Aut toCAD D 20 012 P Previe ew Gu uide

AuttoCAD
D® 20
012 Previe
P
ew Gu
uide
Design an
nd shape the world
w
around you with the powerful, fleexible features found in AuutoCAD®
software, one of the wo
orld’s leading
g 2D and 3D design
d
applic ations. With rrobust 3D toools that can crreate
ginable, AutoC
CAD helps yo
ou intuitivelyy explore desiggn ideas. It offfers innovatiions
almost any shape imag
that can in
ncrease design
n and documeentation efficiency, and ennables you to more securely, accurately,, and
seamlessly
y share those designs with
h colleagues. Powerful
P
proggramming toools and thousaands of availaable
add-ons provide
p
the ulttimate in flex
xibility, helpin
ng you custom
mize AutoCA
AD software foor your speciffic
needs. Wiith these capaabilities and more,
m
AutoCA
AD delivers thhe power andd flexibility neeeded to take
documenttation and dessign further.
2
Table of Contents
Introducing AutoCAD 2012 ......................................................................................................................... 4 User Interaction and Modernization ............................................................................................................. 4 Performance Improvements ...................................................................................................................... 4 Autodesk Content Explorer....................................................................................................................... 4 User Interface ............................................................................................................................................ 9 AutoComplete Command Entry.............................................................................................................. 10 Multifunctional Grips.............................................................................................................................. 10 Nudge Functionality................................................................................................................................ 11 Quick Properties...................................................................................................................................... 11 Object Selection ...................................................................................................................................... 11 External Reference Enhancements.......................................................................................................... 13 Autodesk Exchange–AutoCAD .............................................................................................................. 13 Explore ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 In-Canvas Viewport Control ................................................................................................................... 14 UCS Enhancements ................................................................................................................................ 15 3D Associative Array .............................................................................................................................. 17 Creation Preview ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Chain and Loop Selection ....................................................................................................................... 19 Offset Edge ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Presspull Functionality............................................................................................................................ 20 Trimmed Surface Properties ................................................................................................................... 21 3D Autosnap Marker............................................................................................................................... 21 Solid History ........................................................................................................................................... 22 3Dconnexion Support ............................................................................................................................. 22 Autodesk Fusion ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Point Cloud Support ................................................................................................................................ 24 Document .................................................................................................................................................... 25 3D Model Import .................................................................................................................................... 25 Model Documentation ............................................................................................................................ 25 Annotation............................................................................................................................................... 31 Osnap Enhancements .............................................................................................................................. 33 Fillet, Chamfer, Blend, and Join ............................................................................................................. 34 www.autodesk.com/autocad
3
Spline Enhancements .............................................................................................................................. 35 2D Array Functionality ........................................................................................................................... 36 Copy Tool ............................................................................................................................................... 39 Layer Enhancements ............................................................................................................................... 39 Copy Nested Objects............................................................................................................................... 40 Delete Duplicate Objects ........................................................................................................................ 40 Communicate .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Raster File Support ................................................................................................................................. 41 DGN Support .......................................................................................................................................... 42 DWG Convert ......................................................................................................................................... 42 Sheet Set Manager and Vault Integration ............................................................................................... 44 Materials Library .................................................................................................................................... 45 AutoCAD WS ......................................................................................................................................... 47 Customize ................................................................................................................................................... 52 Installation............................................................................................................................................... 52 Migration and Customization.................................................................................................................. 53 Plot Files Search Path ............................................................................................................................. 55 www.autodesk.com/autocad
4
Introdu
ucing AutoCAD 20
012
New and expanded wo
orkflows for model
m
documeentation, realiity capture, annd 3D concepptual design hhelp
increase productivity
p
with
w AutoCAD
D 2012. Explore your desiign ideas withh powerful surrface modelinng
tools. Quiickly create documents from a variety of
o modeling foormats, helpinng to reduce m
manual
documenttation workarounds. Captu
ure and importt as-built infoormation to juumpstart yourr design proceess.
Plus, you’’ll find a widee range of tim
mesaving enhaancements to the features yyou use most.. AutoCAD 22012
delivers th
he powerful tools you need
d to participatte in smooth 33D design woorkflows, helpping drive your
projects to
o completion more quickly
y than ever beefore.
User In
nteraction
n and Mo
odernization
AutoCAD
D 2012 enhancces the way you
y interact with
w the softw are from conccept through completion. W
With
noticeablee improvemen
nts to perform
mance, expand
ded online ressources, and ffast, intuitive access to
command
ds and editing tools, you wiill spend less time focusingg on the softw
ware and morre time advancing
your desig
gns.
Perform
mance Imp
provemen
nts
AutoCAD
D 2012 offers improved perrformance in many areas. E
Enjoy faster sstartups, partiicularly whenn
®
®
running on Windows Vista
V
or Win
ndows 7. Insiide AutoCAD
D 2012, you’lll discover neaarly instantanneous
response as
a you switch
h between ribb
bon tabs. AuttoCAD 2012 aalso offers im
mproved perfoormance whenn
opening laarge 3D modeels with lofts and meshes and
a when orbbiting large 3D
D models. Addditional
performan
nce improvem
ments can be found
f
with seelection highliighting, licennsing checkouut, and when
running LISP
L
routines..
Autode
esk Content Explore
er
Quickly find
fi design co
ontent based on
o file objectss or text attribbutes. The Auutodesk® Conttent ExplorerTTM
functionallity creates an
n index of you
ur data based on where youu instruct it too look, helpinng you quicklly
access filees. You can explore, or bro
owse into, DW
WGTM files inn order to acceess and insertt blocks, layerrs,
linetypes, styles, and more.
m
Unlike the
t Design Ceenter tool, Coontent Exploreer is built on a Google®-likke
kly search forr design objeccts across foldders containinng thousands of files; the
index, so you can quick
pear instantan
neously. In ad
ddition, Conteent Explorer pprovides a sinngle interfacee for browsingg and
results app
searching other content sources, succh as Autodessk® Seek webb service.
E
with
h the Explore tool on the P
Plug-ins ribboon tab.
Easily acccess Content Explorer
In the Con
ntent Exploreer window, usse the Search field to find ddesign contennt on your loccal computer, one
or more network
n
locatiions, and the Autodesk
A
Seeek site. A pulll-down menuu allows you tto choose from
m the
available locations.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
5
l
specificc block refereences or text strings,
s
includding block atttribute data. Q
Quickly determ
mine
You can locate
how many
y references there
t
are in a file or find a particular refference acrosss multiple filees. Easily dragg
content frrom the Conteent Explorer window
w
into your
y
current ddrawing. Youu can also righht-click or doubleclick conttent in the Content Exploreer window to automaticallyy open the souurce file and zoom into rellevant
objects su
uch as text.
