Promine AutoCAD Tip of the Week Guide V8

PROMINE combines a highly usable AutoCAD integrated interface with powerful, industry-
focused modules in the areas of: Teamwork, Modeling, Engineering and Geology supporting all
aspects of the mining cycle from exploration to operation. Quickly create highly accurate
drawings with ease for: resource estimation, definition, modelling, shaft sinking, drift and raise
modelling, planning, ramp construction/excavation, stope design and sequencing, drill and blast
planning, capturing and processing survey data, material handling, scheduling, backfill design,
optimization, reporting and more.

Promine supports all mining methods such as: Open stope , Room and
pillar, Cut and fill, Block caving, Long hole, Shrinkage stoping and
Alimak Mining.

Find out what PROMINE can do for you or request a demo version at [email protected]
Index
1. Select several objects with a common property 26. Insert Hyperlink into Object 51. Use BPOLY to Create Blasting Outlines 76. Enhance Graphics

2. Customize your workspace 27. Manage Layers Using LAYWALK 52. Adjusting Hatch Transparency 77. Select Objects While Panning and Zooming

3. Customize your viewports 28. The Oops Command 53. Sort Layers With LAYWALK Command 78. Extract Edges with XEDGES

4. The Align command 29. The Burst Command 54. Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts 79. Changing Viewport Attributes

5. Creating Blocks 30. Create a Customized Hide Object Shortcut 55. Divide and Measure Polylines 80. Using DWGPROPS to add Comments and Properties

6. Displaying text in a hatch 31. Change Polyline Thickness 56. Array Command 81. Loading Custom Lisp Commands pt. 1

7. Create angular dimensions larger than 180 32. Using the EXTRIM Command 57. Attribute Extraction 82. Loading Custom Lisp Commands pt. 2

8. Double click actions customization 33. The Boundary Command 58. Revise Work With REVCLOUD 83. TORIENT and TSCALE Your Text

9. Carve a solid with a surface 34. Using Ribbon Shortcut Keys 59. Manipulate 3D Objects with Gizmo Tool 84. NUDGE Command

10. Using the Rename command 35. Quick Copy 60. XLINE and RAY Command 85. Using MTEXT for Automatic Areas with Fields

11. List Command 36. Organize Tabs and Panels 61. Embed Images Into AutoCAD 86. Snap onto Hatches with OSNAPHATCH

12. Repair Damaged Files 37. Print and Publish Multiple Layers 62. CHSPACE Command

13. Using Coordinate Filters 38. Bring up Command line, Quick Calculator and Tool Palette 63. PEDIT Command with Defined Tolerance

14. Build and Customize Tool Palettes 39. Bring up Command line, Quick Calculator and Tool Palette 64. Send QuickCalc Results to Command Line

15. Import X, Y Coordinates From Excel 40. The DWGPROPS Command 65. Importing Point Clouds

16. How to Convert or Change Units 41. Dimension & Annotation Settings 66. Saving Views

17. Draw an Arc With a Specific Length 42. OSNAP Keyboard Shortcuts 67. Crosshairs, Pickbox and Grip Customization

18. Insert JPEG into AutoCAD Drawing 43. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 1) 68. Dynamic Blocks pt. 1

19. Convert 3D Face to 3D Solid 44. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 2) 69. Dynamic Blocks pt. 2

20. Using AutoDESK Content Explorer 45. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 3) 70. Design Roads with MLSTYLE and MLINE

21. Export AutoCAD DWG to PDF 46. Helpful Drift Planning Commands 71. Retrieve AutoCAD Interface Using CUILOAD

22. Add Solid Fill to Closed Objects 47. Generate Curves Using Fillet Command 72. Zoom and Extents

23. 3D Mirror Command 48. Creating Flat Planes 73. Re-aligning your UCS

24. Assign Matching Properties to Different Objects 49. Solid History Command 74. Mouse Hotkeys and Customization

25. Sort Layers Using Group Filters 50. Hatch Using Tool Palette 75. Move Layer Manager to the top of your Window
1. Select several objects with a common property

Step by step

1. Go into the utility ribbon

2. Go into quick select
3. We will use color in this example
4. Select color
5. Define your operator, in this example =
6. Select the color of the objects you
want to select, in this example yellow
7. To change the color of the selected objects
8. Right click and go into properties
9. Change the color from yellow to blue

View tutorial video

2. Customize your workspace

Step by step

1. Type -toolbar in your AutoCAD command

prompt
2. Type the name of the toolbar you would like to
add to your workspace for example layers
3. Type the position you would like to display the
toolbar, in this example we will use top then
press enter to insert it at the new position, i.e
<0,0> coordinate. You can also use show
which will simply display the toolbar.
4. Note: Once you have a toolbar visible, right
clicking it will give you a dropdown menu
showing other toolbars.

