In an effort to find a few bright spots in the Layer Properties Manager introduced in AutoCAD 2005, this month I look at a couple workable features in the Filter Tree side of that dialog box. And since very few of us work in a vacuum, somewhere along the line you will receive a drawing using a different plot style table than yours. There's a very simple solution to that. There's also a very simple solution to drawing and editing objects without using @distance<angle for angular cursor motion. Take a look.
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Blessings to one and all,
Michael
The list of layers in an Xref can be annoying. Use this procedure to shorten up the list in the Layer Control dropdown list on the AutoCAD 2005/2006 Layers toolbar.
Muliple Xref Tip: For drawings containing multiple Xrefs, click the "Xref" to display the all of the layers associated with the Xrefs.
Note: To see all the layers in the Layer Properties Manager, clear the Invert Filter check box, then click on the All node in the Filter Tree listing.
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.
Giving credit where due, I first heard about this a couple years ago from a friend of mine that works in the Facilities Department at Southwest Airlines. Since AutoCAD 2000 came out, there are two types of plot style tables; Named plot style tables (.STB), and Color plot style tables (.CTB)… and they don't play well with one another. You can't select a .CTB plot style if the drawing was originally created using .STB styles.
To convert a drawing currently configured for .STB styles to be able to read your .CTB files, type Convertpstyles, at the command line. You get a warning dialog box advising you of the conversion logistics. Now when you check the Plot Style Table dropdown list in the Page Setup or Plot dialog box, you see .CTB styles.
Prior to converting your .CTB to Named plot style tables, I would back up all of them. To make the conversion, use Convertctb to convert .CTB files to .STB equivalents.
A dialog box appears in which you select the name of one .CTB file to convert. After selecting the .CTB file for conversion, you get another dialog box in which you specify a name for the new .STB file (it presumes the name of the original .CTB). After the conversion, in the Plot Style dropdown list you will notice that the .STB files that were converted are indicated by a colorful icon beside them. Isn't that nice.
The setting for Polar tracking is similar to an Ortho setting, but in angles other than 90 degree increments. The angle(s) specified for Polar assist in snapping your cursor movement to an angular increment, like 45 or 30 degrees. The Polar tracking can be used when creating geometry such as lines and polylines, as well as when you are editing with the Move or Copy commands.
Although there are several pre-specified angles available for polar tracking, here's how you can add your own.
Note 1: When using Additional Angles, AutoCAD does not treat the value as an increment but as a singular angle value. Therefore, for angles at 10 degree increments, you must enter each one.
Note 2: Contrary to using Ortho, with Polar you only have about a 2 degree range of cursor movement before polar tracking is released.
Note 3: When the Additional Angles box is checked, Polar tracking displays a tool tip for each of those angles in the list, as well as the default angle value currently displayed in the dropdown list.
BTW… Ortho and Polar cannot be on at the same time.
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Note from Michael: I want to thank all of my customers for continuing to retain my training services (some for over three decades!) and let you know your donations do not go to me personally, but to the ongoing maintenance of the CADTutor ship as a whole and to support the yeoman efforts of my friend and CADTutor captain, David Watson, to whom I am grateful for this monthly opportunity to share a few AutoCAD insights.