You can expand
e
and co
ollapse each panel
p
in the seearch results tto easily view
w all the resullts. Control thhe
type of co
ontent and thee format in wh
hich it is displayed using thhe Filter Settiings and View
w Options toools in
the lower right corner of
o the Conten
nt Explorer.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
6
ple, you can filter
f
content so your results show only the specific oobject types yyou are interested
For examp
in. Switch
h between thu
umbnail and detail
d
views, specify
s
the icoon size, groupp the results in various wayys,
and choosse whether or not to display
y text labels and
a column hheaders.
The Conteent Explorer searches
s
for content
c
in speecified locatioons that are inncluded in an index. Their
activity iss continually monitored
m
by
y the Content Service, whicch is installedd with AutoCA
AD, and the iindex
is automaatically updateed to reflect changes. By default,
d
the seaarch index includes the AuutoCAD Samp
mple
and Down
nloaded Conteent folders ass well as the Autodesk
A
Seekk site. You caan easily add your own loccal
and netwo
ork content to
o the index.
Local Co
ontent
Add your own local folders to the Content
C
Explo
orer index usinng the Add W
Watched Foldeer option at thhe
ndow or by dragging folderrs from Winddows Explorerr to Content
bottom off the Content Explorer win
Explorer. The folders are
a not moved
d or copied; th
hey’re simplyy added to thee search indexx.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
7
k Content
Network
In addition to searching
g content on your
y
local com
mputer, Conttent Explorer can also search one or more
network computers.
c
Ho
owever, it req
quires the Con
ntent Service to run on thee network com
mputers and bbuild
an index on
o that machiine. This prov
vides a single index that alll clients can aaccess and seaarch. Therefoore, in
order to su
upport search
hing on netwo
ork drives, sofftware needs tto be installedd separately oon the networrk
computer. This softwarre, called Auttodesk Conten
nt Service, is available from your AutoC
CAD 2012
u
Tools an
nd Utilities. Make
M
sure this program is cchecked; thenn install it on one or more
installer under
network computers.
c
Once the Content Serv
vice is installeed on the netw
work computeer, you can addd one or morre network follders
ders enables th
he content se rvice to buildd an index forr the files in thhose
to be watcched. Adding watched fold
folders. The
T key differeence between
n watched fold
ders on the loocal machine and watched folders on thee
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
8
c
is th
hat on a netwo
ork computer watched foldders need to bbe shared foldders in order ffor
network computer
AutoCAD
D users to be able
a to accesss and search th
hem. To add network sharres as watchedd folders, launnch
the Content Explorer Console,
C
whicch is located in
n the Window
ws Start menuu under All Prrograms >
onsole. Whenn you choose A
Add Watchedd Folder, you’ll
Autodesk > Content Seervice>Content Service Co
d folders are available
a
to seelect.
notice thaat only shared
After Auttodesk Conten
nt Service hass been installeed on one or m
more networkk computers, and watchedd
folders haave been conffigured, you can
c add these network locaations as conteent sources w
within Contentt
Explorer in
i AutoCAD.. In the lower right corner of
o the Contennt Explorer w
window, choosse Configure
Settings to
o display a diialog box with
h various con
ntent sources tthat you can ssearch and access. Then, inn the
lower leftt corner of thee Configure Settings
S
dialog
g box, choosee Add Networrk Content. Siimply specifyy the
computer name or IP address
a
of the network com
mputer (for exxample, \\servv1230001, 10..23.58.88).
ork content iss easily search
hable from the Content Exxplorer and, thhanks to indexxing, producees
The netwo
quick resu
ults.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
9
sk Seek Con
ntent
Autodes
In Conten
nt Explorer, yo
ou can use the Autodesk® Seek web serrvice to browsse and searchh for online
content. Find
F
files by manufacturer
m
or via producct specs, and iinsert files dirrectly into yoour drawing
without navigating to an
a external weebsite.
User In
nterface
The updatted user interfface makes it easier than ever to identify
fy and access frequently ussed tools. Thee
Home tab
b includes chaanges in the Draw
D
and Mod
dify panels.
The Insertt tab now hass Block and Block
B
Definition panels. Thhe tools relateed to insertingg and editing block
referencess are grouped
d together and
d the tools to create
c
or edit block definittions are grouuped together.
Wblock iss included in the Create Bllock flyout. The
T View tab iincludes a new
w Forward toool and a
Rectangullar viewport option
o
has beeen added to th
he Viewportss panel.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
10
AutoCo
omplete Command
C
Entry
AutoCAD
D 2012 now offers auto-com
mplete option
ns to help youu access comm
mands more eefficiently. Ass you
type in thee Command prompt
p
(or usse dynamic in
nput), AutoCA
AD automaticcally completees the entry w
with
an AutoCAD command
d or command alias. If you
u pause, it dissplays a list of all the comm
mands whosee
ou’ve typed, enabling
e
you to scroll and select from thhe list.
prefix maatches what yo
A right-cllick menu pro
ovides easy acccess to the neew AutoCom
mplete controlss, including thhe ability to
display sy
ystem variablees and specify
y the delay reesponse for diisplaying the A
AutoComplette list.
In the Com
mmand windo
ow, the comm
mand history is
i distinguishhed from the aactive commaand line with a
grey back
kground color. You can mo
odify the vario
ous colors asssociated with the commandd window usiing
the Drawiing Window Colors
C
dialog
g box, which is
i accessible ffrom the Dispplay tab of thee Options dialog
box.
Multifunctional Grips
G
The poweer of multifun
nctional grips has been exteended to moree AutoCAD oobjects, includding lines, arccs,
elliptical arcs,
a
dimensions, and mleaaders, as welll as 3D faces, edges, and vvertices. Access relevant opptions
for the sellected object by hovering the
t cursor oveer a grip.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
11
ultifunctional grips with dy
ynamic input turned
t
on alloows you to eddit the object vvia relevant
Using mu
dimension
nal values. Fo
or example, when
w
you choo
ose the Lengtthen option foor a selected lline, dynamicc input
dimension
ns for the totaal length and the
t incrementtal length are displayed. Y
You can use thhe Tab key to
switch bettween the two
o values. Sim
milarly, ellipticcal arcs have been updatedd to support ddynamic inputt for
the major and minor ax
xes. When yo
ou hover the cursor over a qquadrant gripp with dynamiic input enablled,
the distan
nces from the center to the quadrants aree displayed allong the majoor and minor aaxes. If you click
on the grip
p, you can ed
dit the values.
Nudge Functiona
ality
New Nud
dge functionallity is useful when
w
you neeed to move se lected objectss a few pixelss in an orthoggonal
direction. Simply presss Ctrl and the appropriate arrow
a
key.
Quick Properties
P
s
Use the Quick
Q
Propertiies tool (QP command
c
aliaas) to view annd modify prooperties of a selected objecct.
The Quick
k Properties window
w
is auttomatically diisplayed whenn you doublee-click on mosst objects. It’ss
automaticcally dismisseed when the seelection set iss cleared and doesn’t comee back until yyou launch thee
command
d again. The default
d
list of quick propertties has been updated to innclude more fr
frequently useed
propertiess.
