Speed Up AutoCAD®
Everybody wants a faster AutoCAD®. The problem is there are so many ways to tweak and optimise the software that it can be a very daunting task. Thankfully, there are countless articles online that list precisely what can be done to help speed up AutoCAD®.
Here is a very good list created by Ellen Finkelstein, which covers many of the ways to speed your AutoCAD® display when dealing with resource-hungry work:
Text
A large drawing with lots of text can slow down your work. Here are some text tips.
Quicktext
Quicktext turns text into rectangles and quickens your regens. Use the QTEXT command and choose on (displays rectangles) or off (displays the text). Then use the REGEN command .
Font substitution
Using a simpler font can also speed up your drawing, especially if it’s large and contains a lot of text. Create a new text style that uses one of AutoCAD®’s own fonts, rather than TrueType fonts. You can switch back just before plotting. Note that a different font will take up a different amount of space, so the text may not fit properly. Two fonts that are very simple are txt.shx and simplex.shx.
To create a style:
- Start the STYLE command.
- In the Text Style dialog box, click New.
- In the New Text Style dialog box, give the text style a name and click OK.
- Back in the Text Style dialog box, choose a font from the Font Name drop-down list.
- Change other settings as desired, such as the height, width factor, and oblique angle. You can also make the text style annotative. You’ll see a preview at the lower-left corner of the dialog box.
- Click Set Current if you want to use the style right away. Click Close.
An easy way to change all the text in your drawing to your new style is as follows:
- Press Ctrl + A to select all objects. If you have Quick Properties on (it’s a button on the status bar), you’ll get a small window showing the properties of your objects.
- Click the drop-down list to select Text or MText; this filters out the other objects.
- In the Quick Properties window, click the current style and then its down arrow.
- Choose a new style from the list.
- Press Esc to deselect all the text.
Turn off text layers
You can always turn off text layers. From the Layer drop-down list, click the light bulb symbol next to a layer. Repeat to turn the layer back on.
Solid hatches and lineweights
Solid fills (solid hatches), wide polylines, and 2D solids can take a while to display if you have lots of them. Just use the FILL command and set it to OFF. Use the REGEN command to see the result.
If you’re using lineweights, these are also displayed as solidly filled areas, so you can turn off their display. Just click the Show/Hide Lineweight button on the status bar.
Regens and resolution
AutoCAD® automatically regenerates whenever needed, but you can turn off automatic regeneration and manually regenerate (using the REGEN command) when you want to; this reduces regenerations and gives you more control. Use the REGENAUTO command and set it to off.
The VIEWRES command sets the resolution that controls circles and arcs. You may have seen a circle that looked like a polygon. Usually, you can use the REGEN command to return its circle-ness. But you can speed up display by lowering the view resolution. Acceptable values are 1-20000. You can set it to 15 for example. A value like 2000 will usually suffice to show you smooth circles again.
When you use this command, you’ll be asked if you want fast zooms. You do. This is a legacy setting.
I hope you found this list as useful as I have. Ellen has a great blog full of all sorts of AutoCAD® tips, I suggest you go have a snoop around as there are many useful gems in there.
Will
Comments
Fred Weaver
2011-06-23 14:23:30
It just amazes me that this is still an issue. All of these suggestions have been around for years, and I'm going back to the version I started with, 2.5!
Will
2011-06-24 08:22:17
As long as a PC's resources are finite, conserving them will always be on the agenda. It's always good to know these things - perhaps not for every day usage, but on the occasion that we're really pushing our PC to the limit!
Jos van Doorn
2012-08-01 13:09:30
Ellen Finkelstein forgot to mention this tip. Use AutoLISP to create AutoCAD® drawings or parts of an AutoCAD® drawing. An AutoLISP program can do the job within three seconds.,