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Q. How Do I Draw To Scale
Q: How do I create a symbol from part of a current drawing.
Q: How to Create an HPGL File
Q: How do I Delete a DesignCAD drawing file?
Q: How do I enter measurements as fractions?
Q: How do I place a DesignCAD drawing in a Microsoft Word document?
Q: How do I place a paragraph of text into a drawing from your Text Document?
Q: How do I scale an entity to a specific size?
Q: How do I select an area on my drawing?
Q: How do I change the Program precision?
Q: How do I enter measurements in Bearings (surveyors coordinates)?
Q: How do I use the Selection Filter?
Q: How do I change the layer of an entity?
Q: How do I edit Dimensions?
Q: How do I edit Text?
Q: How do I edit the line thickness of in an Arrow?
Q: How do I edit the color of an entity?
Q: What happened to the File Merge command?
Q: DesignCAD Default Shortcut Keys
Q: What File Formats does DesignCAD use?
Q: How can I get more information about programming / customizing DesignCAD?

Q. How Do I Draw To Scale

A. Draw in Real World Scale

DesignCAD draws in real world scale (that means if in reality the object would be 100 feet long that is how long you draw it).If you want to draw to a scale you will have to know the actual measurements of the scaled lengths. Scale should really only come into effect when you are printing your drawing, when you enter the scale as the decimal equivalent of the fraction you want it scaled to (1/2 = .5).

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Q: How do I create a symbol from part of a current drawing.

A: Save the Drawing!Any DesignCAD drawing can be used as Symbol. In this example we will show you one of the ways this can be done.

1. Open the Drawing you are working on.

To open a drawing file, go to the FILE menu and pull down to OPEN. Browse through your directories to the location of the file you want to use. Once in the correct directory you can click on the file you want and then click on open.

2.Decide what you part want to use as a symbol.

Once the drawing is loaded decide which part of the drawing you want to make the symbol of.This is important because of later steps.

3.Select the area that will be the symbol.

Now that you have the part of the drawing picked out to use as a symbol you need to select it. To do I this draw a selection box over the area. This will highlight the area so that you can manipulate it. Make sure that when you drag the selection box over the area that you include all of the area, but nothing else so that you do not end up with unwanted entities selected.

4.Set the handles for the symbol.

With the area selected you will want to place a set of handles that will define the points used to load the symbol later. You can set from 1-3 points for this. Activate the set drawing handlescommand from the Points menu. Set up to three points on the selected entities to be handles. If you do not want to set handles the symbol load will use the lower left and lower right corners as default handles.

5.Save the symbol.

Now we are ready to save the area as a symbol. To do this we want to activate the SAVE AS command. In the save as command is a check box that is labeled SAVE SELECTION ONLY, we want to check that by clicking on it with the mouse. Give the new file a separate name from you drawing and click on SAVE. The symbol is created and ready to use.

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Q: How to Create an HPGL File

A: You can print a file out to the HTML format using these steps.

1. Open the Windows Printers Folder Go to the start button and choose settings.

In the Settings pop out there is a selection for Printers, click on that and your Printer drivers will be displayed.

2. Add a new HP printer Click on the ADD PRINTER icon.

Now follow the steps to install a HP driver. The HP 7550 plotter driver works well in most cases. When choosing which out put connection to use select Disk, instead of LPT# or COM#. If you are sending this HPGL File to a plot house that uses a specific plotter, try getting a driver from them for that specific Plotter. If this is to import to another program use the 7550 driver.

3. Make the Plot file. Now that the plotter driver is in place open your DesignCAD drawing and go to print.

Choose the print set-up button and select the new driver you just installed. When you return to the print command options make sure all the size and print options match what you need. Your print options can help you define whether the plot is centered and at what scale it will be made.

4.Print to make the HPGL file Once the entire once options meet your requirements click on the print button.

The program will prompt you for where to save the file and what to name it. Choose a location for the file; try to put it in a directory you will be able to find it in later. Once you have all the settings where you want them click on OK and your HPGL file is made. The HPGL file will be saved to the location you chose and can be recovered from there to use as you need.

