Here's a quickie post on my latest Cadalyst article.  It's focused on the changes to the world of PDF in AutoCAD 2010.  Be sure to check it out so you know the ins and outs (literally) of working with PDF files. 

 

Of course one of the top AUGI wishes was granted - now you can bring a PDF file into AutoCAD!  You can snap to it, clip it, fade it, control the layers, etc.  Big improvements have also been made to taking AutoCAD files out to PDF as well.  Not only are the PDF files about half the size as they used to be (thank goodness!), but they are a higher resolution as well.  And the text from AutoCAD now goes across as actual text (no longer rasterized).  That means you can do a search for text inside of Adobe Reader as well. 

Note:  You can only search for text made from True Type fonts...not the standard AutoCAD text fonts (SHX).  Can we blame Adobe for not supporting that?

Be sure to check out the complete article for detailed information!

And fyi...I'll post a few China Touring pictures tomorrow...I realize you are all on the edge of your seats!  (said sarcastically of course).

Well between my time in China for the AutoCAD 2010 Launch and a week of vacation I have been terribly neglectful of my blog.  I'll try to do a quick catch-up!

I must admit I really enjoyed Beijing and meeting the many customers at the AutoCAD 2010 Launch event.  I'll share a few pictures from the event...

Before the event actually started I had the opportunity to meet a very enthusiastic customer who assured me he was my biggest fan - very nice way for me to start the day!  Hello to Gary if you are reading my blog!

Adous Wong, the VP of Greater China started the general session with a warm welcome.

The customers were very enthusiastic and raised their hands as I asked them questions.

 

And there was a nice exhibit area as well.

 

The following day I spent a few hours in a much smaller presentation with some of Autodesk's key customers in China.  Here we were able to take more questions and make the session much more interactive.

I also was very fortunate to play tourist so I'll share some of those pics tomorrow!

The Americas launch events are slowly winding down with with one last reseller event (Avatech) this week in Dallas.  Next week I move on to the Autodesk Imagine Tour in China where I'll get the opportunity to demo the new features in AutoCAD 2010 using the Chinese version of the software (wish me luck with that one!)

Last week I had the splendid opportunity to have dinner with fellow blogger Heidi Hewett and her super technical husband Nate Bartley while in Denver.  Definitely one of the highlights of my week for sure!  Below is a picture of fabulous Heidi and myself (she's just a tad taller than I am). When you travel all the time - a dinner with friends can make all the difference in the world and I appreciate them taking time out of their very busy schedules to have dinner wtih me!

 

Heidi is the one at Autodesk who trains me (and others) on the new release each year and she's never too busy to help me figure something out in AutoCAD.  I tell her constantly how I could never do my job without her (maybe some day she will actually believe me).  Be sure to check out her blog which is always filled with great infomation and AutoCAD tips.

Roger from TotalCAD also took me out to dinner while I was in Houston and that was much appreciated as well.  The Houston event had to be cut off at 220 registrations due to room constraints - really great event!  And hey - now I know my structural i-beam chart is incorrect (they are very detailed in Houston I'm told).

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Super Speedy dimensioning!

Many years ago the fantastic QDIM Express Tool entered the world of AutoCAD.  QDIM, for Quick Dimensioning, is absolutely amazing and can really help you out with a tight deadline.  Why dimension one at a time when you can knock out multiple dimensions at once?  I always promote being the lasiest AutoCAD operator ever and this is certainly one means of doing it!  You'll leave your coworkers in the dust if you can wrap your arms around the QDIM command.