TIPS: AutoCAD 2006 Misc

Rectang

This command has two new options: Area and Rotation. The Area option has a curious quirk of which you should be aware: it takes into account chamfers and fillets.

You want to draw a rectangle of 50 square feet. If the rectangle has chamfers (or fillets), AutoCAD 2006 draws the rectangle slightly "larger" to compensate for the "missing" parts at the four corners. The total area will be 50 sq ft.

ApBox

As with every release, AutoCAD 2006 has undocumented system variables. One of them is ApBox, which reports whether the aperture box cursor is on or off. Perhaps this info is useful to programmers.

Color

Selecting one of 16.7 million colors can be tough when you're looking for just the right color, yet aren't quite sure what it is. Here is an approach I take:

1. Use the Color command to open the Select Color dialog box, and then click on the Color Books tab.
2. Scroll through the predefined colors from Pantone, et al.
3. Pick a color that's close to what you want.
4. Click the TrueColor tab. Notice that AutoCAD has inserted the RGB values from the Color Book color.
5. Use the sliders to modify the color, such as darker or lighter.

The online help notes: "Pantone has provided new color definitions for Architectural & Interiors Cotton and Architectural & Interiors Paper color books. If you used these color books in releases prior to AutoCAD 2006, you may notice subtle changes in the colors."

Comments

[Jimmy Bergmark]

FYI, ApBox is not new for AutoCAD 2006. It was introduced in AutoCAD R14