Reduce File Size In AutoCAD

Working on a huge AutoCAD  file can be very slow and time consuming. It is best to reduce your file size to speed up your work. There are many ways for you to reduce the size of your file. The following listed below are some of the tools I normally use to compress my file size.

1. Purge (PU)

2. Overkill (OVE)

3. Regapps (-PU>R)

4. -Scalelistedit (-SC)

5. Audit (AU)

6. Recover (RECO)

7. Dxf out / Dxf in (DXFO/DXFI)

1. Purge

Purging is to remove unnecessary items such as linetypes, layers and etc. created in a drawing. AutoCAD will not remove all these items even after you delete them. For example if you have created a layer “DIMENSION” and you assign one of your dimensions to that specific layer, if you delete that layer, you will realize that your layer “DIMENSION” will still be in your layer manager. AutoCAD keeps the layer to allow users to reuse the layer without creating it from scratch thus causing the file size to increase. By purging the drawing, AutoCAD will remove these unnecessary items. You can also filter out which items you would want to purge but I normally would purge everything.

2. Overkill

Overkill is basically to remove overlapping items which are placed directly on top of each other.

3. Regapps

Regapps are basically registered application. Purging this registered application will reduce your file size as well. Regapps is not a command by itself, you need to type -purge and remove the regapps from there.

For more information on the definition of regapps click this link http://withoutanet.typepad.com/without_a_net/2010/03/managing-regapp-ids.html.

 

Just follow the step as shown in red; -pu>enter>Regapps>enter>*>enter>No>enter

4. -Scalelistedit

Removing custom created scales in the drawing may reduce the file size as well. This does not really reduce your file size tremendously but it works too.

To remove all unnecessary the scales create; -scalelistedit>enter>*>enter

To reset the scales to default; -scalelistedit>enter>yes>enter

The scales will look as shown below if deleted

The scales will look as shown below if it is reset to default.

5. Audit

Files may have errors especially the act of transferring. The “audit” process cleans up these unwanted errors which will make it easier for you to access your file. I would recommend users to use e-transmit before sending files to prevent such things from happening. If you do encounter these problems just audit the files. You will need to wait for the files to be audited, it will take some time but not to long. I  have experienced waiting for my files to audit using AutoCAD MEP, so if you are using AutoCAD MEP the files may take a bit longer to load and to audit.

To audit your file; type audit>enter>yes (fix the problems)

 

The message will inform on the number of errors fixed after the audit.

All audited files will have an audit log which list down the things audited in the drawing. Save this file so that you can send this to Autodesk if the problem persists.

6. Recover

Recover is basically auditing your file before even opening it. If you have trouble opening your file due to many reasons, use this command to fix any problems. Open a new template, run the command “recover” and select the file that you would like to fix.

7. Dxf out / Dxf in

This command also helps to reduce your file size. I have not found an explaination on why this works but it may be due to the format convertion which causes the file size to reduce. The images will explain how to reduce your file size using this command.

I have selected the file SK.128 as a sample, notice the size of the file 6.90MB

Open the drawing and type “dxfout” in the command line. Just remember to check that the file being exported has an “ACAD” placed in the front.

Save the file and do not open it. It should be in a dxf format. In a new drawing type “dxfin” to reimport the file.

Select the file at the location that you save, most of the time the save location will be the same location as the original file.

Save the file again but now to a dwg format. Notice that the file size has been reduced. You may rename your file after.

 

Do not worry, all the layers, properties and etc. will still remain unchanged.

Xref Does Not Change Colour in AutoCAD

Ever experience working with an Xref file which does not follow its properties after making some changes to it? Even after reloading the Xref file, it does not update the properties. The problem lies within the settings of the drawing. Ever heard of the command visretain? Depending on the values set for this command, it will determine the visibility, color, linetype, lineweight, and plot styles.

There are only two values that you are able to set when using the command visretain is either “0” or “1”.

Basically when visretain is set to “1”, whatever changes you make on the Xref file will only be visible when you open the xref file but no changes will be seen in your main drawing.

However when visretain is set to “0”, whatever changes you make on the Xref file will be visible in your main drawing.

The images I have uploaded below will hopefully give you a clearer picture on the command visretain.

Enable/Disable Password In AutoCAD Drawing

Setting-up password in a drawing is easy but can be crucial if you do not remember it . If you forget your password, chances are that you will lose the drawing permanently if you do not have a backup. Before assigning a password to a drawing, many have recommend to create a backup for the drawing or write down the password in a notebook or etc. I prefer to use a similar and strong password rather than changing it from time to time. Honestly I do not really set password for my drawings as I am working on a shared network. Nevertheless it is good to know about this function as you may never know one day you may need to use it.

