Summary of CAD Tips and Usage 1

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As CAD is used in various industries, more and more people learn to use it. Over time, each CAD user develops their own set of techniques, but those techniques that are not mentioned in available technical documentation do not receive as much attention. By chance, I discovered a trick in AutoCAD R14, and I’d like to share it with you; it might bring you a lot of convenience. Let’s first introduce the shortcut keys in AutoCAD. Shortcut key F1: Access help. F2: Switch between the drawing window and the text window. F3: Control whether object auto-snapping is enabled. F4: Control the digitizer. F5: Switch between isometric planes. F6: Control the way coordinates are displayed on the status bar. F7: Control the grid display mode. F8: Control the ortho mode. F9: Control the grid snapping mode. F10: Control the polar tracking mode. Ctrl+B: Control the grid snapping mode (F9). Ctrl+C: Copy the selected objects to the clipboard. Ctrl+F: Control whether object auto-snapping is enabled (F3). Ctrl+G: Control the grid display mode (F7). Ctrl+J: Repeat the last command. Ctrl+K: Create hyperlinks. Ctrl+N: Create a new drawing file. Ctrl+M: Open the options dialog box. AA: Measure area and perimeter. AL: Align objects. AR: Array objects. AP: Load LSP routines. AV: Open the DSVIEWER dialog box. SE: Open the object auto-snapping dialog box. ST: Open the style settings dialog box. SO: Draw 2D solids. SP: Check spelling. SC: Adjust the scale. SN: Set grid snapping options. DT: Set text properties. DI: Measure the distance between two points. OI: Insert external references. Ctrl+1: Open the property dialog box. Ctrl+2: Open the image resource manager. Ctrl+6: Open the image data editor. Ctrl+O: Open an image file. Ctrl+P: Open the print dialog box. Ctrl+S: Save the file. Ctrl+U: Control the polar tracking mode (F10). Ctrl+V: Paste content from the clipboard. Ctrl+W: Control object tracking (F11). Ctrl+X: Cut the selected content. Ctrl+Y: Redo the last action. Ctrl+Z: Undo the last action. A: Draw arcs. B: Define blocks. C: Draw circles. D: Dimension resource manager. E: Delete objects. F: Round corners. G: Combine objects. H: Fill areas. I: Insert objects. S: Stretch objects. T: Enter text. W: Define blocks and save them to the hard drive. L: Draw lines. M: Move objects. X: Expand objects. V: Set the current coordinates. U: Restore the previous action. O: Offset objects. P: Move objects. Z: Scale objects.

Use of the “↑” and “↓” keys
As we all know, the up and down arrow keys are used in DOS. If DOSKEY is installed, it remembers each command you enter, so you don’t need to type those commands again; you can simply use the up and down arrow keys to select them. In AutoCAD as well, the up and down arrow keys can be used to select previously entered commands. This is most useful when entering text; whether using the TEXT or DTEXT command, the up and down arrow keys can be used while typing to reduce the amount of text that needs to be entered. Of course, the number of lines that AutoCAD can record is limited, but this limit can be increased through settings. The steps to do this are: select Tools] → Parameter Selection] → Display]. In the second line of the Text Window Parameters box, the option “Number of lines of text in text windows to keep in memory” determines the number of lines that will be recorded. The higher the value entered, the more lines will be stored; however, if the computer has limited memory, it’s better to set a lower value to avoid problems. This value ranges from 25 to 2048. My computer has 128M of memory, and I’ve set this value to 2048, with no issues so far. Everyone should try different values depending on their own computer to find the appropriate one. To ensure that the commands selected are valid, when using AutoCAD, try to minimize the entry of repetitive and meaningless commands via the keyboard, such as invoking the layer dialog box or using the Undo command; it is better to use the menu whenever possible. 　　“! ”Use of keys 　　“! ”Keys are useful too? Yes, I’ll now give a specific example to illustrate its usage. 　　Suppose there is a line of known length on the screen (it can be a single line or a polyline; an unknown length is also possible), and it makes an angle with the horizontal direction. If we want to shorten this line by a certain amount while keeping its direction unchanged, I believe every CAD user has their own method for doing this (you surely don’t want to rotate the coordinate system, right?) ), but I think no fewer than three commands will be used, and with “! ”As a helper command, only one command is needed; the procedure is as follows: While in the “Command:” state, select the line directly so that its grip points appear. Move the cursor to the end that needs to be shortened and activate that grip point, thereby turning the line into an adjustable elastic-like line. Move the cursor in the direction of the line until the elastic line overlaps with the original line segment. There is no limit on the distance of movement. If someone thinks the movement direction should not be the same as before, they can use the helper point capture command; after the prompt appears on the screen, enter “near” and press the space bar. At this point, a prompt will appear asking to capture a certain point on the original line segment. Enter “!XX” (where XX is the specific value) after the “near to” prompt and press Enter, and the length of the line will be changed. How about that! If you don’t believe it, use the list command before and after executing this command to check the length of this segment. 　　