View tutorial video

3. Customize shape viewports

Step by step

1. Go to layout in AutoCAD, any new

layout will have just one viewport
2. Go into paper space in the
bottom of your AutoCAD interface
3. Make one of the viewports smaller
by selecting the bottom right vertex
and dragging it to your desired size
4. Duplicate the viewport by selecting it
and using copy and paste from the clipboard
5. Create a polyline in the shape that
you want your viewport to look
6. Right click your viewport
7. Select viewport clip
8. Select your polyline
9. Your new polyline is now a viewport
10. Change to model space and adjust your view
within the viewport

View tutorial video

5. Creating Blocks

Step by step

1. Create a box with any dimensions

2. Go to create block under the insert tab
3. Choose a name for your block
4. Select your object that you would like to save
as a block
5. Press Enter
6. Specify the basepoint of your block/object for
future insertions
7. To insert a created block into your drawing
8. Go to your insert tab
9. Press insert and the recently saved block
should appear there

View tutorial video

6. Displaying text in a hatch

Step by step

1. In a given hatch, type Wipeout in your

AutoCAD command prompt
2. Draw a frame for your text within the hatch
3. The other option is using textmask
4. Create your text in the hatch
5. Type textmask
6. Select your text
7. The text is now cleared of any hatching
surrounding it

View tutorial video

7. Create angular dimensions larger than 180

Step by step

1. Type dimangular and the following options

should show up select circle, arc, line or
<specify vertex>
2. Press Enter to specify vertex
3. Select the vertex of your two lines
4. Select the ends of your two lines
5. The dimension of the angle should display

View tutorial video

8. Double click actions customization

Step by step

1. Go into the Manage tab

2. Go into the Customization Panel
3. Go into user interface
4. In the customize tab, right
click the double click actions node
5. Press on new double click action
6. Right click doubleclick1 and click rename,
enter your desired name
7. In the properties pane, enter
a description for the double-click action
8. In the command list pane,
drag the command you want
to add to the double click action
in the customizations into the
<file name> pane
9. Click apply

View tutorial video

9. Carve a solid with a surface

Step by step

1. Create a solid, in this example, a box

2. Create the surface you will use to carve the box,
(you can extrude an arc or line to create your
surface) I suggest creating a different layer with a
contrasting color for your surface.
3. Feel free to add more surfaces to cut your solid in
different shapes.
4. Using the Slice command (type it in)
5. At the object selection prompt, select your box or
other solid. Press enter to end your object
selection
6. At the specify starting point of slicing plane prompt,
choose the surface option then select the surface
you want to use for slicing.
7. Select the solid you wish to keep or keep both
sides. In this case we kept the larger portion of the
box
8. Repeat the process for other surfaces if you had
more than one. Then turn off the surface layer to
see your results. Below is the result of our
example. The video also demonstrates a separate
example.
View tutorial video
10. Using the Rename command

Step by step
1. Type rename in your AutoCAD command
prompt
2. Select object type to rename (Block, Dimstyle,
Layer, etc)
3. Enter the old object name
4. Enter the new object name
5. The new object should be renamed as desired

View tutorial video

11. List Command

Step by step
1. Create a line or if you already have an object in
mind then go to step 2
2. Type list in your AutoCAD prompt
3. Press Enter
4. Select your desired object
5. Press Enter

View tutorial video

12. Repair Damaged Files

Step by step
1. Open the file in question
2. Click on the top left red AutoCAD icon
3. Go into Drawing Utilities
4. Press the Audit Tool
5. Type in yes to carry out the auditing and fixing
errors in your drawing

View tutorial video

13. Using Coordinate Filters

Step by step
1. Split your viewports by clicking on the [-] in the top left of your
viewport
2. Go into viewport configuration list and select Two:Vertical
3. Keep your left viewport in top view and change your right
viewport into front view by clicking the S on your viewcube.
4. Use the 3DPOLY command and draw a random 3D polyline in
your left viewport
5. Notice how a straight line is drawn in your right viewport, this is
because the elevations (z-coordinate) are set to 0 in AutoCAD by
default (if you cant see your line in the right viewport, use the
zoom, extent commands to make it show up in the right viewport)
6. To make changes to your z coordinate, type in .xy then select
the x,y coordinate by clicking your mouse at the x,y coordinate
that you wanted or you could type in end to select an endpoint of View tutorial video
the line youve already drawn.
7. AutoCAD will then prompt you for the Z coordinate which you
can type in according to the elevation needed
8. You can repeat the same process for any other coordinate and
you can attach your coordinates to any of the objects in your left
viewport and then modify your Z when prompted.
9. You can also use filters (the .x .y .z commands) individually and
select those coordinates respectively using your cursor.
14. Build and Customize Tool Palettes

