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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 May 2005

Layer Group Filters

Unfortunately, the Xref layer filter described above is only effective in suppressing the layers of all Xrefs in a drawing that contains multiple Xrefs. So, what if you only want to suppress the layer display of some of the Xrefs? For those of you with AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD 2006, the optimum method is to create a layer Group Filter.

A layer group filter is essentially a subset of layers that you create by dragging the selected layers into the Group name.

Note: Before you start this procedure, make sure you have cleared the check box for Invert Filter.

Instructions to create a layer Group of multiple Xref layers
  1. In the Layer Properties Manager, expand the Xref node in the Filter Tree area of the dialog box (the left side) to display all of the Xrefs associated with the drawing.
  2. At the top of the dialog box, click New Group Filter, then enter a name for this filter. In this exercise, I'll call it "MEP Layers".
  1. In the layer list, select the Xref layers you want to add to the Group filter. This can be done by selecting the specific Xref in the Filter Tree area, then selecting the layers in the list, or just by using Windows-compliant methods to make the layer selection in the list.
  1. After selecting the layers, click and drag the selected layers from the list directly onto the Group node in the filter tree.
  2. After building the Group filter from the layer selections, click on the Group name to display the layers in the list.
  3. Now click the Invert Filter check box to display layers that are not in the Group!

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