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Michael’s Corner

Michael BeallMichael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

October - One-derful!!!

It's a God-thing.

I had no idea that 14 years ago I would be given the opportunity to make an impact on the professional lives of so many. Only God knew what was ahead, and hopefully, the contributions I have made through Michael's Corner have equipped many of you to be more productive and a bit more savvy using AutoCAD. And apart from all the AutoCAD bashing that is going on, I'm sure it has a long life ahead.

So, in an effort to keep the AutoCAD fires burning, here's what I have for my final installment…

…A reminder on how to customize your hot keys
…Three Power Tools — one for Zoom, one for editing, and one for Layers
…Two Odd Spots — one for Layers and one for Hatching
…Buried text treasure
…And how to Search 14 years of the Archives

As for what's ahead for me, I will continue to present a variety of AutoCAD sessions — Fundamentals, Intermediate, Customizing, Updates, and 2D & 3D. I will also keep training CAP Designer, 20-20 Worksheet, Visual Impression (those three from 20-20 Technologies, Inc.), and some Revit Fundamentals. Next year I'm looking forward to being very involved in training CET (from Configura, Inc.) when Herman Miller joins the growing number of manufacturers embracing this software that is being touted as the ‘Future of Space Planning’. Personally, I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with Donna, my lovely bride of 30 years. When this posts, we'll probably be within days of going on our 30th Anniversary vacation to the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson; Ee-Hah! We had such a good time when we went for our 20th, we figured we'd do it again!

Ah, and I'm hoping to have The AutoCAD Workbench, Final Edition out before snow flies.

And with that, Mike drop! …so to speak.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

This month's articles

Change F1 to ESC
Smoother Zoom
Stretch with Extension
Lock Layers with a Crossing Window
Layer Columns & Hatch Background Color
Text Frame on Mtext

From the Vault

Originally published March 2006

The Importance of the Palette Source File

Have you ever been working along and wrote down the steps to do something and thought, "Ooh, I have to make sure I pass that along"? I was training the wonderful design team from the Madison & Milwaukee offices of Interior Investments when I put something on the board that is a great tip when using the tool palette.

Scenario: Someone sends you a drawing and in that drawing you see a really cool block that you would like to add to you tool palette.

Insert

Problem: If you drag and drop that block directly onto your palette from the drawing (A2005 & A2006 only; A2004 users have to do it from DesignCenter), you have established that drawing as the "source drawing" for the block. If the drawing is renamed, archived, or deleted, the block on your palette is… "toast" (I put that in for my friend in Sao Paulo).

Suggestion: Don't drag anything onto your palette from a drawing that you can't keep track of. Put it in a drawing you have dedicated as a source drawing for all your blocks. Let's say you have one called Block_Source.dwg…

Instructions to Efficiently Add Blocks to a Palette
  1. Open the drawing with the cool block.
  2. Open your source file, Block_Source.dwg.
  3. Tile your drawings vertically using WindowTile Vertically.
Drag and drop
  1. Click on the cool block, then click and drag it into the source file.
  2. Save the source drawing.
  3. Drag cool block to the palette.  Job done.

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