Object Selection
n
Object Groups
G
Group fun
nctionality haas been stream
mlined in Auto
oCAD 2012 m
making it easiier to use. Yoou can access the
new Grou
up tools from the Group paanel on the Ho
ome ribbon taab.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
12
up tool replacees the traditional Object Grrouping dialoog box with a simple promp
mpt to select
The Grou
objects. You
Y have the option
o
of prov
viding a group name and ddescription. T
The Ungroup ttool ungroupss the
objects. You
Y can use th
he Edit Group
p tool to add and
a remove oobjects or to reename the grooup. These toools
are also av
vailable from
m the right-clicck menu when
n a group is sselected.
A Group Selection toggle allows yo
ou to control whether
w
objeccts are selecteed individuallly or as a grouup.
p
providees access to ad
dditional Grouup tools. Thee Group Bounnd Box controols
Expanding the Group panel
ps are display
yed. When it’s enabled, Au
utoCAD displlays a single ggrip and a bouunding box
how group
around the group. The Named Grou
ups tool displaays the classicc Object Grouuping dialog bbox.
The Purgee tool has beeen updated to support the purging
p
of grooups that conttain no objectts.
Implied Selection
S
Pick variaables offer mo
ore flexibility
y and control when
w
selectinng objects. W
When you pickk the first poinnt of
an implied
d window, yo
ou now have the
t ability to use
u a Wpolyggon, Cpolygon, and Fence in addition too the
traditional window seleection method
d. And you no
o longer havee to choose beetween pickinng two points or
picking an
nd dragging to determine the
t selection window.
w
The PICKDRAG
G system variaable includes a
new optio
on (PICKDRA
AG=2) that co
ombines both of these methhods. The PIC
CKAUTO sysstem variablee
includes a new option (PICKAUTO
(
O=2) that allow
ws you to starrt a window oor crossing seelection even w
when
picking on
n an object. This
T minimizees the need fo
or you to find a “clean” spoot for pickingg.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
13
ode
Snap Mo
When Snaap Mode is on
n, the cursor no
n longer snaaps to grid poiints when seleecting objectss, but does soo only
when speccifying pointss.
Externa
al Referen
nce Enhan
ncements
AutoCAD
D 2012 improv
ves the ability
y to highlightt and select exxternally referrenced files. IIf you pass thhe
T
cursor oveer the edge off an attached image, DWFTM
, or PDF fi le, a selectionn preview fram
me is displayyed,
even when
n frames are turned
t
off.
Similarly,, passing the cursor
c
over geeometry insid
de an attachedd DWF, PDF,, DGN, or DW
WG file displaays a
selection preview
p
fram
me. You can seelect the fram
me for any of tthe attached rreference filess to display a
frame bou
undary, with the
t ability to grip-edit
g
a cliipped boundaary frame.
Interaction
n with the Ex
xternal Refereences manageer is enhancedd to automaticcally display tthe frame when
you selectt a reference file
f from the list.
l
To supporrt the frame selection behaavior, a new FRAMESELE
F
ECTION systeem variable is included in
AutoCAD
D 2012.
Autode
esk Excha
ange–Auto
oCAD
With conn
nected accesss to getting staarted videos, downloadablee plug-ins, annd help contennt, the Autodeesk®
Exchangee feature bring
gs the contentt you need dirrectly to yourr AutoCAD w
workspace. Auutodesk Exchaange–
AutoCAD
D is first displaayed when yo
ou start AutoC
CAD 2012. A toggle in the llower left corrner of the winndow
allows you
u to disable itt on startup bu
ut you can acccess it at any tiime from the Infocenter in the upper righht
corner of the
t AutoCAD
D window. The Exchange button
b
displayss Autodesk E
Exchange withh the Home tabb
active, and
d the Help buttton displays it with the Heelp tab active.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
14
Explorre
In-Canv
vas Viewp
port Contrrol
New view
wport controlss enable you to
t change view
wport settingss, views, and visual styles directly on thhe
viewport canvas.
The 3D Modeling
M
tab of
o the Options dialog box includes
i
conttrols for displaaying the in-ccanvas viewpport
controls.
You can specify
s
the co
olor of the vieewport control in the Draw
wing Window Colors dialogg box, which is
accessiblee from the Dissplay tab of th
he Options diialog.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
15
UCS En
nhanceme
ents
AutoCAD
D 2012 provid
des many enhancements that make the U
UCS faster annd easier to usse.
The UCS icon has been
n updated to allow
a
direct manipulation.
m
You can seleect the UCS icon and then use
the multiffunctional grip
ps to change the
t UCS. Eassily move the origin, and aautomatically align the UC
CS
with objeccts, including
g curved surfaaces and solid
ds.
You can rotate
r
the UCS around the X, Y, or Z ax
xis using gripss, and withouut having to acccess the UCS
S
command
d.
When the UCS icon is selected, releevant options are displayedd in the Propeerties palette.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
16
ntrol on the Settings
S
tab off the UCS diaalog box enabbles you to specify whetherr the UCS icoon is
A new con
selectablee. You can acccess the UCS dialog box frrom the Coorrdinates panell of the View ribbon tab w
when
the 3D Modeling work
kspace is activ
ve.
ols from a sho
ortcut menu bby right-clickiing over the U
UCS Icon. Yoou
Easily acccess additionaal UCS contro
can modiffy the shortcu
ut menu to meeet your needss using the Cuustomize Useer Interface diialog box.
When you
u access the UCS
U through the
t UCS com
mmand, AutoC
CAD 2012 dissplays a dynaamic preview of
the UCS icon,
i
making it easier to un
nderstand and
d provide needded feedbackk for UCS opttions.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
17
3D Ass
sociative Array
A
The assocciative array functionality
f
that
t is so valu
uable for 2D ddocumentatioon is equally uuseful for 3D
modeling. Each of the three types off associative arrays—recta
a
angular, polarr, and path—iinclude the abbility
to array seelected objectts in 3D spacee. Use the Lev
vel option to specify the nnumber items in the Z direcction
during or after array crreation.
Whether you
y create on
ne- or multiplee levels of arrray objects, yoou can speciffy an increment value for rrow
elevation. When the ro
ow elevation increment is set
s to zero, as it is by defauult, all rows arre created at tthe
same elev
vation. When set to any oth
her value, possitive or negattive, the elevaation of each row is
incrementted by that am
mount.
When creating a path array,
a
you can
n specify wheether the arrayyed objects shhould maintaiin a vertical
n) or adjust to
o remain paralllel to the patth.
orientation (Z direction
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
18
Creatio
on Preview
w
A new preeview providees a visual cu
ue indicating when
w
a surfacce or solid is iin an intermediate state duuring
creation. For
F example, as you selectt profiles to crreate a lofted solid or surfaace, an updateed preview off the
resulting object
o
is displayed with eaach selection.
