AutoCAD/LT2017 (aka Nautilus): Up Periscope!

Autodesk on Monday March 21, 2016 will officially announce the release of the 2017 versions of their AutoCAD line. If you are on Subscription just might see a download link for it as soon as this weekend on your Products Page.  Expect access to the 2017 free 30-day trial downloads to start soon after the official announcements.

Today's blog post will highlight what is new in AutoCAD 2017 and comment on if we think it will make it to LT2017: Autodesk has chosen not to make LT available for this review so until it's officially released we cannot confirm at this time if all of these features will be present. Let's hope the bean counters are not in charge or we will lose what few worthy features are in this update.

This 2017 version is more of a house-keeping cleanup of the interface and core features rather than a huge list of extras or new features, although what has been added is pretty cool.

First, the important stuff: DWG file format remains the same.

Second, Windows OS requirements are as follows. Note that Win10Home and other cheaper versions are not supported and some of the new AutoCAD features are not available to users in 32bit versions of Windows:

32-bit and 64-bit of the following Windows® 7 editions and Service Pack 1 (SP1):
•Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise
•Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
•Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
•Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

32-bit and 64-bit of the following Windows® 8.1 editions with Update KB2919355:
•Microsoft Windows 8.1
•Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro
•Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise

32-bit and 64-bit of the following Windows® 10 editions:
•Windows 10 Enterprise edition
•Windows 10 Professional edition

Third, Autodesk has enhanced the installation migration option with more feedback as to what you want to move from an older version. This new Smooth Migration n0w displays a modern migration interface an separates AutoCAD/LT customization settings into three groups and 10 categories. Plus it provides a summary report that organizes the migration data by group types and categories.

AutoCAD 2017 introduces the following features:

Import PDF
Imports the geometry and TrueType text from a specified page in a PDF file, or from all or part of an attached PDF underlay. The Import tool is available from both the Application menu and the Insert ribbon tab. The command is PDFIMPORT.
New Commands: PDFIMPORT, -PDFIMPORT
New System Variables: PDFIMPORTFILTER, PDFIMPORTIMAGEPATH, PDFIMPORTLAYERS, PDFIMPORTMODE

Smart Center
1. Provides a way to create an associative centermark for a hole within a drawing view.
2. Provides a way to create an associative centerline between two straight edges within a drawing view.
3. Includes several system variables to control centermark and centerline parameters.
4. Supports the Match Properties, Add Selected, and Select Similar features.
New Commands: CENTERDISASSOCIATE, CENTERLINE, CENTERMARK, CENTERREASSOCIATE, CENTERRESET System variables: CENTERRESET, CENTERCROSSSIZE, CENTEREXE, CENTERLAYER, CENTERLTSCALE, CENTERLTYPE, CENTERLTYPEFILE, CENTERMARKEXE.

AutoCAD Experience
1. The TEXTEDIT command is now automatically repeated.
2. Adds support for resizing several dialog boxes.
3. Removes the interfering tooltips from the QSelect and Purge dialog boxes.
4. Allows the HPLAYER system variable to be set to nonexistent layer for new hatches and fills. The layer is created when the next hatch or fill is created.
5. Displays a message when PICKFIRST is set to 0, and a command is started when an object is currently selected.
6. Supports a new UNIT setting: US Survey Feet.

Share Design Views
Publishes design views of your current drawing to a secure, anonymous location within Autodesk A360. You can share views of the drawing by forwarding a generated link to the people that you specify. Access to these views is provided by any supported web browser, and does not require recipients to have an Autodesk A360 account or install any additional software. Supported browsers include Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that support WebGL 3D graphics.
This feature can be accessed from the Application menu and the A360 tab on the ribbon.
New Command: ONLINEDESIGNSHARE

Coordination Model Osnap Support
1. Provides a way to specify precise locations on an attached coordination model using the standard 2D endpoint and center object snaps.
2. Enables snapping in coordination models, to support standard 2D endpoint and center snaps (only).
3. Provides the CMOSNAP system variable, coordination model osnap, to turn object snapping on and off for geometry in Coordination Models that are attached to the drawing.
4. Works with any command that requires selecting a point location, such as LINE, SPHERE, so on.

