Here is another useful autocad trick that can help you obtain the distance and angle between two points in autocad :

1. Type command DIST. You can also click on menu Tools, then click on Inquiry and then click Distance.

2. When autocad prompts for the first point, click on the first point.



















3. Then click on the second point and hit enter.

4. At this point, autocad command line should show you the distance and angle between the specified points.

If you want to modify or replace the existing text in an autocad dimension text object with a new text then do the following steps:

1. Type command DDEDIT. You can also go to Dimension menu, then click Object, click on Text and then Edit.



















2. Autocad will prompt you to select the dimension text to edit. Just select the dimension text wherein you want a text to be replaced or edited.

3. A text editor will appear. In it replace or edit the dimension text with a new one.

In order to override a dimension style, you must first set up a dimension style overrides and then apply the dimension stye overrides you just created.

Here’s how to set up the style overrides:

1. Type command DIMSTYLE. You can also go to menu Dimension and then Click on Dimension Style.

2. The Dimension Style Manager dialog will show up. Under the styles, select the dimension style for which you want to create a dialog and then click Override.

3. The dialog box Override Current Style will appear. There are several tabs in this dialog box, click on them and make the appropriate changes for your override dimension style. Then Click OK.



















5. You should see the dimension style override you’ve just created in the dimension style name list. Click close to exit the dialog.

Now that you have created the style override in autocad, you can now apply the dimension style overrides.

To apply the dimension style overrides, do the following steps.

1. Type DIMSTYLE.

2. This shows up the Dimension Style Manager dialog. Click Override.

3. The Override Current style Dialog will appear. Here, enter the style overrides and then click OK.

Many times we need to rotate a dimension text in autocad. Rotating a dimenstion text in autocad is an indispensable procedure that every autocad draftsman should learn. We need to rotate a dimension text to clearly label the dimensions of our drawing objects. The following are the steps on how to rotate a dimension text in autocad.



















1. Type command DIMEDIT. You can also go to the menu Dimension, click on Align and then to Angle.

2. Autocad will prompt you to select the dimension object to edit. Just select the dimension text you want to edit.

3. Finally, enter the angle for the dimension text.

Aligning drawing objects in autocad is a very important skill every autocad draftsman should know. Here are the steps on how to align drawing objects in autocad.

1. Type command ALIGN. You can also use go to menu Modify. Click on 3D Operations and click on align.

2. Then select the objects you want to align.

3. Specify the first point.




















4. Specify the destination point.

5. If you want to rotate the drawing object, specify the second source point and then specify the second destination point.

5. To end the command, press ENTER.

Here’s how to import text file into autocad :

1. Create a multiline object using the MTEXT command. Type MTEXT and specify the first and second corner points.

2. In the text editor, right-click and click Import Text.

3. Note that the maximum allowed file size is only 32 kb.

4. In the File dialog box that appears, select the text file located in your hard disk.

5. The content on the text file will be inserted in the cursor location in the text editor.

6. To save, click OK.

Here’s how to create hyperlink in autocad:

1. Create a multiline text object in your drawing using the MTEXT command and place some temporary text on it.

2. On the text editor, right-click and click Select Field..

3. Under the Field Category, select Linked.

4. Under field names, select hyperlink and click the Hyperlink.. button on the right side.

5. Under the Type the File or Web page name, enter the path of the file you to associate with the hyperlink.

6. Click OK.

Here’s how to insert symbols or special characters in autocad :

1. Create a multiline text object using the MTEXT command.

2. If a multiline text object already exists, double-click it to open the text editor.

3. On the toolbar of the text editor, click the Symbol button. This button has a @ character on it.

4. After clicking on that button, a sub menu will pop up. Click on Other..

5. A dialog box Character Map should appear.

6. Select the special character or symbol you want to insert.

Here’s how to create or write single line text in autocad:

1. Type command TEXT. You can also click menu Draw > Text > Single Line Text.

2. Specify the insertion point of the text by clicking on the autocad window.

3. Specify the height of the text.

4. Specify the angle of the text. Type 0 for an upright text, otherwise the desired angle of inclination of the text.

Here’s how to check spelling in Autocad :

1. Go to the Tools menu.

2. On the sub menu that appears, click on Spelling. You can also use the command SPELL.

3. Autocad will prompt you to select a text (MTEXT object ) autocad. Select the text object that contains the texts you want to check the spelling.

