iPhone/iPad apps for AutoCAD Users

So you've got that iPhone/iTouch/iPad and want to do more than Facetime with the Spouse or the next round of Angry Birds bragging with friends, where do you start? Below is a list of Apps I have found to be most useful, most are free, some are not. What would you add or delete from the list?

• AutoCADWS: this free mobile app enables you to view and work with AutoCAD drawings directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.  Using the touch and gesture interface of your iPad or iPhone you can accurately view, annotate, and revise drawings on the spot.  Change the way you work in the field or on the road by reducing the need to carry around over-sized paper drawings.  With a free add-on to AutoCAD on your desktop/laptop and you can share files seemlessly. Explore more at http://www.autocadws.com/
• TURBOVIEWER: a free application and the first native DWG viewer that supports both 2D and 3D CAD DWG files for the iOS platform. Enjoy smooth multi-touch navigation as you pan, zoom, and 3D orbit effortlessly around your DWG and DXF files. View drawing files by sending an email with DWG or DXF attachment to your iPad/iPhone email client. Drawing files can also be viewed through Web downloads, FTP, Dropbox and WebDav systems. Explore more at http://www.imsidesign.com/TurboViewer
• CadFaster iPad app: Bring your Autodesk® Revit, Bentley MicroStation or SolidWorks models to life, and share from wherever you are with whomever you want – collaborators don’t need CAD software.
• Dropbox: allows you to sync your files online and across your all of your computers (dekstop, laptop, iPhone, iPad, iTouch, Netbook etc.) automatically. Grab a free account from their website and for your phone, and any file you drop into that folder is available on all of your devices. The iPhone/iPad app also lets you open DWG files with AutoCADWS on your handheld device too.
• Box.net: an alternative to Dropbox.
• CamScanner Free: this free mobile app turn your iPhone camera into a scanner. You can crop, save and edit/save to PDF (single or multiple sheets) then email or upload to Dropbox and Box.net reviewed above.
• FileViewer USB FREE: Turn your iPhone into a USB drive. This free app is a file storage, transfer, viewing, and email application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Files are transferred between your computer and FileViewer USB over a USB connection via iTunes. Similar apps include iDrive USB and iFlash-drive.
• neu.Annotate PDF: Read, markup, redline, and annotate PDF documents. PDF files can be opened from any application that supports the "Open with..." menu command. This includes Mail, Safari, MobileMe iDisk, Dropbox and many others. PDF files can also be imported using iTunes File Sharing. Annotations are compatible with Apple Preview and Adobe Acrobat!
• Colorsnap: Capture real world colors and match them to Sherwin-Williams paint colors—for free. Use ColorSnap search to find the color name and values, quickly and easily. Browse hundreds of possibilities and adjust color lightness, saturation, or hue to get the perfect paint color and palette.
• ColorCapture: similar to Colorsnap above, from Benjamin Moore Paint.
• ContraCalc: a free calculator app that does fractions.
• iHandy Level: once calibrated, this free app can be used for Picture Alignment; Angle measurement; Measure angles of slope, escalator; Measure the verticality of a wall, or furniture; Measure the inclination of an aircraft, ship, car or mountain; Roof pitch calculation and so much more.
• SketchBook MobileX: Use it to digitally capture your ideas as napkin sketches or produce artwork on-the-go. This is a professional-grade paint and drawing application designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. SketchBook Mobile Express offers a dedicated set of sketching tools and delivers them through a streamlined and intuitive user interface.
• HP iPrint Photo: With this free app you can capture and edit photos but most importantly Wirelessly print photos, PDF, and text files directly from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to HP Inkjet printers connected to a local wireless (WiFi) network.
• TeamViewer (Free): access your desktop PC and network (and files, folders and apps) from your iPhone screen. TeamViewer provides easy, fast and secure remote access to Windows, Mac and Linux systems. The Pro version is for use by business organizations.
• LogMeIn Ignition: No free version available, but it can be used with all LogMeIn accounts (free and not) to get full access to your PC/Network and files/folders and apps much like Teamview.
• Qik Video Camera Pro: Not free but this app allows you to share your live video feed over the internet with remote users logged into your webpage. It also allows you to save your videos to the remote site, as well as post to most social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.
• Free Wi-Fi Finder: a must-have app for any Apple mobile device user, it instantly finds FREE Wi-Fi Internet hotspots wherever you are in the world online or offline!
• iHandy Flashlight Free: free app that really works in a pinch when you need a flashlight but forgot it in the car or office.
• Twitter: yes, for business Twitter is the perfect Team commmunications tool. Far beyond eMail on smartphones, with the right Twitter app on the desktop and smartphone (or any phone with texting ability), you and your team have a deposit for all project related communications. Plus at a limit of 140 characters, you will only get the facts with no fluff. Tweetdeck and similar vendors have desktop as well as phone apps that allow you to sort groups (think projects or teams) and take the experience to the next level.

