Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published October 2003

The Garden Variety Toolbar

Where does my custom toolbar live?

When you create a toolbar from within AutoCAD, it is automatically saved to the acad.mns file, not in acad.mnu. Therefore, it is a REALLY good idea to backup all menu files (*.mn?) before creating your own toolbar.

Note to AutoCAD 2004 users only: The acad.mns default location is (take a breath):
C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2004\R16.0\enu\Support.

Making a garden variety toolbar (this even works in LT!)

1. Right-click on any AutoCAD tool and choose Customize to open the "Customize" dialog box with four tabs: Commands, Toolbars, Properties, & Keyboard (+ Tool Palettes in A2004).
2. On the Toolbars tab, click New to open the "New Toolbar" dialog box.

3. Enter a name for the toolbar and choose OK. (It's best to leave it in the ACAD group). You will then see this very small toolbar with just one vertical bar in it.
4. To see a listing of the available tools, go to the "Commands" tab. To see all the tools AutoCAD has to offer, scroll down in the Categories column and choose "All Commands". For a description of a command, click on a command name in the Commands column.

5. To place a tool onto your toolbar, drag and drop the desired tool out of the Commands column onto your toolbar.
6. To delete a tool from your toolbar, right-click on it and choose Delete from the context menu. Another way to get rid of a tool from a toolbar is to drag and drop it into space.
7. After adding the desired tools, choose Close and AutoCAD does the rest!

Tip 1: To get a vertical bar between tools, drag one tool just a slight bit away from the other one.

Tip 2: To COPY one tool from an open toolbar, hold down the Ctrl key while you drag 'n' drop. However, this only works if the "Customize" dialog box is open.

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