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Q: How do I Delete a DesignCAD drawing file?

A: Use the Window of the Open command.

1. Open DesignCAD.

Start the DesignCAD program as you normally would.

2. Choose the Open command.

Click on the File menu and pull down to Open or you can type: CTRL + O You may have a toolbox set up with this as a button on it also.

3. Select the drawing.

Find the drawing you want to delete and click on it one time. This will highlight the file name and folder. You can select more than one file by holding down the CTRL key on your keyboard while you click on the other files.

4. Delete the file/ files.

Now you can delete the file/files by hitting the delete key on your keyboard or by pulling down the file menu to delete. A message box will appear asking if you really want to send these files to the recycle bin. If you are sure you want to click yes, if not click no. Click on the Cancel button and you are done.

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Q: How do I enter measurements as fractions?

A: Using the Point Polar command.

1. First activate the drawing command you wish to use (i.e. Line, Box, etc.�)

2. Once you have chosen the command that you want, you will need to set a point using either the insert key or the left hand mouse button.

3. Now you can activate the POINT POLAR command by either pushing the semicolon key on the keyboard or by clicking on the point menu and pulling down to POINT POLAR.

4. When the command is on, a window will appear asking which point you want to be relative from, in most cases it will be either the last point set or some pre-existing point of another line. Once you choose which one it will go to, a window that allows you to type in the distance of the line and the angle.

5. In the distance box type in how long the line is to be, use one of the methods below to enter it as fraction that matches your measure format.

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Q: How do I place a DesignCAD drawing in a Microsoft Word document?

A: Copy and Paste

1.Open the drawing you want to use.

Start the DesignCAD program and use the open command from the File menu to choose the drawing that you want to use.

2.Select the Drawing.

With the drawing open on the screen you now need to select the whole drawing. To select the whole drawing go to the Edit menu and choose Select All, you can also us the keystrokes CTRL + A. The whole drawing should highlight. Make sure your entire drawing is selected. You may need to enable the multi-layer editing to accomplish this.

3.Copy the Drawing.

Now that the whole drawing is selected you need to copy it to the clipboard. You can copy the selected drawing by going to the edit menu and choosing the Copy command, or you can use the keystrokes CTRL + C. This will copy the drawing and make it ready to be placed in your document.

4.Open the Document you want the picture inserted into.

Choose the document you want and open it into the appropriate program.

5.Paste the drawing into the document.

Place your cursor on the location you want the drawing to be positioned and click your left-hand mouse button, then type CTRL + V, which will paste the picture into place.You can resize the drawing by selecting it and dragging the corners of the drawing box.The drawing should now be part of your document, save the document and you are done.
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Q: How do I place a paragraph of text into a drawing from your Text Document?

A: Use the Text Block command.

1.Open the drawing you want to use.

Start the DesignCAD program and use the open command from the File menu to choose the drawing that you want to use.

2.Open the document you want to use text from.

With the drawing open on the screen you now need to minimize the DesignCAD program and open the Document with your text in it.

3.Select the text.

Now that the document is open select the section of text you want to place in the drawing. In most programs you can usually drag your cursor over the text to select it.

4.Copy the selected text to the clip-board, usually this can be done by typing: CTRL + C

You can also find the copy command by pulling down the edit menu in most Text programs.

5.Open the Text Block command In DesignCAD activate the Text Block command by going to the Drawing menu and pulling down to Text Block.

The Text block command line should appear at the top of the screen.Make sure your text size options are set to what you want before continuing. In the text options you can change the text size or font for your desired settings.

6.Place the text in the drawing.

With the Text Block command open and the flashing cursor in the text entry area of that command, type: CTRL + V to paste your copied text into the command. Type: ENTER then set the point in the drawing for the text block. The paragraph should now be part of your drawing, save the file and you are done.

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Q: How do I scale an entity to a specific size?

A: Using the formula describe here and the Scale command.

1.Select the part of your drawing you want to change the size of.

