To change the shape of a floating toolbar

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1 Modifying toolbars You can change the size of toolbar buttons and reposition, add, or delete toolbar buttons. You can also change the toolbar name and turn tooltips on and off. An important item to note- if you modify an existing toolbar, you will lose the original configuration of that toolbar. For example, say you removed and added to the draw toolbar, that toolbar is forever changed. We suggest that if you want to customize your toolbars, create custom ones from scratch with what you want on them. This is particularly important if you share a computer with another user. To display or close toolbars Right-click the background or title bar of any displayed toolbar, such as the Standard or Draw toolbar. From the shortcut menu, select the toolbar you want to display or close. From the command line TOOLBAR displays the Toolbars dialog box, in which you can turn toolbars on and off and customize toolbars. You can display multiple toolbars at once, and you can dock or float toolbars. Docked toolbars lock into place along the top, bottom, or sides of the AutoCAD window. Floating toolbars move freely; move them using your pointing device. Floating toolbars can overlap other floating and docked toolbars. You can also hide toolbars until you need them. To dock or undock a toolbar To dock a toolbar, place your pointer on the background or title bar of the toolbar, then use your pointing device to drag the toolbar to a dock location at the top, bottom, or either side of the drawing window. When the outline of the toolbar appears in the docking area you want, release the pointing device button. To undock a toolbar, drag it outside the docking region. To place a toolbar in a docking region without docking it, hold down CTRL as you drag. To change the shape of a floating toolbar Drag the bottom border of a floating toolbar to create a vertical toolbar. or Drag the side border of a floating toolbar to create a horizontal toolbar. or Drag the border of a floating toolbar to reshape it. NOTE You cannot change the shape of docked toolbars. To create a toolbar In the Toolbars dialog box, choose New. In the New Toolbar dialog box, specify a name for the toolbar. Under Menu Group, specify the menu group to associate with the toolbar. The Toolbars dialog box lists all available toolbars. The menu group determines the file to which your toolbar configuration is saved. In the Toolbars dialog box, choose Close. The new, empty toolbar is displayed. You can now add tools to the toolbar. You can also create new toolbars by dragging a toolbar button from the Customize Toolbars dialog box to the AutoCAD window. A new toolbar is displayed with the button 06/17/02 Page 1 of 9

2 To modify a toolbar If the toolbar you want to modify is not displayed, select it in the Toolbars dialog box. Choose Customize. While the Customize Toolbars dialog box is displayed, you can modify any displayed toolbar as follows: Drag toolbar buttons right or left to reposition them. Create spaces by dragging a button to the right or left edge of the button beside it, but not past the middle. Remove toolbar buttons by dragging them off the toolbar. Add buttons to toolbars by dragging them from the Customize Toolbars dialog box to the toolbar. Change the Categories selection to display the buttons you want to add. Drag buttons from one toolbar to another, or press CTRL while you drag to copy the toolbar button to another toolbar. Choose Close to exit the dialog boxes. To rename a toolbar In the Toolbars dialog box, select the toolbar name, and then choose Properties. In the Toolbar Properties dialog box, enter a new name. To change the text displayed on the status line, enter new text at Help, and then choose Apply. In the Toolbars dialog box, choose Close. To display tooltips In the Toolbars dialog box, select Show ToolTips and choose Close. To change the size of buttons In the Toolbars dialog box, select Large Buttons and choose Close. To delete a toolbar In the Toolbars dialog box, select the toolbar and then choose Delete. WARNING! You cannot undo this action. AutoCAD prompts you to confirm. Understanding and using layers Layers are like transparent overlays on which you organize and group different kinds of drawing information. The objects you create have common properties including colors, linetypes, and lineweights. An object can assume these properties from the layer it is drawn on, or properties can be specifically assigned to individual objects. Color helps you distinguish similar elements in your drawings, while linetypes help you differentiate easily between different drafting elements, such as centerlines or hidden lines. Lineweights represent the size or type of an object through width, enhancing your drawing and increasing legibility. Organizing layers and the objects on layers makes it easier to manage the information in your drawings. You always draw on a layer. It may be the default layer or a layer you create. Each layer has an associated color, linetype, lineweight, and plot style. You can use layers to organize drawings into groups of objects as well as to identify different objects with varying colors, linetypes, and lineweights. For example, you can create a layer for centerlines. You assign the properties you want for centerlines (color, linetype, lineweight) to the layer. When you want to draw a centerline, you switch to the centerline 06/17/02 Page 2 of 9

