to make it hot (red).
3. Press the spacebar to get to Move mode.
4. Press C to switch to copy mode.
5. Move the cursor to show the direction.
6. Enter a number to specify the copy distance.
7. Hold down the Ctrl key.
8. Move the cursor. Notice that the object jumps (moves in increments).
9. Click to place the object.
10. Repeat: move cursor and click.
11. When done, press Esc.

Notice that you are not limited to linear copies, but can place the copies in any direction.

Visio has a similar increment feature, but operates more easily: after you copy an object, press F4. Visio makes another copy at the same distance and direction; repeat pressing F4 for as many copies as you need. This makes it easy to quickly place lots of objects that are evenly spaced apart.