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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 June 2004

EXPRESS: MoCoRo

I love this routine. How many times have you used Copy, selected the objects, and made the copy, then when you go to Rotate and use the Previous option: The ORIGINAL stuff you selected to copy highlights, not the COPY.

Move/Copy/Rotate to the rescue! (MOCORO is the name of the command if you were to type it in). You can select the button from the ET: Standard toolbar, or from ExpressModifyMove/Copy/Rotate

In the following exercise, I use the 8th floor furniture.dwg from the …\Sample folder of A2004 and A2005.

  1. Launch Move/Copy/Rotate, then select the objects and press <Enter>.
  2. Specify the Base Point, after which you will see the following option string:

[Move/Copy/Rotate/Scale/Base/Undo]<eXit>:

  1. Enter C for the Copy option, then specify a point for the copy. Since the routine will allow you to make more than one copy, press <Enter> to complete the copy procedure … and notice what highlights: The Copy! [Not the original!]
  2. Enter R for the Rotate option and then enter the desired value. Notice the selection set is still highlighted.
  3. Enter B and specify a different base point that may, for example, be more effective in the next procedure.
  1. Enter M for the Move option, then reposition the selected objects.
  2. Press <Enter> to end this command.

This is an extremely handy command when it comes to editing furniture placement. Although products such as CAP Designer (from 2020 Technologies, Inc.) or DesignExpress (from DataOne) have the Copy Rotate and Move Rotate features, this routine enables you to re-establish a base point and can easily go between the Move, Copy, and Rotate commands.

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