AutoCAD 2005 For Dummies (2004)

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AutoCAD 2005 uses version 6 of the DWF format, which Autodesk introduced with AutoCAD 2004. (The DWF format changes at least as often as the DWG format, as Autodesk adds new features to AutoCAD and new Design Web Format capabilities.) The most important new feature in DWF 6 is multiple sheets in a single DWF file, as shown in Figure 16-4. It’s like stapling together a set of drawings, except that you never have to worry about your stapler being empty.

Making DWFs with ePlot

As I describe in the previous section, AutoCAD treats DWF files like electronic plots, or ePlots. You create a DWF file from the current drawing just as if you were plotting it to a piece of paper, as I describe in Chapter 12. The only difference is that, in the Plot dialog box’s Printer/Plotter area, you choose the plotter configuration named DWF6 ePlot.pc3, as shown in Figure 16-5. When you do so, AutoCAD automatically turns on the Plot To File setting. Then when you click OK to generate the ePlot, AutoCAD displays a file dialog box in which you specify a filename and location for the DWF file that gets created. The location can be a folder on a hard disk or a Web server.

Figure 16-4:

One DWF file can include multiple sheets.

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Figure 16-5:

“Look ma, no paper!” Plotting to a DWF file.

Pay particular attention to the Scale setting on the Plot Settings tab. If you’re creating a DWF simply for viewing in a browser, you can plot Scaled To Fit. If you want to enable others to ePlot your DWF file to scale, as described earlier in this chapter, you need to choose the desired plot scale factor. Chapter 12 describes how to choose an appropriate plot scale factor.

Making DWFs (or Plots) with PUBLISH

The ePlot method of creating DWF files described in the previous section works fine for single drawings. But if you want to create DWF files for a lot of drawings or plot a bunch of drawings the good ol’ fashioned way (on paper, that is), you can use the Publish dialog box, shown in Figure 16-6, to speed the process.

Figure 16-6:

Hot off the presses: AutoCAD Publish dialog box.

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Web designers or programmers out of work, but you can use it to create primitive Web page paste-ups of your drawings. See “PUBLISHTOWEB command” in the AutoCAD online help system if you’d like to give it a whirl.

Hand-y objects

No Web file format would be complete without hyperlinks, and DWF has those, too. You can attach a hyperlink to any drawing object in AutoCAD, not just to a text string. As you pass the cursor over an object with a hyperlink, the cursor changes from the ordinary pointer to a globe and two links of a chain (as in “World Wide Web” and “link,” not “world-wide chain gang”). Right-click the object and select the Hyperlink option from the menu, which opens your browser and navigates to the URL that’s attached to the object. If you create a DWF file that includes objects with hyperlinks, Autodesk Express Viewer embeds the links in the DWF file so that you can Ctrl+click to navigate to them.

Hyperlinks on objects are a clever trick, but they’re of limited practical value in most DWG and DWF files:

The drawing images are so small that it’s difficult to distinguish the hyperlink on one object from the hyperlink on another object.

Most people aren’t used to associating hyperlinks with individual lines and other objects. The interface is likely to leave them perplexed.

If you’d like to experiment with hyperlinks in objects, look up “HYPERLINK command, about” in the online help system.

Autodesk Express Viewer

After you create DWF files, whether with ePlot or PUBLISH, you or the recipient of your DWF files can use Autodesk Express Viewer to view and print them. Autodesk Express Viewer, shown in Figure 16-4 earlier in this chapter, is a free viewer from Autodesk. You can download the current version from Autodesk’s Web page, www.autodesk.com (click on Product and Solutions and then Autodesk Express Viewer).

When you install AutoCAD 2005, the setup program by default installs Autodesk Express Viewer as well. Choose Start Programs Autodesk Autodesk Express Viewer, or simply double-click on a DWF file in Windows Explorer, to launch it.

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Figure 16-7:

Password,

please.

To password protect a DWF file, use the PUBLISH command and click the

Publish Options button in the Publish dialog box.

Although electronic security features such as the ones described in this section can be useful as part of a strategy to protect your work from misuse, they’re not a substitute for communicating clearly, preferably in the form of written contracts, what constitutes appropriate use of drawings that you send to or receive from others. http://markcad.com/autocad/elecdwg exchange.htm outlines the issues and suggests how to play well with your drawing exchange buddies.

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Part V

The Part of Tens

In this part . . .

Tens sounds a lot like tense, and tense is how AutoCAD may make you feel sometimes. But never fear — help

is on the way! Checklists are always a big help in getting things right and fixing things that are wrong. And a Top Ten list is a good way to quickly spot the best — or the worst — of almost anything, AutoCAD included. This Part of Tens features lists that help you keep your drawings healthy and trade drawings with other people and programs.

Chapter 17

Ten Ways to Do No Harm

Hippocrates of Greece is famous for many things, not least of which is the Hippocratic oath sworn by doctors. It begins “First, do no harm.”

This is not a bad approach to take when editing existing drawings with AutoCAD whether the drawings were created originally by you or by someone else. You can accidentally undo days or weeks of work by yourself and others in minutes. (Of course, you also can purposefully undo days or weeks of work by yourself and others in minutes, but I can’t give much advice to stop you if you want to do that!)

Follow these guidelines to avoid doing harm to the hard work of others and the productive potential of yourself.

Be Precise

Throughout this book, I remind you that using precision techniques such as snap, object snaps, and typed coordinates is a fundamental part of good CAD practice. Don’t try to use AutoCAD like an illustration program, in which you eyeball locations and distances. Use one of the many AutoCAD precision techniques every time you specify a point or distance.

Control Properties by Layer

As I describe in Chapter 4, AutoCAD gives you two different ways of controlling object properties such as color, linetype, and lineweight: by layer and by object. Unless you have a really good reason to assign properties by object — such as instructions from your company’s CAD manager or the client for whom you’re creating the drawing — use the by-layer method: Assign colors, linetypes, and lineweights to layers, and let objects inherit their properties from the layer on which they reside. Don’t assign explicit color, linetype, or lineweight to objects.