Step by step
1. Type TOOLPALETTES into your AutoCAD
command line, this will bring up a full menu of your
tool palettes.
2. To create a new palette right click on the right
side of the tool palette menu and press new
palette
3. To dock your tool palette click on the settings cog
on the left side of your tool palette and press
anchor left or right
4. To add new commands to your tool palette, press
on the palette that you have recently created.
5. Click on the settings cog on the left side of your
tool palette and in the menu that comes up press
on customize commands
6. Drag the commands from the customize View tutorial video
commands menu into your newly made palette.
15. Import X, Y Coordinates From Excel

Step by step
1. In Excel, highlight and Copy the column of X,Y
coordinates to be used to generate the drawing.
2. Open Windows Notepad (Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Notepad).
3. Before pasting the coordinates, type LINE as the
first word in the file (this will launch the Line
command when the script is run), then press
[Enter].
4. Now Paste the column of coordinates into the file
and you should see something like that shown in
the figure.
5. Close and save the .SCR file (remember where
you're saving it).
6. In AutoCAD, launch the SCRIPT command, then
navigate to where you saved your file in the
previous step, then select it and click Open. View tutorial video
AutoCAD will launch the Line command then,
beginning at the first set of coordinates entered, will
draw line segments from one point to the next.
16. How to Convert or Change Units

Step by step
1. Select one of the objects in your drawing
2. Type in the properties command to see the dimensions of your
selected object so you can compare it after the conversion is done
3. De-select any objects by pressing escape, Type in -dwgunits to
access the drawing unit conversion menu
4. Note that in your Command line what is written between the
angular quote brackets is your current unit system.
5. Select the unit system you would like to use, in our example we
are converting from <6> meters to <2> feet.
6. Select scientific or decimal for your Linear display format, in our
example we used decimal
7. Select your Linear display precision, in other words the number of
decimal places to display, we used the default of 4.
8. We will be scaling objects from other drawings upon insertion so
select <yes>
9. Match the units of the inserted objects by selecting <yes> View tutorial video
10. Scale the objects in the current drawing to reflect the change in
units <yes>
11. Include objects in paper space? <yes>
17. Draw an Arc With a Specific Length

Step by step
1. Draw an arc using the arc command
2. Type lengthen in your command prompt
3. Select an object to measure or
[DElta/Percent/Total/DYnamic]
4. In our example we will use Total then input your
arc length
5. This cuts the arc to fit the length we specify
6. Select your arc from the side that you want to
keep
7. Your new arc should be the length specified in
step 4

View tutorial video

18. Insert JPEG into AutoCAD Drawing

Step by step
1. Click the insert tab at the top of your AutoCAD
interface
2. Click attach in the reference ribbon
3. Browse and find your jpg file in your file explorer
4. Click on the file and press open
5. Another window should pop up asking you for
insertion coordinates, scale and angle of rotation, if
you check the specify on screen box it will be a lot
simpler to insert the image but you can also specify
those parameters manually, click ok to insert your
image.

View tutorial video

19. Convert 3D Face to 3D Solid

Step by step
1. Enter CONVTOSURFACE in the command line.
2. Select the face you want to convert.
3. Enter THICKEN in the command line.
4. Select the surface.
5. Enter a thickness value for the selected surface
in the command line.
6. When prompted, choose whether or not to erase
the defining surface.

View tutorial video

20. Using AutoDESK Content Explorer

Step by step
1. Go into your Add-ins ribbon at the top of your
AutoCAD window
2. Click on content explorer (the binocular icon)
3. Click on add watched folder and select the
folder that contains your AutoCAD drawings
4. Type the name of the object/layer/block that you
are searching for in the search bar
5. Right click on the objects to open up more
options such as insert, open drawing, go to file
location and so on.

View tutorial video

21. Export AutoCAD DWG to PDF

Step by step
1. Set up your view in the way you want your
drawing to appear in the pdf by using the view cube
or using the ORBIT command
2. Use the Plot command to bring up the plotting
window
3. Under Printer/plotter select DWG to PDF.pc3
4. In our example we used center the plot which
will make sure your drawing is centered or you can
offset it manually
5. After configuring these settings, press on Add
at the top and select the name you want for this
setup so you dont have to repeat these steps each
time.
6. Press OK
7. Choose a name for your file and then press
save
View tutorial video
22. Add Solid Fill to Closed Objects

Step by step
1. First set the layer that you want to use for your
solid fill. The hatch will go on the current layer.
2. On the Home tab in the Draw panel, click Hatch.
The Hatch Creation tab appears.
3. In the Pattern panel, choose Solid
4. If you have one closed area, you can just click
inside it to pick an internal point. If you want to
select an object, you can click Select in the
Boundaries panel, as you see here. Then press
Enter to end selection.
5. Press Enter to end the HATCH command.

