Tips and Tricks

Reset All Palettes to Default Size and Location (created by LAmbrosius)

The RESETPALETTES command allows you to restore all palettes to their shipped size and location. The command forces you to restart AutoCAD for Mac to apply the changes.

Hide All Open Palettes (created by LAmbrosius)

Press the key combination Shift-Cmd-H to hide all open palettes with the HIDEPALETTES command. Press Shift-Cmd-H again to restore the palettes previously closed with the HIDEPALETTES command.

Access Previously Used Commands (created by LAmbrosius)

AutoCAD retains a history of the commands that you have most recently used. You can press Enter to repeat the most recently used command when no command is active, but if you right-click on the command line you can access more previously used commands.

The top of the shortcutmenu that is displayed when you right-click on the command line lists the 3 most recently used commands. On the shortcut menu, if you click More Commands, you have access to 10 more commands that you have recently used.

Create a New or Open a Recent Drawing from the Dock (created by LAmbrosius)

Ctrl-Click or right-click the AutoCAD icon in the Dock to create a New Drawing or open Recent Drawings.

Enable pan with Spacebar (created by LAmbrosius)

Press and hold the Spacebar to enable Pan mode. When Pan mode is enabled, move the cursor to control which direction to pan the drawing. If pressing and holding the Spacebar down does not enable Pan mode, make sure Enable Spacebar Hold to Pan is enabled on the General tab of the Application Preferences dialog box (OPTIONS command).

Orbiting with Magic Mouse and Trackpad (created by LAmbrosius)

You can enable Orbit mode in a drawing while a command is active or not using Magic Mouse or the trackpad.  To enter Orbit mode,  press and hold Shift while doing one of the following:

• Swipe on Magic Mouse 
• Two-finger swipe on the trackpad or Magic Trackpad.

You can also enter '3dorbit (or 'orbit) at the Command prompt while in a command to start the 3DORBIT command transparently.

Match the Properties of an Object (created by LAmbrosius)

You can copy the properties of one object to other objects using the MATCHPROP command.

1. Select the objects you want to move to a different layer.
2. Right-click in the drawing area and click Move To Layer.
3. In the Change to Layer dialog box, select a layer from the Destination Layer list and click OK.

Move an Object to a Different Layer (created by LAmbrosius)

You can change the layer an object is on by doing using the LAYMCH command. To use the LAYMCH command do the following:

1. Select the objects you want to move to a different layer.
2. Right-click in the drawing area and click Move To Layer.
3. In the Change to Layer dialog box, select a layer from the Destination Layer list and click OK.

Selecting Overlapping Objects (created by LAmbrosius)

Position the cursor over an object that overlaps another object; the objects must positioned directly on top of each other and not just intersect each other. Press Shift-Spacebar to cycle through the overlapping objects. When the object is highlighted that you want to select, click in the drawing area to select it.

Alter Box Selection Behavior (created by LAmbrosius)

The PICKDRAG system variable is used to control the behavior of Box selection mode. PICKDRAG is set to 1 by default, which requires you to pick the first corner of the selection box and drag to specify the opposite corner. Setting PICKDRAG to 0 forces you to pick both corners for a selection box in the drawing area.

Define Custom Command Aliases (created by LAmbrosius)

Command aliases allow you to access your commands by entering one or more letters at the Command prompt instead of entering the commands full name or locating on the Tool Sets palette or menu bar. Command aliases are much faster than using the UI and are the same between AutoCAD and AutoCAD-based verticals on Windows and on the Mac. The following steps explain how to edit the command aliases in AutoCAD for Mac:

1. On the AutoCAD menu bar, click Tools menu > Customize > Edit Command Aliases (PGP).
   The acad.pgp file opens in TextEdit.
2. In TextEdit, scroll all the way to the bottom of the file.
3. Click below the last line.
   The syntax for a command alias is <letter(s) to enter at the Command prompt>, *<command name>.
   Command options are not allowed as part of a command alias.
4. Enter the command alias and the command you want to launch. For example, enter N, *NEW and press Enter.
   N, *NEW creates a command alias of N which starts the NEW command.
5. On the TextEdit menu bar, File menu > Save.
6. Close TextEdit and switch back to AutoCAD.
7. On the AutoCAD menu bar, click Tools menu > Customize > Relead Command Aliases (PGP).
8. At the Command prompt, enter N and press Enter.
   The Select Template dialog box is dosplayed.

Accessing the AutoCAD for Mac PDFs on the Go (created by LAmbrosius)

You can access the AutoCAD for Mac PDFs on the Go by downloading them to your Desktop on your MacBook or to a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPod, or iPad.  To sync the PDFs to an Apple device, you use iTunes and then view them with the iBooks app.  To learn how to do this, see the article 'Taking the AutoCAD for Mac PDFs on the Go with iBooks' on Beyond the UI by Lee Ambrosius.

Click here to goto the AutoCAD for Mac PDFs page.