AutoCAD 2005 for Dummies

To activate either of these options for the current drawing, choose File>Save As to display the Save Drawing As dialog box, and then choose Tools>Security Options to display the Security Options dialog box before you save the file. If you want to add a password to the current drawing, just type it in the text field on the password tab of the Security Options dialog box.

After you password protect and save a DWG file, anyone who tries to open, insert, or xref it will see a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 16-7.

Figure 16-7: Password, please.

To password protect a DWF file, use the PUBLISH command and click the Publish Options button in the Publish dialog box.

  Although electronic security features such as the ones described in this section can be useful as part of a strategy to protect your work from misuse, they’re not a substitute for communicating clearly, preferably in the form of written contracts, what constitutes appropriate use of drawings that you send to or receive from others. http://markcad.com/autocad/elecdwg exchange.htm outlines the issues and suggests how to play well with your drawing exchange buddies.

Part V The Part of Tens

In this part…

Tens sounds a lot like tense, and tense is how AutoCAD may make you feel sometimes. But never fear — help is on the way! Checklists are always a big help in getting things right and fixing things that are wrong. And a Top Ten list is a good way to quickly spot the best — or the worst — of almost anything, AutoCAD included. This Part of Tens features lists that help you keep your drawings healthy and trade drawings with other people and programs.

Chapter 17 Ten Ways to Do No Harm

Hippocrates of Greece is famous for many things, not least of which is the Hippocratic oath sworn by doctors. It begins “First, do no harm.” This is not a bad approach to take when editing existing drawings with AutoCAD whether the drawings were created originally by you or by someone else. You can accidentally undo days or weeks of work by yourself and others in minutes. (Of course, you also can purposefully undo days or weeks of work by yourself and others in minutes, but I can’t give much advice to stop you if you want to do that!)

Follow these guidelines to avoid doing harm to the hard work of others and the productive potential of yourself.

Be Precise

Throughout this book, I remind you that using precision techniques such as snap, object snaps, and typed coordinates is a fundamental part of good CAD practice. Don’t try to use AutoCAD like an illustration program, in which you eyeball locations and distances. Use one of the many AutoCAD precision techniques every time you specify a point or distance.

Control Properties by Layer

As I describe in Chapter 4, AutoCAD gives you two different ways of controlling object properties such as color, linetype, and lineweight: by layer and by object. Unless you have a really

good reason to assign properties by object — such as instructions from your company’s CAD manager or the client for whom you’re creating the drawing — use the by-layer method: Assign colors, linetypes, and lineweights to layers, and let objects inherit their properties from the layer on which they reside. Don’t assign explicit color, linetype, or lineweight to objects.

Know Your Drawing Scale Factor

Chapter 3 describes the importance of choosing an appropriate drawing scale factor when you set up a drawing. Knowing the drawing scale factor of any drawing you’re working on is equally important whether you set it up or not. You need this number in order to calculate lots of scale-dependent objects, such as text, dimensions, and hatching. Chapter 9 includes tips for figuring out the drawing scale factor of an existing drawing.

Know Your Space

Understand the difference between model space and paper space (described in Chapter 2) and know which space the different parts of the drawing you’re looking at on-screen reside in. Above all, make sure that you draw objects in the appropriate space. When you’re viewing a paper space layout, keep an eye on the status bar’s MODEL/PAPER button so that you know which space the cursor currently is in. (Chapter 3 describes how to keep your model and paper space bearings.) When you plot, ensure that you’ve selected the right tab — either Model or one of the paper space layout tabs.

If Someone (Sheet) Set It, Don’t Forget It

  Sheet sets are brand new in AutoCAD 2005, and it remains to be seen how readily AutoCAD-using companies will take to them as a way of organizing drawing sets. If you create new drawings on a project that’s organized with sheet sets, use the Sheet Set Manager palette to ensure that your drawing starts out as a full-fledged citizen of the set. If you find yourself working on a drawing that’s part of a set, be sure that you understand how the sheet set as a whole is organized and how your drawing fits into it. Be aware that some information, such as title sheet data, sheet list, and pointer blocks, may be generated automatically for