I’ve found myself teaching AutoCAD 2006 already and discovering more and more command options that seem almost hidden. (Yes, I went through the New Features Workshop for a review when I loaded the software.)

I’ve been forcing myself to keep the command line turned off and use the new dynamic input. Here are some of my observations (from an old dog).

I mentioned in an earlier post that the dynamic input seemed to have some draw backs. I still like it. One thing that has taken some getting used to is that with the old command line I would see the options available in front of me. I could type the letter of the option I wanted. For example, I could type O for Offset when using the Construction Line command or F for Fillet when using the Rectangle command. I have found that I can type the first letter just like I used to do if I rely on my memory.

The other problem (possibly I haven’t learned the right way to use this yet) that I found is that from the command line I could choose one option and then choose another option. With some of the options I’m trying, I am finding that once I choose an option I’ve been moved on to the next step. Definitely going to need some more playing.

I found some new options to old commands.

Rectangle:
Already mentioned here.
Offset:
Erase – option to erase source object after offset
Layer – option to create offset on current or source layer
Rotate:
Copy – option to create a copy that is rotated
Scale:
Copy – option to create a copy that is scaled

These are just a few hidden gems. How many more have you found?