LT Unlimited

Pre-set Hatch layer

I’ve posted about this feature before, but it was at the end of a longer post, and it’s such a neat feature that I decided it deserved its minute in the spotlight.

In AutoCAD LT 2011, hatches have a new property: Layer. You’ll find it on the expanded portion of the Properties panel on the Hatch Creation tab.

By default, it’s set to “Use Current”, but you can choose any layer in the current drawing to use instead.

Once you set it, it sticks, at least in that drawing, so you don’t have to set it every time.

And if you set the hatch layer (also known as the system variable HPLAYER) in your template drawing, you’ll never have to set it again. No more putting hatches on the wrong layer!

I love features that help you save time and help enforce CAD standards all at once.

Gradient Hatches

If you’ve explored the Pattern panel of the new contextual Hatch Creation tab in AutoCAD LT 2011, you may have seen the new “gradient” patterns that have been added next to the traditional line patterns.

(Gradient hatches have been around in AutoCAD for a while, but support for them in LT is new this year.)

There are 9 different built-in patterns to choose from, but you can get practically infinite variation by modifying the color and angle of the patterns.

You might use a gradient pattern to give a more 3D feel to a shape, or just to add some visual interest.

In the elevation below, notice how both the roof and the windows used “linear” shading to give a sense of depth to the 2D drawing.

Match Hatch Properties

The ability to set the properties of a new hatch to match those of an existing one has been around for a long time. Before 2011, this tool was called “inherit properties” and it was limited to hatch-specific properties like pattern, angle, and scale.

AutoCAD LT 2010 hatch preview, before “inherit properties” (current layer color is white, existing hatch layer color is red):

AutoCAD LT 2010 hatch preview, after “inherit properties”:

In AutoCAD LT 2011, this feature has been renamed to “Match Properties” because it behaves much more like the regular “Match Properties” command. Now, whether you’re creating or editing a hatch, you can match ALL the properties of another hatch, including color, background color, and layer. You can even choose whether you want to use the current value for the new hatch’s origin or use the origin of the hatch you’re matching.

AutoCAD LT 2011 hatch preview, before “match properties” (current layer color is white, existing hatch layer color is red, hatch layer is set to “use current”):

 

AutoCAD LT 2010 hatch preview, after “match properties”:

Set Default List of Annotation Scales

Annotation Scaling – the ability to set the size of text, dimensions, blocks, and hatches based on the drawing scale – has been around since AutoCAD LT 2008.

It’s much too big a topic to cover in a single blog post – for a good run-down see these three classes from AU. (Although if there’s demand, I may consider a blog series.)

But I did want to point out a new feature that was added to Annotation Scaling in AutoCAD LT 2011: Default Scale Lists.

Since Annotation Scaling was introduced, you’ve always been able to add and remove scales from individual drawings with the Scale List dialog.

What’s changed is the behavior of the “Reset” button in the bottom left.

Before now, it simply restored the standard list of scales included with AutoCAD LT – which probably had more scales than you actually use, especially since it includes both imperial and metric scales.

In 2011, though, you can define your own default lists of scales – metric and imperial – from the User Preferences tab in the Options dialog.

Here, you can add, edit, and remove scales until you have only the ones you need. You can even change the order in which they appear. (In this dialog, “Reset” restores the original lists that are installed with the program.)

Once you have your lists defined, the Reset button in the Edit Drawing Scales dialog restores either or both of your default scale lists.

We know that drawings with lots of annotation scales can get cluttered (there’s even a Scale List Cleanup for AutoCAD LT 2009 and 2008), so this is just one more way to help you manage your scales.

Hatch Improvements in AutoCAD LT 2011, Part 2

In the last post, I toured the changes & improvements for creating hatches in AutoCAD LT 2011. Today, editing! (Because when was the last time you created something in AutoCAD LT and didn't change it later? Never? Yeah, me too.)

First, you don’t need to double-click on a hatch any more in order to edit its properties. Simply select it, and the Hatch Editor contextual tab appears.

(Click the above image to see it full-sized.)

This tab has all the options for adjusting the properties of the hatch. It has a lot in common with the Hatch Creation tab, as you’d expect. Notice that the “remove” and “recreate” boundary options are active now (they’re grayed out on the Creation tab.)

The hatch itself has a new center grip—another instance of improved direct manipulation of objects.

This grip, like the polyline grips, is multifunctional. You can see what options are available by hovering the crosshairs over the grip.

You can click on an item in the list to activate that option, or left-click directly on the grip and use the Ctrl key to cycle through the different behaviors.

The boundary grips for non-associative hatches are still there too, and can be used to modify the shape of the hatch’s perimeter.

When you mirror a hatch object in AutoCAD LT 2011, its angle is now maintained.

New way:

Old way:

I like the new way better, personally, but if you don’t, you can use the new MIRRHATCH variable to change it back.