Finding fonts: What bothers those who use AutoCAD the most is when drawings copied from elsewhere lack the corresponding fonts on their own machine, resulting in various types of garbled text. The reason for this is that the location where the fonts are stored on the other machine differs from that on their own system. The usual solution is to redefine the fonts, but this approach isn’t always effective; moreover, it can lead to unexpected errors that cause AutoCAD to crash, and it’s also possible for the graphic files to be damaged. By chance, I was able to achieve two goals at once using another AutoCAD command, namely the recover command. First, run AutoCAD, select the “recover” command from the File menu, choose the drawing that needs to be repaired, and proceed with the repair process. During this process, a dialog box will appear asking you to select a font; at that point, you can choose the correct font file to redefine it. Once the repair is complete, the text will display properly. There is one thing I would like to remind everyone about: if the Chinese characters used in the graphic file are in a font file that isn’t encoded in GB format, you will need the corresponding font file in order for the text to be displayed properly. Ways and techniques to improve drawing efficiency using AutoCAD 2000 I. Adhering to certain drawing principles To increase the speed of drawing, users should follow the following principles: 1. Drawing steps: Set the paper size → Set units and precision → Create several layers → Set object styles → Begin drawing. 　　2. Always use a 1:1 scale for drawing. To change the size of the pattern, different print scales can be set in the paper space during printing. 　　3. Assign different layers, colors, and line weights to different types of element objects, with the color, line type, and line weight of these element objects being controlled by the layer (BYLAYER). 　　4. When precise drawing is required, the grid snap function can be used, and the grid snap spacing should be set to an appropriate value. 　　5. Do not draw the frame and the graphic in the same diagram; instead, insert the frame as a block in the LAYOUT section and then print the diagram. 　　6. For well-known objects such as views, layers, blocks, line types, text styles, print styles, etc., the naming should not only be concise but also follow certain rules to facilitate searching and use. 　　7. Save some commonly used settings, such as layers, annotation styles, text styles, and grid snapping, in a graphic template file (i.e., save it as a *.DWF file). When creating a new drawing later, you can click “Use Template” in the new drawing wizard to open it and start drawing. 　　II. Selecting the appropriate commands Users are able to operate AutoCAD by issuing a series of commands to it. Upon receiving the command, AutoCAD will immediately execute it and carry out its corresponding function. In the actual process of operation, although there are various ways to achieve the same goal, choosing the right commands can significantly reduce the number of steps required and improve drawing efficiency. Only a few typical cases are listed below. 　　1. Creating lines or line segments 　　(1) In AutoCAD, the LINE, XLINE, RAY, PLINE, and MLINE commands can all be used to create lines or line segments, but the LINE command is the most frequently used and the most flexible among them. 　　(2) To ensure that the three views of an object correspond with each other in terms of \"equal length, equal width, and equal height,\" the XLINE and RAY commands should be used to draw several auxiliary lines, after which the TRIM command is used to remove the excess parts. 　　(3) To quickly create a closed filled boundary or to construct a polygonal region, the PLINE command should be used. The line segments generated with PLINE can be edited using the PEDIT command. 　　(4) When multiple parallel line segments are generated at once, and each segment may use a different color and line style, the MLINE command can be selected. 　　2. Annotation text 　　(1) When using text annotations, if the text in the annotation has a consistent format and the annotation is short, use the TEXT (DTEXT) command. 　　(2) When it is necessary to type long sections of text, and the text within those sections may have different formats such as font, font size, color, special symbols, molecular formulas, etc., the MTEXT command should be used. 　　3. Copying graphics or properties 　　(1) Within the same graphic file, if the graphic is to be copied only once, the COPY command should be used. 　　(2) In the same graphic file, if a certain graphic is copied multiple times arbitrarily, the MULTIPLE option of the COPY command should be used ； Alternatively, use the COPYCLIP (normal copy) or COPYBASE (copy after specifying a base point) commands to copy the desired graphics to the clipboard, and then use the PASTECLIP (normal paste) or PASTEBLOCK (paste as a block) commands to paste them at multiple specified locations. 　　(3) In the same graphic file, if the copied graphics are arranged according to a certain pattern, such as in rows and columns or evenly distributed along a circle (arc), the ARRAY command should be used. 　　(4) To create multiple lines that are parallel to each other with equal or unequal spacing within the same graphic file, or to generate a series of concentric ellipses (arcs), circles (arcs), etc., the OFFSET command should be used. 　　(5) In the same graphic file, if a large number of elements need to be copied, in order to reduce the file size or to facilitate subsequent uniform modifications, the specified graphics should be defined as blocks using the BLOCK command, and then those blocks can be inserted using the INSERT or MINSERT commands. 　　