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 March 2008

Custom Button #5: Plot stamp Field on a Palette

I have the most wonderful customers. My friends at Yum! Brands in Louisville came up with this idea so I wanted to pass it along. Some of you may have drawings that you just need to plot from Model Space. To save yourself the trouble of remembering what the drawing name is after it's plotted, add a Filename field to the drawing before you print it! [See July 2005 and August 2005 to learn the fundamentals of Fields.]

To review, the four things you can put on a tool palette are Blocks, Commands, Hatches, and Macros. The Filename field doesn't fall under any of those headings… but you can turn it into a Block. To that end, it's important that you add the Filename field to a dedicated block source file since blocks on a palette are "linked" to the drawing from which they came. For specifics on the importance of the source file, see March 2006, Basics.

Instructions to Add a Filename Field to the Tool Palette

1. Begin a new drawing and name it. This will serve as the source file for the block. I'll name mine CT_March08_Source.DWG.

Note: The field text is displayed in the current text style and will be added to the current layer, so make the necessary arrangements.

2. Click InsertField, then from the list of field names, click Filename. Make the desired selection for the Format - I'm leaving mine in the default format of (none) - then click OK.
3. To adjust the field height before you place it, enter H for the Height option and enter the desired height for the text. If the field position is difficult to control, you probably have Ortho on. Turn it off, then click to place the Filename field.

By default fields have gray backgrounds so you can visually distinguish them in a drawing. I would recommend you leave them that way, but if you would rather disable that background feature, you can do so in OptionsUser Preferences under Fields.

4. Launch the Block command and create a block from the Filename field. For the name, I'm using Field_Filename_MS to distinguish it from a block I may want for Paper Space applications.
5. After making the block, save the drawing.
6. Open the Tool Palette window and open the desired palette for the block.
7. Click on the filename block, the click and drag it onto the palette.
8. If you think you'll need to be rotating it so it reads vertically in certain drawings, right-click on the block on the palette, then click Properties. Set the property of Prompt For Rotation to "Yes", then click OK.
9. To test it, open any drawing, then click the block on the palette, move into the drawing, then click to place it!

My thanks to Dan and Beth for this great idea!

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