In an xref, the Insertion Point object snap will find the insertion point of the xref itself, not the insertion points of individual blocks within the xref. If you need to snap to the insertion points of blocks in xrefs, you can add a point to the block at its insertion point (add it to a nonplotting layer). Use the Point command (type Point at the command prompt) and place the point in the same location as the insertion point.

Caption: Point added to block insertion point. PDMODE is set to 66 for ease of viewing.

Then use the Node osnap to select the point (node). If you can’t find the points, change the value of the PDMODE system variable to add a shape around it. This method may not work too well if you have lots of points in your drawing.

Tool palettes can be temperamental in AutoCAD 2009 and up. For example, you might create a new tool palette and populate it by dragging and dropping dynamic blocks. Unfortunately, the tool palette disappears the next time AutoCAD starts. However, when you drag and drop the dynamic blocks into an existing tool palette, they remain there when AutoCAD starts up again.

To avoid this problem, try manually saving your workspace before you close AutoCAD. Select Save Current As from the Workspace pulldown menu or type Wssave at the command line. Don’t rely on the setting to automatically save the workspace. See next tip for more on workspaces.

Caption: Select Save Current As from the Workspace pulldown menu to save your current settings as a named workspace.

You can also check the folder where your tool palettes are stored to see if AutoCAD is actually saving your new tool palettes. If the tool palette was created but doesn’t appear when you open AutoCAD again, check your workspace to see if it includes the palette. You may also want to check whether you’re using a particular tool palette group.

If the tool palette isn’t being created, check to make sure you have permission to read and write to the tool palette folder. If you do, try creating a new path for tool palettes in the Options/File tab. Once you do that, a new palette should be created automatically.

Workspaces are groupings of tools (menus, toolbars, palettes, ribbon control panels) designed to create a drawing environment conducive to a particular task. AutoCAD’s built-in workspaces illustrate this approach:

1. 2D Drafting & Annotation
2. 3D Modeling
3. AutoCAD Classic
4. AutoCAD Default

When in the 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace, you see only those menus, toolbars, etc. that you will use for 2D Drafting. To switch between workspaces, make a selection in the window in the Workspaces toolbar. Or type Workspace at the command line, then press <Enter> for the default setCurrent option.

Caption: Pulldown list in Workspaces toolbar displays available workspaces. Use the Save Current As . . . selection at bottom to create new workspaces.

You can also create your own custom workspaces. Simply arrange your work environment as you want it (for example, display or hide particular toolbars or palettes), then save your current settings to a workspace. To do this, select Save Current As . . . from the Workspaces toolbar, or type Workspace at the command line, then type Saveas.

Alternatively, you can set up workspaces in the CUI. Type CUI at the command line to launch the Customize User Interface dialog box.

Caption: Customize User Interface dialog box.

In the upper left window, select Workspaces and right-click to bring up a short-cut menu with the option to create a New Workspace. Select the new workspace (rename it, if you like). Its contents will appear in the window at upper right (Workspace Contents). Click on Customize Workspace to change the selections under Toolbars, Menus, etc. In the window at lower right, you can specify display properties such as whether model and layout tabs, screen menus, and scroll bars will display in the workspace. When you’re done, select Apply, then OK. Your new workspace should now appear as an option in your Workspace toolbar.

You can control the display order of your saved workspaces and other options in the Workspace Settings dialog box, accessible through the Workspaces toolbar or by typing Wssettings at the command line.

Caption: Workspace Settings dialog box.

In our previous discussion of block attributes, we noted that you can assign a field to an attribute to display information such as the date, filename, and various object properties. There’s also a special kind of field called block placeholders. These can be used only in the Block Editor. They must be assigned to a block attribute in a dynamic block. You create your dynamic block using the tools in the Block Editor, then run Attdef while still in the Editor to create attributes. What makes block placeholders special is that they reference properties from the dynamic block. These properties will change once you insert the block and set its actions and parameters. You can use any or all of the following standard block placeholders fields in a block attribute:

1. Block Unit
2. Color
3. Layer
4. Linetype
5. Linetype Scale
6. Lineweight
7. Material
8. Name
9. Object Name
10. Plot Style
11. Position
12. Rotation
13. Scale X
14. Scale Y
15. Scale Z
16. Unit Factor

In addition, any dynamic properties unique to the block definition will also appear in the list of block placeholders. For example, in the figure below, Length and Width are parameters unique to the block. You could insert those as attribute values to display the values set by the user when the block is inserted and adjusted.

Note: You will need to synchronize attributes after you insert your dynamic blocks in order for the values for the block placeholders to update.

AutoCAD provides two different ways to set full or partial transparency for specific areas in a raster image that you insert into an AutoCAD drawing. Note that the first method works only with two-color raster images (foreground color and background color) and transparent GIF or PNG images.

You can set the Transparency image property available in the GIF and PNG raster formats. Select the image and in the Properties palette turn Transparency on. You can also use the Transparency command, launched by typing Transparency at the command line. When Background Transparency is enabled, the background area in the raster image will become fully transparent.

Caption: Change Transparency setting in Properties palette.

AutoCAD 2011 introduces the Transparency object property, which allows you to set transparency for any drawing object, including raster images. Specify transparency as a percentage.