(6) To copy graphics between multiple graphic documents, two methods can be used. First, use command operations. First, use the COPYCLIP or COPYBASE command in the open source file to copy the graphic to the clipboard, and then use one of PASTECLIP, PASTEBLOCK, or PASTEORIG in the open destination file to paste the graphic to the desired location. This is equivalent to selecting the corresponding option in the shortcut menu. Second, use the mouse to directly drag the selected graphic. Note: Dragging within the same graphic file only moves the graphic, while dragging between two graphic documents copies the graphic. When dragging, the mouse pointer must be positioned on the curve of the selected shape, not on the intersection points of the curve. It should also be noted that there is a difference between dragging with the left mouse button and dragging with the right mouse button. Using the left mouse button allows for direct dragging, while dragging with the right mouse button brings up a shortcut menu; you can then choose different methods of copying based on the options provided in that menu. 　　(7) To copy graphic properties between multiple graphic documents, the MATCHPROP command should be used (it works in conjunction with the PAINTPROP command). 　　III. Using EXPRESS TOOLS 　　The so-called EXPRESS TOOLS are, in fact, a collection of practical tools designed for users and provided free of charge along with AutoCAD 2000. Most of the tools in this library come from the Bonus tools of AutoCAD R14; the rest have been discarded or improved, with some new tools added as well. The FastTrack tools expand AutoCAD’s functionality in many areas, such as layer management, object selection, input/output of dimensioning styles, and editing of graphics. They can be easily integrated into AutoCAD 2000’s menus and toolbars, making them convenient and fast to use; as a result, they significantly improve the efficiency of your drawing work. 　　The method to install the Express Tools is to choose a \"Complete\" installation when installing AutoCAD 2000, or to select a \"User\" installation that includes the \"Express Tools\" option. If that had not been the case, AutoCAD 2000 should be reinstalled using the \"add\" option, and the desired \"Express Tools\" should be selected. 　　By default, AutoCAD 2000 does not load the FastTrack tools into memory at startup to reduce its startup time. When you use the Express tool for the first time, the tool library will be loaded automatically. However, you can also use the EXPRESS TOOLS command to force the loading at the start. If the EXPRESS menu does not appear on the screen despite the tool having been installed correctly, you can use the EXPRESS MENU command to display it. 　　Below are the steps to display the “Express” toolbar on the screen: (1) In the drop-down menu, select View > Toolbars..., and the “Toolbars” dialog box will appear. 　　(2) In the dropdown list labeled “Menu Group”, select “Express”. 　　(3) Select the desired option in the combo box labeled “Toolbar”. Options marked with an “X” will have their toolbars displayed on the screen. 　　(4) Click the “Close” button to exit the dialog box. 　　IV. Turning some visual elements on or off The complexity of the graphics affects the speed at which AutoCAD executes commands and refreshes the screen. Turning some visual elements on or off (such as filling, thick lines, text, markers, highlighted selections, etc.) can improve AutoCAD’s performance. 　　(1) If FILL is set to OFF, the solid filling mode is disabled; newly drawn traces, polylines with a width, filled polygons, etc., will only display a contour, and they will not be printed. The effect of the filling mode on existing graphics can be displayed using the REGEN command. Additionally, the system variable FILLMODE controls not only the filling mode but also whether all shading lines are displayed or not. 　　(2) Turn off wide-line display. The wide line increases the width of the line. Wide lines are output at their actual values during printing, but are displayed in proportion to pixels in model space. When using AutoCAD for drawing, you can turn off the display of thick lines using the LWT button on the status bar, or by selecting the \"Thick Lines\" option from the \"Format\" menu; the \"Thick Lines Settings\" dialog box can be used to do this, in order to improve the display performance. The system variable LWDISPLAY also controls the display of thick lines in the current graphic. 　　(3) If QTEXT is set to ON, the quick display text mode is enabled. In this way, the newly added text in the pattern will be hidden, showing only a border, and the same applies when printing. The effect of this setting on existing text can be displayed using the REGEN command. Additionally, the system variable QTEXTMODE also controls whether text is displayed. This has a significant impact on system performance when there is a lot of text in the pattern. 　　(4) Display of marker points is prohibited. The so-called markup points are temporary markers that appear in the AutoCAD drawing area when selecting graphic objects or positioning a point. They can serve as reference points and can be removed using the REDRAW or REGEN commands, but they do not appear on the drawing when it is printed. To prevent the display of markers, set BLIPMODE to OFF to improve AutoCAD’s performance. 　　(5) Cancel highlighting the selection. By default, AutoCAD uses “highlighting” to indicate the graphic that is currently selected. However, changing the value of the system variable HIGHLIGHT from 1 to 0 to disable highlighting can also improve AutoCAD’s performance. 　　(6) Incidentally, setting the value of the system variable REGENMODE to 0, or setting REGENAUTO to OFF, can save time spent on automatic graphic regeneration. 　　V. Clean up graphics promptly A graphic file may contain various unnecessary elements such as unused layers, blocks, text styles, dimensioning styles, line types, and other similar items. These unnecessary objects not only increase the file size but also reduce AutoCAD’s performance. Users should promptly use the PURGE command to clean up. Since graphic objects are often nested, users usually need to use the PURGE command several times in a row to remove unnecessary objects completely. 　　