LT Unlimited

Software Updates (and Updated Software) Now Available

New and improved software is now available for download.

First, Update 2 has been released for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.

This is *only* for these two products, not for any verticals. It also includes everything from Update 1, so you don’t need to install both if you haven’t already. Reading the ReadMe is highly recommended (as usual). And if you also have a 2011 version of AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT installed on your computer, it is recommended that you run a repair on those programs immediately after installing Update 2 to avoid any issues.

• Update 2 for AutoCAD
• Update 2 for AutoCAD LT

Second, ff you’re currently looking for work, keep your skills sharp with current software from the Autodesk Assistance Program. The following products are now available for free to qualifying participants:

• AutoCAD 2011
• AutoCAD Architecture 2011
• AutoCAD MEP 2011
• AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2011
• AutoCAD Electrical 2011
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2011
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2011

Additional 2011 products will be available in the future, so stay tuned for more info!

New to AutoCAD LT 2011

Most of the time, it’s pretty obvious what is an “AutoCAD” feature and what is an “AutoCAD LT” feature. For example, if it falls into the “3D,” “programming,” or “visualization” categories, it’s an AutoCAD feature. But despite our best (ongoing) efforts, the line is still a little blurry. It’s one reason we post a comparison matrix on the product site.

Another way to clean up the distinction, though, is to add features to AutoCAD LT when it’s clear that they don’t belong in one of the excluded buckets. Four of those features are now included in AutoCAD LT 2011.

1. Gradient hatches. Previously viewable and editable, you can now add your own patterns and shading to your drawings.
2. Layer Previous. Undoes the last set of layer changes. Slightly less applicable for those of you using the Layer Properties palette (where changes are applied one at a time), but especially handy for the classic Layer Manager.
3. Quick Dimension. Quickly create a series of baseline, continued, ordinate, radius, or diameter dimensions for selected objects.
4. Sketch. Create freehand lines, polylines or splines. This command was actually improved in AutoCAD, too—the command options have been streamlines, and splines weren’t an option before 2011.

How are we doing? Missing anything else obvious? (Please, don’t say LISP. Seriously.)

Control Object Visibility Independent of Layer

A lot of inspiration for new and improved features in AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD come straight from the AUGI wishlist. (To see just how many wishes have been granted lately, check out this video, created by Shaan Hurley.)

The wishlist itself is for AutoCAD, but of course many of the items also apply to AutoCAD LT features. One of those is the ability to control object visibility independent of layer.

The main reason we put content onto layers is to organize it for control over display and plotting. A lot of the time, it works just fine to turn off an entire layer if you don’t want to see one or two objects on it – you can always turn it back on when you’re done.

But what if you want to turn off half a layer, maybe in a crowded drawing where one piece of text is in your way but you need the rest of it on? Until now, you couldn’t do that. Object visibility was an all-or-nothing kind of thing.

In AutoCAD LT 2011, a new addition to the right-click menu gives you even more control over your drawing’s appearance.

With “Isolate Objects” and “Hide Objects,” you can temporarily turn off any objects you want, even if the other objects on the same layer are to remain on.

As you might expect, “isolate” keeps the selected objects visible, while “hide” hides them. The next image shows a “before” and “after” of the “Isolate Objects” function.

You can also combine the functions – in other words, you don’t have to un-isolate objects before hiding more. Here’s another before-and-after, this time using the “hide” function on the objects in the right-hand image above.

A new light bulb icon on the status bar tells you if object isolation is in effect.

Yellow indicates normal object visibility, while red means that some objects are hidden. You can also click on the light bulb to access the hide and isolate options.

Objects hidden by these tools are not visible when you plot your drawing.

By default, objects are returned to their normal (by layer) visibility when you close the drawing. This helps minimize confusion for the next person to open the drawing. If for some reason you want to preserve the visibility state, you can set OBJECTISOLATIONMODE to 1. I’m not sure I’d recommend this, though, unless you’re really sure that everyone on your team understands the possible consequences.