In addition to solid and
d surface loftss, the preview
w is included w
with the folloowing commaands:
END, SURFP
PATCH, SUR
RFFILLET, FILLETEDGE
E, CHAMFER
REDGE, and LOFT. The
SURFBLE
preview displays
d
with a transparenccy to easily distinguish it frrom completeed objects. Yoou can controol the
transparen
ncy level with
h the new PRE
EVIEWCREA
ATIONTRAN
NSPARENCY
Y variable.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
19
Chain and
a Loop Selection
n
AutoCAD
D 2012 includ
des new Chain
n or Loop opttions to simpliify the processs of selectingg a set of
contiguou
us edges or cu
urves.
The new Chain
C
selectio
on option deteects if there iss a set of conttiguous edgess within a solid or mesh obbject,
or within or between su
urfaces. The chain
c
may eitther be open oor closed and is available iin the
TCH, SURFB
BLEND, MES
SHCAP, and FILLETEDG
GE commandss.
SURFPAT
The Chain
n option within the FILLETEDGE com
mmand identifi
fies and filletss edges that haave continuityy. For
example, the part below
w on the left does
d
not havee rounded corrners so the fiillet operationn is limited to the
selected edge.
e
The partt on the right,, however, has rounded corrners enablingg the Chain ooption to selecct and
fillet all th
he continuouss edges.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
20
n option, the FILLETEDG
GE and the CH
HAMFERED
DGE commandd include a Looop
In addition to the Chain
d chain. After selecting an eedge, you cann choose whicch of the poteential
option. A loop is similaar to a closed
u
loops to use.
Offset Edge
E
The new Offset
O
Edge tool, availablee on the Solid
d Editing paneel, enables yoou to create ann offset curvee from
a planar face
fa or from a surface wherre all the edgees lie on the ssame plane. A
After you select a face, the edge
of the facee is dynamicaally offset to the
t inside or outside
o
basedd on cursor loccation produccing a polylinne or
spline. Du
uring the offseet operation, you
y can accesss the Cornerr option to speecify sharp orr rounded corrners
for the offfset curve. Affter offsetting
g an edge, you
u can use the P
Presspull tooll to easily addd or remove tthe
bounded area
a from a so
olid.
Pressp
pull Functiionality
Presspull functionality provides an easy
e
way to create
c
and ediit solids. You simply click in a boundedd area
of a solid and AutoCAD dynamicallly creates an extruded soli d. If the bounnded area is thhe face of a soolid,
o removed frrom the solid. In AutoCAD
D 2012, poweerful Presspulll functionalitty has
the extrussion is added or
been updaated to repeat until you exiit the comman
nd enabling yyou to quicklyy press and puull multiple tim
mes
in a singlee operation.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
21
Trimme
ed Surface
e Properties
The Propeerties palette for trimmed surfaces
s
is up
pdated to provvide more conntrol and flexiibility. A new
w
Trims pan
ne displays triim properties for the selectted surface. Itt includes an Edge propertty, which cyclles
through th
he edges and highlights theem in the draw
wing. The new
w Associativee Trim properrty indicates iif the
current ed
dge is associattive. You can
n remove the associativity
a
ffor any givenn edge.
3D Autosnap Ma
arker
The Autosnap Marker control in thee Drawing Wiindow Colorss dialog box is renamed to 2D Autosnapp
nd a new 3D Autosnap
A
con
ntrol was addeed. With diffeerent colors, yyou can moree easily distinnguish
Marker an
between 2D
2 and 3D ossnaps in the drrawing editorr.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
22
Solid History
H
Solid history is turned off by default in AutoCAD
D 2012. Withh solid historyy turned off, yyou can directtly
edit faces, edges, and vertices
v
of sollids. To retain
n solid historyy, you can sett the SOLIDH
HIST system
o 1.
variable to
3Dconn
nexion Su
upport
Support for
fo 3Dconnexiion devices iss improved in
n AutoCAD 20012. The preccision and conntrollability oof 3D
mouse mo
ovements werre further optiimized to provide a more ssuperior 2D aand 3D navigaation experiennce.
In Walk and
a Fly modess, the navigattion speed acccelerates as thhe camera possition moves away from thhe
model. With
W Object mo
ode, a consisttent zoom speeed is maintaiined regardlesss of the moddel size or possition
of the cam
mera within th
he drawing.
Autode
esk Fusion
n
Autodesk® Inventor® Fusion
F
adds to
o the 3D concceptual designn capabilities of AutoCAD
D and sets a neew
standard for
f profession
nal 3D modeliing ease of usse. It enables you to flexiblly edit and vaalidate models
from almo
ost any sourcee, helping you
u further expeerience the beenefits of acceessible 3D in the native DW
WG
format. In
nventor Fusion
n showcases intuitive direcct manipulati on capabilitiees, provides ddirect modelinng for
rapid desiign changes, and
a unites dirrect and param
metric workfl ows within a single digitall model.
CAD 2012, yo
ou have the op
ption to installl Autodesk Innventor Fusioon 2012.
When insttalling AutoC
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
23
If you cho
oose to installl Fusion, you will find an Edit
E in Fusionn tool on the P
Plug-ins ribboon tab in
AutoCAD
D 2012.
u this tool to
o select any of
o the followin
ng 3D objectss in your AutoCAD drawinng to
You can use
automaticcally open it for
f editing in Autodesk
A
Inv
ventor Fusion :







3D
D Solid Exxtruded Surfacce Lo
ofted Surface Pllanar Surface Sw
wept Surface Re
evolved Surfacce NURBS Surface You will also
a find the Edit
E in Fusion
n option on th
he right-click menu wheneever one of those objects iss
selected.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
24
odesk Invento
or Fusion, you
u will enjoy the
t freedom oof direct modeeling with thee ability to exercise
With Auto
control ov
ver change. Quickly
Q
create, delete, or modify
m
featurees to accommoodate your chhanging desiggns.
Make unique design ch
hanges and ex
xplore “what if”
i scenarios.
Point Cloud
C
Sup
pport
Point clou
ud support is enhanced
e
in AutoCAD
A
2012. It includees an improveed indexing allgorithm for
generating
g PCG files in
n addition to optimized
o
vieewing at channging zoom leevels. The folllowing imagees
illustrate the
t increased detail for a point
p
cloud fille indexed in A
AutoCAD 20012 (left) com
mpared with
AutoCAD
D 2011 (right)).
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
25
Docum
ment
3D Mod
del Importt
®
Import a wide
w variety of
o file formats, including CATIA
C
, NX® , Parasolid, Pro/Engineerr®, Rhinoceroos®,
and SolidW
Works®, as a starting point for documen
nting your deesigns in AutooCAD. You ccan access thee
Import too
ol from the Im
mport panel of
o the Insert riibbon tab. In tthe Import Fiile dialog boxx, open the Filles of
Type drop
p-down list to
o select the deesired file form
mat.