Visual Experience
1. Improves the performance for panning and zooming operations.
2. Improves the visual quality for linetypes.
3. Enhances selecting and object snapping within the gaps in non-continuous linetypes when LTGAPSELECTION is turned on.

3D Graphics System
Improves the stability of 3D Navigation tools, and the performance of blocks in 3D, specifically for models with a large number of small blocks containing edges and facets. In most of the cases, the model's visual fidelity will be maintained during 3D Interaction.

Security
Trusts any files under Program Files, which is under the OS’s UAC protection, and indicates so by displaying these implicitly trusted path in Trusted Paths UI and graying them out.

3D Printing (Not LT is our guess)
Adds a workflow for the 3DPRINT command by opening an STL file in Print Studio.

Once the final shipping/release version of LT2017 is made available Monday, we will dissect the details noted above strictly for LT2017 users and identify our favorite parts and what, if anything, Autodesk missed with this issue.

Stay Tuned.

◦

AutoCAD/LT2017 (aka Nautilus): Up Periscope!

4K and Touch Screens, Part Two: is AutCAD/LT up to the task?

In our last post we discussed the new trend of 4K High-res displays and how they work in Windows 8.1. We continue with our review with hands-on use of AutoCAD/LT 215 and see if there have been any improvements with it and the use of Touchscreens.

Touchscreens

With the retirement of my last full Windows 7 touch screen tablet due to fading battery life, it was time to purchase a replacement. My criteria have not changed: modest screen size (no larger than 13") so I can use it in tight spots like airplane trays, job site shelving/sheet-rock stacks, overall light weight, long battery life, Windows 8.1, USB3 ports, built-in keyboard that can disappear when I don't need it (AutoCAD is still very keyboard-centric), and equipped with a high speed processor: light weight and small power brick if possible would be a bonus.

A 2-in-1 360-degree rotating keyboard laptop quickly became the ideal choice for me. A full laptop that could be converted easily to a tablet without the need to keep track of additional loose peripherals is going to be what I needed. After some effort reading reviews and trying out many units at computer stores and trade shows, I chose the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, equipped with the latest generation Intel mobile processor, a High Res display, 512GB SSD harddrive, thin, light weight, long battery life, and a great built-in keyboard that tucks away. Unlike the Surface Pro and other Tablet-only mobile PCs, the keyboard is solid, built-in, not a plastic cover "Bluetooth" that doesn't work in your lap or while standing with it in your hands. It flips away when I only need to use the device in Tablet/Touch mode.

The experience you’ll have is all about the size of the High Res/4K display and how your computer’s operating system can deal with it. For example, if you have a small High Res Display like that on the Microsoft Surface Pro or this Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, everything will be extremely tiny on it. You’ll fit a lot of content on the screen, but at the cost of barely being able to read any of it — only if you get up close and squint.
Windows OS and many applications offer a variety of tweaks to make life better on the higher-resolution displays popping up on High-Res laptops and tablets. These features help fix the problem of tiny interface elements, making them appear larger — but still sharper than they’d look on a lower-resolution display. Windows 8.1 Update has the best scaling features of any version of Windows yet, and even it isn’t perfect. Many applications — even Microsoft’s own applications included with Windows — look blurry when they’re blown up to appear larger on a high-resolution display.

AutoCAD/LT is one program that offers little to help fix this problem. Here is a screenshot of AutoCAD/LT2015 running on my Lenovo without any 3rd party fixes, click on it to enlarge so you can see the issues:

This TIP here helped fix AutoCAD/LT, click to this image to expand and compare with the one above:

Besides fixing the text and icon sizes, it also made everything in AutoCAD/LT a little 'bigger' and kind of robbed me of some screen real estate. AutoCAD/LT also complains on startup that the screen display settings are below it's minimum requirements when it's obviously not:

Since this is not a laptop/tablet used for production, these limitations do not bother me as much but it does illustrate the need for Microsoft, in conjunction with Autodesk, to address this display issue urgently and in more detail. Microsoft does offer tips to address these limitations for Surface Pro users, but based on reports and feedback posted online to date these also appear to be partial measures.