Prevent a Block from Exploding

One of the biggest advantages of using blocks for repeated content in drawings is their “togetherness” – where one piece goes, the whole thing goes. That unity can disappear in a flash, though, if the block is exploded.

Depending on the type of block, this can either be necessary (say, for a detail from your library that you need to edit) or a disaster (anything with attributes).

Since the introduction of dynamic blocks (which are especially bad to explode), you’ve been able to prevent blocks from exploding at all. Instead, you’ll get a message telling you the block “could not be exploded.”

How do you apply this (wonderful) setting? Two ways.

First, when you go to create a new block, there’s a box to un-check in the Block Definition dialog.

(I’m also a fan of checking the box above it, to force the block to scale uniformly, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Second, for an existing block, there’s a setting in the Properties palette inside the Block Editor. With no objects selected, look for the Block section, and change “Allow exploding” to “No.”

Once you have this set for all the blocks that should never be exploded, you’ll be able to breathe easier—no more risk of inadvertent block breakdowns!

Seize the Opportunity Webcasts Now Available On-Demand

If you missed the Autodesk Seize the Opportunity virtual event on Monday, you haven't missed the webcasts.

All the presentations shown on the 19th are now available for on-demand viewing at the archived virtual event site.

Watch any of the following 5 30-minute webcasts anytime you like:

• See the Difference: Lynn Allen's AutoCAD 2011 Tips & Techniques
• Go Beyond 3D to Digital Prototyping with Autodesk Inventor 2011
• Getting to Building Information Modeling (BIM)
• On the Road to Success: Autodesk Solutions for Roads and Highways
• Take Control with AutoCAD LT 2011 Software

If you already saw them, you can watch them again, or send the link to your colleagues so they can watch them too. (Or just show off your newly-acquired knowledge and amaze your coworkers with your inside information…I won’t tell.)

Registration is required to view the webcasts, but it’s free.

One more reason to leave Dynamic Input on

Last week, I put up a post about why you shouldn’t be in a hurry to turn dynamic input off if coordinate entry isn’t working the way you expect it to.

I left one part out, though – relative vs. absolute coordinates.

By default, dynamic input uses the “relative” method of coordinate input. It assumes that you’re entering deltas instead of actual coordinates. If you start a rectangle at 6,3 and want it to be 8 units wide and 4 high, you’d enter 8,4.

But sometimes, you want to use absolute coordinates instead. Then the second point of that rectangle above would be 14,7.

If this is a once-in-a-while situation, just preface your coordinate entry with the # sign to temporarily use absolute coordinates.

But if it’s your primary workflow, DON’T just turn off dynamic input! Instead, read this post to see how you can change the input settings to whatever fits you best.

Remember, this is AutoCAD LT…there’s almost always a way to make it work the way you work.

Two Live Events Coming Up

My favorite thing about what I do is the chance to talk to all of you who really use AutoCAD LT to make a living, hearing what’s working (and what’s not), seeing what your favorite features are, and sharing all the fun stuff that we’ve added to the latest version. (Yes, I think talking about AutoCAD is fun. Draw your own conclusions from that.)

This month, I have two chances to do that – one in-person live event and one virtual live event. (There are even more events on the calendar after April, so stay tuned.)

First up is the Autodesk Seize the Opportunity virtual event, starting at 7:00 a.m. Pacific on Monday, April 19. There’s all sorts of stuff going on all day, including scheduled webcasts, live chats, and an exhibit hall where you can chat with reps from Autodesk and other partners about the 2011 family of products.

There are two AutoCAD LT-specific events that day – a live chat with me at 8:30 a.m. Pacific (sorry if you have to get up early), and a 30-minute webcast on the new features that will be available on-demand all day. I’ll also be staffing the AutoCAD booth all day, if you just want to drop by and say hello.

