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AutoCAD 2005

Introduction

01-Introduction to AutoCAD 2005
02-Review the AutoCAD 2005 GUI
03-Architectural Visualization
04-Architectural Firms

CAD Drawings

05-The Working Drawing and Scale Factor
06-Externally Referenced Files
07-Plotting a Monochrome Drawing
08-Plotting a Color Drawing
09-Creating Presentation Drawings
10-Plotting an EPS File
11-Introducing Illustrator
12-Introducing Photoshop

Blocks and Wblocks

13-Defining Blocks and Wblocks
14-Cut and Paste Options
15-Introduction to DesignCenter
16-Introduction to Tool Palettes

External References

External Reference Defined
Insert an XREF
XCLIP Command pt. 1
XCLIP Command pt. 2
XREF Manager
When to Use External References

Electrical Plan and Architectural Plan

Use an Existing Architectural Sheet
Electrical Plan pt. 1
Electrical Plan pt. 2
Architectural Plan

Creating the Elevation

XREF the Plan and XLINE Command
Layers and Draw Order
Hatching Elevations with Snapbase
An Architectural Sheet as a Template
Viewports and Text
Leader Lines and Elevation Markers

Working Drawings

Architectural Set of Working Drawings
Reinforce How this Project Uses Xrefs
Using an Attribute Block
Creating an Attribute Block
Selecting Objects pt. 1
Selecting Objects pt. 2
Cycle and Quick Select

Printing

Create a Monochrome Plot Style Table
Create a Color Plot Style Table
Combining Color and Monochrome Files
Color Gradient Hatching
How to Create an EPS File

Customizing

Customizing the GUI
Creating a Custom Toolbar
Using a Pre-Defined Icon
Creating a Custom Icon
Keyboard Shortcut and Command Alias

Introduction to 3D

3D Architectural Entities
Controlling the View and the UCS
Viewpoint Presets and 3D Orbit Command
Creating a 3D Glass as a Surface
Creating a 3D Glass as a Solid
Rotating 3D Objects

Introduction to 3D Solids

3D Sofa - Building the Solids
3D Sofa - Editing the Solids
3D Sofa - Advanced 2D and 3D Commands
Completing the 3D Sofa

The 3D Exterior House Model

Creating the Walls pt. 1
Creating the Walls pt. 2
XREF the Elevations Using 3Point UCS
Slicing 3D Solids
Moving and Extruding Faces
Completing the Window Opening
Window Frames Using Subtract
Door and Window Openings Using Subtract
Door Frames Using Union
Saving a Named View and a UCS
Completing 3D Walls with 2D Elevations
Review Extrude and Subtract Command
Using Point Filters
3D Roof pt. 1
3D Roof pt. 2
3D Roof - Interference Command pt. 1
3D Roof - Interference Command pt. 2
Extrude via Path

3D Interior House Model

Interference Command with 3D Walls
Custom Toolbars for 3D Modeling
3D Walls and the Separate Command
Techniques for Modeling Two Floors
3D Door Frames
Polylines That Will Not Extrude
Pros and Cons of Clipping Planes
Creating 3D Cabinets pt. 1
Creating 3D Cabinets pt. 2
Completing the 3D Cabinets

Creating the Perspective Views

The Dview Command and Saving Views
Zoom/Distance/3D Orbit
Presentation Borders to Compose Layouts
Composing a Raster File

Miscellaneous Commands and Options

3D Ruled Surface - Sloped Surfaces
3D Ruled Surface - Curtains
Viewports in Model Space
Interior Perspective
Model Space Viewports and Layers

Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

Composing the Floor Plan
Adding Color to the Wall
Adding Color to the Floor
Summarizing the Techniques
Completing the Presentation

Conclusion

Final Words

Credits

About this Author

Introduction to Tool Palettes

CAD Tutorials: AutoCAD 2005 for Architects - Main Page

Tool palettes are tabbed areas within the Tool Palettes window that provide an efficient method for organizing, sharing, and placing blocks and hatches. Tool palettes can also contain custom tools provided by third-party developers.

Insert Blocks and Hatches Using Tool Palettes

Tool palettes are tabbed areas within the Tool Palettes window. You can place blocks and hatches that you use often on a tool palette. When you need to add a block or a hatch to a drawing, drag it from the tool palette onto your drawing.

Blocks and hatches that reside on a tool palette are called tools, and several tool properties including scale, rotation, and layer can be set for each tool individually.

Blocks that are placed with this method often must be rotated or scaled after they are placed. You can use object snaps when dragging blocks from a tool palette, however grid snap is suppressed during dragging.

