Cad CARD

Have you ever needed to know what size your text should be? Or have you ever wondered what the dimensions for a sheet of paper is? How about scale factors, or better yet, the inverse scale factor? There is a tool available that many of you may have used before, or at least seen. It is the Cad CARD from Autograph technical Services. The Cad CARD has been around since 1989. I have been using mine since AutoCADr10, whenever that was. In fact, my Cad CARD even says its for r10! So what is it? It is a cardboard slide chart used as AutoCAD productivity aids. They will quickly help you determine drawing border sizes, text sizes, sheet sizes, and much more. The cards have two sides, each side providing different types of information. Some of the information provided:

- Drawing Scale & Scale Factor

- Inverse Multiplier

- Sheet Sizes & Usable Areas

- Block Insertion Scale
- Hatch Pattern Scale
- Linetype Scale
- Dimscale

- Text Height for Various Text Sizes

- Fonts
- Text Width
- Obliqing and Rotation Angles
- Orientation
- Justification
- Mirroring Text

- Width Factors
- Special Character Control Codes

- Text Measuring Gauge

The front side of the card focuses on scale issues and text. You can use it to quickly determine the proper settings, and values needed to scale your entire drawing, a scaled view, or set the text to be displayed the way you want it to.

And thats just the front. The back side has:

- Function key assignments
- Units
- PDMODE options

- Dimension Variables and how they affect the Placement and Display of Dimensions
- Definitions of many Dimension Variables

- Dimension Lines, Extension Lines, Alternate Units

- Arrowheads, Arc Length Symbol, Center Mark for Circles

- Linear Dimensions, Measurement Scale, Zero Suppression, Angular Dimensions
- Tolerances and Tolerance Display
- How to set AutoCAD to Round Off Dimensions
- Text Appearance, Alignment, Placement, Fit Options, Fine Tuning
- We have even included a few Drafting Scales, just so they are handy.

The back focuses on dimensions and other operations.

The cards themselves are made of coated card stock and they are very durable. Mine has several coffee stains on it! There are 2 Metric versions and 2 U.S. versions. There is even a wallet sized version called the Cad CARD Junior! I use this one a lot because it is small and gets me scale factor and text sizes very quickly. I recommend the Cad CARD. Ive been using mine for for so long I cant remember, but its been since at least 1994! Its compatible with all sorts of different versions of AutoCAD and has been updated to work with AutoCAD 2010! Even if you have an older version, it still works.

You can order your Cad CARD online from their website. Use a credit card or paypal and you dont have to be in the US to purchase it. The price is a definite value, because you can use it with more than AutoCAD, and they are long lasting. Autograph even provides discounts when buying the Cad CARD in bulk, so buy some for your entire department, or for your class if you are an instructor.

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Quick Insert of Spreadsheet into CAD file and link them

I’m going to finish up my posts on data extraction with a tip & trick on how to get data into your AutoCAD file. I have posted about the new feature in AutoCAD 2008 called DATAEXTRACTION, I discussed using the older commands of ATTEXT and EATTEXT, and I also talked about the BCOUNT command.

Today I want to show you how easy it is to take existing data in a spreadsheet, put it into AutoCAD, and have the two linked.

This is a very useful tip when one employee creates a spreadsheet for a report that has data that also needs to go into a cad drawing. It is even more useful to have both documents (the report and the drawing) to have the same data, be it right or wrong.

Very simply, open the spreadsheet file. Select the cells that you want to have in the CAD file. Copy them (right click, then copy – or click on edit, copy.) Open the AutoCAD file (or Civil3D, Revit, etc.). Click on the EDIT, PASTE SPECIAL. Don’t use the paste command, your data is special, treat it that way.

A window will open. Select the appropriate file type (in my case a Microsoft Excel Worksheet.) If you want the data to be linked to the spreadsheet (which I do) then make sure to select the PASTE LINK button. This will link the data in your cad file to the spreadsheet. If the spreadsheet is changed, then your drawing will reflect that change. Pick you insert point and there you go.

You can’t change this info in the cad file, only in the spreadsheet. You can change the size, layer, plot quality, etc. Select eh object, right click and select OLE. This will give you sizing ability and allow you to automatically open the spreadsheet.

There is nothing fantastic about this method, but it is a quick and easy way to get data into your drawing that is linked to the source. This will keep your drawings and your reports in sync.

Happy CADDING!!

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