Please consider registering for the event if you have some spare time on Monday – this is the first time we’ve really done anything like this for AutoCAD LT, and we’d really appreciate your feedback.

Then, on April 29th, I’ll be traveling for St. Louis for a full day of AutoCAD 2011 presentations with Hagerman & Company. They have 3 separate half-day tracks, two for AEC and one for Manufacturing, and lots of top-notch presenters. The event is free, and although I’m not sure how much space they have, it couldn’t hurt to register early and guarantee a seat.

Not in St. Louis? There still might be a launch event near you – it looks like we have several hundred scheduled between now and the middle of May. Look for the “Find an Event Near You” link at the top or right of the Seize the Opportunity home page.

If you’re a blog reader in St. Louis and would like to show off how you use AutoCAD LT, let me know! And if you’re anywhere else in the world, I hope to see you “virtually” on Monday!

Don’t touch that button!

My apologies for the melodramatic post title, but there’s a Dynamic Input issue in the discussion groups that I’d like to see go away. Whenever someone complains that numeric entry isn’t behaving the way they expect it to, the first suggestion is always “Turn Dynamic Input off.” But this is AutoCAD! There’s almost always a way to get it to adapt to your workflow! You don’t have to turn features off! At least, not before you understand all your options, so you’re at least making an informed decision.

I’ve covered all the settings of Dynamic Input in two previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2), but the setting that probably generates the most questions is DYNMODE, or Pointer and Dimension Input.

When Pointer Input is turned on (DYNMODE = 1), you get a mini command line next to the cursor, where you see what you type, whether there’s a command active or a grip selected or not.

If Dimension Input is turned on (DYNMODE = 2), you don’t get the preview next to the cursor anymore. Instead, you get dimensions next to a selected object (showing length, angle, change in length or angle, etc.) where you can enter new values to change the size of the object. You can also press TAB to cycle through the available dimension fields. In the first image below, the active field is “change in length,” and the second is “total length.”

You can also turn them both on, by checking both boxes in the Dynamic Input settings dialog, or by setting DYNMODE to 3. In that case, you get dimension input when it’s available and pointer input when it’s not.

Dimension input is usually the source of the complaints, mainly because you can’t use it to enter the change in value of a block parameter, only the total value. If that bothers you, though, just turn the dimension part of the input off – don’t scrap pointer input until you’re really sure you don’t want it. Personally, there have been times when I’ve turned dimension input off, but I’d hate to have to draft without the heads-up display of the pointer input.

AutoCAD LT and Windows 7

When you install AutoCAD LT 2011 on a computer with Windows 7, all your open drawings are grouped into a single icon on the Windows taskbar. (In other words, TASKBAR is automatically set to 1.) If you hover your cursor over that icon, thumbnail previews of all open drawings appear, and you can click on any preview image to go that drawing.

(Note: You must have the Aero function turned on to see the thumbnail images)

If AutoCAD LT 2011 appears in the list of recent programs in your Start menu, it also stores a “jump list” of recently opened files that you can open again with a single click.

Ten recent files are shown by default, but you can adjust the number (for all Start menu jump lists) in the Start menu properties.

You can even pin items to the list for easy access.

Pinned items do not count against the maximum number of “recent files”—notice that in the image above, there are 11 files in the jump list.

LT Unlimited Turns 3!

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of my first foray into the blogosphere. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long…and I still haven’t run out of tips!

I don’t have stats for most of my first year of blogging, but I have some from the last two:

• 436 total posts (from the beginning, and counting this one)
• Over 350 RSS subscribers (up from 85 when I first started!)
• 150,000+ page views
• Visitors from 176 countries (Top 5: US, UK, Canada, Italy (Ciao i miei amici!), Australia)
• 60% IE, 30% Firefox, 5% Chrome
• 97% Windows, 2% Mac (and 2 visits from a Playstation!)

Thank you all for your readership these last three years – this blog wouldn’t be what it is without you!