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Michael’s Corner

Michael BeallMichael'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.

This month…

October - One-derful!!!

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

This month's articles

Change F1 to ESC
Smoother Zoom
Stretch with Extension
Lock Layers with a Crossing Window
Layer Columns & Hatch Background Color
Text Frame on Mtext

From the Vault

Originally published May 2013

Selection Options & A2014 Improvements

By default…

If you pick air and go right, you create a Window (a solid blue box). It will select only those objects completely within the window.

Selection window

If you pick air and go left, you create a Crossing window (a dashed green box). It will select anything the dashed box crosses, as well as anything inside the resulting window.

Crossing window

Significant AutoCAD 2014 Improvement

Notice in the figures that the objects which will be selected are highlighted BEFORE committing to the second corner! I love this!

Additional Selection Options

The following options hold true for any editing command requiring object selection. Any of these options may be entered at the "Select objects:" prompt…

  • Fence is a crossing line which selects objects crossed by the fence after you press <Enter>.

  • WPolygon selects all entities within the boundaries of a polygon created by points you input.

  • CPolygon selects all entities within or touching the boundaries of an irregular polygon.

  • Last selects the "youngest" object (singular) displayed.

  • Previous selection set.

  • Use Shift + Pick to deselect object(s).

  • ALL selects all entities within your drawing whether or not they are visible on your display.

Note Regarding Selecting Wide Polylines and TrueType Fonts

When selecting a wide polyline or text using a TrueType font such as Arial, pick the edge of the object, not the middle.

Wide polylines

As shown in the figure, the ‘E’ is highlighted when you're on the edge of the character. The angled, red shape is the outline of a wide polyline with the variable FILL set to <OFF>.

Bottom line, the colorful middle of these objects is fluff; not tangible.

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