To SELECT the entity you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple parts of your drawing you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection box by dragging it around the entities you want selected.

2.Active the Scale command.

To activate the scale command, go to the EDIT menu and pull down to SELECTION. On the pop-out menu pull down to SCALE and click on it with your left-hand mouse button.

You can also use the keyboard short cut for scale by hitting the S key.

3.Decide what scale to use.

Now that the scale command is active decide the scale you need to use. To do this there is a small bit of mathematics to do using this formula: (What you want the size to be) divided by (What the size is currently) = Scale. Here is an example: You have a box 2.5�x 3� and you need it to be 4�x 5.25� 4 divided by 2.5 = 1.6 is the X factor to use. 5.25 divided by 3 = 1.75 is the Y factor to use. Your numbers will differ from this example but the formula is still the same.

4.Enter the Scale Factors.

So using the formula from above place your X scale factor and your Y scale factor in the SCALE commands scale factors boxes Hit the ENTER key and you are done. Remember that using the scale command will change the dimensions of the entity/ entities you are using it on. If the new size is not what you wanted you can use the undo command to reverse the scale.

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Q: How do I select an area on my drawing?

A: Just by dragging your mouse over the area while holding down the left hand button.

1.Zoom your drawing to a point that the objects you want selected are visible on the screen.

You can select all the entities in a defined area on your drawing using just your mouse. First you need to make sure that all the parts of the drawing you want selected are visible. I recommend using the command found in the VIEW menu. This will make your entire drawing fit onto the screen, you can then use the ZOOM WINDOW command also found in the VIEW menu to zoom in on the exact area you want.

2.Make sure the part of the drawing you are wanting to select is on a layer that can be edited.

If you are using only one layer this is not really a concern. If you are using multiple layers make sure all the entities you want selected are on layers that you have active. If they are visible but uneditable you will need to go into the LAYER OPTIONS and turn that option on for those layers.

3.Make sure the point select mode is turned off.

The selection box will not work if you have the point select mode active. To check the Point select mode for activity look in the OPTIONS pull-down menu. If there is a check mark next to the command then click on it one time with your left-hand mouse button to turn it off.You can also click on the Icon button for it on the Tool Bar at the top of the screen. The button looks like an arrow pointing to a dot on a bent line.

4.Make the sure there are no drawing commands active.

The selection box won�t work if there is another drawing command active. If you are unsure of other commands being active hit the ESC key a few times to clean any commands.

5.Make sure the entities inside the area are not grouped with entities outside the area.

If any part of the drawing inside the selection area is GROUP DEFINED with a part of the drawing not inside the selection box it will not be selected. You can select that group and GROUP EXPLODE it.If a part of the drawing inside the selection box is a SYMBOL it will not be selected either, an EXPLODE from the EDIT/ SELECTION menu will help in that case.

6.Select the area.

With everything ready you can simply place your cursor outside the area you want to select. Using your mouse push down and hold the left-hand button and drag it over the area. A rubber band box will follow the cursor across the screen. Hold the mouse button down till the rubber band box encloses all the objects you want selected let up off the button. The selection box is placed and all the entities inside it will become selected, the selection handle will be placed at the center of the selected area.
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Q: How do I change the Program precision?

A: Change the coordinate and dimension precision up to fourteen places passed the decimal.

1. Changing the coordinate precision.

Go to OPTIONS/OPTIONS/GENERAL (the shortcut is Q).Change the Coordinate System Precision to five. Click the SAVE AS DEFAULT button to save that setting as the default. Click APPLY and OK.

2. Changing the dimension precision.

Go to OPTIONS/OPTIONS/DIMENSION.In the DIMENSION TEXT area change the precision to .00001 (or +5).Click the SAVE button to save the change as the default.Click APPLY and OK. DesignCAD will now create more precise drawings than before (if you want to draw a line 6.786 units long DesignCAD will draw the line accurately and not round off to 6.79 units).You can also dimension that line with the same precision.

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Q: How do I enter measurements in Bearings (surveyors coordinates)?

A:The key to doing this is using the POINT POLAR command.

