Are you always starting a new drawing with the standard
AutoCAD "English (Feet and Inches)" listing that needs a
lot of settings changed before you use it? If
you are doing this, there
is a way to make starting a new drawing have all the attributes you
typically work with already setup.
The best way to setup this template file is to use
an existing file that already has the basic attributes needed for a new
file. You can also start from scratch, but
it takes a bit longer to set up. Here's a
list of some common attributes that should be needed in a template drawing.
- Issue the DRAWING PROPERTIES utility to set file information and author.
- Set the drawing LIMITS.
- Set the global style for UNITS.
- Set VIEW magnification by drawing a rectangle the size of the total
extents typically needed for the
initial drawing area. Zoom
to the EXTENTS of the rectangle, SAVE the file,
and then erase the layout rectangle.
- Set VIEWRES to 20,000 to eliminate the "Jaggies" on circles and arcs.
- Set the FILLET radius to 0.
- Set the CHAMPHER distances to 0.
- Set and turn On your most commonly used OSNAPS.
- Set the current TEXT style.
- Set the current DIM style.
- Create any common LAYERS, LAYER STATES, or LAYER
FILTERS.
- Insert BLOCKS that are ALWAYS used
- Issue PAGESETUP in MODELSPACE to lock in printing preferences for simple
proofs.
- Create and name any typical LAYOUT tabs with your
typical printers and setups using PAGESETUP.
After you are certain that the drawing file has all of your standard
settings there are several options as to how the file will be
utilized.
The first method is to navigate to the directory where the file resides in
Windows Explorer and set the attributes to "Read Only" by right clicking on
the file and choosing Properties. The file
can now be checked off as " Read Only". This
way the file is a .dwg and will show up in file dialogue boxes filtered for
.dwg files. A warning message will appear
anytime the file is opened stating that the file is read only and would you
like to open it anyway. Choose OK and then
use SAVEAS to copy and rename the template. Once
the read only file is saved to another name the read only attributes will no
longer be valid unless you manually re-set them in Explorer again.
The second method is to use the SAVEAS command to save the file as a .dwt
file. The file type filter will need to be
set to .dwt when the SAVEAS dialogue box is used. This method is not as
desirable because the file dialogue boxes in AutoCAD
typically default to .dwg rather than .dwt most of the time.
A third use for the file with your settings would be to
save the drawing as "ACAD.dwt" so that every time you use the NEW command,
AutoCAD will use your version of ACAD.dwt rather than it's own.
A final word of advice is to realize that you may not be able to create that
one all encompassing template for all possible scenario's. Make
several template files if need be and use the one that best fits the
objective as needed.
