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Create new drawings from a specified template, and set up AutoCAD search paths to use this template.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
6 min.
Transcript
00:04
Having AUTOCAD set up to point to a specific
00:07
template file will make things easier for your users.
00:10
So they don't have to look around for the organizational template.
00:14
Let's take a look at setting up options in
00:17
AUTOCAD to point to a specific template directory.
00:23
There are a few different search paths that should be set in AUTOCAD.
00:26
When it comes to templates,
00:28
search paths are settings that point to specific directories
00:32
to find source files for various Autocad functions.
00:36
Setting these correctly for templates ensures
00:39
that the correct template file is used
00:41
every time a new drawing command is entered
00:45
to set these search paths
00:47
go into the options of autocad either by right, clicking anywhere
00:52
in the drawing area
00:54
and choosing options
00:57
or
00:58
you can go to the application menu
01:01
and go to options there
01:05
or finally, you could type in
01:07
on the command line
01:09
and this also will open up the
01:12
AUTOCAD options.
01:14
Once in the options dialog box, go over to the files tab
01:19
and scroll down until you see template settings,
01:23
click the plus sign to the left of it to expand it.
01:27
You will notice that there are four search paths here
01:31
that can be modified.
01:34
The first search path is for the drawing template file location.
01:39
This is the folder where your template or templates will be stored.
01:46
Notice that this default setting points to your local C drive to a template folder.
01:52
This is the folder that AUTOCAD points to right out of the box.
01:56
Before customizations are made
01:59
typically in a multi user environment.
02:02
This path may be set to a server location
02:05
so that all c
02:06
ad designers
02:08
can have access to the company templates
02:11
to change these locations to the search. Pass. Notice that once I click on the path,
02:17
I then have access to the browse button
02:20
which will take me to a browser
02:23
and then I can browse out to the location
02:25
where the template file is located either in a local environment
02:30
or in a server environment.
02:34
The second search path available here is for sheet set, template file location.
02:40
If your organization is using sheet sets,
02:43
it's a good idea to have a template set up specifically for the sheet sets.
02:48
Once again, I could click on the path and then click the browse button
02:53
and change the location
02:55
that the search path is pointing to.
02:59
The next path
03:01
is a very important path for users to be
03:04
able to create drawings from a specific template file.
03:09
Notice this is a default template file name for Q new.
03:14
What that means is if you click on the Q new button
03:19
up on the quick access ribbon
03:22
or if you click on the plus sign up near the file tabs.
03:27
This
03:28
is the template
03:30
that a new
03:32
drawing will be based on.
03:35
In this case, Autocad was installed right out of the box.
03:38
So the word none is set as a search path.
03:43
This would be a good idea to click where it says none
03:46
and then browse out to a specific location
03:50
where your template file is
03:53
click open.
03:55
And now you can see we are path to a specific DWT
03:59
file so that all users from now on using q new,
04:04
the new drawings will be created
04:07
based on that template.
04:10
The final search path
04:11
for templates
04:13
in the options dialog box is for the default
04:16
template for sheet creation and page setup overrides.
04:21
You will notice
04:23
when I click over it or expand it by clicking the plus sign
04:28
min is set to none.
04:29
Some machines are pointed to
04:32
an architectural DWG for this setting,
04:35
each organization will be different.
04:38
But once again, if I click where it says none, I can click browse
04:43
and point to a specific DWT file for this particular setting.
04:51
Once all these search paths are set up, the way your organization would like,
04:55
you can hit the apply button,
04:57
then click the OK button to finalize these settings on your computer.
05:03
One quick note for those that have, have to set up many machines,
05:08
you may want to look into creating deployments
05:11
that already have these custom search paths set so that
05:15
you don't have to do this on each and every machine
05:18
within your organization.
05:21
Now that we've talked about setting up search paths for templates,
05:24
let's take a look at how this causes Autocad to behave.
05:28
If we had out of the box settings,
05:32
our drawing area would look like this, no layers,
05:38
no blocks.
05:40
But now that we've pointed to a specific template.
05:44
If I come up to the Q new button,
05:47
this drawing is based on the civil DWT file.
05:51
And as you can see,
05:53
it comes with N CS compliant layers,
05:56
it also comes with
06:00
blocks.
06:04
And if we go to the
06:07
an tub,
06:10
we have dimension styles, m leader styles, text styles, etc.