View tutorial video

23. 3D Mirror Command

Step by step
1. Create a line that you would like to use as a mirror
2. Use the 3DMIRROR command
3. Select the object you want to mirror
4. Press Enter
5. Select from the list of options XY, YZ, ZX, 3 Points,
etc
6. Select 2 points on the line and then a third point
corresponding to the third plane
7. Your object should now be mirrored about the plane

View tutorial video

24. Assign Matching Properties to Different Objects

Step by step
1. Use the Matchproperties command
2. Select your source object(s)
3. Type in S and press enter to get into the
settings menu
4. Select the properties you want to match by
checking the respective boxes
5. Press Ok
6. Select your destination object(s)

View tutorial video

25. Sort Layers Using Group Filters

Step by step
1. Open your layer properties manager
2. Right click on All
3. Press New Group Filter or New Properties
Filter depending on how you want your layers
sorted
4. Once youve created the new group, drag the
layers you want to group into that filter
5. Right click the filter to turn the layers on/off or to
lock/unlock them

View tutorial video

26. Insert Hyperlink into Object

Step by step
1. Go into the Insert tab
2. Press hyperlink in the data ribbon
3. Select your object and press enter
4. Select the file or type in the web address you
would like the hyperlink to go to
5. To open the hyper link, right click on your object
and go into the hyperlink menu
6. Press the hyperlink to go to the file or webpage

View tutorial video

27. Manage Layers Using LAYWALK

Step by step
1. Insert layers into your drawing.
2. Use the LAYWALK command to bring up the Layer
walk pop up box.
3. Cycle through the layers one by one to see the
objects contained in each one.
4. Purge any layers you think might need a clean up.

View tutorial video

28. The Oops Command

Step by step
1. Delete an object
2. Make some edits to the drawing after deleting the
object
3. If you still need the deleted object, use the Oops
command to bring it back.

View tutorial video

29. The Burst Command

Step by step
1. Use the BURST command

2. Select the object/block that you want to break down

3. Press Enter

4. Your block/object is now separated into its

components while maintaining its attributes
View tutorial video
30. Create a Customized Hide Object Shortcut

Step by step
1. Type in cui to bring up the customize user interface
window
2. Press the Star icon to create a new command
3. Name your command Hide Objects
4. Type in HIDEOBJECTS in macro
5. Press Apply, then expand keyboard shortcuts and expand
shortcut keys
6. Drag the newly made command from the bottom left
window into shortcut keys
7. Select your newly made command and create a shortcut
key for it
8. Test out your new shortcut to make sure it works as
desired

View tutorial video

31. Change Polyline Thickness

Step by step
1. Draw a polyline to check if it has the desired
thickness
2. If not, type in PLINEWID
3. By trial and error determine which thickness you
would like to use, in the example we use 0.5
4. Your PLINE will remain that thickness throughout
the drawing

View tutorial video

32. Using the EXTRIM Command

Step by step
1. Use the EXTRIM command
2. Select the object you want to use as a border for your
trimming
3. Select the side of the object which you want to
remove
4. If you trimmed the wrong side, undo and select the
other side this time around

View tutorial video

33. The Boundary Command

Step by step
1. Draw overlapping objects, a rectangle and a circle
2. Type in the BOUNDARY command and press enter
3. Select the polyline option
4. Select the pick points option and select an internal
point
5. Press enter, this will create the new region at which
the objects overlap

View tutorial video

34. Using Ribbon Shortcut Keys

Step by step
1. Press Alt + H on your keyboard while in your AutoCAD
window
2. Keyboard shortcuts will appear next to each
command
3. Type in the keyboard shortcuts to execute the desired
command

View tutorial video

35. Quick Copy

Step by step
1. Select your desired object
2. Press the CTRL key and drag the copy of your object
from the grip
3. This will create a copy of the initially selected object

View tutorial video

36. Organize Tabs and Panels

Step by step
1. Right click on any of the tabs at the top of your AutoCAD
interface
2. Enter the show tabs option
3. Select which tab you want to activate or disable
4. If already enabled it will be disabled and vice versa
5. You can repeat the same steps to enable or disable a panel
through the show panel option

View tutorial video

37. Print and Publish Multiple Layers

Step by step
1. Select multiple layouts by holding the shift button and left
clicking on the layouts your want published
2. Right click on one of the layouts after selecting all your
layouts
3. Click on publish selected layouts
4. Configure your settings in the dialog box that pops up
5. Publish the layouts by clicking on publish