Look for Part 3 of our series on Commands and Variables in LT2011 to be continued soon. ◦

iPhone/iPad apps for AutoCAD Users

Tweets this week

Below is a summary of topics we covered this week on Twitter, provided for those not able to follow our tweets.  We post daily on the topic of AutoCAD/LT and features/abilities of interest to users. You can find us at http://twitter.com/LTisACAD

• Lynn Allen's 2011 Tips Booklet is free:  http://autocad.autodesk.com/ama/orig/tip_files/ACAD11_LynnAllenTips.PDF
• Temp Overrides in AutoCAD/LT are cool, try this one: while in a command like LINE, hold SHIFT down to toggle ORTHO's running status.
• LT users: wish you had the AutoCAD Google Earth plug-in too? Try this free alternate method from Autodesk instead http://j.mp/eY65JN
• They just let it slip out about Androids? Read the Link's last line “@AutoCAD_WS: Take a sneak preview of AutoCAD WS 1.2: http://tinyurl.com/6hlj89g ”
• Looking for your DWT Templates folder? In AutoCAD/LT, start OPTIONS command>FILES tab>Template Settings>Drawing Template File Location... .
• Can't log in at the restored AUGI forums? Try this tip http://j.mp/gZnF2m
• How to save and share ridiculously large files URL: http://j.mp/fYlF3M (link may not work on some mobile devices).
• You can grip edit Viewports (editing capabilities when object grips are selected) : stretching, moving, rotating, scaling, and mirroring.
• In AutoCAD/LT 2011 set VPROTATEASSOC variable to 1 and rotate your Viewport AND it's content together in one motion.
• ENTER keyboard key jump between cells. Use ALT+ENTER keyboard keys to type more than one line of text (hard return between them) in a Table cell.

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Tweets this week

LT2011 New (and older forgotten) Commands: Part 2

Below is the second of a series of blog entries on commands (click HERE for Part 1), variables and other AutoCAD/LT abilities that are either new or just not often used, presented in a list format with a brief description of each. Each command listed in hyperlinked to LT2011's online help file for you to explore and increase your abilities wtihin the program. Note: these commands also apply to any AutoCAD 2011 variant.