1. Activate the drawing command you wish to use (i.e. Line, Box, etc.�)

Once you have chosen the command that you want you will need to set a point using either the insert key or the left hand mouse button.

2. Now you can activate the POINT POLAR command by either pushing the semicolon key on the keyboard or by clicking on the point menu and pulling down to POINT POLAR.

When the command is on a window will appear asking which point you want to be relative from, in most cases it will be either the last point set or some pre-existing point of another line. Once you choose which one it will go to a window that allows you to type in the distance of the line and the angle.

3. In the distance box type in how long the line is to be.

In the angle box type in your bearing like so: N10d6m3sE (N for north or S for south, the number of degrees, a D for degrees, the number of minutes, a M for minutes, the number of seconds, an S for seconds, and either an E for east or a W for west)

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Q: How do I use the Selection Filter?

A: The Selection Filter is a very versatile and useful tool with in the DesignCAD program. If you learn to use it many of the tasks of editing a drawing will become much easier.

1. Open a Drawing file with Text in it.

To open a drawing file, go to the FILE menu and pull down to OPEN. Browse through your directories to the location of the files you want to use. Once in the correct directory you can choose the file you want and click on open. If you do not have a drawing with text in it then you can substitute another type of entity for this example or create a drawing with some text in it to use.

2.Open the Selection filter command.

Once you have a drawing on the screen you can find the selection filter command in the EDIT pull down menu. When it opens there will be a new command Window appear on the screen, it allows the changes in the filter options to be set.The Filter Window may be at times obscure objects you want to select. If this occurs simply drag it out of the way.

3.Choose the type of filter to use.

Once the command is open you can pick what type of filter to use. The choices are:

Color
Layer
Line Type
Groups Only
Solids Only

In this first example we are going to choose the Select by Entity Type filter. You can chose a filter type by clicking on the little box next to it with your mouse.

4.Choose the Entity Type to filter for.

5.Open the SETUP SELECT ENTITY TYPE options to choose the entity type or types to filter for.

This is done by clicking on the button on the right of the filter window that corresponds with the filter type. In these options can choose multiple selections or just one. In this example we will want to chose 3D-TEXT and 2D-TEXT. We select those by clicking on the little white box next to each of those. After you have made those selections click on the okay button. Make sure that you leave the filter window open.

6.Switch the attention to the drawing window.

Click in the drawing window with your mouse one time, this switches the attention from the filter window to the drawing window. Once the attention is back on the DesignCAD drawing screen and the filter window is still open I the filter is ready to be used.The change of attention can be noted by the color of the bar on the top of the Window changing.

7.Select the entities you are filtering for.

When you have made all the changes you want you are ready to select the entities. This can be done one of two ways, either by doing a SELECT ALL command or you can drag a selection boxover an area and select all of the filtered entities in that area.Select all can be activated by the CTRL + A keystrokes or pulling down the EDIT menu to the command.

8.Make more selections.

You can continue to select entities of the type you are filtering for. If you are dragging a selection box, you can zoom in and out of a drawing using your view tools and select more entities of the same type if you want. Holding down the SHIFT key while making the new selections does this. You can click on individual entities or drag another selection box. As you work the new selections will be added to the ones already highlighted.

9.Change the Filter for new selections.

As long as you have the window for the filter open you can switch back to it and edit the type of filter you are using if you want. Clicking on the window of the filter with your mouse and changing the options does this.

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Q: How do I change the layer of an entity?

A: Use the Info Box

1. Select the entity you want to move.

You can select one or multiple entities. To select one entity you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple entities you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also drag a selection box over the entities you want to select as long as the point select mode is turned off.

Or if it is all the entities that need to be moved use the select all command from the edit menu.

2. Open the Info box.

Once the entities are selected open the Info Box. It is in the View menu or you can type CTRL + I on the keyboard.

3. Locate the Layer Info.

Now that the info box is open look at the first open area on the Info Box, it will most likely have the number one in it, this is the layer information area.