View tutorial video

38. Bring up Command line, Quick Calculator and
Tool Palette

Step by step
1. Press CTRL-3 to bring up the tool palette
2. Press CTRL-8 to bring up the quick calculator
3. Press CTRL-9 to bring up the command line

View tutorial video

39. Bring up Command line, Quick Calculator and
Tool Palette

Step by step
1. Press CTRL-6 to bring up the DB Connection Manager
2. Press CTRL-7 to bring up the Markup Set Manager
3. Press CTRL-0 to go into full screen mode
4. Use the same commands as above to revert back

View tutorial video

40. The DWGPROPS Command

Step by step
1. Open your drawing
2. In the command line type DWGPROPS
3. Go into the Statistics tab and check editing time

View tutorial video

41. Dimension & Annotation Settings

Step by step
1. Type DIMSTYLE into your command prompt
2. This will open up a dialog box where you can fully customize and
create new dimension styles
3. Under the Home tab, in the annotations ribbon, if you press on
the arrows under each command you can edit your annotation
settings

View tutorial video

42. OSNAP Keyboard Shortcuts

Step by step
1. Start the PLINE command
2. While in the command press Shift + right click
3. Select the type of Snap you want from the menu
4. That snap is now activated for a single click

View tutorial video

43. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 1)

Step by step
1. Draw your objects (line, circle)
2. Select your constraint (perpendicular)
3. Select your first line
4. Select your second line
5. The lines are now constrained and will maintain perpendicularity

View tutorial video

44. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 2)

Step by step
1. Draw your objects (Line, Arc, Circle)
2. Select your Constraint (Horizontal, Vertical, Concentric)
3. For horizontal and vertical constraints, select your line to apply
the constraint
4. For concentric, select your circles or arcs to apply the constraint
5. The lines, arcs or circles are no constrained accordingly

View tutorial video

45. Exploring Parametric Constraints (part 3)

Step by step
1. Click the collinear constraint button under the parametric ribbon
2. Select your first line then select your second line, the two lines
should now be collinear
3. For the symmetric constrain, draw your line of symmetry
4. Click the Symmetric constraint button under the parametric
ribbon
5. Select your first object, select your second object and finally
select your symmetry line, your objects are now symmetric about
that line
6. For the equal constraint
7. Click the equal constraint under the parametric ribbon
8. Select your first line, polyline or circle then select your second9
9. The two objects should now be equal in length or radius
depending on the object selected

View tutorial video

46. Helpful Drift Planning Commands

Step by step
1. Run the BREAK command
2. Select the first point of your break for the center line
3. Select the second point, that line will now be broken at those two
points
4. Run the QDIM command
5. Select the objects you want dimensioned
6. Press enter

7. Select the location of your dimensioning annotations

View tutorial video

47. Generate Curves Using Fillet Command

Step by step
1. Generate a drift center line using the Polyline command. Use
straight segments only and make sure theyre long enough to fit the
needed radius.
2. Once the center line is created, run the command Fillet. You will
have five options, select Radius.
3. Type in the radius the equipment requires (e.g. 15 m), and press
enter.
4. You will be asked to select an option again. For this step, select
Polyline, as thats the object to which the radius will be applied to.
5. Select the polyline which represents the center line.
6. Curves with the selected radius will be created between all the
segments of the polyline.

View tutorial video

48. Creating Flat Planes

Step by step
1. Type Planesurf in your AutoCAD command line
2. Select your first corner
3. Select your second corner

View tutorial video

49. Solid History Command

Step by step
1. Type in SOLIDHIST in your command line
2. Enter 1 for the new value, this will activate the solid history
function
3. Type SHOWHIST in your command line

4. Enter 2 for the new value, this will show a visual display of the
history as you change the solid

View tutorial video

50. Hatch Using Tool Palette

Step by step
1. Press CTRL + 3
2. Navigate to the Hatches tab
3. Drag the hatch into the interior of the object to be hatched
4. This will hatch the desired object
5. If you created a custom hatch you can drag and drop it onto the
tool palette for easy access

View tutorial video

51. Use BPOLY to Create Blasting Outlines

Step by step
1. Type BPOLY in your command line
2. Press enter
3. Select the internal point
4. Press enter
5. A boundary polyline should now be created following the
insides of the region you selected

View tutorial video

52. Adjusting Hatch Transparency

Step by step
1. Select your Hatch
2. Open the Properties Menu
3. Click on transparency and type a number between 0-100
4. Your hatch should now be adjusted according to that value

