LT Unlimited

Which comes first, the command or the objects?

You probably know that LT employs what's known as "noun/verb" selection. This enables you to select an object before beginning a command that will act on that object. (You can turn off this behavior, so that you have to start a command first, through the Options dialog box or the PICKFIRST variable, although I don't know why you'd want to.)

So which is better -- to start the command first, or to pick the objects? In my opinion, you're better off selecting your objects first.

Why? Grips.

All objects have at least one grip (usually more than one) that can be used for stretching, moving, rotating, scaling, or mirroring. Of course, these actions are pretty easy to perform no matter which was started first.

But the real power of grips is with objects like tables, mtext, and dynamic blocks. These have grips with specialized functions, such as changing the height or width of columns, or manipulating a dynamic block parameter. If you start a command before you select one of these objects, you'll never see the grips.

So I recommend getting in the habit of selecting your objects before you start commands -- that way you'll always know your options.

LT Webcast is up!

If you missed last week's webcast (or just want to watch it again), the recording has now been posted to the AutoCAD LT website.

Watch it now!

First-ever LT Webcast a Success!

The first-ever webcast designed exclusively for LT users took place on Wednesday, and went off without a hitch. Well over 350 people got an hour's worth of LT tips, tricks, and insights on features new and old.

Missed it? Not a problem (although I hope you'll sign up for the next one)! The event was recorded, and will be available by July 23 on Autodesk's website, at www.autodesk.com/autocadltwebcasts.

Thanks to all who attended, and I hope to see you at the next one!

AutoCAD LT Update 1

Autodesk has just released an update for AutoCAD LT 2009. You can find 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the update here. It addresses a variety of issues, including many that were identified by customers just like you through the Error Reporting Utility.

You know that box that appears after LT crashes, asking you if you want to send in an error report?

Real people do read these reports, and the more information you can provide, the easier it is for them to figure out what happened. So be sure to send in your error reports -- we don't like it when LT crashes, but if it does, we want to know!

For a complete list of issues fixed by the update, check out the Readme.

Tutorials now available for LT

The Tutorials section of the AutoCAD LT site now has several tutorials with sample files available for download. Topics include annotation scaling, multileaders, tables, and much more.

Just go to the Learning Paths page (available at the bottom left-corner of the LT homepage) and click on Tutorials!

AutoCAD LT 2009 -- First Thoughts

So I just took 5 minutes to read the LT 2009 Preview Guide (available at Between the Lines), and here's my initial take. It looks like a lot of stuff will be appearing in both releases, so I just tried to find the LT-specific stuff:

• The interface changes are huge! I think they'll be good, but it'll take a while to get used to it. (Okay, not LT-specific, but big enough to be worth mentioning.)
• The Steering Wheels have been around in Design Review for a long time, but I haven't found them much more useful than the mouse wheel so far...we will see.
• The guide says that LT 2009 can grip-edit xclip boundaries, but it doesn't say if they can be created. (I hope they can!)
• LT can now create non-rectangular viewports. (Finally!)
• It can also attach & detach images. (No more copy-paste!)
• True Color & color book support is now included. (That doesn't mean much to me, but I bet there are a bunch of people out there for whom it does.)
• And it now has full field support! (Woohoo!)

All in all, it looks like it'll be a good release -- plenty of new features, even if they're geared more towards usability than "drawing" tools.

AutoCAD 2009 Coming Soon!

Yes, it's that time of year again -- time to start previewing the new features that will be available in AutoCAD 2009, which will be released in March. I didn't get my own preview copy, but here's what several other people have had to say about it so far:

AutoCAD 2009 in 2 minutes

The Word Is Out...AutoCAD 2009!

AutoCAD 2009 Is Knocking at the Door!

The 2009 Products Including AutoCAD 2009

Stay tuned for more press releases & reviews as the release date draws near...