AutoCAD/LT Usage

So how does AutoCAD/LT 2015 work? As good as it did on my previous Windows 7 Tablet: average use time on battery is over 2.5 hours with a mix of AutoCAD, MSOffice and light Illustrator/Photoshop use while I'm on site, in a car or on a plane. AutoCAD still is not designed for touchscreens, even with the added "Touch Select Mode" button that appears only on touchscreen-equipped computers/laptops. Zooming, Panning and Moving objects is similar to my previous experiences with tablets, but this time being able to have a full time keyboard at the ready simply speeds up drafting immensely. Right-Clicking is a chore on touchscreens using your fingers, and precision drafting/moving/copying is all but impossible with a finger unless yours as the size of a child's. I use a stylus equipped with a small rubber tip to navigate and draft in AutoCAD: the Ribbon makes touch-use easier to do, but if you are an AutoCAD user still stuck on classic toolbars/buttons and pulldown menus your frustration level will escalate rapidly and may help turn your tablet into a free-flying frisbee sooner than you wish or can afford.

Here is how to simulate the use of a tablet PC on your desktop PC, so you can understand personally what the challenges I mentioned above are:

• Move your keyboard out of reach. Really, out of reach.
• tape up/do not use the mouse right-click button: if you have a scroll wheel you can use it, it will replace a touchscreen's easy zoom in/out and pan ability.
• Now use AutoCAD to draft your next half-dozen tasks in your file.
• Every time you need to use the keyboard, move the keyboard to type, and as soon as you hit move it back out of reach before you continue on screen.
• Repeat working like this for 15-30 minutes.
• Now raise your hand if you still want a Tablet without a built-on hardware keyboard.

Do you use a Windows OS Tablet like the Microsoft Surface Pro with AutoCAD? What's been your experience? Leave a comment. ◦

4K and Touch Screens, Part Two: is AutCAD/LT up to the task?

4K and Touch Screens: is AutoCAD/LT ready for both?

Three years ago I wrote about my experience with AutoCAD/LT with my first ever full Windows Tablet HERE. How have things changed with Windows 8.1, new touchscreens, high-res monitors and more?

4K displays

The allure of these, especially for CAD users, is strong: more pixels, content designed for 4K look almost impossibly crisp; games and CAD programs hardly need anti-aliasing because the “jaggies” between pixels become almost unnoticeable; and fonts are rendered as if they were printed on paper and then stuck behind the screen. A better experience overall, right?

The Challenge for computer monitors: when a 4K television is sent a source with a resolution below its native resolution, it will use a scaling algorithm to compensate for the difference. HDTV makers have spent a lot of time researching the best way to accomplish this, and televisions ship with respectably quick processors (usually based on ARM architecture) to deliver fast, high-quality scaling.
Computer monitors have no such hardware, and just do what they’re told by the video card and the operating system. If a program says its main menu should be 500 pixels tall, you’re getting a menu that’s 500 pixels tall. So, as pixel count increases, that menu becomes smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until it’s so small it can hardly be used.

Microsoft has responded to this issue with a variety of features, including built-in scaling and font calibration, but the pace of the company’s response has fallen behind the advance of technology. How?

PC Gamer offered the best explanation HERE.
Jamie and Adam went a little further at CES and posted this more detailed review HERE.

Think you are immune using an Apple MAC? Read THIS for an honest review.

What does this mean for AutoCAD/LT2015 users: tiny icons, oddly displayed text sizes at the commandline, and more. Click on this screenshot to see the problems in more detail.

While the real fix needs to come from Microsoft and Autodesk (and almost every other software manufacturer who's software you use), the tip HERE seems to work well for me for many software (including AutoCAD) on my 4K monitor.

4K isn’t even the latest new thing anymore. Some manufacturers are now pushing “5K” monitors with an even higher resolution: Apple sells an iMac with a 5K display designed to be a 4K monitor with screen space allocated for application toolbars and tools.

Touch Screens

With the market full of interesting full Windows OS capable and seriously portable devices such as Microsoft's Surface Pro Tablet, along with offering HP, Dell and Lenovo to name a few, the attraction to be fully mobile with AutoCAD is hard to resist.