View tutorial video

53. Sort Layers With LAYWALK Command

Step by step
1. Type LAYWALK in the command line
2. Press Enter
3. Select the layer or layers you want to isolate
4. You should now be able to display the layers you selected
while isolating the rest of the unselected layers

View tutorial video

54. Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

Step by step
1. Shift + left mouse button
2. Select the object you want to exclude from your selection
3. Shift + right mouse button
4. Select the type of snap you want to use on your next click
5. Shift + Extend/Trim
6. This will carry out the opposite of the initial command, so if youre
trimming it will extend it to the line you selected initially and vice versa

View tutorial video

55. Divide and Measure Polylines

Step by step
1. Create a Polyline
2. Type in MEASURE or DIVIDE
3. Select your polyline
4. Specify length of segment or Block
5. Click on Block in the command line
6. Type in the name of the block you want to use to split your polyline
7. Type in the length of the segment if using MEASURE
8. Type in the number of segments if using DIVIDE

View tutorial video

56. Array Command

Step by step
1. Draw the object you want to create an array of
2. Type in ARRAY
3. Select polar
4. Adjust the settings in the array toolbox
5. If you want all your arrays to be considered 1 block then use
the associative feature
6. Once done editing your array right click and press on Enter
from the menu

View tutorial video

57. Attribute Extraction

Step by step
1. Type in the ATTEXT command in AutoCAD
2. Setup your ATTEXT template or use the attached template file
3. Select your objects
4. Name your output file
5. Press Ok
6. You should now have your txt output file in the location you chose

View tutorial video

58. Revise Work With REVCLOUD

Step by step
1. Type in REVCLOUD in your command line
2. Select the shape of the cloud you want to use (Arc, rectangle, etc)
3. Draw your cloud around the areas that were changed
4. Adjust the colors of the clouds to reflect the types of changes you
made
5. Send the drawing on to the next stage of the engineering process

View tutorial video

59. Manipulate 3D Objects with Gizmo Tool

Step by step
1. Go into your 3D modeling work space
2. Switch into realistic view or any view other than 2D wireframe
3. Go into the mesh at the top of your AutoCAD interface
4. In the selection ribbon, select face
5. Select the faces you want to manipulate
6. Move them along the axis (they should turn golden to indicate you will
be moving in that axis only)
7. Move them along the planes (the planes will turn gold to indicate
restriction of movement to that plane)

View tutorial video

60. XLINE and RAY Command

Step by step
1. Type XLINE into your AutoCAD command line
2. Select 2 points you want that XLINE to be drawn through
3. Your XLINE is now extended infinitely through those 2 points, useful
for reference lines in construction drawings
4. Type RAY into your AutoCAD command line
5. Specify the first point at which your RAY is starting
6. Specify the direction of your RAY
7. The RAY now extends infinitely in the direction you specified

View tutorial video

61. Embed Images in AutoCAD

Step by step
1. Right click the image you want to insert into AutoCAD and
click edit
2. Once it is open in Paint, press CTRL + A to select the drawing
3. CTRL + C to copy
4. Go into AutoCAD
5. Type in PASTESPEC
6. This will bring up a dialog box asking how you want to paste
the image
7. Select Ts or Metafile
8. Press Ok
9. The image should now be inserted into the DWG file

View tutorial video

62. CHSPACE Command

Step by step
1. When in your layout space, type in the
command CHSPACE
2. Select the objects that you want to change from
model space to layout space or vice versa
3. Press Enter
4. Those objects should now be seen in that
layout or model space.

View tutorial video

63. PEDIT Command with Defined Tolerance

Step by step
1. Type in PEDIT in your command line
2. Select Multiple
3. Select the polylines you want to edit
4. Select Join
5. Define your fuzz distance on the screen by picking
two points
6. Select Close
7. Hit escape
8. Your polylines are now joined based on the
tolerance (fuzz distance) given

View tutorial video

64. Send QuickCalc Results to Command Line

Step by step
1. Type in QuickCalc to bring up the calculator dialog
within AutoCAD
2. Use the command that will be taking in the value
from the QuickCalc dialog (example: Offset, circle,
line)
3. Once AutoCAD prompts you for length or distance
4. Click the box which sends the result of QuickCalc
to the command line
5. You should now have an offset, circle or line made
with that value

View tutorial video

65. Importing Point Clouds

Step by step
1. InstallAutodesk RECAP
2. Go to the AutoCAD insert tab and click on Autodesk Recap
3. Once Autodesk recap is running, import your point cloud file
4. Export your point cloud file into RCP or RCS formats
5. Attach your point cloud in AutoCAD using the Attach
command in the insert tab
6. Select the point cloud file you exported using Autodesk
Recap
7. You should now have your point cloud imported in AutoCAD

