Michael’s Corner

Michael'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…

From the Vault

Originally published May 2011

Add Selected and Select Similar

Here's a couple of "under the radar" features that can really speed up your drawing work.

Add Selected

Add Selected made its debut in AutoCAD 2011 but I must admit that I didn't really notice it until quite recently. Essentially, it invokes the command used to create ant selected object. Moreover, it will match the properties (layer etc.) of the selected object. This allows you to (for example) draw a circle on the same layer as the selected circle, even if that layer is not current. It's a great timesaver and the fact that it's on the right-click menu means that it's really efficient to use too.

Select Similar

Select Similar is another recent tool that works by matching properties - it's a kind of quick selection filter that can be used to select any objects that match the selected object or objects.

In the example below, I have drawn a bunch of objects (circles and rectangles), some on a layer called "Circle" and some on layer 0. If I want to select all circles on both layers, all I need to do is select one circle on each layer, right-click and select Select Similar from the menu. It's yet another very simple but effective productivity tool.

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