Doing Simple Stuff in AutoCad 2012 1

[zdas04]

I recently "upgraded" to AutoCad 2012 and so far I hate everything about it. The stuff that hadn't changed in 10 releases that I could do automatically (my last version was 2008) now seems to be impossible.

For example, at 8:00 am I realized that the object-snap default was not to snap to mid point (which has been the default for a long time, I always have to change it) and I needed to find the Drafting Settings dialog box. It is now 9:37 and I still haven't found it. The help sucks (what ever happened to being able to limit help searches to the user manual?) and I can't find the keyhole into the drafting settings screen (I've seen screen prints of it several places but the starting point of the help doesn't get back to how to open the dialog box).

I have a very large scree, but I can't seem to find any way to adjust the icons on the bottom of the screen big enough see them. Does anyone find this crap to be useful?

I guess I'm going to have to take a basic course 25 years after I started using this stinking program.

David

 

[mflayler]

Right click on your icons in the Status Bar and toggle off the "Use Icons" That will get you your words back. Also for Drafting Settings you can and have always been able to right click on your status symbols in the bar and choose Settings.

Also they have an update course available for transitioning 2008 users. In fact there is a book just for the changes over that timeframe. The one for 2008 to 2012 covers most of the interface changes your are running into.

http://ascented.com/courseware-solu...toCAD-2010-Update-for-AutoCAD-2008-Users.aspx

Here are some other tips. If you haven't already converted back to Classic mode you can at least get your file pulldowns back by use the MENUBAR system toggle. I personally really like the Ribbons, but I also miss my pulldowns. I also add the Layer pulldown to my Quick Access Toolbar for times when I am away from the Home Tab.

 

[zdas04]

Which one is the "status bar"? Got it. That helps a TON. Any way to make the words bigger?

I'm using CADWORXX P&ID and I haven't figured out how to put that ribbon ("drop down", I don't even know the language) on the classic ribbon (?)

I've opend the link. I'll take a look at it after lunch. GOD I hate feeling like a noobie.

David

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Try TurboCad.

I could teach a trained monkey to use it in 1/2 an hour....

 

[mflayler]

And you would get no where near the efficiency or tools of AutoCAD if you were that trained monkey.

 

[francesca]

I used to know the command to get your menus back. Erm. Anyway, it's there if the AutoCAD Classic workspace isn't.

 

[zdas04]

I finally found (in an AutoCad for Dummies book) that if you right click on one of the "snap" icons (or words, thank you mflyler) then you can select Drafting Settings from the drop down.

The recommended course requires ordering the book so I can't start it till after Feb 9. I'll limp along with the Dummies book till then.

David

 

[brandonbw]

First I would click the gear icon in the bottom right corner and change that to Autocad Clasic. That gets rid of the ribbon.

If you know how to use old Autocad, don't forget you can always use the command line. In your situation typing osnap would have done it.

Also you can right click on the blank space in the bar on the top of the screen, pull down Autocad, then select Object Snap. That toolbar will come up and select the magnet icon on the very right.

I went to college when CAD was switching to icons, so it's really nice to see how some people use icons and others use commands. Turns out certain things can be done faster using all of the above. I cannot stand the current ribbon interface though.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com

 

[zdas04]

I "upgraded" because I needed a P&ID program and chose CadWorx. The P&ID program they sell won't work with a non-ribbon version of AutoCad (they have some sort of contract with AutoDesk that they will only support a limited number of back versions). When I turn on the Classic menus the P&ID functionality is hidden.

I hate this FIU (not sure what the "F" is supposed to stand for, but I have my own opinion about what it should stand for). I hate it in Office 2007. I hate it here. I don't run Windows 7 because of it (and a couple of other minor things).

I never can remember the environmental commands. I can remember the 20 or so drawing commands that I've learned over the years, but things like osnap just won't stay in my head.

I bought Autocad 2011 for Dummies (they didn't have 2012 in my only local bookstore) and I'm going through it page by page. The stuff the author thinks is cool I think is fluff.

David

 

[MiketheEngineer]

At least a trained monkey is cheap and Turobcad can read Auto cad files when needed.. AC can only read AC files.

And it is like using an atom bomb to kill a fly. Most people use maybe 2% of it's power - and it takes them twice as long!!

And at best it is "flaky" from time to time. We have had to reload it from time to time!! Not TC!!

As you may have figured - I HATE AC

 

[SnTMan]

zdas04, I recently (reluctantly) upgraded from 2008 to 2011, I am not very happy with it. It actually seems to run slower than 2008 did and frustrates the cr#p out of me while I wait on it. It seems written to impress programmers rather than users.

