LT Unlimited

Unable to Modify Objects

I’ve posted about PICKFIRST before, but it’s one of those annoying variables that’s hard to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. So I’m putting this up in the hope of providing some SEO-friendly keywords (that’s “search engine optimized”) for people who find themselves yelling at their drawings.

If you can select objects, but not modify them (they get deselected when you start a command), check your PICKFIRST setting before you’re tempted to throw your computer out the window. :-)

Two Xref Macros

Today’s tip comes to you courtesy of Cadalyst Magazine’s “Tips & Tools Weekly” newsletter. Sign up for your own copy or browse the archives here. Admittedly a lot of the tips are LISP-based, but there are plenty that aren’t, or are like this one and can be adapted.

CAD Designer Sam Lucido writes:

"I often find myself working in a drawing with one or two very large external references attached. Sometimes I just want to unload (not detach) those files to focus on the area I am working in. These macros will do just that— un them and AutoCAD will load or unload all references within the file. This clears up the area and saves on regen time as well!

• This macro will unload all references: ^C^C-XREF;U;*
• This macro will load all references: ^C^C-XREF;R;*

You can put these on a toolbar, ribbon panel, tool palette, or in a menu—wherever they might make your day easier. Enjoy!

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

I'm still on vacation, but if you're reading this you're probably not. (Sorry -- I hope you get some time off soon too.) Maybe learning something new about the Sheet Set Manager will cheer you up? :-)

Use a Sheet Set to Create New Drawings

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

I'm on vacation this week, but I didn't want you to feel deprived in my absence, so here's the next Sheet Set Manager video. :-)

Add Layouts to an Existing Sheet Set

Override Dimension Scale Factor

Normally, I'm a strong advocate for always drawing objects at full size (1:1) and for never overriding the default dimension text. However, there may be times when one or both of those objectives aren't feasible. Or you just may have a misbehaving dimension, and this post might help you set it straight.

The key (or the culprit, depending on your point of view) is the DIMLFAC system variable, also available on the Primary Units tab of the Dimension Style Manager.

By default, this is set to 1, and in most situations should probably stay that way. If you set DIMLFAC to a smaller number, say 0.5, a dimension for a 1" line will display 1/2". If DIMLFAC is bigger than 1, say 2, a dimension for a 1" line will display 2".

Again, I'm expecting that this will help you more for troubleshooting than for practical applications, but it's here if you need it.

Last days for discounted Autodesk University pricing

Still trying to convince the boss to spring for AU2011? Better get a move on -- the price goes up $500 on Wednesday.

Need help? We've provided a "Convince Your Manager" toolkit in case you need some backup.

Las Vegas isn't in the cards this year? Stay tuned for more information on AU Virtual, which will bring 250 classes in English, Spanish, and Portuguese straight to your desk during the Vegas event, in addition to the recordings of the live classes which will be made available online later.s

Sheet Set Manager Video Series

My new hard drive is here and installed (a surprisingly easy process considering I usually stay far away from messing with hardware), and I'm now in the middle of restoring all my settings and files.

But the first thing I pulled down from my backup server was the next installment of the Sheet Set Manager series!

Create Transmittal & Archive Sets

Now I'm off to look for an external hard drive to backup my backups...cloud backups are great, but not very fast when you're rebuilding many gigabytes worth of files.

AutoCAD for Mac event recap

I was planning on putting up the next Sheet Set Manager video today, but my hard drive died yesterday morning and I won't be able to retrieve my backups until tomorrow. :-( But hey, at least I have backups!

Since the (temporary) loss of my PC means I'm working on my Mac this week, I thought I'd fill in with a post on my trip last week, where I had the pleasure of meeting with several of our channel partners and presenting at a few customer events on AutoCAD for Mac.

The first pair of events was in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, put on by CADKoop and iFactors.

They had a great crowd, very interested in AutoCAD for Mac and AutoCAD WS. They were also kind enough to let me present in English. :-)

The technical demo in Rotterdam was handled by Harold Weistra, an author and trainer. Although his presentation was in Dutch, a lot of AutoCAD terms are close to or the same as their English equivalents, so I had fun following along. Harold also gave me a copy of his latest book:

If you speak Dutch (or just like collecting AutoCAD things in different languages), you can find more info about it on Harold's website: http://www.caddesign.nl

CADkoop also had one of the best giveaways I've seen in a while:

Notice anything funny about it? No? How about now:

Oops, I broke it!

Yep, it's a chocolate iPad. The text translates as "This appetizing iPad brought to you by CADkoop and iFactorsPro." Very clever, and I think much appreciated by the attendees.

The third event I attended was in Antwerp, with our partner Switch. Here's my colleague Runar giving the Autodesk overview.

It was great to see the interest in the new features in AutoCAD 2012 for Mac, and of course AutoCAD WS was a big hit too. (The real-time collaboration demo always gets some oohs and aahs.)

All in all, it was a busy week but extremely valuable. Feedback from users is always great to have.

And it's good to be home again...but I hope my new hard drive shows up soon!

Fixed last Sheet Set video link

Sorry about the audio-instead-of-video mixup last week, and thanks to those of you who pointed it out -- I was travelling or I would have caught it sooner. Here's a link to the corrected post, and stay tuned for the next installment!

Fixed SSM post