Michael’s Corner

Michael Beall 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…

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 April 2015

Transferring Your Quick Access Toolbar to AutoCAD 2016

At the conclusion of my AutoCAD training sessions, my customers have a really cool Quick Access Toolbar… and that's what they frequently want to port over to the next version.

Transfer So, if you would rather keep the AutoCAD 2016 tabs and panels in their original condition until such time as you can edit them, here's how to grab the customized Quick Access Toolbar of your current version… and introduce it to ‘the new kid on the block’.

How To Transfer Your QAT

Open the CUI, the click on the Transfer tab to display the ‘Customizations in New File’ side of the CUI.
Back under the ‘Customizations in Main File’ side, expand the Quick Access Toolbar node, then expand Quick Access Toolbar 1 to display your custom collection.
Note: You may want to consider Renaming your QAT to avoid confusion in the target version.
Now click and drag your Quick Access Toolbar over and release it next to Quick Access Toolbars under ‘Customizations in New Files’.
Click Save, then navigate to a place you want to save the .CUIX file. I would recommend including ‘QAT’ in the filename so it won't be confused with other .CUIX files you may create.
Note: Before transferring your Quick Access Toolbar to your newest version of AutoCAD, I would recommend that you first create a new Workspace by going down to the Workspace Switching icon, then click Save Current As.
After creating a new workspace in your newest version of AutoCAD, open the CUI.
Click the Transfer tab, then on the ‘New Customizations in New Files’ side on the right, click Open.
Select the .CUIX you saved in Step 4, and click Open.
Expand the Quick Access Toolbars node to see your imported content, then click and drag it over to the left on the ‘Customizations in Main File’ side and release it next to the Quick Access Toolbars node.
…Almost finished!…
Click the Customize tab, then click the name of your new Workspace to display the ‘Workspace Contents’ pane on the right.
Click Customize Workspace to display the Quick Access Toolbar check boxes on the left.
Now click Done, then click OK to close and save your CUI edits… and check out your transferred Quick Access Toolbar!