Follow us in our next post as we review if AutoCAD/LT can be useful on these devices. ◦

4K and Touch Screens: is AutoCAD/LT ready for both?

Where is AutoCAD/LT to download?

If you are just looking for an Autodesk product download you should be able to find it at the Autodesk Customer Service Virtual Agent. First, you should do the following to prepare:

1. In the preferences or options area of your preferred browser, remove pop-up blockers and allow access to all *autodesk.com sites.
2. In the preferences or options area of your preferred browser, delete cookies, temporary internet files, and history.
3. Turn off your personal firewall or VPN, if you use one.
4. Disable UAC in Windows, temporarily.
5. Close and reopen your preferred browser.
6. Now follow these instructions: http://knowledge.autodesk.com/topics/account-management/software-downloads/download-methods/virtual-agent

Note: as of today, the date of this posting, Autodesk only stores product versions from 2015 down to 2012. If you use one of these versions go and get it now, today, and store the download somewhere safe to use later. Because once Autodesk stops making it available you will be hard pressed to find it ever again.

DWGTrueview (DTV) 2014 download links can be found in this post:
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Installation-Licensing/TrueView-download/m-p/4427763#M68123
DWGTrueview (DTV) 2015 64bit Download is here:
http://download.autodesk.com/esd/dwgtrueview/2015/SetupDWGTrueView2015_ENU_64bit.sfx.exe

There are several download links for older products on this page that may help you: ftp://ftp.autodesk.com/prodsupp/downloads/ ◦

Where is AutoCAD/LT to download?

Reset AutoCAD/LT without losing customizations

Sometimes you just need to reset AutoCAD/LT. It happens. Problem is, you lose all those menu customizations and/or workspace you spent time creating, moving and rearranging.

It is fairly painless to back up your customizations before resetting:

1. Windows START button, click on All Programs, then Autodesk, then AutoCAD LT 2015 (or lower), then Migrate custom settings, select Export AutoCAD LT 2015 settings.
2. Click the EXPORT button.
3. In the Export custom settings dialog box, select a location (like your desktop) to save the ZIP file created by the program.
4. Now you are ready to Reset AutoCAD to Defaults: go to Windows START button>All Programs>Autodesk>AutoCAD  LT 2015>Reset Settings to Default and it will reset and restart AutoCAD LT. 
5. Ensure the gremlins you wanted fixed are gone.
6. Exit AutoCAD/LT, then go to START>All Programs>Autodesk>AutoCAD LT 2015>Migrate custom settings>Import AutoCAD LT 2015 settings to bring your customizations back in.

Using Windows 8? Upgrade to Win8.1 first, then grab the free Start Button add-on and get back that useful functionality. ◦

Reset AutoCAD/LT without losing customizations

AutoCAD LT 2015: we Lasso the new features

Autodesk announces the release of the newest AutoCAD LT version today, the 2015 version: they continue what they started in the 2013 and 2014 versions, adding a host of customer driven additions, tweaks, and even some performance enhancements. True, there are no ground-shaking new features being introduced, but based solely on my time with this version to date I have to note that I've been smiling to myself the whole time I've been using it.

User Interface: Dark Scheme Option.
Suffer from Eye-strain? This new option should help: Autodesk introduces the new Dark Scheme for the entire user interface. If you stare at a 25"-27"-30" monitor(s) all day long using AutoCAD, this is going to feel very comfortable. Check out these screenshots.

Don't like it? Can't stand anything new? No fear, you can go back to the 'white' Light Scheme from 2014 and earlier.

New Tab
If you start AutoCAD LT 2015 before you open any drawings, or click on a new drawing tab at the top of the drawing window, you will notice two new startup Tabs:  CREATE to create new and open existing drawings and LEARN, to tap Help and other resources online to learn and understand the product.

HELP is helpful
You have HELP up and you are reading about a command: where do you start looking for it? In AutoCAD LT 2015, where available, simply click on the find tool on the command description page to display an animated arrow in the UI showing the exact location of the command. Check it out.

