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AutoCAD Productivity

Drawing Information

by Michael Beall

From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #137
Originally published: December 2014

For billing purposes, it's nice to know how long you have spent working in a drawing. To that end, the Time command may be a helpful resource, especially given the elapsed time feature that can be toggled ON and OFF, and can also be Reset.

Command:  TIME
Current time:             Sunday, November 23, 2014  3:44:54:790 PM
Times for this drawing:
  Created:                Wednesday, November 14, 2007  2:42:44:984 PM
  Last updated:           Sunday, November 23, 2014  9:59:28:105 AM
  Total editing time:     0 days 04:45:06:399
  Elapsed timer (off):    0 days 04:44:32:866
  Next automatic save in: 0 days 00:07:30:395

Enter option [Display/ON/OFF/Reset]:

Drawing PropertiesTo keep track of your time in the drawing, launch the Time command, then begin the elapsed timer with the ON option. When finished, use the OFF option to display the total editing time. The above information indicates that I was editing the drawing for a little more than 30 seconds - 04:44:32 to 04:45:06.

DWGPROPS [Application menu ❯ Drawing Utilities ❯ Drawing Properties] Another useful tool for quick information may be the Dwgprops command found in the ‘scarlet letter’. It's nice to have the Location and Size information immediately available, rather than going out to Save As.

See all the articles published in December 2014

Michael's Corner

Between 2003 and 2016, Michael Beall (and one or two guests) wrote almost 600 articles for CADTutor. The focus of these articles is AutoCAD productivity, and although some of them are now more than a few years old, most remain relevant to current versions of AutoCAD. The article above is just one example. Check out Michael's Corner for a full listing.

Tip of the Day

Take control of QNEW

Have you ever wanted to change your QNEW command or your "New" button to open a certain .dwt file? Here's how:
Go to the options menu and select the Files tab.
Go down to Template Settings.
Select Default Template File Name for QNEW.
Select the .dwt file you want to use.
Now when you open AutoCAD or hit the "New" button this .dwt will load every time.

Today's tip is by Sean Nesbitt

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