Training & Certification

AutoCAD 2009

Innovative improvements to the AutoCAD software
you know and trust.

With AutoCAD software, Autodesk has just one goal in mind: increasing your productivity.

AutoCAD 2009 boosts efficiency with customisable and extensible user interface enhancements that increase overall drafting productivity by decreasing the number of steps needed to reach a command.

Newly designed, innovative features simplify working with layers and help make new users productive as quickly as possible.

Easy-to-use navigation tools make finding your way around 3D models a snap. Move to new highs of productivity with AutoCAD software.

AutoCAD 2009 Presentations

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Ribbon Toolbar

The Ribbon Toobar in AutoCAD 2009, displayed near the top of the AutoCAD window, provides easy access to AutoCAD tools through a collection of tabs and panels. Each tab contains multiple panels, and each panel contains multiple tools. Some panels can be expanded to access additional tools.

The new Ribbon interface gives simple, task-based access to commands:

• Fewer clicks to reach commands
• Commands are presented based on task
• Clean modern design
• Easier for new users
• Roll-over help
• Customisable and extensible

You can control the display of content within the Ribbon’s tabs and panels; just right-click to display the context-sensitive menu and turn tabs or panels on and off. Easily reorganize ribbon tabs, or panels within the tabs, by dragging them to new locations. You can even drag panels off the ribbon to create separate, floating panels. And to customise the Ribbon still further, you can access the new Ribbon nodes in the Customize User Interface dialog box

Menu Browser

The new Menu Browser in AutoCAD 2009 provides easy access to a variety of content, including commands and documents, from a single button in the upper-left corner of the AutoCAD display.

The Menu Browser displays a vertical list of the menus, emulating the menus that traditionally ran horizontally across the top of the AutoCAD window. Selecting a menu from the Menu Browser expands the menu list, enabling you to launch a command.

In addition to command access, the Menu Browser enables you to view and access recently used or open documents. You can display the document names with icons or with small, medium, or large preview images, making them easy to identify.

Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access toolbar is displayed at the top of the AutoCAD window, next to the Menu Browser. It includes the most commonly used tools, such as New, Open, Save, Plot, Undo, and Redo. You can add and remove tools with the Customize User Interface dialog box, which is accessible from the right-click menu.

InfoCenter

The InfoCenter has been enhanced in AutoCAD 2009 to provide more flexibility when searching for help. You can expand the search field or collapse it to save space on the title bar. And when searching the AutoCAD help system for a topic, you can specify which document to search, decreasing the amount of time you spend trying to locate a topic.

Status Bar

The AutoCAD 2009 status bar has been updated with new tools and icons. The left side of the Status bar includes button toggles for familiar functions such as Osnap, Grid, and Dynamic Input. A right-click menu enables you to easily switch the Status bar display from icons to traditional text labels and back. The Quick Properties (QP) toggle is a new addition to the Status bar.

The Model and Layout buttons have been moved to the right side of the Status bar, where several new tools have also been added.

Quick Properties

The Quick Properties panel enables you to view and modify object properties when you need them, without sacrificing screen real estate. You can turn on quick properties with the QP toggle on the Status bar. When turned on, the Quick Properties window automatically displays an editable list of properties when you select an object.

Quick View Layouts

The Quick View Layouts button on the AutoCAD 2009 status bar displays a horizontal row of Quick View Layout images. This new functionality provides a faster and more visual alternative to using the traditional Model and Layout tabs to switch between layouts within the current drawing. You can identify and select layouts, not only by name but by appearance.

Quick View Drawings

The Quick View Drawings button, on the Status bar, displays a horizontal row of Quick View drawing images. This new functionality is a faster and more visual alternative to using the Ctrl+Tab key combination or the Window menu for switching between open drawings.

When you hover the cursor over a Quick View Drawing image, preview images of all the layouts in that drawing, including model space, are displayed above the drawing images in a separate image bar. You can easily view and activate any layout within any open drawing directly from the Quick View Drawing bar.

Tooltips   

Improved tooltips in AutoCAD 2009 provide more information as you need it. Tooltips are automatically displayed when you pass the cursor over various tools. The improved tooltips not only display the name of the tool but provide additional information, and even graphics, directly from the help system.

If you pass the cursor over an item in the Sheet Set Manager or the External References palette, you can quickly preview the drawing geometry and detail information without selecting the item.

Preview images also display as tooltips for layout tabs, helping you locate the layout you want to use.

Action Recorder

A new Action Recorder can significantly increase productivity by automating repetitive tasks. Easily record actions and save them to a named macro. Then replay the macro to repeat the procedure with minimal effort. The Action Recorder can record routine actions from the command line as well as from toolbars, ribbon panels, menus, the Properties window, the Layer Properties Manager, and the Tool palette. You can even create more robust and interactive macros by including text messages and requests for user input.

Layer Management

The Layer Properties Manager includes many enhancements to help increase productivity. It has been converted to a modeless dialog box, enabling you to keep it displayed while using other commands. The changes you make within the Layer Properties Manager are instantly applied to the drawing, so you don’t need to click an Apply button. To free up space in the Layer Properties Manager, you can collapse the Filters pane.

Working with DGN files

AutoCAD 2009 includes support for exporting your AutoCAD DWG files to Bentley Systems’ MicroStation® V7 DGN format (in addition to the V8 DGN support that was added in AutoCAD 2008).

A new DGN mapping tool enables you to map DGN levels, linestyles, lineweights, and colours to AutoCAD layers, linetypes, lineweight, and colours, and vice versa. Save and access named DGN mappings for increased control during the import and export of DGN files. You can access the DGN Mappings using the new DGNMAPPING command and specify the location for DGN Mapping Setups from the Files tab of the Options dialog box.

DWFx Support

AutoCAD 2009 includes support for DWFx, which is a DWF format that is compliant with Microsoft’s XML Paper Specification (XPS) format. DWFx files are easily distributable on the Windows Vista® platform, as this format is supported by the XPS Viewer.

Xref Clipping

You can now use grips to edit the boundary of a clipped external reference. In addition to using grips to edit the clip boundaries, a new grip enables you to quickly invert the clipping area.

Interactive Array Preview

When you preview an array of objects from the Array command, you can pan, zoom, and navigate the model before accepting the newly arrayed objects.

Find and Replace

The Find and Replace functionality has been updated to include an expandable dialog box and more options.

ShowMotion

The new ShowMotion functionality in AutoCAD 2009 enables you to create and play camera animations for presentation purposes or navigate through your design. The ShowMotion button, available on the Status bar, turns on the ShowMotion control panel and displays thumbnail images of the view categories and view shots saved in the drawing.

3D Navigation Tools

AutoCAD 2009 includes two new tools to help you navigate 3D models with ease.

The new navigation tool, called the ViewCube™, provides an intuitive interface for viewing your model from standard viewpoints. It includes hot spots that highlight as you pass your cursor over different parts of the cube. When you click a hot spot, AutoCAD instantly restores the associated viewpoint. In addition to the predefined viewpoints, you can click the cube and move the cursor to orbit the model freely. Regardless of how you change the viewpoint of your model, the ViewCube tool automatically displays the current view orientation.

The new SteeringWheel tool displays a navigation wheel at the cursor for quick access to a variety of navigation tools. A right-click menu provides options for different wheel sizes and modes.

The View Object wheel is ideal for navigating around a model. It includes common navigation tools such as Zoom and Orbit as well as an option to move the centre of the display window in the indicated location.

The Tour Building wheel is ideal for navigating the inside of a building. It includes tools such as Forward, Look, and Up/Down in addition to the Rewind tool.