• LAYISO command: Hides or locks all layers except those of the selected objects.
• LAYUNISO command: Restores all layers that were hidden or locked with the LAYISO command.
• OBJECTSCALE command: Adds or deletes supported scales for annotative objects.
• SUBTRACT command: Combines selected 2D regions by subtraction.
• UNION command: Combines selected 2D regions by addition.
• INTERSECT command: Creates a 2D region from overlapping solids, surfaces, or regions.
• REGION command: Converts an object that encloses an area into a region object. REGION deletes the original objects after converting them to regions unless the system variable DELOBJ is set to 0.
• TASKBAR command: Controls whether multiple open drawings are displayed separately or grouped on the Windows taskbar.
• WHOHAS command: Displays ownership information for opened drawing files.
• SEEK command: Opens a web browser and displays the Autodesk Seek home page.
• SHAREWITHSEEK command: Uploads blocks or drawings to the Autodesk Seek website.
• EXPORT command: Saves the objects in a drawing to a different file format (images, DGN, DWF, DWFX, and PDF).
• EXPORTSETTINGS command: Adjusts the page setup and drawing selection when exporting to a DWF, DWFx, or PDF file.
• -EXPORTTOAUTOCAD command: Creates a new DWG file with all AEC objects exploded. Also invoked if you type AECTOACAD.
• -PURGE command (note the dash for commandline): Removes unused items from the drawing, but unlike the pop-up version of the command, this one can also remove REGAPPS that hide in your DWG file.
• XPLODE command: beyond Explode, Breaks a compound object into its component objects.
• MEASUREGEOM command: Measures the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected objects or sequence of points.
• COPYBASE command: Copies selected objects to the Clipboard along with a specified base point.
• PASTEBLOCK command:Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing as a block.
• FIELD command: Creates a multiline text object with a field that can be updated automatically as the field value changes.
• UPDATEFIELD command: Manually updates fields in selected objects in the drawing
• MVIEW command: Creates and controls layout viewports, includinf irregular viewports based on Plines in Layouts.
• VPCLIP command: Clips layout viewport objects and reshapes the viewport border.
• RECOVERALL command: Repairs a damaged drawing file just like RECOVER command except it does it along with all attached xrefs.
• ETRANSMIT command: Packages a set of files (and their support files, like fonts, plot style tables, and Xrefs) for Internet transmission.
• OOPS command: OOPS restores objects erased by the last ERASE, BLOCK, and WBLOCK commands.
• CAL command: geometry calculator that evaluates point (vector), real, or integer expressions. The expressions can access existing geometry using the object snap functions such as CEN, END, and INS. You can use these arithmetic and vector expressions in any command that expects points, vectors, or numbers.
• CHSPACE command: Moves objects between model space and paper space through a viewport.
• HYPERLINK command: Attaches a hyperlink to an object or modifies an existing hyperlink.
• ATTACHURL command: Attaches hyperlinks to objects or areas in a drawing.
• DETACHURL command: Removes hyperlinks in a drawing.
• VTOPTIONS command: Displays a change in view as a smooth transition (the effect/animation you see when you zoom in and out).
• REVERSE command: Reverses the vertices of selected lines, polylines, splines, and helixes, which is useful for linetypes with included text, or wide polylines with differing beginning and ending widths.
• TINSERT command: Inserts a block in a table cell.
• TABLEEXPORT command: Exports data from a table object in CSV file format.
• VIEWGO command: Restores a named view (see VIEW command in HELP).
• XOPEN command: Opens a selected drawing reference (xref) in a new window.
• XBIND command: Binds one or more definitions of named objects in an xref to the current drawing.
• QVLAYOUT command: Displays preview images of model space and layouts in a drawing.
• QVDRAWING command: Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing in preview images.
• BATTMAN command: Manages the attributes for a selected block definition.
• ATTSYNC command: Updates block references with new and changed attributes from a specified block definition.
• VIEWPLOTDETAILS command: Displays information about completed plot and publish jobs.

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LT2011 New (and older forgotten) Commands: Part 2

Tweets to date

If you have not had a chance to follow us on Twitter, below is a summary of topics we covered so far. We hope to continue to provide this weekly summary for those not able to track our tweets.

We post daily on the topic of AutoCAD/LT and features/abilities of interest to users. You can find us at http://twitter.com/LTisACAD  Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting FOLLOW LTISACAD to 40404 in the United States.

• Use SETBYLAYER command to fix block entities colors to BYLAYER. Button or menu macro follows: ^C^C_SETBYLAYERMODE;125;_SETBYLAYER;ALL;;Y;Y;
• Rotate and Scale commands both have a COPY option: your original will remain intact should you need it without exiting and restarting.
• Another method of adding office standards like layers to existing files, without using template files: http://j.mp/ecUUxw
• UNITS settings in files from different sources may be difficult to decipher, but this forum tip is one option to explore http://j.mp/hsGNe5
• Find free tutorials, demos, trial videos, end user posted content and more at the Autodesk YouTube channel http://j.mp/f39coV
• AutoCAD/LT Service Packs, Updates, Utilities, Data & Downloads links can be found here: http://j.mp/fjtHfZ
• Renaming the BAK file is the quickest way to recover a corrupt DWG file. Review the forum discussion here http://j.mp/hg3Hkg
• Are you having HP 11x17 printing issues in Windows7? This Autodesk Forum discussion offers some insights and tips/fixes http://j.mp/fxnkpP
• Need free help installing or reinstalling that older AutoCAD/LT version? Post or browse this Autodesk Forum http://j.mp/dQW4qv
• AutoCAD, Windows and Mac, uses many of the OS keyboard shortcuts available in both. Below is a complete list for both OS http://j.mp/fxB7Fy
• Windows 7 can present some interesting issues occasionally, this case in point was a display error in the Layer Palette: http://j.mp/frcCZa
• Windows 7 Slowing your AutoCAD/LT down? Try these tips: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-LT/Windows-7-and-AutoCAD-LT/m-p/2762628
• If you are an AutoCAD WS user, you can now share DWG files with anyone. And they don't need AutoCAD or AWS to open it. http://j.mp/hBS3R6