VI. Using Command Aliases and Shortcut Keys AutoCAD defines aliases and shortcut keys for some of the most commonly used commands or menu items. Using command aliases and shortcut keys can significantly save time when accessing commands. Command aliases are defined in the acad.pgp file. Open and edit the file with any text editor to add, delete, or change command aliases. Aliases defined in this way can be used once AutoCAD is reopened. In the latest version of the software, users can redefine command aliases using the Quick Tools without having to exit AutoCAD. However, if this method is used, it is necessary to execute the REINIT command to reinitialize the software before using the newly defined aliases for the first time. 　　The command acceleration key is defined in the acad.mnu file. To add, delete, or change command shortcut keys, users must edit the acad.mnu file using a text editor. The modified *.mnu file must be loaded using the MENU command and compiled before the newly defined command shortcut keys can be used. In the use of AutoCAD, layers are used to draw various graphics, whether simple or complex. The more complex the graphic, the more layers it involves. Although layers are a relatively simple tool in AutoCAD, they are also one of the most effective tools. A thorough understanding of the concept of layers and the proper use of their various operations will directly affect the quality of graphic rendering. At the same time, it can also make tedious tasks simple and interesting. 　　AutoCAD layers can be simply and vividly understood as transparent sheets of electronic paper stacked one on top of another. We can add or remove one layer or multiple layers as needed. On each layer, graphic drawing is possible, and any line style and color can be set. Before drawing the graphic, it is best to create a few layers first for easier use later on. Layers can be created through the dropdown menu Data, Layers Control, or by clicking the Layers button on the toolbar. When creating, one or more layer names can be defined at a time; the layer names should be separated by commas, and there must be no spaces in any layer name. Layer names may only use standard letters, digits, as well as hyphens (–), dollar signs ($), and underscores (_), and must not be longer than 31 characters. When layer names repeat, the former one will be used. For a newly created layer, its color and line style are automatically set to White and CONTINUOUS, respectively, with the status set to On. 　　During the use of layers, we can set their properties as needed. AutoCAD supports 255 color options, and the line type library includes a variety of line types to choose from. By choosing different colors and line styles, the graphics on the screen can be made to look attractive and easier to distinguish. Setting the linetype is quite simple; simply click Set Linetype to configure it as desired. Setting the color is just as simple: by clicking on Set Color, a color dialog box appears, allowing you to choose various colors according to your personal preferences. However, users should be reminded that during the output of graphics, the width of lines is generally set through color. To make it easier to set the line width, it is recommended to choose Standard Colors first when selecting colors, and only consider other colors afterward. 　　To facilitate users’ use of layers, AutoCAD provides several methods for controlling layer status, namely six states: On/Off, Locked/Unlocked, and Frozen/Thawed. The effects of these states on layers are as follows: On, Thawed, and Unlocked: Objects are visible and selectable, and a refresh is required. Off and Thawed: The object is visible but cannot be selected; its time needs to be refreshed. Frozen: The object is neither visible nor selectable, and no refresh time is required. Locked, On, and Thawed: The object is visible but cannot be selected; a time refresh is required. The status of the control layer directly affects the outcome and quality of the drawing. Controlling the layer status will simplify complex diagrams, allowing for drawing as desired. When drawing complex graphics, lines often gather in certain specific areas, resulting in a chaotic layout that makes it difficult to distinguish elements; this can lead to errors during the process of drawing or modifying them. At this point, we can close or lock certain layers to make them invisible or unselectable, and restore them once the drawing is complete. 　　When creating renderings, we can use different layers to implement various designs based on different concepts and ideas. Then, we can open each layer one by one, compare the results, and select the best one in order to optimize the design. During the output of graphics, whether it is a schematic diagram, an assembly diagram, or a part diagram, it is often necessary to output only a certain portion of the graphic; we can also obtain different output results by changing the settings. 　　 　　When there are a large number of layers in the same graphic, we can group them based on their characteristics or properties, thereby filtering out those layers that share certain common features. The methods of filtering are divided into: filtering by status ； Filter by layer name ； Filter by color and line style. The setting of the filtering function is done through the Set Layer Filters dialog box. To disable the filtering function, clear the Filters On checkbox or use the Reset button in the Set Layer Filters dialog box to restore the original state. When using layers, it may be necessary to rename them or modify some of their options as needed. At this point, we can issue the command through the drop-down menu Data, Rename, or type Rename under the Command: field, and then follow the prompts. These two operations can be used to rename blocks, text types, layers, line styles, dimension formats, views, etc. If certain layers are not needed, we use the dropdown menu; for Data, Purge, or via the Command: command line by entering Purge. The system then asks us to select the object type, and it lists the unused objects one by one – entering y will delete them. II. Steps to create a layout in CAD II. Steps for creating a layout Below, we will use a practical example to illustrate the key points related to layout creation. 　　