Datasheet

Setup the Dashboard/ Tool Palette Connection

The Dashboard is definitely an interesting new feature in AutoCAD 2007. Did you know that

there is a mysterious connection between the Dashboard and the Tool Palettes?

The Dashboard is filled with control panels (ahem; didn’t Autodesk think about the obvi-

ous name collision with this well-known Windows feature?). One of these control panels,

2D Draw, isn’t visible out of the box — so let’s turn it on. Right-click anywhere inside the

Dashboard palette. Choose Control Panels

➔ 2D Draw Control Panel from the shortcut

menu. The missing control panel appears at the top of the palette; its icon is a 2D triangle

and square. Consider using this control panel for basic drafting tools instead of using the

bulkier Draw and Modify toolbars.

Each control panel can be activated by clicking its icon. When a control panel is active, it’s

highlighted in orange, revealing more hidden controls. There is more to the control panels

than meets the eye.

Bear with us, and activate each control panel one at a time. After you activate one, hover

the mouse over the Tool Palettes to unhide them if anchored (no need to hover if they’re

floating and staring you in the face). Many of the control panels automatically trigger differ-

ent tool palette groups to activate. This is the mysterious connection alluded to earlier.

For example, when you activate the 3D Navigate control panel, the Cameras tool palette

group is likewise triggered, bringing its one and only Cameras palette to the fore. When you

activate the Materials control panel, the Materials tool palette group brings numerous pal-

ettes to the fore in the Tool Palettes. Get it?

Organizing the Interface

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