While thee import operaation is in pro
ogress, an Imp
port icon is diisplayed on thhe status bar ttray. A bubblee
notificatio
on indicates when
w
the impo
ort process is complete andd a link in thee bubble notiffication displaays
the translaated file namee. You can paass the cursor over the linkk to view the ffull path and ffile name.
The abilitty to import th
hese file form
mats supports surfaces,
s
solidds, and 2D annd 3D wire geeometry. The data
is translatted to native AutoCAD
A
geo
ometry and in
nserted into thhe drawing ass blocks. Partss and assembllies
in the orig
ginal models are
a preserved
d and replicateed as nested bblocks. After importing, yoou can freely
modify th
he data using standard
s
Auto
oCAD editing
g tools and doocument the 33D models using the new m
model
documenttation tools.
Model Documen
D
tation
Save timee by automaticcally generatiing intelligentt documentatiion for AutoC
CAD, Inventoor, and other
models. Drawing
D
view
ws, edge displaay, and locatio
on are instanttly updated w
when an enginneering change is
made.
umentation tools from the Drawing
D
View
ws panel of thhe Annotate rribbon tab.
Access the model docu
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
26
g Drawing Views
V
Creating
The Base View tool creeates a 2D vieew from the 3D
3 solids andd surfaces in m
modelspace. IIf there are noo
o solids in mo
odelspace, yo
ou can select an
a Inventor pproject and moodel (ipt, iam
m and ipn) files.
surfaces or
The Base View tool au
utomatically displays
d
a scalled preview oof the model aattached to thhe cursor. As yyou
b
view on the drawing layout, you can
c specify opptions such ass type, orientaation, and scaale.
place the base
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
27
b displays rellevant controlls, which varyy depending oon the source of the model,
A contexttual ribbon tab
AutoCAD
D modelspace or Inventor.
If an Inveentor model iss the source fo
or the base view, an additioonal panel is displayed in tthe Drawing View
Creation ribbon
r
tab, en
nabling you to
o further contrrol the repressentation of thhe model.
If the Typ
pe option is seet to Base and
d Projected, raather than Ba se Only, you can automatiically create
projected views after placing
p
the base view. Simp
ply drag the ccursor to the ddesired location and AutoC
CAD
automaticcally creates th
he appropriatte view. You can
c continue adding projeccted views latter using the
Projected View tool.
w creates a neew Drawing View
V
object, which
w
includees a boundaryy similar to a vviewport but does
Each view
not print. An icon in th
he status bar trray indicates when a drawiing contains ddrawing view
ws, and you caan
view and modify propeerties for a sellected drawin
ng view usingg the Propertiees palette.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
28
ojected viewss. Projected vviews are simpply projectionns of
After estaablishing a base view, you can create pro
existing views,
v
and theey support eig
ght standard view
v
projectioons: four orthoographic and four isometriic.
Projected views are draawn using thee base view’s projection anngle (first anggle or third anngle). During the
creation of
o projected views, a parent/child relatio
onship is form
med between tthe selected vview and the
projected views. You can
c select any
y existing Draawing View oobject as the pparent view ass long as it is up to
date. The selected view
w becomes thee parent view
w while the proojected viewss become the child views. The
projection
n angle (first or
o third anglee) and all otheer properties uused by the paarent view aree inherited byy the
child view
ws. Once creaated, some pro
operties of thee child views may be modiified.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
29
D
Vie
ews
Editing Drawing
Using the Drawing Vieew editing too
ols, you can easily
e
modify drawing view
ws after they’’ve been creatted.
u double-click
k on an existin
ng view, the Drawing
D
View
w Editor conttextual ribbonn tab is displaayed.
When you
Since chilld views inherrit their propeerties from their parent, whhen you edit a parent view
w, the changess are
applied to
o the parent an
nd all child viiews. If the seelected view iis a child view
w, you can chhange the scalle and
style prop
perties to diffeer from the paarents. The ch
hanges you m
make are autom
matically applied to the sellected
view and all child view
ws that are dep
pendent on th
he selected vieew. An optionn in the Edit ppanel of the
V
Editor allows
a
you to
o defer updatees. Deferring uupdates lets yyou make mulltiple changess
Drawing View
within a single
s
view co
omputation fo
or improved performance.
p
IIf the selectedd view or anyy of its child vviews
are out off date, they aree automaticallly updated ass part of the eediting processs.
Selecting a drawing vieew displays a single multiffunctional griip at its centerr. When you pass the cursoor
g
menu options enable you
y to stretch
h or rotate the view as welll as break andd repair alignm
ment
over the grip,
of orthogrraphic projectted views.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
30
g Views
Updating
When chaanges are mad
de to the sourcce of a drawin
ng view, variious notificatiions appear. T
The notificatioons
include co
orner glyphs displayed
d
on the out of datte views, a waarning badge added to the Drawing Vieews
icon withiin the status bar
b tray, and a bubble notiffication originnating from thhe icon withinn the status baar
tray.
e
update all views on the
t layout by selecting a liink on the bubbble notification. If you waant to
You can easily
limit the updates
u
to selected views, you
y can use the
t View Upddate tool, avaiilable on the rribbon and rigghtclick men
nu.
Applying
g Standards
s
Standardss play a role in
n almost everry aspect of do
ocumentationn, including thhe representattion of drawinng
views. Yo
ou can specify
y drafting stan
ndards for new
w drawing viiews using thee Drafting Staandard dialogg box,
which is accessible
a
from the dialog box launcherr in the lower right corner oof the Drawinng Views ribbbon
panel. You can specify
y first angle an
nd third anglee projection m
methods, whicch support thee ISO and AN
NSI
standards. The thread style
s
controls how Inventor thread featuures are repressented in draw
wing views. Y
You
uality for shad
ded view stylles. And the ppreview type eenables you tto improve
can speciffy the view qu
performan
nce, particularly with largeer models, by displaying a bounding boxx instead of sshaded previeew
image wh
hen creating drawing
d
viewss.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
31
In addition to the contrrols in the Draafting Standarrd dialog boxx, the Drawingg View functiionality leverrages
o
and format geomeetry.
layers to organize
Exportin
ng Layouts
The Expo
ort Layout too
ol has been up
pdated to supp
port new 2D V
View functionnality in AutooCAD 2012. Y
You
can access this tool fro
om the Save As>Save
A
Layo
out as Drawinng option in thhe Applicatioon menu.
Annota
ation
Mtext En
nhancements
The Mtex
xt background
d mask has beeen updated to
o remember thhe last used fi
fill color and bborder offset
factor rath
her than alway
ys defaulting to red and 1.5.
MLeaderr Enhancem
ments
To have more
m
control over
o
your lead
ders, you can now change the gap arounnd Mleader teext in a text fr
frame.
