• AutoCAD

Create a new drawing using an AutoCAD template

Create new drawings from a specified template, and set up AutoCAD search paths to use this template.


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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