AutoCADder

It is hard to believe but AutoCAD LT has about 580 less commands and variables than the full version. Some of the missing commands are not important but many of them are - so make sure you know the limitations before you choose LT over AutoCAD Mechanical, Architectural, MEP or Map for simple price reasons.

See LT - missing commands

Labels: AutoCAD LT, commands, variables

Yes, I know. You think AutoCAD 2009 doesn't need to learn PDF - it is already there. But the results of its PDF printing/publishing were less than perfect in many situations.

With the release of "AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 2" AutoCAD is much more fluent in PDF. This bonus pack (available to subscription users only, and - strange enough - only for the plain AutoCAD) adds new functionality in PDF publishing and in attaching PDF files.

The published PDFs are now smaller and faster to transfer - the TrueType texts are represented by true fonts, not just graphics. You can include layer information in PDFs and control line merging.

More important is the PDF import functionality. No, you cannot perform true import of PDF files. Just like with DWF files, you can only attach PDF files as underlays of your DWG drawings. But it is enough for most situations, especially when you can now osnap to the underlaying geometry in PDF (just like in DWF) files. Similarly to DWF you can also Clip and Adjust the referenced PDF files, suppress their layers and select specific page numbers from multipage PDF files.

Many disadvantages of PDF (vs. DWF) are now gone but DWF/DWFx is still a preferred format for CAD data.

If you do not hold a Subscription, hold on - AutoCAD 2010 should bring this functionality also for the rest of us.

Labels: AutoCAD 2010, bonus pack, DWF, PDF

5 ways to insert the time/date stamp into AutoCAD drawings (I don't count the first trivial method). An interesting posting on www.cadforum.cz:

Inserting and updating time and date in an AutoCAD drawing

Labels: date, DWG, time

Most AutoCAD users use DesignCenter to transfer layers and styles from another drawing to their current drawing. But when you receive a foreign DWG file an you want to populate it with your standard layers, text styles, dim styles, etc., you can do this quickly with just the INSERT command.

The trick is in an early, premature cancel of the insertion command (abrogare praecox). Open the foreign DWG drawing, start the INSERT (or -INSERT) command, choose the DWG or DWT file containing your standard styles. Instead of picking the insertion point, just cancel (ESC) the command. This will ensure that no drawing data will be inserted but the styles are already transferred.

You can also automate this procedure with a simple custom menu macro. Use something like this:

^C^C_-INSERT;C:/dwgs/mystandards.dwg;^C

Labels: DWG, standards, style

DWG TrueView is the official (and free) viewer for DWG files. It is known that TrueView is based on full AutoCAD (and also its size tells so). Unlike AutoCAD, DWG TrueView has no command line to enter commands and its set of menu commands is very limited - just the functions you need for viewing, measuring and plotting.

CAD Forum has published today a very interesting tip how you can unlock more AutoCAD commands and variables in DWG TrueView:

Hidden commands in DWG TrueView

Labels: AutoCAD, commands, DWG, TrueView 2009, variables

Pretty short after the Service Pack 1 ("Update 1") for AutoCAD 2009, Autodesk has released a new SP - Service Pack 2.

SP2 ("Update 2" as Autodesk now calls it) contains all fixes from SP1 and adds new in the areas of speed (fixes slow open of some DWGs), render (out-of-memory), dynamic blocks and others.

What's confusing is the naming scheme - not only there is a mix of "Service Pack" and "Update" names in the patch and its documentation. When you display the patch level in the ABOUT command, AutoCAD reports "AutoCAD 2009 - Version 3" (for the SP2 applied). Clear like mud.

SP2 also seems to break the Subscription Bonus Pack functionality added after SP1. There will be probably a new version of the Bonus Pack for AutoCAD 2009.

Labels: AutoCAD 2009, SP2, Update 2

Back from holidays, I have found fragments of information collecting on the new features of the upcoming new version of AutoCAD.

Autodesk organizes user meetings in the US where it seeks feedback from existing AutoCAD users. Concluding from this and similar information we can estimate the new functions and features of the "AutoCAD X", the new version which will be probably called "AutoCAD 2010".

• Command Line will be still there
• AutoLISP will be still there
• I bet AutoCAD will add another programming tool - VSTA
  
• The drawing format will change - Autodesk says it updates the DWG format every 3rd release, and AutoCAD 2010 is the third release after 2007; there may be even a substantial change in the drawing format (a XML-based DWG like in MS Office?) - this would allow a much better extensibility and longevity of the file format.
• Dynamic blocks will be enhanced. As there were plans for a parametric AutoCAD extension, I wouldn't be surprised when we see parametrics for entities in AutoCAD 2010.
• 3D modeling. There are still too many limits in using AutoCAD as a conceptual modeling tool. Autodesk will probably address these limits.

The drums are still distant and the outlines of the new features are in a haze - but the expected release date (March 2010) is not that far in the future and it seems that AutoCAD 2010 will be one of the major releases of AutoCAD.

Labels: AutoCAD 2010, DWG