Look for Part Two of LT2011's New and Not-so-new commands shortly. ◦

Tweets to date

LT2011 New (and older forgotten) Commands: Part 1

Below is the first of a series of blog entries on commands, variables and other AutoCAD/LT abilities that are either new or just not often used, presented in a list format with a brief description of each. Hope this will prompt you start HELP in LT (or AutoCAD), explore and increase your abilities wtihin the program.

• ALIGN command: Moves, Aligns, and scales objects with other objects or points.
• LAYERP command: Undoes the last change or set of changes made to layer settings.
• LAYERPMODE command: Turns on and off the tracking of changes made to layer settings.
• LAYCUR command: Changes the layer property of selected objects to the current layer.
• LAYMCH command: Changes the layer of a selected object to match the destination layer.
• LAYDEL command: Deletes all objects on a layer and purges the layer.
• LAYMRG command: unlike LAYDEL, this Merges selected layers into a target layer, removing the previous layers from the drawing.
• LAYWALK command: Displays objects on selected layers and hides objects on all other layers.
• LAYERSTATE command: Saves, restores, and manages named layer states.
• QDIM command: Creates a series of dimensions quickly from selected objects.
• SKETCH command: Creates a series of freehand line segments.
• GRADIENT command: Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a gradient fill.
• ISOLATEOBJECTS command: Displays selected objects across layers; unselected objects are hidden.
• UNISOLATEOBJECTS command: Displays previously hidden objects.
• HIDEOBJECTS command: Hides selected objects.
• ADDSELECTED command: Creates a new object based on the object type and general properties of a selected object.
• SELECTSIMILAR command: Adds similar objects to the selection set based on selected objects.
• TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY variable: Controls whether the object transparency is displayed.
• DIMSPACE command: Adjusts the spacing between linear dimensions or angular dimensions.
• DIMBREAK command: Breaks or restores dimension and extension lines where they cross other objects.
• DIMREGEN command: Updates the locations of all associative dimensions.
• TEXTTOFRONT command: Brings text and dimensions in front of all other objects in the drawing.
• HATCHTOBACK command: Sets the draw order for all hatches in the drawing to be behind all other objects.
• HATCHGENERATEBOUNDARY command: Creates a non-associated polyline around a selected hatch.
• HATCHSETBOUNDARY command: Redefines a selected hatch or fill to conform to a different closed boundary.
• HATCHSETORIGIN command: Controls the starting location of hatch pattern generation for a selected hatch.
• SETBYLAYER command: Changes the property overrides of selected objects to ByLayer.
• COPYTOLAYER command: Copies one or more objects to another layer.
• CLASSICLAYER command: Opens the legacy Layer Properties Manager.
• CLASSICXREF command: Opens the legacy XREF Manager.
• ADJUST command: Adjusts the fade, contrast and monochrome settings of the selected image or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN).
• ATTACH command: Inserts an external reference, image, or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN files) in the current drawing. You can attach Multiple DWG files at once with this tool.
• CLIP command: Crops a selected external reference, image, viewport, or underlay (DWF, DWFx, PDF, or DGN) to a specified boundary.
• JUSTIFYTEXT command: Changes the justification point of selected text objects without changing their locations.
• SCALETEXT command: Enlarges or reduces selected text objects without changing their locations.
• QNEW command: Starts a new drawing from a selected drawing template file.
• LOCKUI command: Locks the position and size of toolbars and dockable windows such as the ribbon, DesignCenter, and the Properties palette.
• QSELECT command: Creates a selection set based on filtering criteria.
• FILTER command: Creates a list of requirements that an object must meet to be included in a selection set.

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LT2011 New (and older forgotten) Commands: Part 1