4. Make the Changes you want.

Click on the down arrow on the layer info area and drag your cursor down to the new layer number you want. The entity/entities will be moved to that new layer.

You can also hit click in the Layer info area and type in the layer number you want.

5. Close the Info Box.

When you have made all the changes you want close the Info Box and you are done.
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Q: How do I edit Dimensions?

A: Use the Info Box

1. Select the dimension you want to change.

You can select one or multiple dimensions. To select one dimension you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple dimensions you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection filter to select all the dimension in a drawing if you need to edit them all.

2. Open the Info box.

Once the dimensions are selected open the Info Box. It is in the View menu or you can type CTRL + I on the keyboard.

3. Open the Dimension Info.

Now that the info box is open click on the button that has the dimension on it, it should be a blue dimension symbol on a gray button. This will open the options for editing dimensions. Here you can change the Accuracy, Arrow type, Font, Format, or Text size of the dimensions.
You can also click on the button that looks like a set of Sergeants strips for expanded information.

4. Make the Changes you want.

Click on the option you want to change and type in or select the new setting. You can also tab between these options.

5. Apply the Changes.

When you have made all the changes you need to it is time to apply them. Applying is done by clicking in the check box next to the apply choice that corresponds with the option you changed.

Accuracy

Arrow type

Format

Text Font

Text Size

Click on OK and you are done.
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Q: How do I edit Text?

A: Use the Info Box .

1.Select the text you want to change.

You can select one piece or multiple pieces of text. To select one piece of text you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple pieces of text you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection filter to select all the text in a drawing if you need to edit the all.

2.Open the Info box.

Once the pieces of text are selected open the Info Box. It is in the View menu or you can press CTRL + I on the keyboard.

3.Open the Text Info.

Now that the info box is open click on the button that has the T on it, it should be a blue T symbol on a gray button. This will open the options for editing pieces of texts. Here you can change the Font, Text content, or Text size of the text.

You can also click on the button that looks like a set of Sergeants strips for expanded information

4.Make the Changes you want.

Click on the option you want to change and type in or select the new setting.
You can also tab betweenthese options.

5.Apply the Changes.

When you have made all the changes you need to it is time to apply them. Applying is done by clicking in the check box next to the apply choice that corresponds with the option you changed.

Text Font

Text Size

Click on OK and you are done.

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Q: How do I edit the line thickness of in an Arrow?

A: Select the Arrow then Explode it .
You can then use the Info Box to edit the line thickness.

1.Select the arrow/arrows you want to change.

You can select one arrow or multiple ones. To select one arrow you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple arrows you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection filter to select all of the arrows in the drawing.

2.Explode the arrow/arrows.

You can explode the arrows by going to the Edit pull down menu and choose Selection. This will open a pop out menu. Choose the explode command. This will break the arrows into their separate line parts. If you have filled arrowheads this will cause them to become unfilled.

3.Select the lines you want to change.

Using the selection tools highlight (select) all the lines you want to change this includes the former arrows.

4.Change the line width.

With the line style toolbox open choose a new line width. Type that amount into the line width dialog box on the line type toolbox. Click on the apply to selection button. You can edit thislater if it is not the thickness you like. The entity/entities will be changed to the desired width.There is also another way to make changes in line widths, see: How to edit line widths using the info box.

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Q: How do I edit Line Widths?

A: Use the Info Box.

1.Select the line you want to change.

You can select one, several, or all lines in a drawing to edit. To select one line you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple lines you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection filter to select all the lines in a drawing if you need to edit them all, in the selection filter they are called vectors.

2.Open the Info box.

Once the dimensions are selected open the Info Box. It is in the View menu or you can type CTRL + I on the keyboard.

3.Open the line style options.

To open the information area on line editing click on the button that looks like a

4.Make the Changes you want.

Click on the option you want to change and type in or select the new setting. You have the ability to change: Filled or not Scale Line type

You can also tab between these options when making changes.

5.Apply the Changes.

When you have made the changes you want it is time to apply them to the drawing. To apply the changes check the box next to the applicable option: line width filled or not scale line type Click on okay and close the Info Box and your drawing will be adjusted for your new settings and you are done.