View tutorial video

66. Saving Views

Step by step
1.Zoom in and rotate to your desired view
2. Type in -View
3. Select Save
4. Type in the desired view name
5. Press enter
6. To return to your view after youve moved away from it
7. Type in -View
8. Select restore
9. Type in your view name
10.Press enter

View tutorial video

67. Crosshairs, Pickbox and Grip Customization

Step by step
1. Type options in your AutoCAD command line
2. In the display tab, on the bottom right, adjust your
crosshair size by dragging the bar to the right or left
3. In the selection tab, at the top, you can change your grip
sizes and pick box sizes
4. To change cross hair colors, in the display tab, under
window elements, press on colors
5. Select cross hairs on the right side
6. Select the color of your cross hair
7. Press Ok to apply the changes

View tutorial video

68. Dynamic Blocks pt. 1

Step by step
1. Press CTRL+3
2. Select Civil from your tool palette
3. Use the international speed limit dynamic block
4. Press on the little triangular grip to get more
options from your dynamic block
5. Adjust the settings in your block editor by typing
BEDIT in your command line
6. Adjust visibility in the visibility settings in your
block editor

View tutorial video

69. Dynamic Blocks pt. 2

Step by step
1. Create a standard block
2. Go into your bloc editor.
3. Setup a linear parameter such as a distance measurement of your
door width
4. Associate stretching of various parts of your block with that
parameter
5. Associate all other parts of your block with this stretching
6. Test out your block to make sure it is behaving as desired
7. Save your block changes
8. Now you have a dynamic block that is easy to maneuver

View tutorial video

70. Design Roads with MLSTYLE and MLINE

Step by step
1. Type MLSTYLE in your AutoCAD command line
2. Click on New
3. Name your style
4. Add a description
5. Set your offsets and line types for each line
6. Set your Fill color
7. Press Ok
8. Type MLINE in your AutoCAD command line
9. Set your justification to zero
10. Set your style to the name of the style you created
11. You can now draw your multiple lines as youve created them

View tutorial video

71. Retrieve AutoCAD Interface Using CUILOAD

Step by step
1. Type in CUILOAD in your command line
2. Unload all customization files in the dialog box
3. Press Close
4. Close AutoCAD
5. Open AutoCAD again
6. Type in CUILOAD
7. Press Browse
8. Go to the corresponding directory on your machine (you will need to show hidden
files and folders through the view tab in your filer explorer
9. C:\Users\(your Windows username)\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD
20XX\RXX.X\enu\Support
10. Select the ACAD.CUIX and press Load
11. You should have all your tabs recovered

View tutorial video

72. Zoom and Extents

Step by step
1. Type in ZOOM
2. Type in EXTENTS
3. Your drawing is now zoomed to show all objects in your drawing
4. Double click the middle mouse button to achieve the same zoom

View tutorial video

 73. Re-aligning your UCS

Step by step
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS
to be on
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click
4. Onceand
that isdrag thesure
done make grip
that at the intersection
it is aligned ofwellthe X and Y axis
in terms of angles as

3. Drag
5. Your the
UCS isUCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
now re-aligned

4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 74. Mouse Hotkeys and Customization

Step by step
1. Type in CUI
2. Click on Mouse buttons
3. Expand the sub sections under Mouse buttons
1. Click ontheyour
4. Try out UCS
different icon
hotkeys at the
to learn them bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click
5. Rightand drag
click on Mousethe grip
buttons ata the
to add intersection of the X and Y axis
new button
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once
Viewthat is done
tutorial videomake sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 75. Move the Layer Manager to the Top of your
AutoCAD Window

Step by step
1. Click the drop down arrow next to the drafting and annotation work space selection
2. Active layers
3. You should see your layers toolbar at the top of your AutoCAD window
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
Viewand
2. Click tutorial
dragvideo
the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 76. Enhance Graphics

Step by step
1. Right click the graphics performance icon in the bottom right of your AutoCAD
interface
2. Check all the checkboxes in the dialog that comes up
3. Turnon
1. Click on hardware
your UCS acceleration
icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click
4. Pressand
ok drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis

3. Drag
5. Your the UCS
graphics to your
performance desired
in AutoCAD 2018coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
should now be improved

4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 77. Select Objects While Panning and Zooming

Step by step
1. When selecting objects and dragging to the right side of your mouse cursor
2. Click once and then try zooming or panning
3. AutoCAD 2018 allows you to move around your drawing and zoom on specific
objects while selecting them
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 78. Extract Edges with XEDGES

Step by step
1. Run the XEDGES command
2. Select the object
3. Press enter
1. Click on your
4. You should UCS
now have the icon at the
edges drawn out bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 79. Changing Viewport Attributes

Step by step
1. Create a layout
2. Open your layer manager and scroll horizontally
3. You should see attributes starting with VP which stands for viewport
1. Click on those
4. Changing yourattributes
UCS icon at the
will change bottom
them for left
the current of your AutoCAD interface
viewport
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 80. Using DWGPROPS to Add Comments and
Properties

Step by step
1. Type DWGPROPS in your command line
2. Edit the properties according to your preference
3. Press okay and the properties should now be saved
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
View tutorial video
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 81. Loading Custom Lisp Commands pt. 1

Step by step
1. Open Notepad.

