AutoCAD Tips & Tricks

www.cadac.com

De beste tips van onze AutoCAD experts

deel 2

INDEX
Het portfolio van Autodesk is enorm en klaar voor de Op basis van jarenlange ervaring
toekomst. U zou het haast vergeten, maar het begon met het ondersteunen van
allemaal met AutoCAD. Voor alle ‘die hard’ AutoCAD AutoCAD gebruikers hebben wij
gebruikers hebben wij de beste AutoCAD tips de beste tips voor u verzameld.
gebundeld in een handig eBook. Doe er uw voordeel
mee. Werk sneller en efficiënter dan ooit!
Raymond
Autodesk Docent
Heeft u vragen over AutoCAD of wilt u weten wat wij
nog meer voor u kunnen betekenen? Neem gerust
contact met ons op. Wij helpen u graag!

www.cadac.com

11 AutoCAD Performance 20
What can you do to AutoCAD, to improve performance? 20
Reduce the amount of information you are working with. 20
Commands and System Variables that Improve Performance. 20
Dynamic Input 20
Visual Effect Settings 21
Summary 21
12 A Few Tips For Faster Drawings 22
Turn off SOLID hatches 22
Use the QUICK TEXT Mode 22
Turn off Lineweight 22
Keep REGENAUTO switched off 22
Optimize the VIEWRES variable 22
13 REGEN, REGENALL and REGENAUTO Commands 23
The REGENALL Command 23
The REGENAUTO Command 23
14 AutoCAD’s OVERKILL Command Reduces Object Duplications
in the Drawing File 24
15 Array Objects Along a Polyline 24
16 An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Converting Splines to Polylines 25
17 Delete Layers 25
18 Quick Block Count 26
19 Burst to Maintain Attributes in a Block 26
20 Change AutoCAD Text Case 27

INDEX 7
 11 AutoCAD
Performance
www.cadac.com
What can you do to AutoCAD,
to improve performance?
Don’t open any drawings!
Let’s face it, as soon as you open a
drawing AutoCAD runs slightly slower…
the more drawings you open the slower
the performance…
OK, not a good solution.
Here’s some suggestions, you will find these
on a number of web sites, I’ll repeat them
here, but have to say, I rarely utilise any of
the following for improving the performance
of AutoCAD, but for the record…
Reduce the amount of information
you are working with.
If you can simplify the drawing you are working
with you may be able to avoid those annoying
“out of memory” errors. For example, if you
are hatching large areas, try breaking it down
into smaller sections. If you have images and/
or xrefs in the drawing, try unloading the ones
you do not need at the moment. If there is a
lot of TrueType® based text on the screen, try
replacing it with a SHX font instead. If there are
multiple drawings loaded, try closing the ones
you are not working with. There are many other
methods you can use within the program to
reduce the amount of memory being used.
Commands and System Variables
that Improve Performance.
Following is a list of the commands and system
variables in AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT that you
can use to improve drawing performance:
ƒƒPURGE command. This command clears
unused layers, blocks, linetypes, dimension
styles, text styles, and multiline definitions
from the drawing.
ƒƒCONVERT command. This command converts
any old-style polylines and hatches to the
optimized format, and can possibly reduce
drawing size and memory usage.
ƒƒINDEXCTL system variable. INDEXCTL
controls whether layer and spatial indexes
are created and saved in drawing files.
INDEX
Set it to 1, 2, or 3 for improved performance
when doing an xref demand load of the
current drawing. However, setting INDEXCTL
to any value other than 0 increases the
amount of time required to save the drawing
and increases its size. Note: By default,
INDEXCTL is set to 0 when you create
a new drawing.
ƒƒFILLMODE system variable. FILLMODE
specifies whether multilines, traces, solids,
all hatches (including solid-fill) and wide
polylines are filled in. Setting this system
variable to Off decreases regeneration time.
ƒƒUnload xrefs and images. Unload xrefs and
images that are not needed in a drawing
session to decrease memory usage and
regeneration times.
ƒƒQuick Text Mode (QTEXT). When Quick Text
mode is on, only a frame defining the text
is displayed, which can improve drawing
performance. Note that when Quick Text is
on, the text frame, but not the text, is plotted.
ƒƒLayer control. Freezing or hiding layers
that are not needed in a drawing session
speeds the selection process, regenerations,
zooming, and panning.
ƒƒPartial load (not available in AutoCAD LT).
Using the partial load feature allows you
to load only parts of the drawing you
want instead of the entire drawing.
So, does anyone use any of the above?…
besides PURGE of course, which we all run
regularly (don’t we?) and the occasional
AUDIT… so what about…
Dynamic Input
You could disable this, even on a high spec
computer you will see a significant hit on the
CPU with Dynamic Input enabled, but still a
useful facility… and let’s face it – if the CPU
is not taking a significant hit, then you are
obviously not working hard enough!
Please also note: The above proves that I do in fact have
the ability to draw a line in AutoCAD… and not just any line
I might add… it is a 45 degree line at 313.4935 units long!
20
 Visual Effect Settings My suggestions:
This is one to look at, just to disable the ƒƒKnow exactly what you have running
www.cadac.com

annoying Selection Preview all together, on your machine.

particularly if you work with large external
reference files…
ƒƒKnow the processes/services that are
running on your machine.
ƒƒArmed with that information… you can
now disable those applications/processes/
services that you don’t need all of the time…
you know the one’s… the Instant Messengers,
background apps for snagging images and
videos, etc. etc.