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Q: How do I edit the color of an entity?

A: Use the Info Box.

1.Select the entity you want to change.

You can select one entity or multiple ones. To select one entity you can just click on it with your mouse. To select multiple entities you can click on one then move your cursor to the next and hold down the shift key till you click on it and it is highlighted. You can repeat the process till all you want to change are selected.

You can also use the selection filter to select all of one type of entity in a drawing.

2.Open the Info box.

Once the entities are selected open the Info Box. It is in the View menu or you can type CTRL + I on the keyboard.

3.Open the color pallet.

Now that the info box is open click on the button that has the pot of colors on it, it should yellow pot on a gray button. This will open the options for editing the colors of entities. Here you can change the color of your selected piece or pieces.

4.Make the Changes you want.

In the color pallet you can change the depth of the colors and choose a new color for your entity.

5.Apply the Changes.

When you have made all the changes you need to it is time to apply them. Click on OK and you are done. The entity/entities will be changed to the desired color.

There is also another way to make color changes to entities see: How to edit the color of an entity using the Color toolbox.

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Q: The text on my screen appears like it is bold, what can I do to help this?

A: There are one of two things that will affect text displaying with in DesignCAD.

One is whether or not you are using 2D text or 3Dtext. The 2D text is displayed thinner than 3D because the 3D text is an entity type that allows text to be placed in any dimensional axis. So if you have no need to place text at an offset axis to the viewer use 2D text. The Second thing that will help is that Microsoft has made an add-on program for Windows 95 called Font Smoother. The Font Smoother add-on will clean up fuzzy or ragged text automatically giving your text in DesignCAD a crisper cleaner image. To find this add-on go to Microsoft�s web page at http://www.microsoft.com and download it.

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Q: What happened to the File Merge command?

A: File merge is now part of symbol load.

Since any DesignCAD drawing can be a symbol and the merge command basically functioned like Symbol Load, the commands were combined and called Symbol Load.

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Q: Where can I get device drivers for my printers, plotters, mouse, video, etc that work with DesignCAD?

A: Since our Windows based programs use the manufacturer drivers our programs can use any Windows driver.

To use a piece of hardware with DesignCAD all that is required is that it be installed in Windows. All of the drivers that are used to install those devices come from the manufacturer not DesignCAD.

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Q: DesignCAD Default Shortcut Keys