4. If all words are spelled correctly, you will recieve a prompt “Check spelling complete”.

5. If some words, are spelled incorrectly. A dialog box will appear showing the misspelled words and suggested words.

Before you can get the area and perimeter of a drawing figure in autocad you must first make sure that the figure is an object in autocad and is a closed one. Therefore, you must first check if the figure or polygon is closed by making sure that the line segments are connected. Next you need to make sure that autocad recognized it as an object.


















One way to do this is by making it a region using the autocad’s REGION command. Simply type in REGION, select the figure and then hit ENTER. Your drawing figure should be a region and an object in autocad at this point. We are now ready to get the area and perimeter. The command is, of course, AREA. Type in AREA, choose object option by typing in O, hit ENTER, select the drawing object and then hit ENTER. The area and perimeter values should be displayed on the command line as well as on the tip of your mouse pointer.

Occasionally, we need to write mathematical formulas and equations in our drawings that could contain terms with
exponents. Creating or writing exponents in Autocad is one of the problems I encountered before. After some research, I have found one solution. First, you need to use the MTEXT command. Then type in the exponent value followed

















by the carat character “^”. Say 5^ , then highlight the 5^ and right-click. In the menu that appears, click on Stack. The 5^ should now appear as an exponent. To add more features to this stacked text, right-click on the stacked text and click Properties. There you can choose some addition features or options you can use for customizations, etc.

Before you can create a 3dface in autocad from a polygon or region, you need to create a mesh first from a polygon or region. Simply use the MESHSMOOTH command if your polygon or region is made up of lines and polyline. However, if it contains arc segments, then you use the MESHREFINE command to produce more refined mesh in the arcs. After the mesh is created from a polygon or region, convert it to 3d face, simply explode the mesh by using the EXPLODE command.



Bonus Tip: Autolisp (LISP programs) and ObjectArx custom commands are powerful tools to draw fast in autocad. Look around this site for more info.

Sometimes a new mouse doesn’t zoom in or zoom out in autocad. This problem occurs in new Logitech mouse or a mouse using the Mouseware driver. The problem is persistent even if you have set the parameter MBUTTONPAN to 1 and even if you are using the latest version of device driver. To solve this problem, just go to the Windows Control Panel, then go to Mouse Properties. On the Buttons top, set the Scroller to Use Office Compatible Scroll Only.

Bonus Tip: Autolisp and ObjectArx custom commands are powerful tools to draw fast in autocad. Look around this site for more info.

So you found out that there is no ‘triangle’ command in autocad. It sounds ridiculous right? Autocad has a lot of powerful commands yet it lacks the command for this very useful and common figure. Autodesk realized that there is no need for a special ‘triangle’ command because a triangle is simply a polygon. Therefore, all you need to do to draw a triangle in autocad is use the general command for polygons. That is, simply type in POLYGON, set the number of sides to 3 and input the lengths of the sides of the triangle.

Bonus Tip: Autolisp and ObjectArx custom commands are powerful tools to draw fast in autocad. Look around this site for more info.

To draw a figure, polygon or almost any drawing entity we need to connect two lines. There are many ways to connect two lines in autocad. One is using the FILLET command. Just type in FILLET, set the radius to 0 and select the lines you want connected. Another way is by extending the two lines until they overlap and then TRIM the first line and then the second line. The third method is using EXTEND command.




















First, manually extend the first line such that it serves as a boundary for the second line. That is, that when you extend the second line it will hit the first line. Now when everything is set, type in EXTEND, select the first line as the boundary line and then select the second line as the line that should be extended. The second line should extend and hit the first line. Finally, type in TRIM to cut the extra length from the first line.

Storing a point you’ve just selected in autocad is one of the very important trick a power autocad user should know. If you want to exactly know the coordinates of the point you’ve just clicked and store that in memory, then this trick is the one you need. Actually, you don’t have to do anything to store the last point you clicked. Autocad automatically stores the last point you’ve just clicked into a variable @. So whenever autocad asks you something like ‘Specify a point:’ , just type in the @ and press ENTER. Say, ‘Specify a point: @’ then hit ENTER. The point entered is the last point you’ve clicked.

