HyperPics: Beyond the UI

New AutoCAD Books on the Way to a Shelf (or a Web Site) Near You

I have recently finished up the revision to the AutoCAD book that I had originally co-authored back in 2006 which was based on AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD LT 2007 at that time.  The revision to the book is entitled AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies book and should be out on store shelves or will be available for purchase from your favorite online purchasing site such as Amazon.com or BN.com in the next week.  The new book weighs in at 792 pages of AutoCAD goodness, up a bit from the previous edition when it comes to print.

However, one of the things that was done with this edition instead of trying to stuff all the new content in between the covers and tossing out existing content to make room for the new content, a portion of the book has been moved to downloadable content.  The content that was mainly moved to downloadable content is in the area of customization and programming AutoCAD.  To learn more about the AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies book, click the URL below.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470243783.html

In addition to the book that I have recently finished authoring, I have also had the privilege once again to read through the latest edition of the AutoCAD for Dummies series, AutoCAD 2009 for Dummies which is authored by David Byrnes'.  The AutoCAD 2009 for Dummies book is a much more compact version of the AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies book.

The AutoCAD 2009 for Dummies book focuses on many of the key fundamentals of AutoCAD, whereas the AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies book covers the fundamentals of AutoCAD and leads into much more advanced topics like customization and programming of AutoCAD.  To learn more about the AutoCAD 2009 for Dummies book, click the URL below.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470229772.html

There are other AutoCAD books on their way and I will cover some of them later when it gets closer to their publish dates.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Blog Roundup

What happens when you take "1 Part CAD Site" and mix it (not shake it) with "1 Part AutoCAD RSS Feed Aggregator" or for those that know AutoLISP (+ "CAD Site" "AutoCAD RSS Feed Aggregator")?  I'm not sure, but if it was possible to derive a solution from the formula I am sure you would get something close to CADtutor.net.  While I have often visited CADtutor.net it wasn't until recently that I discovered that the site was aggregating many of the commonly visited AutoCAD and CAD related blogs in the industry.  It is a great way to keep up to date on what is happening in the industry as well as learn new tips and tricks about AutoCAD and other programs that you might use.  The link to the AutoCAD RSS Feed page on CADTutor.net is below:

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=38

Michael's Corner is also a great section of CADtutor.net to visit as well.  He has been writing a monthly column on various aspects of AutoCAD since 2003, with the exception of January of 2008 when he spent a few weeks away on vacation when I filled in for him.  Michael is a great guy and is always willing to help AutoCAD users when he can.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Cue the Cue Cards, Enter Stage Left

AutoCAD 2009 is shipping with a new in-the-box item referred to as "Cue Cards".  Cue Cards provide information about new features that ship with the product and they come in two different versions: hardcopy and electronic.  The hardcopy version of a Cue Card is about the same size as a 5x7 picture, while the electronic version can be viewed by opening the file acad_cue_cards.pdf in Adobe Acrobat Reader or another viewer that allows you to view PDF files. 

The file acad_cue_cards.pdf can be found in the Newfeatures folder under the Help folder of AutoCAD's install folder (<drive>:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2009\Help\newfeatures\).  Information found on a Cue Card about a feature includes the following:

• Brief description of what the feature is
• Illustrations that show the feature
• Tips
• Key features
• Related commands
• Link to related tutorials

If you want additional hardcopies of the Cue Cards, you can order additional sets by going to autodeskdocandmedia.com/.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Learning About the New Features in AutoCAD 2009

Whether you have recently upgraded to AutoCAD 2009 or are on the process of deciding to upgrade or not, you might find the following links of interest:

New Features Workshop (NFW) - The New Features Workshop is one of the first screens that you encounter when you first install AutoCAD, but often it gets overlooked and turned off right away.  If you have installed AutoCAD 2009, you can access the NFW by doing the following:

1. Press F1 while in AutoCAD.
2. In the AutoCAD 2009 Help window, on the right pane, click the New Features Workshop link under the General Information section.
3. If prompted with a message box to click Yes or No, click Yes.  The message warns you that the ActiveX control might be unsafe.  The ActiveX control that is trying to be displayed on the page for the NFW is Adobe's Flash plug-in.  Clicking No will cause the NFW to not launch.

If you do not have AutoCAD 2009 installed yet, it's a little hard to access the NFW from inside of AutoCAD.  If you do not have access to the NFW because AutoCAD is not installed, you can view the web based version on autodesk.com by clicking the following URL and then clicking on the New Features Workshop link.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=8446323

Tutorials - Whenever a new feature is introduced, you often don't have time to explore the feature right away or fully understand how you might go about using a new feature.  Tutorials can help explain how to use a feature in a step-by-step approach.  There are currently 19 tutorials on autodesk.com that apply to AutoCAD 2009.  These tutorials cover many of the new features that have been introduced with this release, such as the ribbon, ViewCube, SteeringWheels, Action Recorder and many others.  To access the tutorial site, click the following URL (you do not need AutoCAD 2009 to view the tutorials but will need AutoCAD 2009 to complete them though).

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=10947339&linkID=9240615

Sincerely,
  Lee