36
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Basics
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
NOTE NOTE
The
Application
Menu,
Quick Access
toolbar, and ribbon replace the
traditional menu bar. To display the menu bar, pick the
Customize
Quick Access Toolbar
fl yout on the right side of the
Quick Access
toolbar and select
Show Menu
Bar.
Palettes
Palettes, also known as modeless dialog boxes, control many AutoCAD func-
tions. Palettes may look like extensive toolbars or more like dialog boxes, depending
on the function and fl oating or docked state. You can consider the ribbon a palette
used to access commands and options.
The
Design Feed
palette appears by default when you fi rst start a new drawing.
See Figure 1-5. Use the
Design Feed
palette to share messages and images with others,
such as design team members, vendors, and clients, using your Autodesk 360 account.
Pick the
Close
button on the
Design Feed
palette to close the palette until you are
ready to use Autodesk 360 and the
Design Feed
palette.
Palettes contain tool buttons, fl youts, drop-down lists, and many other features,
such as list boxes and scroll bars. Unlike dialog boxes, you do not need to close
palettes in order to use other commands and work on the drawing. As with the ribbon,
panels divide some palettes into groups of commands. Large palettes are divided into
separate pages or windows, which you commonly access using tabs.
To display a palette, pick a palette button from the
Palettes
panel in the
View
ribbon tab. You can also display most palettes using palette-specifi c access techniques.
For example, to access the
Properties
palette, pick the arrow in the lower-right corner
of the
Properties
panel in the
Home
ribbon tab; select an object, right-click, and select
Properties; or type
PROPERTIES
and press [Enter].
When you display a palette for the fi rst time, it is often in a fl oating state, although you
can dock some palettes. Right-click on the palette title bar or pick the
Properties
button
to select from a list of undocked palette control options. The
Auto-hide
option allows the
palette to minimize when the cursor is away from the palette, conserving drawing space.
Deselect the
Allow Docking
palette property or menu option to disable the ability to dock
palettes. The
Properties
button or shortcut menu on some palettes includes other functions,
such as the
Transparency…
option. Use the
Transparency…
option to make the palette
transparent in order to view drawing geometry behind the palette. See Figure 1-15.
palette (modeless
dialog box): Special
type of window
containing tool
buttons and features
common to dialog
boxes. Palettes can
remain open while
other commands are
active.
list box: A framed
area that contains
a list of items or
options from which
to select.
scroll bar: A bar
tipped with arrow
buttons used to
scroll through a
list of options or
information.
Figure 1-14.
Right-click options for displaying and organizing ribbon elements.
Selection Result
Show Related Tool
Palette Group
Displays tool palette groups customized to associate with a
ribbon tab.
Tool Palette Group
Allows you to select which related tool palette groups to show.
Show Tabs Allows you to choose which tabs to display; also available by
right-clicking on a panel.
Show Panels Allows you to select which panels to display; also available by
right-clicking on a panel.
Show Panel Titles
Uncheck to hide panel titles.
Undock Changes the ribbon to a floating state. Double-click the ribbon title
bar or drag and drop to dock the floating ribbon.
Close Closes the ribbon. Use the
RIBBON
command to redisplay the ribbon.