Discover the steps to configure your drawing template file in AutoCAD, with a focus on setting up units, creating an opening view, and working on drawing layouts. Learn how to adjust precision, set the UCS icon, use keyboard shortcuts, and save your work efficiently to streamline your AutoCAD experience.
Key Insights
- The article provides detailed instructions on adjusting the configuration of a drawing template file in AutoCAD, starting with setting the units to architectural and adjusting precision to 1 over 256.
- The author takes the reader through the process of creating an opening view in AutoCAD, with steps including drawing a line, setting coordinates, zooming extents, and saving the file.
- In addition to setting units and creating an opening view, the article also discusses working on drawing layouts, using the Design Center, and creating a new layout with a specific name, demonstrating the practical implementation of these steps in AutoCAD.
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Let's continue with the configuration of our drawing template file. If I go Format Units, you're going to see that right now the shipping version of AutoCAD's units are set to decimal. So I'm going to go on and go to Architectural Units.
Let my precision be 1 over 256. Degrees, minutes, seconds. Zero degrees, zero minutes, zero seconds.
It's at inches. I'm going to go OK, Control-S to save. So I've now updated my drawing template file.
So I've set my units. What I'd now like to work on is my opening view. So I'm going to draw a line.
I'm going to start off at 0,0. And I'm going to type in at 60 feet, 60 feet. Zoom extents. Zoom real time.
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Save the file. So I now have what I'm going to call my opening view. You can see that my UCS icon is right down here.
The keyboard shortcut is UCS icon. And what I want to do is I want to have it set at no origin. So that's going to put my UCS icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
Control-S to save. What I'd like to do next are to work on the drawing layouts. Now, rather than creating them right from scratch, I'm going to go to the Insert tab, go to the Design Center.
Here's my Design Center drawing. I have layouts. I have my two VDCI layouts.
I will pick and drag. I've now added them down here at the bottom. I'm going to close the Design Center, go on this layout, do a right button, delete it.
This layout, right button, delete it. And then I will move this layout to the left on the configuration. Go back to model space.
Control-S to save. If I'd like to go on and create another layout, let's say for a 22x34, I have an expand button here. So create a new layout.
Right button, rename. I will call it VDCI 22x34.