Classic Workspace: Gone.
AutoCAD LT 2015 is not provided with the old Classic Workspace OOTB (Out Of The Box): if you want it, you will have to create it yourself (most the parts are still in the CUI command) if you cannot transfer it's parts from an older AutoCAD LT version.

Preview Galleries
If you are an active Ribbon user, AutoCAD LT 2015 now offers you previews of blocks in your file when you select the Insert Button. Preview Galleries are also available for the Dimensions, Mleaders, Dimension Styles, Text Styles and Tables and Table Cells.

View Tab
Autodesk cleaned up the Ribbon's View Tab.

Layouts
In AutoCAD LT 2015, you can quickly add a new layout by clicking on the + sign available where your Layout Tabs hang out. Losing track of your Layouts in a file? Now you can quickly display them all too.

Oh, and have you always wanted to change that gray background that hovers all around your "page" in a Layout? AutoCAD LT 2015 now lets you do just that.

Line Smoothing
New variable in AutoCAD LT 2015 enables you to turn on anti-aliasing of drawings in viewports (with 2D wireframe) to make 2D objects look smoother. This is a display-only feature, printing is not affected.

Visual Feedback
AutoCAD LT 2015 offers more visual feedback than previous versions. For example: when you Move an object, the original location of the object is displayed as a faded outline while it moves. Same with Copy, Rotate and more.

Even more complex objects hold their shape when you using any of the same 'modify' tools.

AutoCAD LT 2015 also introduces Badges: little informative icons that appear adjacent objects that are being modified with Move, Copy, Erase, Rotate, List, Area, Scale and Zoom commands.

Lasso Selection
I'm sure you wondered why I used that word in the title of this blog post: In AutoCAD LT 2015 you can click and drag in the drawing window to create a lasso completely free-form selection method around only the objects you want in a very busy drawing area. You can of course turn that feature off if it is too powerful for your daily needs.

Command Preview
You can now preview the results of Trim, Extend, Fillet, Chamfer, Offset, Break and MatchProp commands before actually selecting the objects. Simply hover over the objects to see what you are about to change before doing so.

Model Space Viewports
Do you use them? AutoCAD LT 2015 enhances them and offers more flexibility with their use. Once created, a bright blue boundary clearly identifies the active viewport you are in. You can easily resize any of the viewports by dragging the horizontal or vertical boundaries.

SORTORDER Variable
Layer lists display using natural ordered sorting in AutoCAD LT 2015: so instead of the layer names being sorted as 1, 10, 2, 25, 21, 4, 6 etc. they now are displayed as 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 21, 25 and so on. Dislike this idea? Set this variable to 0 (that's a zero) and the old method is restored.

Quick Isometric Drafting
A new tool on the status bar in AutoCAD LT 2015 provides you with one-click access to set an isometric drafting environment. Turn it on by selecting one of the options from that flyout menu. Turn it off by simply clicking on the icon you previously selected.

MTEXT Enhanced
The Mtext Editor background is transparent (you can see all the objects behind it) if your AutoCAD LT 2015 is using hardware acceleration.

Column Resizing is more intuitive: resize columns height and width by passing the cursor over the bottom or right edges of the text editor then click and resize.

If you turn on Allow Auto Bullets and Numbering in the Mtext Editor Ribbon tab, then when you begin a line with a symbol or with a number or a letter followed by one of these characters and a space or tab, AutoCAD LT 2015 automatically creates a bullet or numbered list: ".", ",", ")", ">", "}" or "]". Pressing backspace immediately after pressing the space or tab key removed automatic bullets and numbering.

The Mtext Editor recognizes the Caps Lock key (assuming you don't type in all caps and have auto-caps turned on in Mtext): AutoCAD LT 2015 automatically turns off the Caps Lock and fixes the first letter that you typed if you pressed the Shift Key then released it. For example: instead of fAVROTES it is corrected to read Favorites.

Autostack in Mtext is easier: enter numbers with a forward slash, like 1/20, and AutoCAD LT 2015 automatically treats it as a fraction and changes it. An icon appears next to it: tap that icon and access all the relevant controls for that stacked fraction (including the option to un-stack it).

tooltips have been added to the tab tool and markers in the Mtext editor to make it easier to create and edit paragraph tabs. A new Modify button in the Paragraph dialog box offers easier editing of existing tabs.