Scale Blocks Automatically
When a block is dragged from a tool palette into a drawing, it is scaled automatically according to the ratio of units defined in the block and defined in the current drawing. For example, if the current drawing uses meters as its units and a block is defined using centimeters as its units, the ratio of the units is 1 m/100 cm. When the block is dragged into the drawing, it is inserted at 1/100 scale.


Change Tool Palette Settings

The options and settings for tool palettes are accessible from shortcut menus in different areas on the Tool Palettes window. These settings include

  • Auto-hide. The Tool Palettes window can automatically roll open or roll away when your cursor moves over the title bar on the Tool Palettes window.
  • Transparency. The Tool Palettes window can be made transparent so it does not obscure objects under it. (Transparency is not available to MicrosoftWindows NT users.)
  • Views. The display style and size of the icons in a tool palette can be changed.
  • You can dock the Tool Palettes window on the right or left edge of the application window. Press the CTRL key to prevent docking as you move the Tool Palettes window.

    Tool palette settings are saved with your AutoCAD profile.

    Control Tool Properties

    You can change the insertion properties or pattern properties of any tool on a tool palette. For example, you can change the insertion scale of a block or the angle of a hatch pattern.

    To change these tool properties, right-click a tool and click Properties on the shortcut menu. Then you change the tool's properties in the Tool Properties dialog box. The Tool Properties dialog box has two categories of properties— the Insert or Pattern properties category, and the General properties category.

  • Insert or Pattern properties. Control object-specific properties such as scale, rotation, and angle.
  • General properties. Override the current drawing property settings such as layer, color, and linetype.
  • Update the Icon for a Tool
    Icons in tool palettes are not automatically updated if the block or hatch changes. If you change a block or hatch definition you can update its icon in a tool palette. In the Tool Properties dialog box, change the entry in the Source File field for blocks or the Pattern name field for hatches, and then change the entry back again. This forces an update of the icon for that tool.

    Alternatively, you can delete the tool and then replace it using DesignCenter.

    Specify Overrides for Tool Properties
    In some cases, you may want to assign specific property overrides to a tool. For example, you may want a hatch to be placed automatically on a pre-specified layer, regardless of the current layer setting. This feature can save you time and reduce errors by setting properties automatically when creating certain objects.

    The Tool Properties dialog box provides fields for each potential property override.

    Layer property overrides affect color, linetype, lineweight, plot style, and plot. Layer property overrides are resolved as follows:

  • If a layer is missing from the drawing, that layer is created automatically.
  • If a layer to which you are dragging a block or hatch is currently turned off or frozen, the layer is temporarily turned on or thawed.
  • Customize Tool Palettes

    You can create new tool palettes using the Properties button on the title bar of the Tool Palettes window. Add tools to a tool palette with the following methods:

  • Drag drawings, blocks, and hatches from DesignCenter to the tool palette. Drawings that are added to a tool palette are inserted as blocks when dragged into the drawing.
  • Use Cut, Copy, and Paste to move or copy tools from one tool palette to another.
  • Create a pre-populated tool palette tab by right-clicking a folder, a drawing file, or a block in the DesignCenter tree view, and then clicking Create Tool Palette on the shortcut menu.
  • Note: For block tools on tool palettes, the source drawing files must always be accessible. If a source drawing file is moved to a different folder, you must modify the block tool that references it by right-clicking the block tool and, in the Tool Properties dialog box, specifying the new source file folder.

    Once tools are placed in a tool palette, you can rearrange them by dragging them within the tool palette.

    A tool palette tab can be moved up and down the list of tabs from the tool palette shortcut menu, or from the Tool Palettes tab of the Customize dialog box. Similarly, you can delete tool palettes that you no longer need. Tool palettes that are deleted are lost unless they are first saved by exporting them to a file. You can control the path to your tool palettes on the Files tab in the Options dialog box. This path can be to a shared network location.

    Note: If a tool palette file is set with a read-only attribute, a lock icon displays in a lower corner of the tool palette. This indicates that the tool palette cannot be modified beyond changing its display settings and rearranging the icons.

    Save and Share Tool Palettes

    You can save and share a tool palette by exporting it or importing it as a tool palette file. You import and export a tool palette from the Tool palettes tab on the Customize dialog box. Tool palette files have an .xtp file extension.

    The default path for tool palette files is set on the Files tab of the Options dialog box under Tool Palettes File Locations.

    Note:  If a tool palette file is set with a read-only attribute, a lock icon displays in a lower corner of the tool palette. This indicates that the tool palette cannot be modified beyond changing its display settings and rearranging the icons.

     
     
     
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    Introduction to Tool Palettes