3 layer and begin drawing. You do not need to specify a linetype, lineweight, and color every time you draw a centerline. You can also assign a plot style to a layer. Plot styles control how your drawings are plotted. For example, you can plot a drawing with all the centerlines at a 50 percent value (or "screened") by assigning a plot style to that layer. Using layers is a major advantage of creating drawings with AutoCAD instead of with paper and pencil. Creating and Naming Layers You can create and name a layer for each conceptual grouping (such as walls or dimensions) and assign common properties to those layers. By grouping objects into layers, you can control their display and make changes quickly and efficiently. To create a new layer In the Layer Properties Manager, choose New. A new layer is displayed in the list with the temporary name LAYER1. Enter a new name. To create more than one layer, choose New again, enter the new layer name, and press ENTER. You are always drawing on the current layer. When you make a layer current, you can create new objects on that layer. If you make a different layer current, any new objects you create are created on that new current layer and use its color, linetype, lineweight, and plot style (as long as all the object properties maintain the default setting of BYLAYER). You cannot make a layer current if it is frozen or is an xrefdependent layer. To make a layer current In the Layer Properties Manager, select a layer and choose Current. You can also make a layer current by double-clicking its name in the Layer Properties Manager. Turning layers on and off Turned-off layers are regenerated with the drawing but are not displayed or plotted. By turning layers off instead of freezing them, you avoid regenerating the drawing every time you thaw a layer. When you turn a layer on that has been turned off, AutoCAD redraws the objects on that layer. To turn a layer on or off In the Layer Properties Manager, select the layers you want to turn on or off. From the shortcut menu, you can use Select All to select all layers simultaneously or Select All But Current to select all layers except the current drawing layer. Invert Selection selects all layers not currently selected and Clear All clears all selections. (Right-click to display the shortcut menu.) Click the On/Off icon on or off. Freezing and Thawing layers You can freeze layers to speed up ZOOM, PAN, and VPOINT, improve object selection performance, and reduce regeneration time for complex drawings. AutoCAD does not display, plot, or regenerate objects on frozen layers. Freeze layers that you want to be invisible for long periods. When you "thaw" a frozen layer, AutoCAD regenerates the drawing and displays the objects on that layer. 06/17/02 Page 3 of 9

4 To freeze or thaw a layer In the Layer Properties Manager, select the layers you want to freeze or thaw. Click the Freeze in All Viewports icon to turn it on or off (on to freeze a layer and off to thaw a layer). Locking and Unlocking layers Locking layers is useful when you want to edit objects associated with particular layers but also want to view but not edit objects on other layers. You cannot edit or select the objects on a locked layer; however, the objects are still visible if the layer is on and thawed. You can make a locked layer current, and you can draw new objects on the locked layer. To lock or unlock layers for editing In the Layer Properties Manager, select the layers to lock or unlock. Click the Lock/Unlock icon on or off. Assigning a Linetype to a Layer When you're defining layers, linetypes provide another way to convey visual information. A linetype can be a straight line or a repeating pattern of dashes, dots, and blank spaces that you can use to distinguish the purpose of one line from another. The linetype name and definition describe the particular dash-dot sequence, the relative lengths of dashes and blank spaces, and the characteristics of any included text or shapes. To assign a linetype to a layer In the Layer Properties Manager, select a layer and then click the linetype associated with that layer. In the Select Linetype dialog box, do one of the following: Select a linetype from the list Choose Load to load a linetype from a file (see "To load a linetype"). Choose OK to exit each dialog box. Assigning a Lineweight to a Layer Lineweights add width to your objects. All objects can be displayed and plotted with lineweights except True Type fonts, raster images, points, and solid fills (or 2D solids). By assigning lineweights to layers and objects, you can represent the width of objects on screen as well as on paper. You can improve the visual quality of your presentation drawings by assigning varying lineweights to objects and layers. AutoCAD provides a number of available lineweights, including DEFAULT, which is the default. The default value of DEFAULT is.01 inch or.25 mm. To assign a lineweight to a layer In the Layer Properties Manager, select a layer and then click the lineweight associated with that layer. In the Lineweight dialog box, select a lineweight from the list. Choose OK to exit each dialog box. Deleting Layers You can delete a layer at any time during a drawing session. You cannot delete the current layer, layer 0, an xref-dependent layer, or a layer that contains objects. NOTE Layers referenced by block definitions, along with the special layer named DEFPOINTS, cannot be deleted even if they do not contain visible objects. 06/17/02 Page 4 of 9

