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AutoCAD 2009 (Cadalyst Labs Review)
1 Sep, 2008 By: Bill FaneThe old standard ties on another new interface.
When I launched my first beta copy of AutoCAD 2009, I thought I must have downloaded the wrong file. It hardly looked like AutoCAD at all. The obvious difference is that the model space background color is not black, it's slightly off white.
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Okay, maybe the difference that jumps out at most people is the new ribbon menu across the top, similar to the Microsoft Office 2007 ribbon menu (figure 1). Uh-oh, we're doomed. I disliked the Office ribbon so much that after about three weeks I uninstalled Office 2007 and went back to Office 2003, using the free module from Microsoft that allowed Office 2003 to read and write Office 2007 files.
 Figure 1. AutoCAD 2009 sports a totally new interface, but you can also set it to run the old way. |
The good news is that Autodesk has kept to its tradition of allowing users to manipulate and customize the user interface. Someone forgot to tell Microsoft that monitors are getting wider, not taller, so it makes little sense to co-opt such a large horizontal zone across the top of the screen. AutoCAD did get the message, and AutoCAD 2009 allows you to move its ribbon to the left side, the bottom, or the right side just as you could relocate the now-defunct dashboard. (Now, there was a short-lived interface; the dashboard was introduced in AutoCAD 2007, but it's gone already.)
 AutoCAD 2009 General-Purpose CAD Software |
Most panels of the ribbon include a fly-out menu at the bottom to display additional, less-frequently used commands within the same general category. You can easily lock individual fly-out menus so that they remain displayed all the time.
The AutoCAD 2009 ribbon is actually a combination super toolbar and tool palette. It can be undocked and set to float freely as a toolbar. Like a tool palette, it can be set to have transparency and to auto-hide, reducing to a narrow strip until you move your cursor over it. You can set up the ribbon in this way even when it is docked so it displays only the panel titles and each panel pops down when you mouse over its title. This capability pretty much solves the screen real-estate issue, but you will need a pretty brisk computer and graphics card if you want to keep up.
Each tab on the ribbon brings up one or more panels, and individual panels can be dragged off the ribbon to become separate toolbars. To paraphrase an old Frank Sinatra song, you can do it your way. The ribbon panels and the ribbon itself can be completely customized with the normal custom user interface functionality.
If you really want to continue to do it your way, you can turn the ribbon off and the toolbars back on. In fact, the old DOS screen menu is still available for old diehards. You even can use all of the above in that you can have the new ribbon, the old menu bar, and the really old screen menu active at the same time. AutoCAD 2009 includes two distinctly different ribbons for the 2D and 3D workspaces, but it also has an AutoCAD Classic workspace. When you activate it, the ribbon disappears and the traditional toolbars and menu bar reappear.
Faster! Faster!
Look at figure 1 again and notice the big red A button, which is the Menu Browser, in the upper-left corner. Clicking it produces a Swiss Army knife dialog box (figure 2) that provides quick access to:
- 1. traditional menu bar items
- 2. a list of recent documents, currently open documents, or recent command actions
- 3. AutoCAD's Options command
- 4. a Search window
- 5. an Exit AutoCAD button
The Recent Documents list can be set to display a generic icon or a thumbnail view of each drawing. In either case, hovering the cursor over an entry produces a larger preview image, as shown in figure 2.
 Figure 2. The Menu Browser button offers a quick link to a multifunction dialog box. |
The new Quick Access bar is well named, and is probably my favorite of the new menu tools. It is always available in the upper-left corner of the screen, beside the big red A. As installed, it contains just a few commands, but simple drag-and-drop operation lets you add commands you use all the time.
For the Layer Manager option, the most significant change appears not so much in what has been added but in what has been removed. It no longer has an OK button, because it no longer is a dialog box, but rather a palette. Now it can always be resident on screen, it can auto-hide, and it can have transparency.
Any changes to layer specifications such as color and linetype take place immediately within a drawing. Better yet, such changes occur transparently within other commands, but again you will need a fairly brisk computer with a good graphics card if you are working on large, complex drawings.
Another interesting addition to AutoCAD 2009 is its Quick Properties functionality. If you select an object or objects when no command is active, a mini Properties dialog box pops up. With it, you can edit certain properties of the objects without having to start the usual Properties command. You can edit features such as circle diameter, linetype, layer, color, and the justification, style, and content of text.
The good news is that the editable properties are customizable on an object-by-object basis. As a manager, you probably don't want your staff to be able to change the linetype and color quickly, easily, and independently of the layer. That road leads to chaos.
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AutoCAD Tips!
Autodesk Technical Evangelist Lynn Allen guides you through a different AutoCAD feature in every edition of her popular "Circles and Lines" tutorial series. For even more AutoCAD how-to, check out Lynn's quick tips in the Cadalyst Video Gallery. Subscribe to Cadalyst's Tips & Tricks Tuesdays free e-newsletter and we'll notify you every time a new video tip is available. All exclusively from Cadalyst! |
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