LT Unlimited

Auto-fill Table Data

Tables in AutoCAD LT have been greatly improved since their introduction in LT 2006, with every version incorporating more and more features.

One helpful feature is the AutoFill grip. The image below shows the four familiar dark blue resizing grips as well as the light blue AutoFill grip.

Once you have cells selected you can left-click on the AutoFill grip to increment or copy the data in the cell to adjacent cells. (You can specify which method to use with options in the right-click menu available inside AutoFill. In other words, left-click to start AutoFill, then right-click to see the options.) The grip tooltip says "click and drag", but remember that those are two separate actions. You don't have to keep holding the mouse button down.

If you only select one cell, as shown above, the increment value is 1.

If you want a different increment value, all you need to do is fill in the second value in your series, select both cells, and LT does the rest.

Bonus Tip: AutoFill works with dates as well as numbers.

Automatic Numbered Lists

With every release of AutoCAD LT, the MTEXT editor has more and more in common with other word-processing programs.

One of the most popular features is the ability to create a numbered list. Simply select this button or right click inside the MTEXT editor to see the options in a shortcut menu. You can choose between numbers, letters (uppercase or lowercase), or bullets.

You can also use the Tab key to set different levels of indentation, although this type of "outline" formatting isn't as flexible as it is in, say, Word. Here's an example of a tab-indented numbered list:

To return to the previous level of indentation (as for Item 3 above), use Shift+Tab.

Bonus Tip: Using Tab and Shift+Tab to change your level of indentation also works in Microsoft Word.

Raster Image Survey

You may have already seen this in a Communication Center update, but we're running a survey to learn more about how people use raster images in LT. The information we gather will be invaluable as we plan & design future releases.

This is a chance for you to get involved and tell us how you really use LT. Customer feedback is really important to us!

The survey will be open until May 30th.

Take the survey -- and tell your friends!

Setting Text Height in Dimensions

While researching the flip option for the last tip, I ran across another feature that definitely deserves its own tip.

Where to set the text height for a dimension style has long been a source of confusion for LT users. Here's how it works:

• If you give a text style a fixed height in the Text Style Manager, that's the height it will always be, even in dimensions.
• If you set the text height to zero in the Text Style Manager, each text object of that style can have a different height, and you can define a height for text in the Dimension Style Manager.

I won't say which way is better -- I've seen both methods used successfully.

However, until LT 2009, there wasn't any way to tell from the Dimension Style Manager if the text style you were using had a fixed height. You could plug in any number you wanted in the Height box, but then you'd go back to your drawing and wonder why the height hadn't changed. (It was probably because the height was predefined in the text style.)

Now, though, if the text height has been preset, the option to change it in the Dimension Style Manager is disabled. Check out the Text tab:

See how the Text Height box is grayed out? That tells you that your text already has its height defined in the style.

It's not a big change, but I think it'll be helpful to a lot of people.

Flip Dimension Arrow

When you're dimensioning objects in a drawing, AutoCAD LT is usually pretty good about knowing if the dimension text & arrows will fit between the extension lines or not. (Check out the Fit tab of the Dimension Style Manager to see your options for this.)

Sometimes, though, LT gets it wrong. Well, not wrong, exactly -- just not the way you want it. Repositioning the text is easy with grips, but what if you need to flip the arrow to the other side of the extension line? When in doubt, right-click -- and you'll see this:

The "Flip Arrow" option will move the arrow nearest to where you clicked to the other side of its extension line. If the wrong arrow flips, undo it and right-click nearer to the arrow you want to change.

Even better, this tip is good all the way back to LT 2006!

AutoCAD LT 2009 Demo Videos on YouTube

Sure, it's great reading about the new features of AutoCAD LT 2009, but what if you want to see them in action? No problem -- I've posted an entire series of demo videos on the new features to YouTube.

AutoCAD LT Demo Videos

Maybe they'll even inspire you to download the trial and try it yourself!

Attach Images with LT 2009

Among the great new features in LT 2009 is the ability to use image files as external references just like you'd use a drawing. If you visit the Blocks & References tab of the Ribbon, you'll see that the References panel includes images in the attachment types, along with DWG, DWF, and DGN.

Even better, you can now detach images too, for those times when someone sends you a file with an image you just don't want, or with a broken reference to a moved or deleted image.

If you're not on LT 2009 yet, check out this post for alternative ways to get an image file into your drawing.

Share your story with us!

We're always on the lookout for people using Autodesk products in new and innovative ways, and today I have a request specifically for LT users.

We're looking for a small business or sole proprietor using LT in a creative & different way to be part of a customer story. So, if you're doing something unique or offbeat with LT, we'd love to hear from you! E-mail me, or fill out our Customer Success form. (If you're not a small business, but are still doing something cool, send it in anyway. I like cool.) :-)

Welcome to LT Unlimited!

Welcome to the new home of All Things LT!

Although this is a new site, all the content from the old blog is still here. Feel free to browse the archives for previously-posted tips & tricks, or subscribe to the site using the link in the top-right corner for instant access to all the new posts.

There are over 100 tips already in the archives, but I'm always on the lookout for more. Use the link on the left to submit a tip that you think would benefit other LT users -- there are a lot of us out there!

Enjoy the blog!