The Mtext Editor now have a Match Properties tool: in fact, it's available for use in Dimsneions and Tables too.

Need to add Subscript or Superscript in your Mtext? Now there are buttons on the Ribbon to create them.

TEXTALIGN command
This new command is used to quickly align single and multi-text and attributes to other text objects or to user-selected points.

Dimensions
These get a small but important fix: in Options command's Drafting Tab, under Object Snap Options, you can set AutoCAD LT 2015 to ignore existing dimension extension lines from being inadvertently snapped to while attempting to pick nearby objects.

Polylines
AutoCAD LT 2015 can now fillet polyline arc segments. You can also press the CTRL key while creating a polyline arc to draw it in the opposite direction.

Geographic Location
If this is an important tool for your work, you cans till use the tool to enter latitude and longitude for the location if you are not logged into Autodesk 360. A new Use Maps button is added at the center of the display in case you need to change.

Design Feed
This new palette provides a way of adding message and images to a drawing, which you can then share with colleagues, project team members, clients and consultants online through Autodesk 360. The Design Feed posts are available in your drawing whether you access them on the desktop, on the web, or a mobile device.
As an alternative to storing drawing files in your Autodesk 360 account, AutoCAD LT 2015 enables you to store your files locally on your PC or company server for use with the Design Feed. You control access to your drawing files with your Server's Permissions settings.

CUI and Customization
You can now use Portable Network Graphics (PNG) files for Ribbon and Toolbar Button images in addition to the old BMP file format.

LT Network Licensing
It was there and now it was gone: Look what we found on the download page of our AutoCAD LT Subscription log-in last week (now pulled and no longer available as an option):

Note: Desktop Subscription seats are tied to the user, not a geographic location. Buy in the U.S. and use it anywhere in the world.  And if you are on subscription you can pick up extra licenses for only US$360/Year each.

OVERKILL command now works in Block Editor.

PURGE command now removes orphaned data such as DGN linestyles.

Application Manager
Get the latest updates for all your Autodesk products with this newly added Windows Desktop Tool that is installed with AutoCAD LT 2015 (unless you spot it and stop it from doing so). No more hunting through Autodesk's website to find them. Note: after about a day this tool's first action is to install it's own update. Remember to change it's behavior to suit your preferences.

Watch this video HERE (if it's still up) for a quick look at the new AutoCAD/LT 2015.

AutoCAD LT 2015 is supported in Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 only, in 32-bit (for very casual users on slow/old hardware) and in 64-bit (recommended for everyone else).

We have more information about this new version of AutoCAD LT in a future blog entry: New Commands and Variable, Renamed or Modified Commands and Variables, as well as Discontinued Commands and Variables. ◦

AutoCAD LT 2015: we Lasso the new features

LT2014's Command Line: it's here to stay.

The New Command Line interface, docked or floating, has been enhanced in AutoCAD/LT 2014 to provide easier, more efficient access to commands, system variables and to find other content such as blocks, hatch patterns, visual styles, and Internet help if needed.

• AutoCorrect. If you mistype a command, instead responding with “Unknown command”, AutoCAD/LT autocorrects to the most relevant and valid AutoCAD command. For example, if you accidently type TABEL, the TABLE command is automatically launched.
• AutoComplete command entry is enhanced to support mid‐string search. For example, if
  you type SETTING on the Command line, the suggestion list displays commands containing the word SETTING anywhere within it, not just at the beginning.
• Adaptive Suggestion: As you continue to use AutoCAD/LT, the order of commands in the suggestion list will adapt to your own usage habits. The command usage data is stored in the profile and adapts to each user.
• The Command line now has a built in synonym list. Enter a word at the command line and it will return a command if a match is found in the synonym list. For example, if you enter Symbol, AutoCAD finds the INSERT command so you can insert a block. Or if you enter Round, AutoCAD finds the FILLET command so you can add a fillet to a corner. And YES, you can add your own words to the AutoCorrect and Synonym lists using the Edit Aliases tool from the Manage ribbon tab.
• You can quickly search for more information on a command or system variable in the suggestion list in an Internet Search. Move the cursor over the command or system variable in the list and choose the Help or Internet icons to search for relevant information.
• You can use the command line to access layers, blocks, hatch patterns/gradients, text styles, dimension styles and visual styles. For example, if you enter Door at the command line and the current drawing has a block definition with the name Door, you can quickly insert it right from the suggestion list.
• To make the suggestion list easier to navigate, system variables and other content are organized into expandable categories. You can expand a category to see the results or press the Tab key to cycle through each category.
• You can customize the behavior of the command line using controls in the Input Settings menu when you right‐click on the command line. In addition to the previous options to enable AutoComplete and search for system variables, you can enable AutoCorrect, search content and mid‐string search. All of these options are turned on by default. Yes, that does mean you need to use that right-click mouse button for more than .
• Much of the new command line functionality including AutoCorrect, mid-string search, and adaptive suggestions is also available using dynamic input.