You obviously need these disabled applications

at some time, so setup some simple scripts
to switch them back on when you need them.
My preference is to disable it all together, I’ll follow up with some examples later.
but their are selection options if you prefer…

Select “Advanced Options”…

Summary
So what do we learn from all of that…

Well, if you are unfortunate enough to be

restricted to an under-specified computer that
is struggling with running AutoCAD, then some
of the above may help. However, in the majority
of cases, if you are in the business of driving
CAD, then you most likely have the luxury of
a machine that is more than up to the task.

The bottom line is, we don’t just drive CAD. We

run multiple applications, all of the time and the
hardware that we use needs to be up to the task
of driving these multiple applications.

INDEX 21
 12 A Few Tips For
Faster Drawings
There is a button (see the above figure, Fig.3)
that toggles lineweight on and off.
www.cadac.com

Turn off SOLID hatches Keep REGENAUTO switched off

Objects with SOLID hatches will slow you As we mentioned earlier, you can avoid
down during REGEN. You can simply set the unnecessary REGENs and thus save time simply
FILLMODE system variable to "0" to turn off by turning off automatic regen (REGENAUTO).
solid hatch visibility.

Command: FILLMODE Optimize the VIEWRES variable

Enter new value for FILLMODE <1>: 0 [ENTER]
See the difference it makes in Fig.1.
We had an article on the VIEWRES system
variable, the one that controls the resultion at
which your drawing is displayed. It can have
values 1-20,000. Vectors' quality increase with
the value. Values between 2,000-4,000 are
best for fast ZOOMs and REGENs.

Fig.1

Use the QUICK TEXT Mode

It's a command that makes texts appear as
boxes. It helps AutoCAD display objects faster.
The command is QTEXT.

Command: QTEXT
Enter mode [ON/OFF] : ON

Fig.2

Turn off Lineweight

If you've specified lineweights in your drawing,
turn the display off.

Fig.3

INDEX 22
 13 REGEN, REGENALL
and REGENAUTO
After editing any layer property: A REGEN
might be necessary after any edits on a layer
www.cadac.com

Commands property. For example changing the line

While constructing drawings in the model
space, you may encounter situations whereby
you may have to regenerate your drawings.
AutoCAD's earlier versions used to fill up
the screen with little plus signs called BLIPs.
thickness may require a REGEN to reflect
the changes.
Zooming with the mousewheel: If you find
out that you cannot zoom in/out further using
the mouse wheel, then it's time for a REGEN.

The REGENALL Command

If you're using VIEWPORTs in your drawing
and you have several of them in your LAYOUT,
you 'll have to use the REGENALL command
to regenerate all the drawings.

Fig.1

Every point you mark on the screen is marked

with a little plus sign when the BLIPMODE is
switched on. These signs disappeared whenever
a display command (like ZOOM and PAN)
was used. In some cases, they did not disappear
at all. It's a good thing that new versions of Fig.3
AutoCAD come with BLIPMODE turned off
as default. The REGEN simply regenerates
all the drawing elements in your drawing, The REGENAUTO Command
effectively eliminating "noise" (i.e. unwanted
signs/appearances on screen). When is the The REGENAUTO command can be set at
REGEN command necessary? ON or OFF. The system variable controlling
this is the REGENMODE. When set "ON", it
If circles appear like polygons on your screen: works whenever a REGEN is necessary. I don't
When you zoom a lot, the circles start appearing recommend this. In large drawings, it just keeps
more and more like polygons. You need to regenerating.
REGEN in this situation.