To set a password for a drawing, you should go under Options>Open & Save. If you look at the bottom left corner, you should be able to see “Security Options”. By clicking on it, a pop-up will appear on your screen to prompt you for a password. Set your password for that specific drawing and click “ok” to apply. Just note that in order for you to see whether the password has been set, you need to restart your AutoCAD. It will only prompt to ask for the password once and if you continue to open that same file again and again, AutoCAD will not prompt you for the password unless you restart your software. Another important thing to remember as I have emphasized earlier is to create a backup copy so that if you forget your password you do not have to worry. There may be some external software’s that you can use to retrieve your password but I think you need to pay for it.

I will upload some images for you to see if you are still unsure.

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Automatic Date Updates Using Field In AutoCAD

Depending on each individual, using field can really be a powerful tool if you know how to properly utilize it. A field is a multiline text which updates whenever the field value changes. For example, you can use a field to follow the name of your given drawing.

Apparantly whenever you use field to set dates, it does not automatically update in the drawing even if you set your “FILEDIA” but instead you need to use a command “UPDATEFIELD” to manually update your drawings. For me this is good enough as I do not want my drawings to update automatically as it does not benefit me at all. But for some of you who wants to customise your date to automatically update in your drawings, I came up with a diesel expression that will update the dates automatically whenever you open or regenerate. There are other selection of date formats that you can use but as mentioned earlier, you need to update the dates manually.

Diesel Expression: $(edtime,$(getvar,date),” “DD/MO/YY)

This expression will give you the date in this format: 05/09/14

You may also change the dates formats just by changing the values of “DD”, “MO” & “YY”.

DD – Denotes for day (in numerical)

MO – Denotes for month (in numerical)

MON – Denotes for month (in alphabetical)

YY – Denotes fpr year (in numerical)

Lets take a look at another diesel expression example that you can create, now I would like to create a date using field in the format 05-AUG-2014 and 05AUGUST2014.

1. Diesel Expression: $(edtime,$(getvar,date),” “DD-MON-YYYY) = 05-AUG-2014

2. Diesel Expression: $(edtime,$(getvar,date),” “DDMONTHYYYY) = 05AUGUST2014

Just look at how I change the values respectively. Its that simple. If you are wondering where or how to place athis diesel expression to customise a date field, just take a look at the images uploaded below.

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Custom Command Shortcuts in AutoCAD

Generally many of us use shortcut commands to speed up our work when using AutoCAD. Some examples such as to draw a line, instead of typing the entire word “LINE” in the commandline we use “L” to speed up our work. Another example will be instead of “PURGE” we type PU for short.

There is a command which will allows you to custom your own shortcuts which will speed up your drafting further. This depends on individual, some people are used to using the default commands set by AutoCAD and will get affected by changes and some because they have never heard of this commans generally. I normally change my commands by using ALIASEDIT (ALIA). This command will allow you to edit command shortcuts to your own preference.

Let me just explain a little further, I realise that I use rotate most of the time and I always have to type “RO” in the command line to initiate the command. When I type “R” instead, the command will call for redraw. I hardly use the command redraw and would like to custom my shortcut command for rotate to be “R” instead of “RO”, not forgetting to change the command “REDRAW” as well. This actually saves a lot of my time. The images Ive uploaded below will show you how to use the command “ALIASEDIT” to speed up your work.

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Basically that very straightforward and simple explaination on how to use ALIASEDIT. Just remember that most of the commands are already assigned with shortcuts and by redefining a command, you also need to ensure that it does not mirror another command. Try it yourself and hopefully it helps you speed up your work.

XREF Keeps Dissappearing in AutoCAD

Have you ever faced a problem when your XREF are missing from your working drawing. A pop-up will appear telling you that you “One or more referenced files could not be located or read. What do you want to do?” Normally when I just click “Ignore unresolved references and continue”, my xref will be missing from my drawing. If I choose the other option, AutoCAD will prompt me to re-attached my xref files. Even when you re-attach your xref files and save them, your xref will be missing the next time you open your drawing.

You can use the command REDIR to redirect your xref files to fix the location so that AutoCAD will know where to locate your files. This usually happens when you are tidying your files. The images shown below will give a better idea of how you can solve this problem.

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The next time you open your drawing the pop-up will not reappear unless you change your xref file location again.