When drawing on paper, it is necessary to consider scale and layout first, but when using CAD, there is no need to worry about scale and layout in advance; one only needs to draw at a 1:1 scale in model space, leaving the printing scale and the arrangement of the drawings to be determined through the final layout settings. After drawing the diagram in model space, layout settings can be made. 　　There are two default layouts in CAD. When you click on a layout, a page setup window appears first; you need to specify the desired printer and paper size, and set the printing scale to 1:1. After clicking OK, a viewport is generated automatically. It’s advisable to create a separate layer for this viewport so that its boundaries can be hidden during printing. 　　Insert title bar. 　　Use grip editing to adjust the size of the viewport and place it in the appropriate position, as shown in the figure below. 　　However, we found that the diagram is incomplete, as the printing scale has not been adjusted yet. 　　When creating a viewport, CAD displays all objects in full size by default; next, we will adjust the scale. Double-click the viewport with the mouse to enter it (you can also click on the drawing/model in the status bar at the bottom using the mouse to switch). Type ‘z’ in the command line, press Enter, enter the scale factor; the scale for this drawing is 1/4xp. Press Enter again, and then you can use the pan command to move to the desired position. It should be noted here that xp must be added after entering the scale factor in order to get the scale at which printing will take place. 　　After adjusting the viewport, start using the print style and edit the print style sheet. Colors are generally used to distinguish between line thicknesses and print colors; there is no need to set the line width in layers. Save your own print style sheet for future use. 　　In this way, all the preparations before printing are complete; as long as the image is not moved as a whole when making changes later, this layout will remain unchanged, and each printed sheet will be in the same format as the first one. Essential AutoCAD Tips No. 3: Making the background transparent in ACAD – Monochrome TIFF images can be set to be transparent in CAD. Increasing memory can resolve printing and display issues. My computer has 768M of memory; I have inserted raster images of around 100M in size, and although the display is a bit slow, it’s still possible to use them. 1. Open the image in Photoshop, and from the menu bar select “Image” → “Mode” → “Grayscale”. 2. Once again, select “Image” → “Mode” → “Bitmap” from the menu bar, and set “Method” to “Use” and the “Threshold” to 50%. 3. Save as TIFF and exit. Such TIFF files are monochrome, and any color can be set in CAD. Essential AutoCAD Tips Part 2: AutoCAD Experience and Tips – Drawing, Editing, Saving, Fonts, Menus, Printing. Question: What preparations are needed to start drawing? Answer: Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay chopping wood. Like manual drawing, computer drawing also requires some necessary preparations. Such as setting layers, line styles, annotation styles, target snapping, unit formats, drawing boundaries, etc. Many repetitive tasks can be prepared in advance using template files such as ACAD.DWT, so that they can be used right away when starting a new drawing. Question: What scale is good for drawing in AutoCAD? Answer: It is best to draw at a 1:1 ratio; the output ratio can be adjusted as desired. Drawing scale and output scale are two different concepts. When exporting, if \"1 unit of output = 500 units in drawing\", it means the output is done at a scale of 1/500; whereas if \"10 units of output = 1 unit in drawing\", it means the output is enlarged by a factor of 10. There are many advantages to drawing at a 1:1 ratio. First, errors are easy to spot, as drawing based on actual dimensions makes it simple to identify any unreasonable settings regarding the sizes. Secondly, marking dimensions is very convenient; the software measures the values itself, and if a mistake is made in drawing, it can be detected by looking at the dimension values (of course, the software also allows setting the dimension scaling factor, but that still requires extra effort). Third, when copying partial graphics between different drawings or using blocks, since the scale is 1:1, it is easy to adjust the block size. Fourth, it is very convenient for assembling assembly drawings from part drawings or for breaking down assembly drawings into part drawings. Fifth, there is no need for complicated calculations of scaling up or down, which improves work efficiency and prevents errors that may occur during the conversion process. Question: What is the use of layers? Answer: Making reasonable use of layers can achieve twice the result with half the effort. When starting to draw, some basic layers are set up in advance. Each layer has its own specific purpose, and the advantage of this is that by creating just one graphic file, it is possible to generate many of the required drawings; modifications can also be made specifically to each layer. Question: What are command aliases? Answer: To make it easier to enter commands and avoid having to remember their full English names, command aliases (ALIAS) can be used in place of those commands. Entering C is equivalent to entering the CIRCLE command, while L is equivalent to the LINE command. Command aliases can **speed up the input of commands and improve drawing efficiency. Experienced users usually use their left hand to type commands and their right hand to click the mouse. Command aliases are set in the ACAD.PGP file, which can be edited using any text editor. AutoCAD provides the ALIASEDIT tool for modifying command aliases, allowing for