Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 11, No. 29)
13 Aug, 2006What's New at Cadalyst.com Check Out Cadalyst's Latest Discussion Forum Share your own experience with that product and see what other CAD professionals have to say. Visit today! Get the Code! August Tutorials Now Live Online! Cadalyst Daily Update
|
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resources Improved Search Engine for Standards Sheet Metal Guy Adds SolidWorks Site Downloadable Hardware Models |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This Week's Software Tips Do you have a favorite tip or shortcut that you use every day in your CAD software? One that saves you time? Makes life easier? Share it with other readers and, if we publish it, we'll send you a “ Cadalyst: CAD the Way You Want It” t-shirt. Follow-up to Draw Pipe Ends DWGTrueView2007 Publish Option NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: Lynn Allen talks about this in her July 5 blog entry. I’ve passed it around to a couple of non-AutoCAD users and it seems to work very well for them. Be sure to remember to place any client-related fonts where TrueView can see them. We have it installed on all our engineers’ workstations for viewing and plotting DWG files. However, the big advantage is that the users can’t edit the files -- they can only change visibility on screen or in a plot. To be a really good freebie, it needs to have more screen interaction such as listing entity properties, freeze layers by selecting entity, distance checking and the like. There are a lot of non-editing tools in AutoCAD that could be added to TrueView. When publishing multiple drawings, it’s useful to have a generic file containing page setups that plot setups such as: Extents in paper space at 1:1 to your default large format plotter. This can then be applied to all files in your list. Obviously, you can’t be responsible for the integrity of outside files, but hopefully they have clean paper space limits and are scaled at 1:1. Run the Circuit NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: The BURST command is in Express Tools and is noted as the routine to Explode attributes to Text in the pull-down menu. In its own right, this can be very useful, but remember, you shouldn’t explode blocks unless absolutely necessary. In addition, it works well when you can’t use Refedit, and it’s also nice that the Attribute text becomes real text. MicroStation Tip -- Transparency on Elements Answer: If you are looking for filled shapes displaying on your screen with transparency, it is best to use a pen table with a RIP driver or use MicroStation V8 XM Edition, which does support transparency on elements. Another option is to use a Raster image file of the color desired. Clip Bound & Mask to the desired area. Make the Raster image transparent, and then plot. Adjust Scale NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: Our Patrol is in agreement: “ Give me paper space, or give me death!” Your best course of action is to train your subcontractors in the art of paper space. AutoCAD 2006 and 2007 also have a system variable DIMASSOC which, when set to 2, factors your dimensions in paper space based on the viewport scale. With all these different scales to consider, doesn’t it make you thankful for good old paper space? Also remember that, although using DIMLFAC is one way to handle the dimensioning for details in model space, sometimes the folks who create this sort of thing use scales that aren’t recognized -- then you have to calculate them out before dimensioning. Send us your tip or shortcut for your favorite CAD software. If we publish it, we'll send you a "Cadalyst: CAD the Way You Want It" t-shirt. Tips & Tools Weekly software tips for AutoCAD are reviewed by Cadalyst staff and the Cadalyst Tip Patrol before publication. Use tips at your own discretion, please, and watch later editions of this newsletter for updates and corrections. Many thanks to our volunteer Cadalyst Tip Patrol members: Don Boyer, Mitchell Hirschklau, R.K. McSwain, Don Reichle, Kevin Sawyer, Ivanhoe Tejeda, Billy Wooten and Ben Young. |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deals & Freebies Free Versions of KOMPAS-3D V8 Plus Light and Viewer Free Demonstration Version of Strata 3D CX 5.0 |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Books & Training SolidProfessor Releases PhotoWorks Essentials New Russian AutoCAD Book |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Week's New CAD and Related Products Hardware: OxBlue Construction Webcams Hardware: MDX-540 SRP Hardware: Atlas 600e, Select 600e, Nova 36e, Spectra 600e, Surveyor 600e, Flash 600e, Latitude 600e, and Lynx 25e General Software: Publisher3D Standard 2006, Publisher3D 2006 Professional, Pages3D Standard 2006, and Pages3D 2006 Professional General Software: SP1 for AutoVue 19.1 Visualization: modo 202 Visualization: Max Monster Pak AEC: Primavera Contractor GIS: GeoExpress 6.1 GIS: ERDAS IMAGINE 9.1 MCAD: ENOVIA SmarTeam MCAD: MyWorkPLAN MCAD: AS Mechanical |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Your Calendar Cadalyst'scomplete list of upcoming industry events is always available on our Web site. AUGI Manufacturing User Groups Hartford Chapter Quarterly Meeting Pictometry FutureView 2006 User Conference and Trade Show |