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.
It's a God-thing.
I had no idea that 14 years ago I would be given the opportunity to make an impact on the professional lives of so many. Only God knew what was ahead, and hopefully, the contributions I have made through Michael's Corner have equipped many of you to be more productive and a bit more savvy using AutoCAD. And apart from all the AutoCAD bashing that is going on, I'm sure it has a long life ahead.
So, in an effort to keep the AutoCAD fires burning, here's what I have for my final installment…
…A reminder on how to customize your hot keys
…Three Power Tools — one for Zoom, one for editing, and one for Layers
…Two Odd Spots — one for Layers and one for Hatching
…Buried text treasure
…And how to Search 14 years of the Archives
As for what's ahead for me, I will continue to present a variety of AutoCAD sessions — Fundamentals, Intermediate, Customizing, Updates, and 2D & 3D. I will also keep training CAP Designer, 20-20 Worksheet, Visual Impression (those three from 20-20 Technologies, Inc.), and some Revit Fundamentals. Next year I'm looking forward to being very involved in training CET (from Configura, Inc.) when Herman Miller joins the growing number of manufacturers embracing this software that is being touted as the ‘Future of Space Planning’. Personally, I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with Donna, my lovely bride of 30 years. When this posts, we'll probably be within days of going on our 30th Anniversary vacation to the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson; Ee-Hah! We had such a good time when we went for our 20th, we figured we'd do it again!
Ah, and I'm hoping to have The AutoCAD Workbench, Final Edition out before snow flies.
And with that, Mike drop! …so to speak.
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
If you're not working in a vacuum, working on another guy's drawing is a part of life, so it's important to know how to keep clutter to a minimum. In the Select File dialog, the Partial Open feature lets you be selective about what layer "geometry" is loaded when you open a drawing. Choose Partial Open from the item drop-down to open the dialog, then check the layers of the geometry/objects that you would like to see in the drawing.
Tip: Smart money says you open the drawing first and turn on/thaw all layers so you know what you have, identify the layers you'll need, then close it and start Partial Open.
The geometry that has been created on the layers selected will be the only information that is physically opened and displayed. You will notice, however, that all the layers names for the drawing will be listed in the Layer dialog, even though the objects on those layers aren't loaded.
But what if you didn't get all the information you needed? Once a drawing has been partially opened, you can load additional layer geometry using File/Partial Load. The Partial Load feature is only available for drawings that have already been partially opened.
The Partial Load dialog box looks virtually identical to the Partial Open dialog with one exception: The "Pick a window" button. With this feature you can load additional layers in a user-specified area!
One final note: The partial open/load features can only be used with the AutoCAD format you're using. In other words, if you have A2004 and try Partial Open on an A2000/i/2 drawing, it won't work. Simply open and save the drawing in A2004, then run Partial Open.
When you re-open a drawing that was saved in the Partial Open state, AutoCAD gives you an alert box from which you can choose to Restore the partially opened state or Fully Open the drawing.