interactive editing of aliases through a dialog box. Question: Before drawing, must the drawing limits (LIMITS) be set properly? Answer: When drawing new diagrams, it is best to set the drawing boundaries according to national standard sheet sizes. The graphic boundaries are like the size of a drawing sheet; when drawing, everything is done within these boundaries, making it easy to see everything clearly. It is convenient to print the diagrams drawn according to the interface, and automatic batch output of diagrams is also possible. Of course, some people are used to drawing multiple graphs in a single graphic file, in which case setting graph boundaries doesn’t make much sense. Question: After dimensioning, small white dots sometimes appear in the drawing and cannot be removed. Why? Answer: When creating dimensions in AutoCAD, a DEFPOINTS layer is generated automatically to store information such as the locations of the dimension points; this layer is usually frozen. For some reason, these dots sometimes appear. To delete it, first thaw the DEFPOINTS layer before deleting. But note that if a point associated with a dimension is deleted, the corresponding dimension will also be deleted. Question: *I’m used to the full-screen crosshair in R12, but the cursor in R14 is very small. What should I do? Answer: You can click on the menu Tools\preferences\point device and set the cursor percentage to 100% (the default is 5%). The CURSORSIZE system variable can also be modified directly in the command line. Question: Is target snapping (OSNAP) useful? Answer: It’s very useful. Especially when drawing mechanical drawings that require high precision, target capture is the best tool for accurate positioning. Autodesk also attaches great importance to this; with each version upgrade, the performance of the target capture feature improves significantly. Never use the cursor line to select a point directly, as such a point cannot be very accurate. Question: Why aren’t the drawn cross-hatching lines or dimension lines continuous line styles? Answer: The hatch lines and dimension annotations created in AutoCAD can all have line type properties. If the current line type is not a continuous one, then the drawn profile lines and dimension lines will not be continuous. Editor’s question: How to use the “Cancel Command” key on R12? Answer: The default key for canceling commands in R14 is the “ESC” key. If you are used to using “Ctrl+C” in R12, you can click on Menu Tools\Preferences\Compatibility\Priority for accelerator keys\AutoCAD Classic; this way, you can use “Ctrl+C” to cancel commands, while the “ESC” key will still work as usual. Question: How to cut multiple line segments at once? Answer: When the TRIM command prompts you to select the graphic to be cut, the common selection methods of window and crossing are not supported. When cutting multiple line segments, multiple selections are required to complete it. At this point, the fence selection method can be used. When the trim command asks you to select the shapes to be removed, enter “f”, then draw a dashed line on the screen and press Enter; all the shapes that intersect with this dashed line will be deleted. Similarly, for the EXTEND command, entering F when prompted with \"select object:\" allows multiple entities to be extended at once. Question: Why did the deleted lines reappear? Answer: The most likely reason is that several lines overlap each other. This is a common problem for beginners. Also, when a center line or dashed line remains a continuous line regardless of how the line thickness ratio is changed (after REGEN), this is usually the reason as well. Question: How to quickly switch layers? Answer: Click the “Make objects’ layer current” button on the “Object Properties” toolbar (the button on the far left of the toolbar), then select any object on the layer you want to switch to in the drawing area; the current layer will immediately change to the layer containing the selected object. Question: How to handle manually drawn drawings, especially those with many previously hand-drawn engineering sketches? Answer: Scanning the drawings into a computer might be a solution. But note that the graphics processed by AutoCAD are vector graphics, while scanned drawings result in raster graphics. Due to this difference in nature, although graphic files generated from scanned drawings can be inserted into AutoCAD, they can only be viewed and not edited. There are also some vectorization tools that can convert raster images into vector images, but due to technical limitations, the efficiency and quality of such conversions are not satisfactory. The author has tried various such tools, and the results were disappointing. (If there’s time to do that, it’s better to redraw it.) Save Question: How can I reduce the file size? Answer: After the graphic is completed, use the PURGE command to remove unnecessary data, such as unused blocks, layers without entities, as well as unused line styles, fonts, and dimension styles. This can effectively reduce the file size. Generally, thorough cleaning requires PURGING two to three times. Additionally, by default, data is saved to R14 in append mode, which is faster. If disk space needs to be freed, the ISAVEPERCENT system variable must be set to 0 to disable this incremental saving feature, so that the file size is reduced upon the second save. Question: How to set up the auto-save feature? Answer: Set the variable SAVETIME to a smaller value, such as 10 (minutes). The default save time in AutoCAD is 120 minutes. Question: How to restore automatically saved graphics? Answer: AutoCAD saves automatically saved drawings in AUTO.SV$ or AUTO?.SV$ files. Find these files, rename them to the corresponding drawing file names, and they can be opened in AutoCAD. Generally, this file is stored in WINDOWS’ temporary directory, such as C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. Question: How can data