5 To delete a layer In the Layer Properties Manager, select one or more layers, and then choose Delete. The PURGE command also deletes layers that are not used in a drawing and it removes unused named objects, such as blocks from the drawing database PURGE removes only one level of reference. Repeat PURGE until there are no unreferenced objects. You can use PURGE at any time during a drawing session. Design Center Reusing and sharing content is fundamental to efficient management of a drawing project. If you have multiple drawings open, you can streamline your drawing process by copying and pasting content, such as layer definitions, between drawings. AutoCAD DesignCenter also provides powerful tools for viewing and reusing content. You can navigate your local system and any network drives and even download content from the Internet. With Autodesk Favorites (the default folder for AutoCAD DesignCenter), you can cut down on the time you spend getting to the drawings, folders, and Internet locations you use most often. Autodesk Favorites provides a "shortcut" to drawing content in various locations. For example, you might want to create a shortcut to a network folder that you access frequently. With AutoCAD DesignCenter, you can Browse different sources of drawing content: from the drawings you currently have open in AutoCAD to symbol libraries on a Web page. View object definitions such as block and layer, of any drawing file and insert, attach, or copy and paste the definitions into the current drawing. Create shortcuts to drawings, folders, and Internet locations that you access frequently. Find drawing content on your computer and networked drives. For example, you might search for a drawing based on the name of a particular layer or the date the drawing was last saved. Once you have found the drawing, you can load it into AutoCAD DesignCenter, or drag it directly into the current drawing. Open drawings by dragging a drawing (DWG) file from the palette into the drawing area. View and attach raster image files by dragging the image file from the palette into the drawing area. Control the display of palette contents by switching between large and small icons, lists, and details. You can also display preview images and any descriptions associated with the drawing content in the palette. AutoCAD DesignCenter accesses the following kinds of content: Drawings as block references or xrefs Block references within drawings Other drawing content, such as layer definitions, linetypes, layouts, text styles, and dimension styles Raster images Custom content created by third-party applications You can use the content pane of the AutoCAD DesignCenter window, or the palette, to view the items of content located in the source that you are browsing. The navigation pane, or tree view, provides a hierarchical listing of the content source. To display AutoCAD DesignCenter From the View menu, choose AutoCAD DesignCenter. 06/17/02 Page 5 of 9

6 The first time you open AutoCAD DesignCenter, it is displayed in the default position, docked at the left of the drawing area. The palette displays large icons; the tree view on the left displays the Desktop tree. Use the tree view to browse sources of content and load content into the palette. Resize AutoCAD DesignCenter by clicking a border, the bar between the palette and the tree view, or the size grip in the lower-right corner, and dragging the window to the required size. The minimum size of the palette is the width required to display two columns of large icons. The following graphics will show you the items listed for each pick on the tree above: 06/17/02 Page 6 of 9

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8 In addition to browsing the Desktop tree view to locate content, you can search for drawings, other content such as block and layer definitions, and any custom content by using Find in AutoCAD DesignCenter. The Find dialog box provides various criteria to narrow your search, including the date last modified, and can search for text in block definition descriptions and any of the fields specified in the Drawing Properties dialog box. For example, if you don't know the name of a drawing file, you might search for the keyword text that you entered in Summary. You might search for drawings and blocks if you cannot remember whether you saved a block within a drawing file or as a drawing file itself. To find content on your computer or a network drive In AutoCAD DesignCenter, choose the Find button. In the Find dialog box, in the Look For list, select the type of content you want to find. The tabbed search fields change to reflect your selection. To specify the location to start the search, choose Browse or enter a search path. If you want the search to include all levels of the specified location, select Search Subfolders. If you select Drawings in Look For, the Find dialog box contains the following three tabs with different search criteria that you can use to define your search. Drawings: Specifies the name or text that you want to search on, and the particular field if applicable. The name of the tab reflects the content type you specified in the Look For drop-down list. For example, if you selected Drawings, the tab name is Drawings and the search fields help you locate drawing files by selecting search parameters such as file name or author's name. Date Modified: Specifies the date on which the file or content was created or last modified, or a date range, or a period of days or months prior to the current date. By default, AutoCAD leaves the date unspecified. Advanced: Specifies additional search parameters. For example, enter text to search for drawing files containing the specified text, either in the drawing files as block definition names or attributes, or as part of block or drawing descriptions. The Advanced tab also provides a place for you to specify a minimum or maximum file size. For example, if you select At Least and enter 100 in KB, AutoCAD searches for all specified drawing files that are 100 kilobytes or larger. 06/17/02 Page 8 of 9

9 Whenever you enter text to define a search, you can enter all of the name or words you are searching for. You can also use the standard wild-card characters, such as * and?, to refine your search. If you search for content other than drawings in Look For, the Find dialog box displays one of the following tabs: Blocks: Searches for the name of the block. DIM Styles: Searches for the name of the dimension style. Drawings and Blocks: Searches for the names of the drawing and block. Layers: Searches for the name of the layer. Layouts: Searches for the name of the layout. Linetypes: Searches for the name of the linetype. Text Style: Searches for the name of the text style. Xrefs: Searches for the name of the external reference. Choose Find Now to start the search. The Find dialog box expands to display the results. If the item you want is located before the search is complete, you can save time by choosing Stop to end the search. To initiate a new search with new criteria, choose New Search to clear your current search. To reuse search criteria, click the arrow button next to the search box to display the list of the search names. Select from your previously defined searches. When you have located the item and it is displayed in the search results list, you can add it to an open drawing or load it into the palette. You can load an item displayed in the search results list directly into the palette. To load the palette from the Find dialog box (You can use either of the following methods): Drag the item from the search results list into the palette. Right-click the item in the search results list and choose Load into Palette. 06/17/02 Page 9 of 9