◦

LT2014's Command Line: it's here to stay.

AutoCAD/LT 2014 is here!

Today Autodesk will officially share all the hidden secrets and more for their entire 2014 products, including our favorite LT2014, so visit Autodesk's LT Webpage for all the glossy presentations.
 
From us here, you'll get a honest no-frills list of what's new, what's changed, and what got dropped, with more indepth reviews in future blog posts that will expand on each category:

• Supported Operating Systems for AutoCAD/LT 2014:  Microsoft® Windows XP Professional SP3, Microsoft® Windows XP Home SP3 (32-bit only) , and 32bit-64bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise, 7 Ultimate, 7 Professional,  7 Home Premium, Microsoft Windows 8, 8 Pro and 8 Enterprise.
• If you are using a Windows 8 touch-enabled screen, you can benefit from smoother pan and zoom performance. A new control on the System tab of the Options dialog box displays a touch mode ribbon panel when a touch screen device is detected. The Touch ribbon panel enables you cancel the current command and returns you to the Select/Command prompt.
• Hardware Requirements: sadly, they still publish low end "minimum requirements" that really don't allow this software to shine. So instead of repeating them here, we will just move on.

Now for the good stuff, WHAT'S NEW! Here are the highlights with much more to come in future posts:

• Cloud sharing is here to stay: renamed Autodesk 360 also has some new usage and legal language that acknowledges your privacy, privacy of your files, and your complete ownership of your files. Log on and read the fine print even in LT2013 if you did not get the email that was released last week.
  Autodesk 360 includes a new Open Folder tool for easy access to the Autodesk 360 folder on your local machine and the new Design Feed enables you to enter posts and Images for a drawing tgat can be shared online.
• The commandline is here to stay with some really great new abilities: look for a separate post on many of these new and exciting features.
• Files tabs: built into AutoCAD/LT 2014 release, they offers drawing tabs as a fast and visual way to switch between open drawings or to create new ones. You can turn the file tabs bar on or off using the File Tabs control on the View ribbon tab. When File Tabs are turned on, a tab for each open drawing is displayed at the top of the drawing area.File tabs are displayed in the order they were opened. You can drag and drop tabs to change their order. A lock icon on a tab indicates that the file is open as read‐only and an asterisk indicates if the file has been modified since its last save. When you pass the cursor over a file tab, preview images of the model and layouts are displayed.
  Best feature: The right‐click menu for file tabs enables you to create, open, save and close files including the ability to close all open files except the one on which you right‐clicked. You can also copy the full file path to the clipboard or open the file location in Windows Explorer. A Plus (+) icon to the right of the drawing tabs, enables you to easily create new drawings, automatically adding their tabs as they are created.
• Layer Manager: The number of layers displayed on the ribbon has been increased. Layers are now displayed using natural ordered sort. For example, the following layer names 1, 4, 25, 6, 21, 2, 10 are sorted as 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 21, 25 instead of 1, 10, 2, 25, 21, 4, 6.
  A new Merge option in the Layer Manager enables you to select one or more layers from the layer list and merge the objects from those layers onto a different layer. The original layers are automatically purged from the drawing.
• Xref Enhancements: The display of linetypes and layers from externally referenced drawings is enhanced in AutoCAD/LT 2014. Xref linetypes are not displayed in the linetype list of the ribbon or Properties palette. Xref layers are still displayed in the ribbon so you can control their visibility but they are not displayed in the Properties palette.
  You can easily change the attachment type for an xref between Attach and Overlay by double‐clicking in the Type column. A new option in the right‐click menu enables you to change the xref type for multiple selected xrefs at the same time.
