A Few Tricks for Productivity With AutoCAD

Here we’ve compiled some tricks that will save you time and make you more productive with AutoCAD software. We’ve also shared some command-line-related tips that might interest you.

Repeat a Command Without Pressing Enter

If you want to use a command multiple times and don’t want to keep pressing Enter over and over, you can use the MULTIPLE command to run the command in an infinite loop.

Type MULTIPLE on the command line, press Enter, and then enter the name of the command you want to repeat; for example, type C for circle and press Enter, now draw a circle. When your circle is complete, AutoCAD won’t exit the circle command and will be ready to create another circle. Press ESC to exit this loop.

For Maximum Workspace

If you want maximum workspace from AutoCAD,
you can close the ribbon at the top with the AutoCAD menus by pressing CTRL + 0 on your keyboard.
To gain even more space, you can also hide the command line by pressing CTRL + 9.

To bring the ribbons back, press CTRL + 0 again, and CTRL + 9 again to bring back the command line. This tip will also be useful for people asking questions like my AutoCAD menus disappeared, how do I get them back?

Command-Line Shortcuts

Defining single-letter shortcuts (like L, C, TR) for frequently used commands in AutoCAD significantly speeds up drafting.

Using Dynamic Input

Dynamic Input lets you enter dimensions and angles directly on the drawing screen without looking at the command bar.

Layer Management

Using layers in an organized way makes it much easier to quickly select and edit objects in complex drawings.

Always Use Both Hands

Using your left hand for keyboard input, entering commands via the command line instead of finding and clicking the icon to start the same command, saves you far more time.

For example, let’s say you want to quickly insert a block you’ve created or downloaded before. If you use only the mouse to bring up the insert command, you have to move your cursor and switch to the Insert tab on the ribbon; once on the Insert tab, you then have to find and click the Insert button to open the insert dialog box. Doing this pulls your attention away from the drawing.

Keep your left hand on the keyboard, just type the letter i and then press the space bar (SPACE). With this quick input, you can open the INSERT dialog box without taking your attention or your eyes off the drawing at hand.

Try this for other commands too. For example;
L + SPACE for LINE
C + SPACE for CIRCLE
F + SPACE for FILLET
Z + SPACE for ZOOM

If you’re a fan of using the keyboard effectively, you might already be doing this with ENTER instead of SPACE, but if you consider the distance of certain letters from ENTER on the keyboard, this method will be more convenient for working with one hand. You’ll see that this simple tip will save you a considerable amount of time on your drawings.

Return to Your Workspace With Two Keystrokes

Type z enter and then e enter.

Z brings up the zoom command, and the E you then type is short for EXTENTS. Pressing z enter e enter zooms your drawing so that you can see the entire drawing. Besides letting you see your whole project, it’s also useful for finding drawing fragments left forgotten here and there in your drawing area.