Chapter 15 Obtaining Drawing Information 443 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Picking the Properties button on the QuickCalc palette displays a shortcut menu. The settings allow you to change the palette appearance, including its ability to dock, hide, or appear transparent. Comparing Drawings Comp a ring Dr a wing s The COMPARE command is used to evaluate the differences between two drawing fi les. The fi les selected for comparison are overlaid in a newly created comparison drawing that displays the similarities and differences between the drawings. Use the COMPARE command when it is necessary to observe and document the differences between two drawings, such as when you are working on a design project and other members of the project team make changes to the design. Access the COMPARE command to display the DWG Compare dialog box. See Figure 15-26. To activate the COMPARE command when no drawing is open, select DWG Compare in the Application Menu. Use the DWG 1 area to specify the fi rst drawing to compare, designated DWG 1. If a fi le is open, current, and has been saved, it is listed as DWG 1. To select a different fi le, use the recent fi les drop-down menu or pick the ellipsis (…) button and select a fi le in the Select a drawing to compare dialog box . Next, use the DWG 2 area to specify the second drawing to compare, designated DWG 2. In the comparison drawing that is created, any objects that are unique to DWG 1 are dark green (color 82) by default. Any objects that are unique to DWG 2 are red (color 1). To select different colors, pick the DWG 1 and DWG 2 color swatches to open the Select Color dialog box and select the desired colors. Once you specify the drawings to compare, pick the Compare button to create the comparison drawing and display the Compare contextual ribbon tab. See Figure 15-27. NOTE NOTE The general intent of the COMPARE command is to help evaluate a design before and after changes have been made. Therefore, DWG 1 and DWG 2 are typically separate fi les with unique names. AutoCAD alerts you if you select the same drawing fi le for DWG 1 and DWG 2. AutoCAD starts a new drawing fi le named Compare_DWG 1 vs DWG 2 where DWG 1 and DWG 2 represent the two fi le names. You can change the default name when you save the fi le. In Figure 15-27, a residential fl oor plan saved by one drafter, named A-02-MMM, is compared to the same fl oor plan modifi ed by a second drafter, named A-02-DPM. AutoCAD names the new comparison drawing Compare_A-02-MMM vs A-02-DPM. In the new drawing, DWG 1 and DWG 2 objects are combined into single block objects. Blocks are explained later in this textbook. The comparison drawing contains layers from both drawings. Layer names are followed by _DWG1 or _DWG2 to distinguish the layers in each drawing. NEW AutoCAD COMPARE Ribbon Collaborate Compare DWG Compare Application Menu Drawing Utilities DWG Compare Type COMPARE Figure 15-26. Use the DWG Compare dialog box to specify two drawing files to compare and preset the colors assigned to objects that are different between the drawings. Specify DWG 1 Specify DWG 2 Pick to select a file Pick to select a color