06:18
This ensures that your users will not have
06:21
to look around for these company settings.
Video transcript
00:04
Having AUTOCAD set up to point to a specific
00:07
template file will make things easier for your users.
00:10
So they don't have to look around for the organizational template.
00:14
Let's take a look at setting up options in
00:17
AUTOCAD to point to a specific template directory.
00:23
There are a few different search paths that should be set in AUTOCAD.
00:26
When it comes to templates,
00:28
search paths are settings that point to specific directories
00:32
to find source files for various Autocad functions.
00:36
Setting these correctly for templates ensures
00:39
that the correct template file is used
00:41
every time a new drawing command is entered
00:45
to set these search paths
00:47
go into the options of autocad either by right, clicking anywhere
00:52
in the drawing area
00:54
and choosing options
00:57
or
00:58
you can go to the application menu
01:01
and go to options there
01:05
or finally, you could type in
01:07
on the command line
01:09
and this also will open up the
01:12
AUTOCAD options.
01:14
Once in the options dialog box, go over to the files tab
01:19
and scroll down until you see template settings,
01:23
click the plus sign to the left of it to expand it.
01:27
You will notice that there are four search paths here
01:31
that can be modified.
01:34
The first search path is for the drawing template file location.
01:39
This is the folder where your template or templates will be stored.
01:46
Notice that this default setting points to your local C drive to a template folder.
01:52
This is the folder that AUTOCAD points to right out of the box.
01:56
Before customizations are made
01:59
typically in a multi user environment.
02:02
This path may be set to a server location
02:05
so that all c
02:06
ad designers
02:08
can have access to the company templates
02:11
to change these locations to the search. Pass. Notice that once I click on the path,
02:17
I then have access to the browse button
02:20
which will take me to a browser
02:23
and then I can browse out to the location
02:25
where the template file is located either in a local environment
02:30
or in a server environment.
02:34
The second search path available here is for sheet set, template file location.
02:40
If your organization is using sheet sets,
02:43
it's a good idea to have a template set up specifically for the sheet sets.
02:48
Once again, I could click on the path and then click the browse button
02:53
and change the location
02:55
that the search path is pointing to.
02:59
The next path
03:01
is a very important path for users to be
03:04
able to create drawings from a specific template file.
03:09
Notice this is a default template file name for Q new.
03:14
What that means is if you click on the Q new button
03:19
up on the quick access ribbon
03:22
or if you click on the plus sign up near the file tabs.
03:27
This
03:28
is the template
03:30
that a new
03:32
drawing will be based on.
03:35
In this case, Autocad was installed right out of the box.
03:38
So the word none is set as a search path.
03:43
This would be a good idea to click where it says none
03:46
and then browse out to a specific location
03:50
where your template file is
03:53
click open.
03:55
And now you can see we are path to a specific DWT
03:59
file so that all users from now on using q new,
04:04
the new drawings will be created
04:07
based on that template.
04:10
The final search path
04:11
for templates
04:13
in the options dialog box is for the default
04:16
template for sheet creation and page setup overrides.
04:21
You will notice
04:23
when I click over it or expand it by clicking the plus sign
04:28
min is set to none.
04:29
Some machines are pointed to
04:32
an architectural DWG for this setting,
04:35
each organization will be different.
04:38
But once again, if I click where it says none, I can click browse
04:43
and point to a specific DWT file for this particular setting.
04:51
Once all these search paths are set up, the way your organization would like,
04:55
you can hit the apply button,
04:57
then click the OK button to finalize these settings on your computer.
05:03
One quick note for those that have, have to set up many machines,
05:08
you may want to look into creating deployments
05:11
that already have these custom search paths set so that
05:15
you don't have to do this on each and every machine
05:18
within your organization.
05:21
Now that we've talked about setting up search paths for templates,
05:24
let's take a look at how this causes Autocad to behave.
05:28
If we had out of the box settings,
05:32
our drawing area would look like this, no layers,
05:38
no blocks.
05:40
But now that we've pointed to a specific template.
05:44
If I come up to the Q new button,
05:47
this drawing is based on the civil DWT file.
05:51
And as you can see,
05:53
it comes with N CS compliant layers,
05:56
it also comes with
06:00
blocks.
06:04
And if we go to the
06:07
an tub,
06:10
we have dimension styles, m leader styles, text styles, etc.
06:18
This ensures that your users will not have
06:21
to look around for these company settings.
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