$	Attribute

%	Run Macro

&	Stop Macro

'(apostrophe)	Point Relative

(	Quarter Circle

)	Semicircle

*	Point Move

+	Zoom In

,(comma)	Gravity Move

-	Zoom Out

.	Gravity Point

/	Mirror

:	Point XYZ

;	Point Polar

=	Parallel

>	Arrow

@	Dimension

A	Arc

Ctrl+A	Select All

Ctrl+Shift+A	Material Toolbox

B	Combine

C	Curve

Ctrl+C	Copy

Ctrl+Shift+C	Copy Image

D	Section Delete

Ctrl+D	Solid Define

Ctrl+Alt+D	Command Dialog

E	Trim One Line

Shift+E	Trim Two Lines

Ctrl+E	Erase Last

F	Fillet

Ctrl+F	Chamfer

Shift+F	Selection Filter

G	Snap Grid

Ctrl+G	Grid Options

H	Ortho Line

Ctrl+H	Set Handle

I	Cursor Options

I	Info Box

J	Point Control

Ctrl+J	Solid Add

K	Line Snap

Ctrl+K	Midpoint Snap

L	Layer Options

Ctrl+L	Slice

M	Move

Ctrl+M	Zoom Previous

Ctrl+Shift+M	Zoom Redo

N	Duplicate

Ctrl+N	New File

Ctrl+Shift+N	Snap Toolbox

O	Circle

Ctrl+O	Open

Ctrl+Shift+O	Color Toolbox

P	Plane

Ctrl+P	Print

Shift+P	Select Previous

Ctrl+Shift+P	Pan

Q	Options

Q	Surface Connect

R	Rotate

Ctrl+R	Regenerate

Ctrl+Shift+R	Regenerate All

S	Scale

Ctrl+S	Save

T	3D Text

Ctrl+T	2D Text

U	Unit

Ctrl+U	Solid Subtract

V	Line

Ctrl+V	Paste

Ctrl+Shift+V	Viewing Toolbox

Backspace	Undo

Escape	Cancel Command

F1	Help

Shift+F1	Context Help

F2	Parallel By Distance

F3	Repeat Last Command

F4	Intersect

Ctrl+F4	Intersect2

F5	Crosshair

F6	Coordinate Bar

F7	Plane Snap

F8	Hide Lines

Ctrl+F9	Merge

F11	Dimension Coordinate

INSERT	Set Point

Ctrl+INSERT	Cut Line (Point Select Mode)

Shift+INSERT	Extend Line (Point Select Mode)

Ctrl+Shift+INSERT	Delete Point (Point Select Mode)

Enter	End Command

Space	Command Line

W	Sweep

Ctrl+W	Fit To Window

Ctrl+Shift+W	Fit To All Windows

X	Extrude

Ctrl+X	Cut (to clipboard)

Y	Set View

Ctrl+Y	Redo

Z	Zoom Window

Ctrl+Z	Undo

[	Wall

]	Box

\|	Break Line

Ctrl+1	Point Select Mode

Ctrl+Shift+1	Hot Toolbox 1

Ctrl+2	2D Selection Mode

Ctrl+Shift+2	Hot Toolbox 2

Ctrl+3	3D Selection Mode

Ctrl+Shift+3	Hot Toolbox 3

Ctrl+Shift+4	Hot Toolbox 4

Ctrl+Shift+5	Hot Toolbox 5

Ctrl+Shift+6	Hot Toolbox 6

Ctrl+Shift+7	Hot Toolbox 7

Ctrl+Shift+8	Hot Toolbox 8

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Q: What File Formats does DesignCAD use?

A: There are several that are used by our various programs.

Program Format

ProDesign PD

2d3 Dos DC2

3d3 Dos DC3

2d4.0 Dos DC2

2d5 Dos DC2

3d4 Dos DC3

2d6.0 Dos DW2

2d6.1 Dos DW2

2d7 Win DW2 (drawing)

B2D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

3d5 Win DW3 (drawing)

B3D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

2d8 Win DW2 (drawing)

B2D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

2d8 Win95 DW2 (drawing)

B2D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

3d8 Win DW3 (drawing)

B3D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

3d8Win95 DW3 (drawing)

B3D (viewing info: zoom factors)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

DC 97 DC (contains drawing info, viewing information, symbols, is a new combined format)

VCAD 2.0 Dos DRW (drawing)

VCAD 4.0 Win95 DRW (drawing)

MCAD Dos CAD (drawing)

MCAD 4.0 DW2 (drawing)

B2D (viewing info)

PRV (print and file open preview file)

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Q: How can I get more information about programming / customizing DesignCAD?

A: By Downloading the DesignCAD Developer's Toolkit.

The DesignCAD Developer's Toolkit is a new resource that aids developers in programming custom applications for the DesignCAD programs. This package is informative and useful for beginning to expert programmers. The toolkit gives detailed information and examples for the two avenues of DesignCAD development - the Macro language and OLE Automation.

Macro language

The Macro language is an easy-to-learn programming language that allows you to run your own programs within DesignCAD. The Macro language is similar to standard Basic, but it provides the capability of executing DesignCAD macro commands as well as Basic statements. The Macro language is a good place for beginning programmers to start, or for experienced programmers to become familiar with DesignCAD's command set.

OLE Automation

The OLE Automation allows developers to create an external program, which can make use of DesignCAD's capabilities. OLE Automation can be done using Visual Basic, Visual C, C-Builder, Delphi or a number of other programming environments. The advantage of OLE Automation is the ability to access the Windows environment itself through the programming language's command set.

The Developers toolkit is available for free from our downloads section at Developers Toolkit