LT Unlimited

Geo tagging in AutoCAD WS

This week I’m taking a slight detour to post about the new features for mobile devices in AutoCAD WS 1.4.

First up is GPS support—the ability to mark your location on a drawing. When I first heard about it, I assumed that it would require some geo marker in the drawing itself, but nope!

All you have to do is pull up the drawing on your mobile device, look for the location icon, and choose “Set Location.”

(You do have to allow your device to access your current location for this to work.)

Then just tap on the point of the drawing that represents where you’re standing at the moment. This next image shows what happens after you tap:

The little red pin represents your location, and you can edit the coordinates (lat/long or drawing-based) if you don’t think it’s accurate enough.

Once you’re done, you’ve tied the drawing to that location for the rest of your editing session. So if you move to another room, and want to make a note about it, you can use “My Location” to add a marker to your new location.

After you tap “Mark” you can add a note about that location.

There’s a big red X and a note there now—no special object type, just two lines and a piece of text—that I could use to remind myself that that’s where I took the picture Photo1.

Pretty neat, huh? With this feature, you don’t have to worry about figuring out where you are on a drawing—just tell AutoCAD WS once, and it’ll track it for you.

AutoCAD LT 2013

Here it is, the first official post on AutoCAD LT 2013! It's not just a rumor...the next version of AutoCAD LT, previously code-named "Jaws", is no longer under wraps.

I'll have more detailed posts on this in the upcoming weeks, but if you can't wait, Lynn Allen already has a great rundown of what's new in AutoCAD 2013.

(The more observant among you may surmise that not all the features she lists will be included in AutoCAD LT. True. But I bet you can guess which will make their appearance in both places.)

LAST DAY to enter for a Tech Makeover!

Hey, you! Yes, you! You with the small business and the old AutoCAD!

Why haven’t you entered the Technology Makeover Contest yet? You’ve only got until tomorrow, February 23rd!

I am SURE that a bunch of you reading this meet the qualifications (under 300 employees, in the US or Canada, with at least one license of almost any kind of AutoCAD R14-2008), so what are you waiting for?

All you have to do is tell us your story. That’s it. Use words, photos, videos, whatever you like. Easy as pie. (Easier, actually—have you made a pie lately?)

Remember, the deadline’s tomorrow, so don’t delay!

Design Review Mobile now available for Android

Calling all Android mobile users! Autodesk Design Review is now available for download in the Android Market!

You’ve been very patient while this version of the app was under development (the iOS version came out last September). But it’s here now, giving you the ability to view, markup, and share 2D and 3D DWF files from your smartphone or tablet.

Just one more step on the stairway to the cloud…

Repair Block Authoring Palette

Ever been a little hasty with the Delete key in AutoCAD LT? Sure you have. (We all have.) Normally a quick Ctrl+Z or the OOPS command will take care of you, but what if you've accidentally deleted something from the Block Authoring Palette?

It happened to Dave recently, so he turned to the Autodesk discussion forums for help.

(Yes, this post is also an ad for the discussion forums. They're fast, free, and peer-supported--with occasional input from Autodesk staff--so the responses you get are from the people using the product every day...just like you.)

Within a few hours, Dave had his answer from Charles, a frequent contributor to the forums.

"Right click a Parameter on that tab.
Copy / Paste back into the Tab.
Right-click what you just pasted.
Choose Properties.
Change the Type, Name, and Description as needed.
Click OK."

I'd never tried that, so of course I had to go check it out for myself.

Who knew parameters had editable properties?

Under "Type" you can choose any of the basic parameters, such as point, polar, XY, etc.

"Grips" and "Actions" apply more to parameter sets, which are combinations of parameters (like point) and actions (like move).

For example, the Linear Move parameter set suppresses one grip on the linear parameter and automatically applies a move action.

With this knowledge, you can not only repair a broken Block Authoring palette, but even create your own parameter sets for the parameter/action combinations you use most often.

Pretty cool!

Twitter Tip of the Day: Lines tangent to circles

Today I've got a link for you to another blog post, but I initially saw it come through on Twitter, so that counts, right?

Josh Jones, a.k.a. @lazydrafter, wrote up a tip for connecting two circles with a line tangent to both of them.

Read and enjoy!