be restored if an accidental save overwrites the original image? Answer: If it was saved only once, change the file with the BAK suffix to have a DWG suffix as soon as possible, and then open it in AutoCAD. If it is saved multiple times, the original image cannot be restored. Question: Why does the prompt appear in the command line instead of showing an Open or Export dialog box? Answer: The AutoCAD system variable FILEDIA is used to control the display of the file list dialog boxes. Setting FILEDIA to 1 will cause these dialog boxes to appear; if FILEDIA is set to 0, you can still get a dialog box to show by entering a symbol “~” in response to the first prompt for the command you have selected. Of course, when calling a file operation command from a batch command or an AutoLISP/ADSRX/ObjectARX application, a command-line prompt is required, and no dialog box should appear. Question: Why isn’t the date and time of a file updated in the file browser when it is saved? Answer: Autodesk has identified this issue; it only occurs in the Win95B operating system, and has never happened under Win95A or Windows NT. As a temporary solution, the system variable ISAVEPERCENT can be set to 0 in AutoCAD R14, causing AutoCAD to rewrite the entire drawing content every time it is saved. This may lengthen the saving time, but it ensures that the file date is updated correctly. Font question: Why can’t Chinese characters be displayed? Or did the entered Chinese characters turn into question marks? Answer: The reasons may be: 1. The corresponding font does not use a Chinese character font, such as HZTXT.SHX, etc ； 2. There are no Chinese font files in the current system ； The shape files used should be copied to AutoCAD’s font directory (usually ...\FONTS\) ； 3. For certain symbols, such as Greek letters, the corresponding font file must also be used; otherwise, they will be displayed as ? Number. Question: How to resolve the issue of garbled Chinese characters when opening R12 files in R14? Answer: When using R14 to open an R12 file, garbled characters appear even if the Chinese font file is selected correctly, because R14 and R12 use different code pages, DWGPAGECODE. You can download the code page conversion tool wnewcp from AutoDesk’s homepage. After running wnewcp, first select the “R11/R12” checkbox, then click the “Browse” button to choose the file or directory to be converted. Next, select the new code page (ANSI) and click “Start Conversion” to begin the conversion. After the conversion, Chinese characters will be displayed correctly in R14. The code conversion tool DWGCODE.EXE provided by Tianzheng can also be used for code conversion. If these tools are not available, open the graphic file to be converted in the R12 environment, enter DWGCODEPAGE in COMMAND mode, change its value to ASCII, and then save the file. Batch modification can be achieved using the SCR command set file or through LISP programming. Question: Why can’t the height of the entered text be changed? Answer: When the height value of the font being used is not 0, the DTEXT command does not prompt for entering a height when writing text; as a result, the height of the text created in this way remains constant, including dimension annotations created using that font. Question: How to change an existing font format? Answer: If you want to change the size, font, aspect ratio, spacing, tilt angle, insertion point, etc., of existing text, it is best to use the “Properties (DDMODIFY)” command (provided that you have already defined various text formats). Click the “Properties” command, select the text you want to modify, press Enter, and the “Modify Text” window will appear; then choose the items you want to change. Question: Can system fonts be used, such as Song typeface or Kai typeface? Answer: Although ACADR14 can use *.TTF Chinese font files, such fonts consume a lot of CPU time; on computers with lower specifications, the display speed (such as when using the real-time scaling command) is extremely slow. It is recommended that computers with lower specifications use *.shx files. In Chinese character *.shx files, it is recommended to use the HZ*.shx font files provided by Daheng or Haochen for ACADR12; however, the absence of such fonts on different machines can cause issues with the display of Chinese characters. Of course, using the system font in small amounts for aesthetic purposes is also acceptable. Menu Question: Why are the button icons on the toolbar replaced by smiley faces? Answer: When AutoCAD cannot find the path to the button bitmap file, these button icons in the toolbar or toolbox will be replaced by a smiling face. This may occur after the toolbar has been customized, and the menu template file (MNU) has been edited manually. In this case, a text editor can be used to open the menu source file (MNS) and the menu template file (MNU). The customized toolbar section from the MNS file can be copied and pasted into the MNU file. Then, the old MNS, MNC, and MNR files can be renamed or deleted. Finally, the MNU file can be loaded using the MENU/MENULOAD command; AutoCAD will recompile the menu files, creating new MNS, MNC, and MNR files, thereby resolving the problem. Additionally, this issue can also occur if the bitmap file is not in AutoCAD’s supported paths. Please make sure that the support path in the “Preferences (System Settings)” dialog box includes the directory where the bitmap file is located. For example, if you move a button from a customized toolbar to a toolbar in AutoCAD’s standard menu, you must edit that button file so that the bitmap file is saved in a supported path. It can be done following these steps: 1. After moving or copying an icon to a different menu toolbar, keep the toolbar dialog box open, and right-click on the icon to edit it. 2. In the button properties dialog box, select the “Edit” button. 3. In the Button Editor dialog box, select the Save as button and specify a bitmap file directory in a path supported by AutoCAD. 