You can also
a extend th
he leader line to the text ratther than endiing at the textt bounding boox. Access thee
MLeader improvementts in the Multtleader Style dialog
d
box.
p
is en
nabled, the Laanding gap vaalue specifies the distance between the ttext
When the Frame Text property
and the teext frame.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
32
E
leaderr to text contrrol extends the leader line tto the text ratther than endiing at the textt
The new Extend
bounding box.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
33
Dimension Right-Click Menu
u right-click with
w a dimenssion selected, you now havve the option tto Remove Sttyle Overridees.
When you
Osnap Enhancem
ments
The behav
vior for Perpeendicular and Tangent objeect snaps is ennhanced in A
AutoCAD 2012 to provide m
more
flexibility
y. Now, when grip-editing the endpointss of lines or thhe endpoints and vertices oof Polylines,
AutoCAD
D enables you
u to choose fro
om multiple snap
s
points baased on the loocation of the cursor. In othher
words, Au
utoCAD findss object snap points to mak
ke objects tanngent or perpeendicular, as w
well as the tanngent
or perpendicular pointss relative to th
he selected grrip. The Osnaap glyph is dissplayed at eacch possible
a you move the cursor of the
t object.
location as
If Infer Co
onstraints is enabled
e
when
n using the perrpendicular oor tangent object snaps, thee correspondinng
geometricc constraint iss automaticallly applied to the
t objects.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
34
Fillet, Chamfer,
C
Blend,
B
and
d Join
The Fillett and Chamferr tools have been
b
updated to display a ppreview whenn passing the ccursor over thhe
second ob
bject in the filllet/chamfer selection. Now
w you can connfirm and chaange the radiuus or distancee
values beffore even com
mpleting the command.
c
When usin
ng the Polylin
ne option, thee preview filleet arcs or cham
mfer lines aree displayed foor the entire
polyline.
view is not ass desired, you
u can edit the fillet
f
radius oor chamfer disstance/angle pprior to comppleting
If the prev
the operattion.
The Fillett tool now sup
pports filleting of spline ob
bjects.
The new Blend
B
tool creeates spline objects
o
with op
ptions for tanngent or smoooth continuityy between twoo
curves, sp
peeding docum
mentation tim
me. It supportss lines, arcs, 22D and 3D poolylines, splinnes, helixes, aand
elliptical arcs.
a
You can access
a
the Bleend tool from
m the Modify panel
p
of the H
Home ribbon ttab.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
35
t
is stream
mlined to autom
matically com
mbine selectedd objects usinng typical seleection methodds
The Join tool
such as crrossing or picking objects in
i any order. You are no loonger required to select thee source object
first.
Spline Enhancem
ments
Splines haave been updaated in AutoC
CAD 2012 to support perioodic splines. W
When you speecify the Closse
option forr a spline, a peeriodic splinee with C2 con
ntinuity betweeen the start aand endpoints is generated and
the new Periodic
P
propeerty is listed in
n the Propertiies window. P
Periodic behaavior is also suupported wheen
rebuilding
g closed NUR
RBS surfaces. When conveerting an analyytical surfacee to a NURBS
S surface, a
periodic NURBS
N
surfaace is created if the end con
nditions of thee surface alloow for it.
AutoCAD
D 2012 provid
des more flexiible and intuittive behaviorr with greater control whenn grip-editing fit
points of splines.
s
In ad
ddition, the kn
not parameteriization prope rty of the spliine, which is displayed in tthe
Propertiess palette when
n the method is set to Fit, has
h changed ffrom a read-oonly text field to a drop-dow
wn
list wheree you can speccify chord, sq
quare root, or uniform knott parameterizaation. Changiing the knot
parameterrization valuee is often usefful when switcching from edditing the conntrol vertices of the spline tto
editing the Fit points of the spline. It provides grreater controll over the shappe of the splinne as it passes
through th
he Fit points.
The Kink option has beeen added to the Splinedit tool when sellecting a Fit P
Points spline.
The Exten
nd tool is enhanced to supp
port splines when
w
selectingg objects to exxtend. The sppline is extendded
while maiintaining a cu
urvature that is continuous with the orig inal spline.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
36
E Bar is enh
hanced to supp
port splines and
a is accessibble from the rright-click meenu when a sppline
The 3D Edit
is selected
d. It enables you
y to move the
t location of a point on thhe curve, chaange the magnnitude of the
tangency at the point, and
a change th
he tangent direection relativve to the pointt.
2D Arra
ay Functio
onality
Save valu
uable rework time
t
by establishing and maintaining
m
a set of relationnships betweeen arrayed obj
bjects,
like windo
ows on a buillding or trussees on a bridgee. Plus, you caan now arrayy objects alongg a specified ppath
(rather thaan having onlly rectangularr or polar optiions), saving even more tim
me when creaating conceptuual
designs orr finished doccumentation.
You can access
a
the new
w Array toolss from the Mo
odify panel off the Home ribbbon tab.
Using the new array fu
unctionality yo
ou can establiish and mainttain a set of reelationships bbetween arrayyed
A you create the array, Au
utoCAD displaays a preview
w with grips thhat you can uuse to visuallyy edit
objects. As
array prop
perties. Even after creating
g the array, yo
ou can use thee Properties ppalette or multtifunctional ggrips
to modify
y it.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
37
t Contextuaal ribbon tab aand the right--click menu w
when an arrayy
Additionaal options are available in the
object is selected.
s
You can modify,
m
erase, or transform
m individual ittems in an arrray using the Ctrl key to seelect the desirred
objects. You
Y can then use
u familiar AutoCAD
A
editing tools to eerase, move, rrotate, or scalle those seleccted
objects. Or,
O use the Rep
place Item tool to replace selected instaances of the aarray items wiith other objects.
The transfformed objects maintain th
heir associatio
on with the arrray, enablingg you to changge the array
propertiess without haviing to reapply
y changes to the
t individuall objects. If nneeded, you caan quickly resstore
all times to
t their defaullt size and po
osition using the
t Reset tooll from the ribbbon or right-cclick menu.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
38
t appearancce of all the arrrayed objectts, there’s no nneed to start oover. You cann edit
If you want to change the
D automaticallly displays thhe Edit Arrayy contextual taab in additionn to
the sourcee object in plaace. AutoCAD
the many AutoCAD drrawing and ed
diting tools. After
A
making eedits to the soource geomettry, or if you
t geometry, you can cho
oose to save oor discard channges.
decide agaainst editing the
The poweerful associatiive array funcctionality appllies to the new
w Path array ttype as well aas to the famiiliar
rectangulaar and polar arrays.
a
You caan use a path array to distrribute items evvenly along a specified paath. If
you want a specific disstance betweeen items, ratheer than ensuriing a specified number of iitems fits alonng
the path, you
y can use th
he Measure option.
o
If, on the
t other handd, you requiree a specific nuumber of item
ms,
regardlesss of how much space is bettween them, you
y can use thhe divide optiion.
