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 July 2005

DesignCenter - Part II

Now that you're acquainted with what the DesignCenter is capable of, let's look at some more ways in which it can be used.

AutoCAD 2004 + DesignCenter

Although the tool palette feature was first introduced in AutoCAD 2004, the ability to drag objects (blocks, dimensions, etc.) directly onto a tool palette was not implemented until AutoCAD 2005. Therefore, in A2004 you use DesignCenter to populate an existing tool palette or create an entirely new tool palette from existing blocks or drawings.

Instructions to Add a Block to the Tool Palette in A2004 (works in A2005/A2006, too)

1. Open DesignCenter [CTRL+2] and open the Tool Palette window [CTRL+3].
2. In DesignCenter, navigate to the drawing containing the blocks you want to add to the palette.
3. Click on the Blocks node under the DWG name on the left side of DesignCenter.
4. In DesignCenter, drag the desired block from the right side of DesignCenter onto the palette.

Note: For more on Tool Palettes in A2004, take a look at my March 2004 column. For additional palette features that were added to AutoCAD 2005, take a look at the November 2004 article.

Palettes from DesignCenter

Regardless of your version - A2004 / A2005 / A2006 - if you have a drawing containing blocks, you can make a tool palette containing all the blocks from the drawing with a single click. Seriously. And what if you have a folder containing .DWG files you "Wblocked out" in an effort to make blocks you could insert into other drawings? Make a palette!

Instructions to Create a Palette of all the Blocks in a Drawing

1. Open DesignCenter [CTRL+2] and open the Tool Palette window [CTRL+3].
2. In DesignCenter, navigate to the drawing containing the blocks.
3. Right-click on the Block node, then click Create Tool Palette.
4. Count backwards from 10 and you'll have a palette with the name of the drawing before you hit "0".

Instructions to Create a Palette of DWG Files in a Folder

1. Open DesignCenter [CTRL+2] and open the Tool Palette window [CTRL+3].
2. In DesignCenter, navigate to the folder containing the drawing files. [Remember, only DWG files are displayed in DesignCenter.]
3. Right-click on the folder node, then click Create Tool Palette of Blocks.
4. See step 4, above.

Next issue we'll look at even more applications for DesignCenter!

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