Fig.2

INDEX 23
 14 AutoCAD’s
OVERKILL Command
www.cadac.com
Reduces Object
Duplications in the
Drawing File
In the course of creating drawings you are bound
to create a few objects on top of each other and
this can be even more common when exchanging
files with others. The AutoCAD Express Tool
command OVERKILL will help you remove all
the unwanted duplicate geometry. Back in the
plotter days having redundant lines could cause
the plotter to waste ink plotting one abject on top
of another but the same could be true today with
devices or perhaps even CNC cutting.
Note: You must have installed the
AutoCAD Express Tools when
you installed your AutoCAD.
OVERKILL is an Express Tool.
From the AutoCAD Commandline: OVERKILL
From the AutoCAD Toolbar and ribbon: Located
on the ribbon panel under Modify “delete
duplicate objects”.
You are presented with some options for
OVERKILL. Before using any command that
removes, exploded objects you should test it on a
drawing as well as make sure you understand the
option which are detailed in the AutoCAD Help.
The results of OVERKILL on my drawing:
2 duplicate(s) deleted.
2 object(s) deleted.
INDEX
15 Array Objects
Along a Polyline
Today I had to draw 12" square piles along
a shore line about 100 feet long at 3' centers.
The shore line was obvious not in a straight line.
Originally I was going to draw my square with
a circle with a 3' radius and copy each object
one at a time. I would use the center of the
square (and circle) as a base point and place
the next object at the intersection of the circle
and the shoreline. Tedious, but it would get the
job done. Then I thought about it for a second.
there has to be a way to do this in one (maybe
two) keystrokes. So I went to the discussion
boards at AUGI.
The great people there suggested I use either
the DIVIDE or MEASURE command. I always
forget about those two commands. Not any
more! Both commands work virtually the same.
They will place points along a selected line
(polyline or spline) in equal segments. DIVIDE
places a number of points along a line (a
number you give it) while MEASURE places
points along the line at a set interval (provided
by you.)
If you don't want to place the points, you can
choose to place a block instead. In this case
(as it was suggested to me on the AUGI
discussion boards) I made my pile a block and
had the measure command insert it along my
polyline at 3' intervals. AND (yes it gets better!)
when I did this, the command asked me if I
wanted the blocks to be aligned with the line!
Of course I did!! Boo-ya!!! What was going to
take me 5 minutes to do, now took 30 seconds
(not counting the time spent on the board.)
24
 16 An AutoCAD Hip
Tip on Converting 17 Delete Layers
www.cadac.com

Splines to Polylines
You may have noticed that when you attempt
If you've ever needed your spline to take on to delete a layer that is being used by entities
the properties of a polyline I'm sure you've in your drawing you will be denied.
found that easier said than done. Thankfully -
AutoCAD has added this very cool new option
in SPLINEDIT and PEDIT that allow you to easily
convert a spline into a polyline. You'll simply
need to specify a precision value between 0
and 99...0 being less precise (looks pretty bad)
and 99 being extremely precise. The default
value of 10 has done a great job for me...
the higher the number - the slower you could
potentially go.
There is, however, an easy way to delete layers
that are being used by entities.

The command is LAYDEL. Type the command

and you will be prompted with this:

Select object on layer to delete or [Name]:

You can select objects on the layer that you
want to delete or you can type N to select
a layer from a dialog box.

You'll also find that the PEDIT command lets

you convert a spline into a polyline...hoorah!
Just select the SPLINE and it will give you that
familiar greeting of "Object selected is not a
polyline, do you want to turn it into one"...and
then it will ask you for the precision value.

Be ware that if you delete the layer, the entities

on that layer will also be deleted.

INDEX 25
 18 Quick Block Count
www.cadac.com
If you have a drawing with numerous Blocks,
you may want a quick tally of how many of
each Block the drawing contains.
Using the BCOUNT tool (part of the AutoCAD
Express Tools) you are able to see a quick count
of either Selected Blocks or All Blocks in the
drawing, see below.
Hint: If you have a lot of Blocks to count use F2
to display the AutoCAD Text Window, instead
of trying to scroll through the Command Line at
the bottom of the interface.
INDEX
19 Burst to Maintain
Attributes in a Block
It is quite normal to have Blocks with Attributes
inside of them, but sometimes you may want to
explode the geometry for some reason, whilst
maintaining the Attribute Value, rather than the
Attribute TAG. Which will be the result if you use
the traditional Explode tool.
Using the BURST tool (part of the AutoCAD
Express Tools) to explode a block with
Attributes, you will be left with each geometry
element including a text box with the
Attribute Value.
26
 20 Change AutoCAD
Text Case
www.cadac.com

If you have mistakenly typed a piece of Text

with different Case types, don't delete and
retype the information. Simply use the AutoCAD
tcase command to change Text Case (Works on
any type of Text). First type your Text.

Then type tcase at the command line, you

will be prompted to select the piece of Text, if
not already selected. After which the TCASE
- change text case dialogue will appear as
below, where you can select the type of Case
you want to have.

AutoCAD will then take care of the Case

change for you.

Or this method, you might made a mistake and

want to change the text case… either to lower
case or upper case. Do you need to re-type it?
No way! It is easy to do.

Right click in the editor and select the CHANGE

CASE option.

Alternatively, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + U to set the

text to upper Case OR press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + L
to set the text to lower case

INDEX 27