You can control
c
the po
osition of the arrayed
a
itemss relative to thhe path using the Base Poinnt option. Whhether
the base point
p
of the arrrayed object is on the path
h or offset, thee items are asssociated withh the path. Whhen
the path changes,
c
the ittems automattically update.
In addition to all of this powerful arrray functionaality, many off the propertiees of the arrayy are paramettric,
g parameters and expressio
ons.
supporting
If you want to create a traditional arrray with no associativity
a
bbetween arrayy items, set thhe Associativee
option to No
N when creaating the array
y. You can reemove associaative functionnality from ann existing arraay by
exploding
g it.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
39
Copy Tool
T
The Copy
y tool includess a new Array
y option that enables
e
you tto create a lineear, non-associative array. You
can enter the distance between
b
a speecified numbeer of copies oor enter the nuumber of copiies to fit betw
ween
two specified points.
Layer Enhancem
E
ments
A new lay
yer management option enables you to quickly
q
freezee specified laayers in all vieewports exceppt the
current on
ne. You can access
a
this fun
nctionality fro
om the right-cclick menu inn the Layer Prroperties Mannager
as well as from the Freeeze option off the VPLAYE
ER commandd.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
40
Copy Nested
N
Ob
bjects
The formeer NCOPY ex
xpress tool is integrated intto the core AuutoCAD softw
ware applicattion enabling you
to copy ob
bjects that aree nested in xreefs, blocks, or DGN underrlays without having to expplode or bind
them. Eassily access thee Copy Nested
d Objects too
ol from the Moodify panel oon the Home rribbon tab.
Delete Duplicate
e Objects
Helping you
y clean up your
y
drawingss by removing
g duplicate orr unneeded geeometry, the Delete Dupliccates
tool proviides increased
d performancee—especially
y on drawings with many oobjects. First iintroduced to
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
41
D as the OVER
RKILL Expreess Tool, it haas been signifficantly enhannced in AutoC
CAD 2012 annd
AutoCAD
integrated
d into the coree set of AutoC
CAD tools.
a
the Delete Duplicatees tool from the
t Modify paanel of the Hoome ribbon taab.
You can access
The Delette Duplicate Objects
O
dialog
g box enabless you to speciify which objeect propertiess to ignore, suuch as
thickness or transparen
ncy. Additional controls alllow you to opptimize segmeents with polyylines, combiine
o
that partially
p
overlap or are end-to-end, and m
maintain assoociative objeccts.
co-linear objects
Comm
municate
Raster File Supp
port
AutoCAD
D 2012 provid
des increased support and flexibility
f
forr using raster iimages in youur drawing filles. If
you open a drawing wiith images fro
om Raster Design, such as satellite and elevation form
mats, they aree
D 2012. Furth
hermore, the A
mage Attach ttools in AutoC
CAD
automaticcally displayed in AutoCAD
Attach and Im
2012 supp
port the follow
wing image fiiles in additio
on to the previiously supporrted raster filee formats:
Type Description Fiile extension DDS Microsoft DiirectDraw Surfface .d
dds www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
42
DOQ USGS Digitall Orthophoto Q
Quads .d
doq ECW Enhanced Co
ompression Wavelet .eecw HDR High Dynamic Range image
e .h
hdr JPEG2000 Wavelet‐bassed compressio
on standard created by the Jooint Photograp
phics Expert Group .jp
p2, .j2k MrSID Multiresoluttion Seamless IImage Databasse .sid NITF National Imaagery Transmisssion Format .n
nitf Note: NITF files containingg elevation dataa require AutooCAD® Raster D
Design software OpenEXR Industrial Ligght & Magic Hiigh Dynamic Raange image .eexr PSD Adobe® Pho
otoshop® docum
ment .p
psd upport
DGN Su
Support for
fo complex linetypes in DG
GN files is im
mproved in AuutoCAD 20122. Now whenn you import oor
export usiing the DGN V8 file formaat, complex liinetypes are m
maintained.
DWG Convert
C
Helping make
m
it easier to collaboratte, the DWG conversion
c
toool enables yoou to translatee AutoCAD D
DWG
files to an
ny of the follo
owing DWG versions:
v
Releease 14, 20000, 2004, 2007,, and 2010. A
And since youu can
convert files in batchess, you can quiickly bring ollder file librarries up to datee.
G Convert too
ol from the Ap
pplications m
menu in the uppper left corneer of the AutooCAD
Easily acccess the DWG
window.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
43
Choose Save As>DWG
G Convert to display the DWG
D
Convertt dialog box. IIn the DWG C
Convert dialoog
box, you can
c specify th
he DWG filess to be converrted, save the list for futuree use, create nnew lists, andd open
or append
d existing listss.
Conversio
on Setups enaable you to sp
pecify the conversion propeerties, such ass file format aand path optioons.
You can specify
s
how to
o store the co
onverted draw
wings, in a zipp file or self-eextracting exeecutable, for
example. Additional op
ptions enable you to perforrm actions suuch as purgingg the drawinggs or replacingg
ps during the conversion process.
p
page setup
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
44
You can save
s
multiple conversion setups, enablin
ng you to easiily restore a sspecific set off conversion
propertiess. For example, you may have a particullar client thatt requires youu to save all thhe drawings too
AutoCAD
D 2000 file forrmat, while another
a
one in
nsists that youu purge all thee drawings annd submit them
m in
AutoCAD
D 2010 file forrmat.
Sheet Set
S Manag
ger and Va
ault Integrration
Autodesk® Vault softw
ware manages data creation
n, simulation, and documenntation processses for desiggn and
ng workgroup
ps. Enjoy morre control oveer design dataa with revision managemennt capabilitiess, and
engineerin
quickly find and reuse design data for
f easier man
nagement of yyour design annd engineerinng information.
In AutoCA
AD 2012, Au
utodesk Vault support is inttegrated withh sheet set funnctionality. Thhe Sheet Set
Manager now
n includess the ability to
o log in and ou
ut of Autodessk Vault. Youu can open annd check out ssheet
set files frrom Autodesk
k Vault. And, when using the
t Workgrouup, Collaboraation, and Proofessional verssions
of Autodeesk Vault, rev
visions and liffecycle manag
gement are allso supported by Sheet Sett functionalityy.
Updates to
o the Vault Client
C
enable you
y to display
y sheet set datta, extract andd index sheet set properties, and
publish sh
heet sets with the Autodesk
k Vault Batch
h Plot Manageer.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
45
nstalled on your system, Vaault status icoons are displaayed in the Shheet Set Manaager
If Autodesk Vault is in
a files. Thee status is alsoo displayed onn the tooltip w
when you hovver
for the sheeet set, indiviidual sheets, and
the cursorr over a sheet in the sheet list.
l
The right--click menu in
n the Sheet Seet Manager iss updated to innclude a Vauult option. Whhen you right--click
on the bacckground of the
t Sheet Listt, Sheet Viewss, or Model V
Views, you caan access the ooptions to Loog In
and Log Out
O of Vault.
