More Work Smarter Not Harder

4. Don't start from scratch!
Why re-invent the wheel each time you do a drawing? Standards make drawing faster and easier. At the very least you should have one drawing template that has your most frequently used: layers, text styles, dimension styles, plot layouts, multiline styles, or any other commonly used syles. If you are using a vertical application like Desktop - then there are probably several drawing templates that you'll need. Whether you set up one template or several templates, you'll be heading in the right direction if you don't have to go grab styles or layers from other drawings or worse re-invent them each time you start a new drawing.

5. Customize your interface.
Wasn't my first tip to learn how to do something sans customization? Yep. But before you call hypocrisy on me, hear me out. It's most likely that you'll be using the SAME computer day in and day out (until it craps out on you and you buy a new one). Using Autocad straight out of the box without customizing it to the way you work, is like running a race with an anchor tied to your leg. Yes, you should learn keyboard commands - especially for common and frequently used commands - but there are a whole host of more complicated commands and resources that Autocad has to offer that are much easier to find and use when you customize your interface.
Autocad 2006 and later makes this VERY easy with the CUI (Custom User Interface). If you are pre-2006, then you're out of luck. CUI lets you manage all the toolbars, icons, shortcut commands, and double click actions that are in your drawing and loads them when you start up. You can also EXPORT your CUI, so when you switch computers or upgrade, you can take all your customization with you.

6. Double Up!
Okay - I'll admit that you need to lay out some cash for this next tip. Dual monitors are...well....twice as good. You may need to buy a new graphics card and a second monitor to reap the benefits of dual monitors, but even if they aren't huge flat screens, you'll be happier with two. Especially in the later versions of Autocad (2004 and higher) where floating palettes and more intensive properties interfaces are the norm, if you can drag all those informative and complicated windows over to another screen and keep them out of your drawing area you'll be better off. What are some other great reasons for dual monitors? How about these:

• Run two Autocad applications at the same time on different screens.
• Open PDFs, photos, emails, word documents, etc for reference on your second screen
• Have your internet browser open on your second screen
• Be able to view your desktop, file folders, etc on your second screen.

7. Keep a Library
This tip can be a double edged sword. If you are an organized, observant person than a block library can be a great thing for you - if not, it can become a nightmare. The benefits of a block library are clear: you have a repository for all those details, plumbing fixtures, cars, trees, etc. at your fingertips. However, you also have to manage them and UPDATE THEM!!! A detail that utilizes asbestos ISN'T CURRENT and therefore shouldn't be in your library.
I suggest that you organize your blocks into drawings containing like information and that you format those drawings with sheets (whatever size works for the number of blocks you have in the drawings). Use those sheets like contact sheets in photography. If you are the CAD Manager, make a habit of printing those sheets out every 6 months or yearly and review the details. Have you changed the way you do partition types? Have you decided not to spec a certain type of mortar? Did you realize that you need to add additional notes to a particular detail? Make the changes on the contact sheets (you can even keep them printed and on hand during the year for when the ideas strike you) and then treat them like normal drawings - have someone pick up the redlines and you'll stay current.

8. X-Refs
Just as blocks and groups are powerful tools for organizing and streamlining changes within a single drawing - X-REFS are like blocks that can work in multiple drawings. If you don't use X-REFS you need to learn how. Newer versions of Autocad and especially the Project Navigator feature in Architectural Desktop make it much easier to control and manage X-REFS. Why would you make the same change to the same toilet room on 10 different drawings? X-REFS allow you to make that change on ONE drawing and update it in all the others.

Work Smarter - Not Harder

Ok I'll admit it. I'm lazy. Not stay on the couch all day instead of getting a job lazy, but I don't like doing something in 5 steps if I can do it in 1.
With that in mind, here are a few very basic Autocad tips that can help you be faster and do more things in less steps:

1. Learn keyboard commands.
I know this may seem pointless or boring or unnecessary, but there are several good reasons to learn autocad keyboard input rather than relying on a graphic interface (like a menu or button)

• You don't have to take your eyes off of what you are drafting. This means that you don't lose the 5 seconds or so it takes you to shift your focus from the drawing to the command and back to the drawing. This dovetails nicely with some of the newer autocad features (like quick properties and dynamic input) which take the same approach.
• Free up screen real estate. Unless you are working for the awesome company that gives you a 50" flat screen - you probably want as much drawing area on your screen as possible and not having tons of icons and menus taking up space means more room for that stair detail.
• Flexibility. OK - so you've spent about 20 hours customizing the hell out of your CAD station so that everything you need to be quick and responsive is a fingertip away. Now, what happens when you have to go to a different workstation? While it doesn't happen frequently - you may at some point need to jump onto a different computer and you may NOT have all your custom icons and settings available to you. Knowing the basic keyboard commands will help you retain a little extra edge if you are not on your native computer

2. Use POLAR not ORTHO
Whenever I see someone drafting with ORTHO on I want to shake them (really). Ortho is great for drawing straight lines - but if you are like me, you are doing at least 50% of your on screen work moving, copying, dragging, stretching, etc. and not just snapping straight lines. That means a lot of turning ortho on and off and that means repetitive stress disorder. Polar gives you the flexibility to draw straight when you want to and be free when you don't without the need for pressing a button. You will get used to the way Polar "snaps" to a straight line (I swear) and the added bonus is that it also snaps to any angle you specify - so when your boss designs an office building with a 32 degree angled wall - that won't slow you down.

3. Use Blocks and Groups
Blocks and groups are fantasic organizational tools. Why draw something more than once? More importantly - why play "where's waldo" when that window detail changes from 3" trim to 5" trim? My rule of thumb is this: if you draw something and it will be used more than once in any drawing - turn it into a block. If you need to keep all the pieces of something together , either make it a block or a group (I'll get into the differences and pros/cons of the two types in another post). There is no reason why you should be selecting all the pieces of a door assembly or plan view of a chair - that is inefficient (and therefore cost-prohibitive).

More tips to follow........

Welcome to The Pen and Processor

Welcome all to The Pen and Processor - a place for discussion of Computer Aided Drafting, CAD and Project Management, and anything else that relates directly (or tangentially) to drafting in the 21st Century.
This is my first blog so I'll describe a little about myself:

I am in my early 30's and I am a project manager for an architectural firm - well not just a project manager - in fact, it is my Father's firm and I am on track for architectural licensing and eventual ownership of the firm. I started out in the back-room filing drawings - taught myself CAD (v.14) and went to architecture school and now I run the projects for the office. We are a small firm, so efficiency and speed are essential to making money and I like tips, tricks, shortcuts, and new CAD software.
I also manage the office from an IT perspective and general computer troubleshooting perspective as well. My duties include:

• Project Management

• Drafting and Design

• Computer repair and software installation

• Maintaining the "server" and network

• Research of new technology and software and implementation of same

• Reading resumes/input in hiring employees

Hopefully I'll be able to post frequently and discuss tips and tricks, features, CAD standards, CAD Management (and people management) and general computers.