I frankly don't think ACAD has gained any really useful 2D functionality since at least 2000. I'd go back to it if I could.

Regards,

Mike

 

[zdas04]

In my dummies book, they pointed out that you can get the drop down Menu Bar from previous versions while still using the ribbon-crap. With the option of using a familiar "Modify" or "Tools" drop down, the rest doesn't feel quite so foreign so I'm made more progress in a couple of hours today than in the week before. If you haven't seen it, it is the arrow next to the one that picks a theme (last item that says "Show Menu Bar"). It helped a lot.

David

 

[SnTMan]

Thank God these guys (and I mean all the people who "design" software updates) don't design cars and so forth.

 

[francesca]

zdas, the ribbons are here to stay, so you'll have to get used to them. In the meantime, MENUBAR = 1 should give you your menus in tandem with the ribbon.

 

[transmissiontowers]

I started with ACAD LT 98 and am mostly self taught and just use it to sketch out parts I am designing for structures. We went to ACAD 2006 LT and got 1 copy of ACAD 2006 which I used for a couple of years until we upgraded to 2012. I took a course on basic ACAD 2012 taught by old drafters that had been typing commands since R10 or earlier.

My intention was to learn 2012 and the ribbon. What the instructor taught the class of 4 on a weekend was how to type the command to bring up the dialog box. He had almost no experience with 2012 and his most common comment was "wow, this is really different, lets do it the way I know".

The array command has become very visual and is much different than before. If you really want to see something new, try the Array.

My productivity was way down until I used 2012 for a while and I am slowly getting back to where I was. I got used to the ribbon and given a little time and practice, you can too.

The biggest thing I learned was how to bring up the temporary snap menu (not sure what it is really called). In 2012 you hold the Control key and right click the mouse and the dialog box appears and you can select one of the snaps. I really like the midpoint between 2 points. I used to draw temporary construction lines and then select the mid point of that line, then erase the temp line.

All the commands and functions are still there, you and I just need to find where they went.

_____________________________________
I have been called "A storehouse of worthless information" many times.

 

[zdas04]

Like I said above, once I turned the menu bar on and changed the indeciferable icons on the bottom into text, I was able to make progress. I'm still having trouble finding the commands I need, but I was eventually able to overcome that problem in PowerPoint so I expect I'll overcome it here.

This morning I'm going to try to figure out how to expand the navigation bar so that I don't have to select a zoom mode every time (I use Window a lot, Extents sometimes, and the rest occasionally, I want to put all of them on the bar instead of grouping them. Same with the trim/extend button.

David

 

[mflayler]

zdas04,

Some quick productivity things...

Double click your wheel mouse button, that will do your Zoom Extents for you.

You can turn on toolbars still with the Ribbon interface as well. Simply go to your View Tab --> Toolbars button and select some of your old favorites.

Consider adding your Layers pulldown to the Quick Access Toolbar. Steps here.

http://blogs.rand.com/manufacturing/2009/10/whats-in-your-quick-access-toolbar-electrical.html

I hate to linger on the TurboCAD comment, but there is a lot more utilization of AutoCAD than you think! TurboCAD doesn't even come close for me. Also, AutoCAD will open non AC drawings, but remember, non AC drawings are emulations of the code. That speaks poorly to the developers of TurboCAD, not AC.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

zdas04

I guess we could argue the pros and cons until the cows come home. I simply hate AC and all of its BS - IMHO.

I do 100% of my work in TC and I am 59 years old. I beat the pants off my younger (20-30 year olds) day in and day out in terms of productivity. And I have sent them to all kinds of classes, etc.

Granted we are not designing rocket ships here or multi-spatial buildings - but for what we do - it can't be beat. (but you could do that in TC if need be)

 

[MiketheEngineer]

BTW -

A full blown license is only about $1000 vs about $3500 and updates are either very cheap or FREE!!!

 

[zdas04]

I only "upgraded" to get CadWorx P&ID. The level of drafting I do is pretty limited (not many people are going to pay my hourly rate for a job a draftsman could do better). Most of it could easily be done with a pencil, compass, and a straight edge. I'm sure that there are any number of products that would do what I need cheeper and easier, but the P&ID funtionality seems to skip from Visio (which I simply cannot make work for me, I've tried a half dozen times) to full-blown AutoCad.

I'm definately not a big AutoCad fan, but until this version it did everything I needed it to do, using a human-interface I'd grown comfortable with. That isn't true anymore but since I just spent $7k on AutoCad and CadWorx I'm going to make it work.

David