4. Close the button editor, then select the Apply button in the button properties dialog box. Finally, close AutoCAD and restart it. Question: How to localize the menu? Answer: Under WIN95/98, use an editor such as Notepad to open the acad.mnu file in the support directory, change the English command names inside it to Chinese, save the file, and then exit. Then enter the “menu” command in R14 to load the acad.mnu menu file, and the drop-down menu will change to Chinese. If there is a already localized menu file, it can be used directly. Printing Question: Why do the PLOT and ASE commands only produce prompts in the command line, without any dialog boxes appearing? Answer: The AutoCAD system variable CMDDIA is used to control the display of dialog boxes for the PLOT command and the ASE command; setting CMDDIA to 1 will resolve the issue. Q: The quality of the printed image is very poor; there are differences in gray levels along the lines. Why? A: This situation is usually related to the configuration of the printer or plotter, its drivers, and the operating system. Generally, the problem can be solved by considering the following points. 1. When configuring a printer or plotter, is the error jitter switch turned off? ； 2. Are the drivers for the printer or plotter correct, and is an upgrade needed? ； 3. If AutoCAD is configured to output using the system printer, reconfigure it by using the ADI drivers provided by AutoCAD for various printers and plotters ； 4. For different models of printers or plotters, AutoCAD provides corresponding commands that allow for further detailed configuration. For example, for the printer series that support the HPGL/2 language, the command “hpconfig” can be used” ； 5. In the AutoCAD Plot dialog box, set the correspondence between pen numbers and colors, line types, and pen widths ； Assign the same pen number to different colors (preferably 1), but the line style and pen width associated with that pen number can vary. Some inkjet printers can only support pen numbers from 1 to 16; if the pen number is too large, printing will not be possible ； 6. Is the pen width set too high, for example, greater than 1? ； 7. If the operating system is Windows NT, an updated NT patch package (Service Pack) may be required. Question: After installing R14, there are no fonts available in MS WORD. What’s going on? Answer: The reason affecting the MS WORD font is related to a virtual printer named Phantom AutoCAD OLE/ADI, which is installed on R14 as part of the system. The Phantom AutoCAD OLE/ADI virtual printer enables R14 to print or draw raster graphics through the new ADI driver. In a typical R14 installation, this option is not available; this virtual printer is created only in a full or custom installation. Sometimes it is even set as the default system printer without any notification. Based on the \"what you see is what you get\" principle of Microsoft Office software, the font used in MS WORD documents is determined by the system’s default printer. In other words, the font displayed on the screen should be the same as or similar to the font used for printing. Windows first looks for a suitable screen display font based on the printer’s print font. If no matching font is found, or if the printer driver does not provide information on screen fonts, Windows will choose the screen font that is closest to the printer’s font. If the Phantom AutoCAD OLE/ADI virtual printer is set as the default system printer, MS WORD will only have two font options: modern and plotter. In the Windows system, by designating the correct system printer as the default printer, the fonts in MS WORD can return to normal. If there are no other printers in the system, a Windows printer should be configured first in the \"Printer Settings\" – even a \"logical\" printer will do. One thing to keep in mind is that you must not modify the properties of the Phantom AutoCAD OLE/ADI virtual printer, nor should you delete it arbitrarily; otherwise, it will affect the output of raster graphics and OLE objects, and may even cause the system to crash. Question: Is batch printing possible? Answer: Method 1: First, output the graphic to a PLT file, and then use a batch file in DOS to print the PLT files in a specified directory in batches. Method 2: R14 has dedicated external functions that enable multiple graphic files to be sent to one or more printers or plotters, based on different printing configuration files, thereby achieving batch output of graphics. These two methods are more flexible, have fewer chances of errors, and are therefore more efficient. Select Batch Plot Utility in the AutoCAD program group. Question: The lines in AutoCAD drawings pasted into a Word document come out too thin when printed. What should I do? Answer: Cutting and pasting AutoCAD drawings into an MS Word document seems to work quite smoothly. But when the document is printed, those AutoCAD graphic lines become very thin, resulting in a poor appearance. We provide users with the following solutions: 1. Use the PostScript printing driver in AutoCAD to configure a PostScript printer. 2. If the background color in AutoCAD differs from that in MS Word, for example, the default background color in R14 is black, then it is necessary to first change AutoCAD’s background color to match that of MS Word. 3. Run the PLOT command and select to save the plot to a file. Set the brush width in the Brush Settings dialog box. 4. Start a new diagram and import this.eps file using the PSIN command. 5. Then cut and paste the graphic into MS Word. There is another method: in AutoCAD, convert the lines into PLINE lines, set the width, and then copy and paste them into WORD. Question: Why can some graphics be displayed but not printed? Answer: This occurs when the graphics are drawn on layers automatically created by AutoCAD (DEFPOINTS, ASHADE, etc.). Entities should be avoided on these layers.