2. Type the following:

3. (defun c:redcircle (/ center pt-on-circumference)

(terpri)
1. Click on your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
(setq center (getpoint Specify center of red circle:))
2. Click

and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
(terpri)
3. Drag

the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
(setq pt-on-circumference (getpoint center Pick a point on the circumference:))

4. Once
that
(command is center
_circle done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
pt-on-circumference)

5. Your
UCS_chprop
(command is now re-aligned
_last _color red )

Save the file in a folder that is in your support file search path. Name it redcircle.lsp

4. In AutoCAD, go to the Manage tab -> Applications -> Load Application and select your LSP File

5. Choose redcircle.lsp and click Load. You should see the message: redcirle.lsp successfully loaded at the bottom of the
dialog box.

6. Click Close.

7. On the command line, type redcircle and press Enter.

8. At the Specify center of red circle: prompt, specify the circles center.

9. At the Pick a point on the circumference: prompt, pick a point on the desired circumference to specify the radius.

View tutorial video

 82. Loading Custom Lisp Commands pt. 2

Step by step
1.Go to the manage tab
2. Click Load application
3. Select your .lsp file
1. Click
4. Clickon
load your UCS icon at the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and drag
5. The command the say
line should grip
the at
.lsp the intersection
file was loaded successfullyof the X and Y axis
3. Drag thecommand
6. Run the UCS to yourMD
by typing desired coordinate
in your command line or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
7. Select your 2 objects
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
8. This should give you the minimum distance in the command line
9. Type MDL to draw the minimum distance line

View tutorial video

 83. TORIENT and TSCALE your Text

Step by step
1. To scale your text, type TSCALE into your command line
2. Select the object you want to scale
3. Press enter
1. Click on
4. Select youryouUCS
whether icon
want to scale at
it bythe bottom
a factor left of your AutoCAD interface
or a text height
2. Click
5. Pressand
enter drag the grip
after specifying at height
your text the or intersection
factor of the X and Y axis
3. Drag theyour
6. To orient UCStext,to your
type desired
TORIENT coordinate
into your command line or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
7. Select the object you want to orient
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
8. Press enter
9. Select existing or other desired options
10. Specify the rotation angle
11. Press enter
12. Your text is now scaled and oriented to your preference
As you can see in the screenshot, weve adjusted a copy of the text to make it bigger
and orient it horizontally.

View tutorial video

 84. NUDGE Command

Step by step
1. Select the object you want to move
2. Type NUDGE in your command line
3. Use CTRL + Arrow Key to move the object in a specific direction
1. Click
4. Presson your
Escape whenUCS
youreicon
done toat
exitthe bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
the command
2. Click and drag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag
Viewthe UCS video
tutorial to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned
 85. Using MTEXT for Automatic Areas with Fields

Step by step
1. Place text using the MTEXT editor and type AREA = in your text box
2. Then go to your ribbons at the top, in Insert, click on FIELD
3. In the FIELD category choose OBJECT
1. Click onpick
4. Use the your
objectUCS
buttonicon at your
and select theclosed
bottom
polylineleft of your AutoCAD interface
2. Click and
5. Select AREAdrag the grip at the intersection of the X and Y axis
for properties
3. Drag the
6. Select UCS to your
ARCHITECTURAL desired
for Format then presscoordinate
OK or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once that is done make sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
7. You should now have the area of the region enclosed by your polyline
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned

View tutorial video

 86. Snap Onto Hatches With OSNAPHATCH

Step by step
1. Type OSNAPHATCH into your command line
2. When prompted for the variable value type 1
3. Press Enter
1. Click
4. Drawon yourwith
a polyline UCS iconpoint
a starting atsnapping
the bottom left of your AutoCAD interface
onto a hatch
2. Click and
5. You are nowdrag
able tothe griphatches
snap onto at the intersection of the X and Y axis
3. Drag the UCS to your desired coordinate or input the coordinate you want you UCS to be on
4. Once
View that is done
tutorial videomake sure that it is aligned in terms of angles as well
5. Your UCS is now re-aligned