Datasheet

Chapter 1 Arranging the AutoCAD User Interface

And Command Input Near The Crosshairs. You’ll need this option if you plan to hide the

command line. Press the Down Arrow key to access command options on screen instead of

on the command line.

See “Input Dynamically” in Chapter 2.

Drag the command-line window out from its dock to palettize it. Turn on auto-hide to

save screen real estate. Better yet, anchor the command line — it’s a dockable window (see the

section “Anchor Dockable Windows”).

Certain commands, such as FILLET and OFFSET, don’t display the current settings when using dynamic

input. Consequently, you can easily display the command line when this additional information is needed.

Clean Up the UI

You can do a few things to clean up the UI. The first is to hide the layout tabs. Why? Haven’t you

noticed that the layout tabs occupy an entire row above the status bar, taking up far more

space than they’re worth?

Right-click a layout tab, and choose Hide Layout And Model Tabs from the shortcut

menu. The entire bar housing the layout navigation buttons and tabs disappears, making

more space available to the drawing window.

Two new buttons (Model and Layout) appear on the status bar, plus a couple of tiny

arrows that give you access to additional layouts that appear in a shortcut menu. So, they

provide the same functionality as the buttons and tabs they replace. The only thing we miss

is the shortcut menu that appeared on the old layout tabs. Right-click the Model or Layout

button on the status bar to display the old UI, if you ever want it back.

Another UI tidbit is to hide unwanted individual buttons on the status bar. When is the

last time you used snap? We don’t mean object snap, which everybody uses every day. Few

use the old-school snap that is tied to absolute space. Why not get rid of its status-bar but-

ton? While you’re at it, get rid of the Ortho button, too; Polar is much better. Unless you’re

really into 3D, you may also find it useful to remove the Grid button. The fewer buttons you

have on your status bar, the less likely you’ll be to select the wrong one.

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