5 CAD Commands That Can Save You More Time Than You Think

[indiancad]

Some CAD commands are not used every day, but once you know them, they can make certain tasks much faster.

1. SELECTSIMILAR – quickly selects objects with similar properties.
2. LAYWALK – lets you check the objects on individual layers without changing the drawing.
3. OVERKILL – finds and removes duplicate or overlapping geometry.
4. BURST – converts an attributed block into separate objects while keeping the attribute values as text.
5. MATCHPROP – quickly copies properties such as layer, color, line type, and text style from one object to another.

These are simple commands, but they can save a lot of manual work in the right situation.

is there another command you think more CAD users should know ? so that people  using CAD can make a note of them.

[Paul Li]

I would place MATCHPROP on the very top. I use that command so much is almost like 2nd nature to click on that button on the Quick Access Bar.

Others commands I use quite often are:
LAYMCUR - makes selected object's layer current

LAYLCK/LAYULK - selected object's layer to be locked/unlocked

DRAWORDER - Sends selected object to back/front

 

Also I tend to keep the following palettes opened/docked/auto-hidden:

PROPERTIES - Object Properties

LAYER - Layer Properties Manager

XREF - External References

[Discus84]

1- space in lieu of enter

2-t space space - power trim 

3-F2 shortcut for midpoint

4-F1 shortcut for pickstyle 0

5-mi-mirror

6-i-isolate
7-qselect

 

 

Edited September 6 by Discus84

[BIGAL]

One option "they can make certain tasks much faster" is to look at drawing objects via a menu selection. A simple example is choose Text25  the text command is called and the text style is preset as well as the correct layer. We had a client think petrol, upgrading around 250 buildings, each set of plans had to be identical in terms of layers and objects, so a big menu was created and users drew by that menu standard. 

 

In this image all objects are on correct layers no user swapping layers, you draw Objects like a Wall or a Window, For the walls 4 layers and the layer names were set by the end user, a different discussion on how to do that.

 

 

 

Edited September 6 by BIGAL

[SLW210]

MA = Matchprop, it can be handy.

 

Selectsimilar can be handy, Qselect can be even better at times. 

 

Overkill, is limited, can be useful, but I have and I am still working/adding to a complete drawing cleanup LISP.

 

I do use -PU =- Purge sometimes, but also it will be replaced with the cleanup LISP.

 

I do not believe BURST is a good command at all.

 

I do not use LAYWALK either, I do not see the need in my work.

 

[CyberAngel]

On 9/7/2026 at 7:59 AM, SLW210 said:

...

Selectsimilar can be handy, Qselect can be even better at times. 

...

I do not believe BURST is a good command at all.

 

 

I use similar and quick select all the time, especially to find objects on the wrong layer or in cluttered locations.

 

Burst is not something I use much at all, but when I do need it, it's a life saver. It's the same as explode, the only difference being it preserves the data in attributes. As far as I know, the only alternative is to retype that information, which is hard to do after you've already lost it.

[Dadgad]

I am a big fan of the "Layers 2" Toolbar, where I first encountered LAYWALK.

It was much more useful to me when my drawings had appreciably less than the thousands of layers which have become the norm.

 

I really like LAYISO   (LI)    and LAYUNISO   (LU).

I  prefer unisolated layers to be turned off, rather than dimmed.

 

I am a huge advocate for setting up and using

QUICK PROPERTIES.   The modest amount of time invested, customizing it

 

to your personal preferences will pay huge rewards henceforth. 

[SLW210]

On 9/8/2026 at 9:20 AM, CyberAngel said:

 

I use similar and quick select all the time, especially to find objects on the wrong layer or in cluttered locations.

 

Burst is not something I use much at all, but when I do need it, it's a life saver. It's the same as explode, the only difference being it preserves the data in attributes. As far as I know, the only alternative is to retype that information, which is hard to do after you've already lost it.

 

I don't normally explode blocks, particularly those with attributes, so the alternative is not to explode attributed blocks.

 

Though different people work different and some work places have different work flows, but I would be genuinely curious to know when exploding an attributed block is beneficial.