Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

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This month…

From the Vault

Originally published November 2003

Tool Time: Kick 'em Up a Notch

Making a Power Tool

1. To make your own tool open the "Customize" dialog box, then choose "User defined" at the bottom of the Categories column.
2. From the Commands column, drag the "User Defined Button" onto your toolbar.
3. Click on the blank tool on your toolbar and the Customize dialog box automatically switches to the Button Properties tab.
4. Enter a Name and a Description for your tool. The Name is for the tooltip; the Description will be displayed on the status bar.

5. In the Macro area, type the name of the command you want to run with this tool.

Tip: When writing the macro for a custom tool, the semi-colon ";" means <Enter>.

^C^CVpoint;-4,-5,1;Z;.5x;Hide

This routine:
Cancels any currently running command (^C^C), then…
Issues the Vpoint command, then…
Enters the x,y,z values of -4,-5,1 then…
Launches Zoom, then…
Specifies a reduction of 50%, then…
Launches Hide.

6. To create the button, click the Edit button under the empty button image to open the "Button Editor" dialog box.

7. Turn the Grid on, grab a color, pick a tool and off you go. If you make a small mistake, click Undo. Click Clear if you want to start over.

Tip: When you're finished with your graphics, click Save As, navigate to the desired folder and give this .bmp a name that you will understand.

8. After saving the button image by name, click Close to close the Button Editor.
9. Choose Apply at the bottom of the "Customize" dialog box, then Close out of the Customize dialog and you"re finished!

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