Finally, we’ve fulfilled one more item from the AUGI wishlist by adding a new option to the Draw Order flyout. Can you spot it?

“Send Hatches to Back,” like “Bring Text/Dimensions to Front,” is straight from the list of feature wishes from users like you. It’s on the ribbon, as you see above, and also accessible as the stand-alone HATCHTOBACK command.

Hatch Improvements in AutoCAD LT 2011, Part 1

There have been some major changes and improvements in hatch creation and editing in AutoCAD LT 2011. Some of them are easy to spot, but some of them you have to look for. Today’s post will focus on the creation side of hatches, and the next will be about editing.

When you fire up the Hatch command in AutoCAD LT 2011, you’ll notice that something is missing: the dialog box.

Instead, a contextual tab appears with all the options previously available in the dialog, plus a few more. (Click on the image to see it full-size.)

You can set the boundary detection method, pattern, angle, scale, origin, and more directly from the tab.

If you’re using the “pick points” method, hovering over an eligible area shows you an instant preview of what the hatch will look like, so you can adjust your properties as needed.

After you click, the hatch becomes immediately visible.

As you continue clicking to select areas, keep in mind that even though it *looks* as though separate hatch objects are created with each click, the final result will still be a single object unless you have “Create separate hatches” turned on under the Options panel.

Amid all these familiar hatch settings are two new options: Background Color, and Layer. They’re both on the Properties panel, but Layer is in the expanded portion.

Background color enables you to have a line pattern AND a fill color in the same hatch object, creating the effect of layering hatches. It can be set to any color you like except By Layer.

With the Layer property, you can set the default creation layer for new hatch objects. That way, no matter what the current layer is, hatches will always be created on the same layer.

This setting is persistent within a drawing, so if you set the hatch layer in your template file, you’ll never have to set it again. Now, is that a time-saver or what?

Tune in next time for hatch editing improvements!

Deal with Gaps in Hatch Boundaries

In AutoCAD LT 2009 and earlier, when you're trying to hatch an area by picking points, it can be so frustrating to see the "valid boundary not found" error message. You had to go hunting around to see if you could find the gap, or increase your Hatch Gap Tolerance, which would create the hatch but make it non-associative.

In AutoCAD LT 2010, both those options have been significantly improved. (It still can't fix gaps in hatch boundaries for you, unfortunately.)

Using the Hatch Gap Tolerance (hiding in the expanded portion of the Hatch dialog) still results in a non-associative hatch. But, as I showed you in a previous post, this is no longer much of a problem when it comes to modifying the hatch later.

If you'd rather fix the gap than work around it, though, LT 2010 can help. When you pick a point that's not in an enclosed area, you now get a much more helpful message:

When you click Close, you can now see exactly where the problem is:

The little red circles go away after a Redraw or Regen.

No more hunting for tiny errors in a hatch boundary! (Although it can only find one or two gaps at a time, so if you have a very broken boundary you may have to run it a few times to find all the holes.)

Edit Non-Associative Hatch Objects

AutoCAD LT 2010 is stuffed full of what I like to call "little big" features -- things that don't take very long to explain or learn, but which will make enormous differences in your day-to-day work.

One of these "little" features is the ability to edit the boundary of a non-associative hatch object.

Let's say that I have a hatch object that for whatever reason isn't filling its boundary the way it should:

Until now, if you selected that hatch object, all you got was one (unhelpful) grip:

And your only choice was to erase the hatch and start over. Let's see what happens when I select that same hatch in LT 2010:
 
Look at all those grips! The large square ones can be used to move corners, while the rectangular ones in the middle of each side can be used to add vertices or convert sides between line and arcs. Check it out:

Now, that's not getting as much attention as the PDF improvements (or as parametrics and freeform over on the AutoCAD side), but it's still an impressive time-saver!

Set Object Snaps to Ignore Hatches

Object snaps are wonderful things, but occasionally you don't actually want to use them. For example, intersecting lines in a hatch pattern probably aren't part of your design, and you'd rather not have them appear as an option when you're looking for intersections.

Fortunately, removing hatches as object snap targets is simple. Just go to the Options dialog, Drafting tab, and check the box marked "Ignore Hatch Objects" under "Object Snap Options". (You can also use the system variable OSOPTIONS.)

Select Hatch and Boundary

Last in the series on unexpected selection behavior is Associative Hatch -- and it's probably not the kind of associative you're thinking of.

Typically, when we hear that a hatch is associative, we understand that to mean that when the boundary of the hatch is modified, the hatch will update to fill the new area. In the context of selection behaviors, though, it means that when the hatch is selected, its boundary is too.

Like the previous two settings, Associative Hatch is also on the Selection tab of the Options dialog. (It's also the PICKSTYLE variable.) The effects of checking this box are noticed most often in trying to delete a hatch. You select the hatch, press Delete, and suddenly the bounding object has been deleted too. If that's not what you wanted, all you need to do is undo, then hop into the Options dialog and put the setting back to normal.