Materia
als Library
y
The Autodesk Materialls Library is now
n availablee online for yoou to downlooad and installl when needed.
u choose to in
nstall it, the Autodesk
A
Mateerials Libraryy is created inn the Commonn Files\Autoddesk
When you
Shared\M
Materials 2012 folder, and materials
m
are organized
o
intoo multiple subbfolders.
The Materials Browserr has been upd
dated in Auto
oCAD 2012 fo
for improved uusability. Thee Create Mateerial
menu inclludes descripttive labels to clearly indicaate that it is foor creating neew materials. And, when yyou
use the Seearch tool, thee results moree clearly describe where m
materials were or were not ffound. Many
material swatches
s
havee also been up
pdated.
To help you more easilly find materiials based on category, maaterials in the Autodesk Maaterials Librarry
n organized in
nto nested categories wheree appropriate.
have been
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
46
h also been updated
u
with labels that m
make it easier tto find controols for creatinng
The Materials Editor has
M
Broowser. The Innformation tabb in the Materrials
materials,, specifying options, and acccessing the Materials
Editor now
w includes a field
f
for the material
m
namee.
Behavior in the Texturre Editor is up
pdated to auto
omatically exppand the Trannsforms optioons, making itt
easier to find
f
key propeerties such ass position and
d scale.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
47
With the evolution
e
of the
t Autodesk Materials Lib
brary, the MA
ATSTATE annd MATERIA
ALSPATH
variables are no longerr necessary an
nd have been removed.
AutoCA
AD WS
AutoCAD
D 2012 extend
ds AutoCAD to the web by
y integrating ttools for direcct access to thhe AutoCAD® WS
web
web and mobile
m
application. AutoCAD WS lets you
y view, ediit, and share D
DWG drawings through a w
browser or
o mobile device. You can access the Au
utoCAD WS tools from thhe Online ribbbon tab.
The Upload tool enablees you to uplo
oad the curren
nt AutoCAD drawing to a secure location on the
AutoCAD
D WS server. It also acts ass a toggle for automatic uppload. When eenabled, the cchanges you m
make
to the locaal version of the
t drawing are
a automaticaally uploadedd to the Web sserver. You ccan use the Manage
Uploads tool
t
to controll which drawiings are inclu
uded in the auutomatic uploaad.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
48
u the Uploaad Multiple Fiiles tool to up
pload other typpes of files. F
For example, you can post
You can use
relevant plot
p styles, im
mages, spreadssheets, and oth
her files in adddition to youur AutoCAD ddrawings.
When you
u have a draw
wing open in AutoCAD,
A
yo
ou can use thee Open Onlinee tool to access and edit thhe
drawing online.
o
AutoC
CAD automatiically uploadss the last saveed version of the drawing aand opens it oonline
in the AuttoCAD WS Drawing
D
Edito
or.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
49
q
view your online drawings
d
and folders usingg the Online D
Drawings tooll.
You can quickly
The Timeeline tool takees advantage of
o the web’s infinite
i
storagge capability tto provide a ffully detailed
design hisstory of the cu
urrent drawin
ng, including changes
c
by otthers.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
50
ored online, you
y can share them with coolleagues andd clients for acccelerated
With yourr drawings sto
collaborattion. The Shaare Drawing to
ool enables yo
ou to control whether collaaborators are limited to vieewing
the drawin
ng, editing it online, or dow
wnloading it to
t their deskttop. And it auutomatically nnotifies
collaborattors with an email
e
invitatio
on.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
51
g collaboratorrs via email, you
y can use thhe Get Link toool to copy a link to the shhared
In addition to notifying
w
you caan then embed
d in web pagees and docum
ments.
drawing, which
The Messsages tool enaables you to view
v
messagess related to thhe files and foolders that youu’ve shared oor that
others hav
ve shared with
h you.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
52
Custom
mize
Installa
ation
The installlation processs in AutoCAD
D 2012 has been simplifie d to provide a faster installl experience.
Dynamic feedback help
ps you identiffy inaccurate product inforrmation uponn entry.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
53
d
off product com
mponents and their install sstatus.
A productt selection page includes descriptions
Migration and Cu
ustomizattion
New and enhanced mig
gration tools in
i AutoCAD 2012 make itt easier to miggrate your custom settingss or
oCAD to the default
d
installl settings.
reset Auto
The Tool Palette files option
o
in the Migrate
M
Custom Settings ddialog box proovides improved migrationn for
tool paletttes created in previous versions of Auto
oCAD. Migraating tool paleette files now includes tooll
palette gro
oups. A new option in the Migrate Custtom Settings ddialog box ennables you to migrate the M
My
Materials Library file introduced
i
in AutoCAD 20
011.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
54
e
access the
t Migrate Custom
C
Settin
ngs dialog boxx the first tim
me you launch AutoCAD 20012
You can easily
or from th
he Windows Start
S
menu (S
Start>Program
ms>Autodesk>
>AutoCAD 22012>Migratee Custom
Settings>M
Migrate From
m a Previous Release).
R
If, after yo
ou have migrated your cusstom settings to AutoCAD 2012, you w
wish to return tto the default
settings, you
y can use th
he new Reset tool availablee from the W
Windows Start menu
(Start>Pro
ograms>Auto
odesk>AutoCA
AD 2012>Reeset Settings tto Default). T
The Reset Setttings tool provides
the option
n for you to baack up your customized
c
filles to a zip fille before it reestores the deffault install sttate.
Using Resset Settings to
o Default is allso helpful if you’ve madee changes or ccustomizationns to AutoCA
AD
and want a quick way to
t get back to
o the default in
nstall state. A
All AutoCAD products muust be closed w
when
M
or Resset.
running Migrate
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
55
g and exportin
ng tool palettee groups in AutoCAD
A
201 2 is easier wiith the resizabble Customizee
Managing
dialog box
x. Right-click
k on any palettte group to acccess the Expport All optionn, which wass previously oonly
available when right-cllicking in an empty
e
area off the Palette G
Groups list.
Plot Filles Search
h Path
AutoCAD
D 2012 provid
des increased flexibility forr managing p lot files. Youu can now speecify multiple
folders for printer conffiguration (.PC
C3) files, prin
nter descriptioon (.PMP) filees, and plot sttyle (.CBT &
.STB) filees. You can ad
dd support paaths on the Filles tab of the Options dialoog box. If theese files are noot
found in the
t specified folders,
f
AutoC
CAD automaatically searchhes for them iin the folder oof the host filee. A
copy of th
he shortcut to the Add-A-P
Plot Style Tab
ble Wizard or Add-a-Plotteer Wizard is aadded to the nnew
path.
www..autodesk.com
m/autocad
56
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Content Explorer, DWF, DWG, and Inventor are registered trademarks
or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. [Thirdparty trademarks required by contract.] All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their
respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and
pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in
this document.
© 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.autodesk.com/autocad