Sometimes, a command needs to be sent to autocad command line over and over. This is tedious and you should find a way to reduce the boring repetition of sending the same command on the command line. Fortunately, autocad comes with a handy tool that will let autocad commands repeat automatically.




















The command is MULTIPLE. Just type in MULTIPLE in the command line, press ENTER and type in the name of of the command you want to be repeating. The command now runs and will continuously repeat until you hit ESC. This trick works very well when you FILLET, CHAMFER, COPY, etc.

This autocad tip is one of my favorites and one of the most useful. Before it took me a lot a searching on how to write or draw a subscript and superscript in autocad. So you don’t have to look somewhere else because it is right here! You actually don’t draw, you just write and click a button.





















Simply type in MTEXT and the text editor will appear. To write a superscript, simply type use ^ next to the letter or words you want to be superscript, highlight the letter and click the a/b button. For example, you want to write the formula E=mc2 . Just write E=mc2^ and highlight 2^ and click the a/b button . Now, for creating a subscript just put the ^ before the letter you want to be a subscript. Say C2, just type in C^2. Then highlight ^2 and click the a/b button. The 2 should now become a subscript.

Getting the midpoint coordinates between two points in autocad can have so many applications such as cutting a line or any drawing object into half, etc. To get the midpoint between two points in an autocad drawing you need to do thE following: Type in the command CAL then MEE . Then select the two points between which you want to get the midpoint and then hit ENTER. You should see the two coordinates in the command line that represents the midpoint between the choosen two points.

When drawing in autocad, we often draw outlines and other drawing objects to guide us in drawing the real drawing entities we want. However we don’t want these outlines or guides to appear in the final printout. So how do we prevent these undesired drawings to be printed in paper?

One of the solutions is to draw these outlines or guides on DEFPOINTS layer. This layer is one of the default layers found in the autocad layers dropdown menu. Another way to do this is to create a separate layer for the outline or guides drawing objects and make sure that the printer icon of this layer is marked or clicked off .

I encounter this problem very often in the past when drawing in autocad. I really hate it when the mouse pointer is lagging when using autocad, I am so unproductive with this problem and I think it is also the same in your case. After some research, I have found a solution to this problem. I have tried this solution in my Windows vista machine, I’m not sure if it works in other operating systems but I think the solution is similar across different versions of Windows.


Tools to Remove Mouse Lag in Autocad :


















Ok, for this to work you must have log in as Administrator or should have Administrator privileges. In your Vista machine, click on Start button, right-click on Computer and Select Properties. On the left side of the dialog box, under Tasks, select Advance System Settings. Click the Settings button located under the Performance heading (located in the Advanced Tab). Under the Visual Effects tab, select Custom and then Uncheck Enable Desktop Composition and click Apply.


Tools to Remove Mouse Lag in Autocad :

Let’s say you have a solid in your autocad drawing and now you decide to cut or separate this solid to form another solid. What would you do? Well, you might be searching the web for some fancy solution to separate or cut a solid in autocad .


Tools to Cut Solids in Autocad:



















Look no further because I have been through that same problem that you have today. Just use this magic command of autocad: SLICE . Yup, just type in SLICE command in the autocad command prompt and select the solid you want to cut or separate and your done! Basically, that’s the way we do it. However if you want to be proficient with the SLICE command then go to the autocad help files, type in SLICE and hit the search button. You’ll find out the SLICE command is a very cool tool!

Tools to Cut Solids in Autocad:

When a drawing gets complicated and cluttered with drawing objects, we also notice that it is also using a lot of layers and some of these layers turns out to be no longer necessary. So we decide to delete the unwanted layers. But how do we do this? If you want to delete all layers in autocad then you then there is an autocad command that can easily do this: LAYDEL . Type in LAYDEL in command prompt to delete all layers in autocad. Just read and follow the command prompt associated with it

Tools to Delete Layers in Autocad:

Setting up Autocad for plotting or printing is one of the long and tedious routines every autocad users do over and over. So, is there a way to set up Autocad for fast plotting or printing? Of course there is!
If this is the first time you print/plot in an autocad sofware in a computer, then you will have to set up first your autocad for plotting/printing.



















