Have you ever wanted to create a new drawing file in AutoCAD and all text styles, dimension styles, layers, units, and other drawing settings are set up and ready for immediate use? We've heard from some customers that the way they start drawing new shapes is by opening an existing shape, saving the shape with a new name, and then deleting the geometry. This is time-consuming and can lead to standards becoming obsolete or disruptive.
Most of the drawing settings and named style information that you use when you start drawing a new drawing can be saved in the template. It's normal to have drawings in the template that you don't use all of its linetypes or styles, but the drawing template should contain the criteria you need to get started.
Here are some drawing settings that cannot be stored in a drawing template:
User interface elements, such as quick access toolbar or ribbon changes.
Custom hatch patterns.
Custom applications, action macros, scripts, autolisp programs.
Shapefiles. Autodesk provides several templates that are installed with AutoCAD. You can access these templates from the Start tab in the Templates drop-down list.
Note:Starting with AutoCAD 2022, click the New drop-down list to access the templates that were installed with AutoCAD.
While these boilerplates are a great place to get started, they may not have the setup you need.
The templates that are installed with AutoCAD are located at:
C: Users AppData Local Autodesk AutoCAD 2021240\enu\template\
Note:The template storage location can be changed to a shared location so that all AutoCAD users in your company share the same template. If the template storage location changes, the list under Templates is updated.
To make changes to the template, you need to open it. Opening a template is similar to opening a drawing.
1. Select Open from the Quick Access toolbar.
2. Or type at the Command prompt“open”
In the File Type drop-down list, select Drawing Template (*..)dwt)”。
You should see the template installed with AutoCAD.
3. Select a template and click Open. For this exercise, we'll select "acad."dwt”。
Note:Changing a template affects only the new drawing, and does not affect any drawings previously created with that template.
The template name is displayed on the Drawings tab with the extension ".".dwt"), and can be edited.
Saving and closing a template is similar to saving a drawing. Click Save or Save As in the Quick Access toolbar to save the template and continue working.
4. For this exercise, I will create a new template by clicking "Save As" and give it a name“mytemplate”, and then click Save.
5. In the Template Options dialog box, enter a description of the template, leave the rest of the default settings unchanged, and then click OK.
Now that you've created and saved your template, you're ready to start using it. By default, when you start drawing a new drawing, AutoCAD will start drawing a new drawing based on the default template file name specified in Qnew (in this case, ACADdwt). Let's change this setting to start drawing a new drawing with a new template.
1. Right-click in the graphics window and select "Options".
Or type at the Command prompt“options”
2. Click the "File" tab, and then expand "Template Settings" >Default Template File Name for qnew".
3. Select the file path and select "Browse".
Or double-click the file path to browse.
Note:The default option for Default Template File Name for qnew is None. When it is set to None, the qnew command acts like the new command.
4. In the Select File dialog box, browse and select the template file (in this case, which you want AutoCAD to use as the default value for the new drawing“mytemplate”), and then click Open.
5. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
AutoCAD now uses "MyTemplate" when you start drawing a new drawing.
So far, we've covered where templates are stored, how AutoCAD uses templates when you open a new drawing, and how to create a new template from one of the sample templates provided.
Now, let's start editing the boilerplate. Editing a template is similar to editing a drawing. Follow the steps above to open "mytemplate".
Consider what you want to set when you create a new drawing, and consider adding drawing settings to MyTemplate.
Here are some graphics settings that might be useful:
Turn off the grid display.
Change the graphics window color.
Add a standard layer.
Create text and callout styles.
Has a title bar that can be inserted.
Sets the drawing units.
All of these are drawing settings that can be added to the template, so the next time you create a new drawing, the settings are ready to go.
An easy way to test changes to a template is to save the template and then click + on the Drawings tab to create a new drawing. Keeping the template open for testing allows you to change the template very quickly.
Note:If you don't see the template changes in the new drawing, make sure that the Default Template File Name for qnew is set to Use MyTemplate in the Options dialog box.
DesignCenter can be used to add layers, named styles, and blocks to a template.
1. In this exercise, open“mytemplate.dwt”
2. Click View tab > Palettes panel > DesignCenter
Or type at the Command prompt“adcenter”
Add "landscaping."dwg, blocks, and styles.
3. In the Design Center, navigate to Landscapingdwg and drag the drawing to the drawing area of the template.
Note:If you only want the block definition to be insertable from the Blocks palette, press the Esc key after dragging. Otherwise, the block is inserted into the template drawing window.
Now, in "Landscaping."DWG, the named styles, blocks, and graphics settings are immediately available in MyTemplate.
Create a new drawing to test "mytemplate" and verify that the block is available in the new drawing.
Note:You can use the purge command to remove named styles, blocks, and drawing settings, or to remove any additional information that you don't want to include in the template.
What if I need to move from an updated template to an existing drawing? Suppose you want to import some named styles, blocks, and drawing settings from the updated company template. These styles are added to the template after you start the form, so they are not introduced from the template.
In the previous Have You Tried it, we showed you how to add a named style from the updated template to an existing drawing. This information can be found in Have you tried it: "Entering Styles" under the "Entering Multiple Styles" section.
Templates are a powerful tool that can be used to enforce standards in the office and can also save time when creating new drawings. They aren't difficult to set up and can be easily created, edited, and shared as office standards change.
The following are common commands and system variables related to boilerplates.
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