  The External References palette includes new tools to easily change the path of selected xrefs between Absolute and Relative. You can also remove the path completely. The –XREF command includes a new PATHTYPE option enabling you to automate these path changes through scripting.
• Geographic Location, similar to abilities found in AutoCAD MAP have been added: this feature and it's uses will be explored in a future blog.
• Arcs: Easily draw an arc in either direction using by pressing the Ctrl key to switch directions as you draw.
• Polylines: the ability to fillet a polyline to itself, creating a closed polyline, has been added.
• Sheet Sets:  When creating a new sheet in a sheet set the CreateDate field stored in the associated template (.dwt) displays the creation date of the new sheet rather than the creation date of the template file.
• Plot Styles: the CONVERTPSTYLES command is enhanced to support style names with spaces.
• Single line text is enhanced to maintain the last justification setting until it’s changed.
• The new DIMCONTINUEMODE system variable provides you with more control when creating continued and baseline dimensions. When DIMCONTINUE is set to 0, the DIMCONTINUE and DIMBASELINE commands create dimensions based on the current dimension style. When set to 1, they apply the dimension style of the selected dimension.
• The Hatch tool on the ribbon maintains the previous method for selecting objects to hatch: Pick internal point or Select objects. The Undo option is added to the command line.
• Design Feed: accessible from the Autodesk 360 ribbon tab, displays a palette in which you can enter text messages and attach images to be shared online with colleagues, clients, and consultants through Autodesk 360. Posts appear with related drawings on the desktop, on the web, and across mobile devices.You can associate your message with a location or area within the drawing. In the example below, the first post was associated with an area and indicated with a design feed bubble. The settings button on the Design Feed palette lets you control the display of the bubbles.You can tag colleagues, clients, and consultants to notify them of your post; notifications will be sent to them by email and will also appear within AutoCAD. After you finish creating a post, it is saved to your Autodesk 360 account with the drawing, along with any images that you attached. Using Autodesk 360, the people that you have authorized can view the drawing and its associated posts, and the people that you have tagged can post replies. When the questions in a post and its replies are no longer active, you can resolve the thread to hide it in the Design Feed palette.
• AutoCAD/LT 2014 offers improved access to online Help, particularly when using proxy servers.
• HELP in LT2014 has an improved Search feature that seems to work well, see screenshot below. Sadly the results are still disconnected, links are not intuitive, referenced additional commands are not easy to seek and more. The huge mess that was LT2013 seems to have been carried over to LT2014.

Stay tuned for more information about LT2014 today and in the near future right here.

 

 

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AutoCAD/LT 2014 is here!

Random Links of interest: got time?

• Angela Simoes‏ AutoCAD WS, Pixlr Editor and Pixlr Express, now work with Google Drive to bring you file sharing freedom http://autode.sk/JvDmJj
• Autodesk Labs Scott‏ YouTube: John Cleese on Creativity http://dlvr.it/1SWdkb
• Without A Net: Windows 8 Support for AutoCAD http://bit.ly/HBcatc
• How many tech company execs really get into their own products? Check this out #awesome “@carlbass - http://autode.sk/FPvHmz”
• AutoCAD LT‏ Dynamic Help in AutoCAD LT for Mac http://bit.ly/AnNCiP
• Windows 8 is the new Vista -- and that's a good thing? http://ow.ly/1FQwxF
• 10 Simple Rules for [Auto]CAD « Cheltenham Computer Solutions http://ow.ly/1FPflo
• AutoCAD WS‏ I've just written about 5 ways that #AutoCADWS helps improve productivity: http://aucad.ws/wNUqf5 Do you have any that I missed?

 

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Random Links of interest: got time?