Just type in PLOT and press enter. A plot dialog will appear. Set up the plot as you normally would using your preferred setting and print. Now print your next documents by typing in PLOT. The plot dialog should show up. For fast plotting or printing in autocad, use the ‘Previous Plot’ option found in the Page Set Up name. By using the Previous Plot, you save yourself of time of doing the same set up setting over and over.

Creating layer is one of the basic skill every autocad user should know. If you draw objects in autocad without using layers you will have problems as your drawing documents get complicated and cluttered with different objects.



















Every autocad user should learn how to create at least two layers in autocad. But how do you create multiple layers in autocad automatically or considerably fast? Well, here’s the trick and it’s very simple. To create multipple layers quikly, simply open the Layers Control Dialog Box and enter the name of the new layers to you want to create separated by commas and Press OK. That’s it! You have now created your autocad layers! No Sweat!

There are times when we need to hide a block or part of a block in our Autocad drawing. We badly need to do this when we need to hide a part or portion of block into view. This can be done by using the autocad command XCLIP.





















Type in xclip in command prompt, select the block and follow the instructions in the command prompt. For more information on how to use the xclip command see the Autocad reference for XCLIP command in the help section. After mastering the trick on hiding part or portion of blocks in Autocad, you’ll find that has more use that you expected.

Solid hatching or filling a region, polygon or closed figure in Autocad is very useful in making document titles or bold figures and regions in drawing documents. Before, I used to use the Hatch command in Autocad which I found a very long and tedious solution for this problem. When using the Hatch command you have to selec a hatch pattern to fill the a region and set the scale to a very small amount





to just to have a solid-looking fill of a polygon or region. After some search, I have found a command that solves this problem. This command is BHATCH . Just type in Bhatch command in your Autocad command prompt, select the region, closed figures or polygon you want to hatch and press enter. And voila! Your polygon is now hatched or filled with a solid fill.

How to draw bold lines in Autocad or How to make an existing line object bold

Actually, there are several ways to draw bold lines in autocad . These are the following:

A. The simplest way to draw a bold line in autocad is by doing the following steps:

1. Type in ‘L’ or ‘line’ and define your line by specifying the starting and end points.

2. Select the line you’ve just created. The selected line should highlight.

3. Finally, use the line lineweight toolbar and assign the line weight.



Tools, Programs To Draw Bold Lines
in Autocad:



B. Use pline to draw lines in autocad :

1. You can use a pline to draw a line. You can also make an ordinary line a pline by using the PEDIT command. Once you are sure that it already a pline, assign it a width value.

2. This should create a bold line in autocad. This is not a lineweight but basically the same idea.

C. Move the line object onto the a layer:

1. You can also move the line into a layer.

2. Assign a lineweight to that layer. However, make sure that the lineweight of that entity is set to ‘bylayer’.

C. Move the line into a layer and assign that layer a color:

1. In this method, you have to move the line entity into a layer and assign that ‘layer a color that corresponds a pen color setting in your color table to print thicker than others.

Tools, Programs To Draw Bold Lines
in Autocad:

How to Copy an Entire Layer in Autocad
Copying an Entire Layer in Autocad is one of the important tricks every autocad draftsman should know. To do that, follow the following steps.



Tools, Programs To Copy Entire Layer
in Autocad:



1. First make sure that the autocad layer you want to copy is visible, thawed and unlocked.

2. Enter the command QSELECT.

3. After you enter the command above, a dialog box will appear. (Entire drawing, Multiple, Layer, Equals)

4. In the dropwown menu ‘Value’, select the layer you want to copy.

5. Click on “Include in new selection set” radio button.

6. Uncheck ‘Append to current selection set’ then click OK.

7. At this point, you should have selected everything on the layer.

8. Enter command -COPYTOLAYER .

9. Type in the name of the new layer name that you want, and press Enter.

10. At the prompt ‘The layer [your layer name] does not exist. Do you want to create it? Y/N’, enter Y.

11. At the prompt ‘Specify base point or.’, just press ENTER.

12. That’s all there is to it to copy an entire autocad layer.



Tools, Programs To Copy Entire Layer
in Autocad: