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Pulling the Old Switcheroo: Why It's a Great Time to

Look at AutoCAD for Mac (again)
Jim LaPier IMPACT Designs, LLC

AC6896 In 2010, Autodesk, Inc., released AutoCAD for Mac software, but it was missing important

features were missing that real drafters need on a daily basis. After 4 years the functionality gap has
closed substantially. We will take a look at the features in the latest release of AutoCAD for Mac
software, well examine how we can use these features in our daily workflow, and well discuss
differences between the Mac and PC versions of the features that continue to exist. AutoCAD for Mac
software has come a long way from the initial release, and you might be surprised how few reasons
there are to not make the leap.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this class, you will be able to:

Understand the differences between AutoCAD software on the Mac and PC

Identify the new features of the latest release

Identify and examine roadblocks in adopting AutoCAD for Mac software

Voice feature requests for the next release of AutoCAD for Mac software

About the Speaker

Jim LaPier is the owner of IMPACT Designs, LLC, a consulting firm based in Maryland.
Jim has worked with AutoCAD software for 16 years in varying disciplines, including
commercial and residential architectural design, mechanical engineering, materials
handling, and telecommunications. He is skilled in customization, efficiency, and speed,
and he is adept in information technology. Eventually Jim became an Expert Elite
member thanks to his contributions to AutoCAD for Mac. Previously Jim worked as a
genius at an Apple Inc. Retail Store, becoming a certified Apple technician. Jim
combines paper-and-pencil drafting knowledge with his love of advanced technology,
both Mac and PC-based. Jim currently travels around the country giving workshops
and classes on AutoCAD for Mac software and using Apple computers in today's
design offices.
www.macncad.com
jim@impactdesigns.biz

Pulling the Old Switcheroo: Why It's a Great Time to Look at AutoCAD for Mac (again)

The platform you like is going to be the one that helps you get your work done
fastest and best, and no one can tell you which platform that is but you. It used to be
Windows was the platform because it was the only one running AutoCAD. Now, we
have an option, so it bears looking at both platforms, and not just how they run
AutoCAD, but how well they make the rest of your workday easier and harder.
Im not here to contribute to the Windows vs Mac debate. There are many
differences between Windows and Mac OS and the same goes for AutoCAD on the PC
and AutoCAD for Mac. These differences allow users to choose an operating system
that will work for them in the way they work. I would say this is an Apple versus
Microsoft issue, but magazines have recently dubbed the Macbook Pro the best
computer to run Windows, so well stick with the operating systems alone instead of
any hardware comparisons. Gone are the days of Mac is for fun and Windows is for
work, as neither of these hold true anymore.
You have most likely taken this class (or downloaded this handout) because you
are considering (or are being forced to consider) moving to AutoCAD for Mac as your
primary CAD system. Whether moving from AutoCAD on the Windows OS or switching
from another Mac program like Vectorworks I think you will find this is a wonderful time
to consider AutoCAD for Mac. So, a brief history so we understand how we got here:
AutoCAD has been available on the Windows platform as long as Windows has
been around, so it is obviously tied closely to the OS. Release 12 was the last to run on
Mac for 17 years until AutoCAD for Mac 2011 was released. This initial version was
lacking in many features that users had come to rely on in the Windows version,
including staples like even a plot style editor. Despite some randomness to the release
schedule AutoCAD for Mac has had yearly releases since 2010 with the latest being
AutoCAD for Mac 2015 in October of 2014. With each release features have been
added both to bring a sense of parity with the Windows version as well as to test some
new features that have or have not been translated to the Windows side itself. One
thing to keep in mind is that though they share the same name, AutoCAD for Mac was
re-written for Mac OS X from the ground up to take advantage of the Mac operating
system and architectures. This means every command and function was re-written and
during this process the commands were looked at with new eyes.

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Instead of blindly copying every function that has been added to AutoCAD over
30 years, AutoCAD for Mac afforded Autodesk the opportunity to lighten the program of
excess baggage and re-evaluate workflows and tools for greater efficiency. While most
of the conventions still exist they have been sometimes stripped and renamed. A great
example of this was the addition of Package Drawing in AutoCAD for Mac 2014.
eTransmit had been a staple of AutoCAD for years but very few people used it to
actually transmit actual files. They used it to collect all related files to a drawing like
fonts, references and plot styles and then either archive them or email them. To this
end when AutoCAD for Mac incorporated the feature, they dropped the 90s name and
the FTP functionality and kept the spirit and use of the tool intact while considering how
most users used the tool today.
Today, after the latest release, there are unfortunately still some tools and
functions that have not been brought over from the Windows version though the gap is
narrowing. Right now there is a comparison matrix on the Autodesk website found
here:
http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-autocad/compare/compare-platforms
This matrix details features both platforms share but also highlights the
differences between the two versions. Personally I think its obvious a marketing
person created this, as there are some features which are odd to bring up. Frankly Im
surprised there isnt a check box for Runs on Windows and Can be pinned to the
Windows Taskbar. Some examples:
File Tabs / New Tab - Well, AutoCAD for Mac doesnt support File Tabs, so of course
it doesnt support New Tab . . . It also doesnt support deleting a tab, or moving a tab
or anything else with tabs.
Ribbon Gallery / Ribbon Customization - Same issue. We dont support the Ribbon.
Period. It doesnt need to be listed twice.
Design Feed / Design Feed with local drawing storage - Are we still doing this?
Right Click Menus, keyboard shortcuts and double-click customization - This one I
dont understand at all. This is listed as a single entry but I can do 2 of these easily:
Rightclick - As long as I have it enabled on my Mac (adjusted in System
Preferences on your system) I can use the command SHORTCUTMENU to set
the right click settings in AutoCAD for Mac. See here:

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http://help.autodesk.com/view/ACDMAC/2015/ENU/?
guid=GUID-27079CDD-85E0-4883-A961-82C8FC5C7F46
Keyboard Shortcuts - Editing your pgp file. Accessed though tools - customize edit pgp file.
Double-click customization - Ok, this one can only be done in the CUI which
AutoCAD for Mac doesnt support
Hatch Creation Preview - This is on by default, so no we dont have a button. Its on
by default in Windows as well, but there is an additional button in the hatch dialog just
for this.
Autobullets & numbering - Um, AutoCAD for Mac does this. We dont get a lightning
bolt icon like Windows, but we can right click to start numbering if Autonumbering
doesnt kick in like we want.
So, in a list of 125 fields we have 64 features that are shared or equal. That
leaves 61 differences, with 4 that are unique to AutoCAD for Mac (Coverflow, mulittouch navigation, High Res graphics, and OpenGL support.) So 57 differences, minus
the duplicates and errors I mentioned above brings us to 52 real differences between
the versions. That seems like a lot but that is where being educated and considering
your workflow comes in. 9 of the differences are 3D based so if you only work in 2D
they wont concern you much (Material mapping, advanced rendering settings, point
cloud tools, etc.) If you are using AutoCAD for Mac LT you can add the lack of
programming languages (Visual LISP, .NET, VBA and DCL dialogs) to the features that
dont impact your workflow in addition to the 3D differences.
All things equal the differences can really be broken down into a few categories:
Features that are Windows dependent and therefore shouldnt be brought over,
Features there isnt much interest in, and finally Everything Else. This last category
includes features that we as users can help prioritize so Autodesk knows what we think
is most important to work on.

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Features that should not be brought over due to Windows Dependency

Support for .NET
Support for VBA
Support for WMF files
ARX Applications that include MFC or .NET calls
Password Protected Drawings
These are essentially programming languages / environments. While some could
be brought over, I dont see it happening anytime soon, nor would I want any of these
to take time away from bringing over some of the other tools on this list.
Features there isnt much interest in
Digitizer Integration
Digital signatures
CAD Standards tool
Markup Set Manager
Multiline style creation
Autodesk ReCap point cloud tool
Action Recorder and Action Macros
While Im not sure if I agree with all of them, these are features Autodesk
admitted at one point (this was 3 years ago admittedly) were not high on the list.
Essentially, if the programmers have a specific amount of time to code new features
(and they do with yearly releases) than some things are higher priority and some are
not. Obviously new features introduced to AutoCAD on Windows have a slight priority
and other some features of old are not as widely used.

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Everything Else
So, with those out of the way, lets start cherry picking the features we are really
missing and could potentially be in the next release if we ask. Some of these might be
features that you are missing everyday, some are the only reason you have Parallels or
Bootcamp installed on your Mac. Others you might never use, or never even heard of.
We are going to go through this list in more detail in class, but I have some notes on
some of these or on groups of these below.
DWF Support
This is a feature I am sorely missing. While PDF is definitely a standard, DWF
displays line weights differently and is considered the default format for sharing
drawings in many circles. Right now you cannot plot, view, or underlay DWFs on a
Mac using Autodesk products. However, you can manage them in browsers using
Autodesk 360, and there is an app in the Mac App store called McDwiff that allows for
opening and viewing DWFs on the Mac.
File Tabs
Self explanatory, but now that this has been added to Finder in Mac OS X
Mavericks, we should get his too.
AutoCorrect Command Entry
Again, nice to have
Design Feed
We got Autodesk 360 support for syncing files, so we are a step closer, but true
360 integration would be wonderful.
Tool Palettes
Right Click Menus, keyboard shortcuts, double-click customization
Workspaces
User Profiles
Migration Tools
CUI Import & Export
I think the above 6 tools (from Tool Palettes to CUI import and export) are pretty
closely tied together as General Customization and the sharing of those
customizations. Ok, AutoCAD for Mac is very lacking in customization, but frankly out
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of the box so is Mac OS X really. In Windows, I can choose different pointers if I really
wanted, in Mac I can only adjust the size. Where Mac makes up for this is really the
breadth of apps that take up the slack and allow me to change anything, from the
pointer to the dock background. Personally I think its nice Mac doesnt throw all this in
as it keeps the OS fairly streamlined and if you want the options you can find an app
and install it yourself (this is the bloatware argument) I personally think this attitude
was brought over into AutoCAD for Mac to make it a very Mac program, but as an
AutoCAD user one of things Ive always touted was the ability to really customize the
program to my needs. AutoCAD is really the catch-all of the design industry, so its
customizability lent itself to its versatility. An architect doesnt really care about the
same tools as a electronics engineer. I really dont think we need the disparate CUI,
profile, workspace tools however, but a single CUI (AutoCAD Windows has been
moving toward this, but at a snails pace IMO) AutoCAD for Mac seems to get by with
one Tool Palette, so workspaces would be a bit of a waste, but editing / creating /
sharing Tool Palette panels or Tool Sets should be easier. Right Click menu
customizations should be added in the CUI menus dialog, and the entirety of the CUI
should really be a tab in the preferences dialog, and therefore added to profiles which
could easily be shared. Just my thoughts :)
VisualLISP
Wow this would be useful, right? I think most of the Express Tools are VisualLisp,
so that would return their functionality alone, not to mention the numerous tools and
routines floating around forums and sites that would suddenly work.
Table Style Editing
Hatch Creation Preview
Change Space
Express Tools
See VisualLisp above
Model Documentation
Material Editing, Mapping, creation
Advanced Rendering
Camera Creation
Walkthroughs, Flybys, animations

These 3D features are ones I dont use on a daily basis so they havent caused
me much heartache, but as someone who used to do a fair amount of modeling in
AutoCAD Im sure these are very important to many users and should be fairly high on
the list.

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Geographic Location
ShowMotion
Navigation Bar
New Layer Notification
Quick Properties Palette
Data Extraction
Hyperlinks
dbconnect Manager
FBX import & export
Additional model import
Import Sketchup Files
DCL Dialogs
Reference Manager (standalone)
Custom dictionaries
Ok, these are pretty far down on the list for me and most of the users I speak
with. Frankly, in AutoCAD Windows, I turn off the Navigation Bar (and the view cube in
2D, which frankly I think should be default) and as the properties inspector is on by
default, I dont see the need for Quick Properties. New Layer notification Im sure is
important for some, but this is a feature many of my users constantly complain about
and layereval is something Ive added to my startup routine to disable those
unreconciled layers notifications. Again, some of these might be very useful for some
users and maybe even requirements for some, but they arent high on my list. That
however is why this will be discussed in a class environment; so other users can have
their say.

New Features
Autodesk has hardly been resting on their laurels however. With each new
release Autodesk has added more a more features and AutoCAD for Mac 2015 is no
exception. Here is a breakdown of the new features in the latest version:
Dynamic Blocks
Dynamic Blocks allow you to add parameters and actions to a block that allow
you to modify the block in very specific and pre-defined ways, lending to the
consistency we require but the flexibility to change the geometry to suit the drafters
needs.

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Quick Select
Quick select is a filtering tool allowing you to specify criteria including parameters like
layer, color and lineweight. This means in a drawing consisting of thousands of objects
you can easily select specific objects instead of panning, zooming and selecting a
handful of objects one by one.
Quick Select is available from the Properties
Palette as shown here as well as from the Menu Bar under
Edit and finally using the command QSELECT.

This brings up the quick select dialog

box. The first thing to determine is if we want
the selection to include the entire drawing or
just a specific selection set, which we can
choose by selecting the button next to
Where to select.
Next we can begin to filter our selection
set. First we specify the object type, using
the drop down. If we want our selection set to
include objects of different types, like blocks,
circles and lines, we can leave this set as multiple.
Next, to the right of the drop down is an
icon with 3 dots. This will allow us set parameters
or rules to filter our selection set. We can choose
values including color, layer, linetype, linetype
scale, plot style, lineweight, transparency or
material. Using properties we can set them
equal, not equal or greater than or less than a
specific value. By clicking the plus symbol we
can add multiple rules to further narrow our
search. Keep in mind however the process is
exclusive, meaning the objects that will remain in
your final selection set must conform to all of the
rules simultaneously.
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To rephrase, the rules are and statements as opposed to or

statements. This means by specifying I want to find all red objects and all objects with a
continuous linetype the only result in red objects of a continuous linteptye, not red
objects or objects of a continous linetype. Once we have our parameters, we need to
specify some options. Do we want to exclude the objects that meet our criteria or keep
only the objects that meet our criteria? Lastly, do we want to add the objects to the
previous selection set?
Quick select is a wonderful way of quickly adding or filtering out geometry that
meet specific criteria and I encourage you to practice with it on your own drawings so
you can call upon it when necessary.

Layer States
Layer states are a simplified way of setting
and restoring the look or state of all the
layers in your drawing. In one setting you
may want a layer to display red instead of
its preset of blue or you may have a subset
of layers you turn on for demo plans and
another for construction plans. Saving a
layer state allows you to recall the on / off
state (or frozen / thawed) of every layer so
you no longer have to manually turn each
layer on or off to achieve a desired effect.
Now under the layer tools we find a new dropdown for layer states. This allows us to
restore saved layer states as well as enter the Layer States dialog box by choosing
Manage Layer States.
I recommend first returning to the drawing and setting the state (on / off) for all of
the layers in your drawing. Now, re-enter the layer states manager and click the plus
icon. Choose a name and enter a short description. You can choose what parameters
you want to control with your layer state like visibility, freeze and plot. Unless you plan
on using a layer state to specifically change a layer property like color or linetype, I
would leave these unchecked, in case a layer is updated down the road (perhaps layer
A-Demo-Glaz will now be yellow instead of green) by checking the color option this
layer state will return it to green every time it is restored.

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Selecting one of your layer

states in the dialog box and
selecting the gear at the bottom
of the window will allow you to
edit individual states if you want
to alter specific layers or
incorporate new layers into your
states.

From here all that is required is to save and restore any layer state as you go by
using the drop down in the layer palette. This process seems simple enough but it has
the potential to redefine your drafting workflow by allowing you to stack objects on top
of each other, like the first and second floor of a house or the demolition plans and the
new construction plans. By stacking geometry you decrease the risk of error when a
change is made as all of the geometry can be updated by turning all of the layers on
and stretching or moving objects, but each viewport can be set to a different display
state so each viewport only shows the appropriate layers for that floor or phase of
construction.

Data Link
Data linking refers to inserting information from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (XLS or
XLSX) into your AutoCAD for Mac drawing. A link is maintained between the Excel file
and the table in AutoCAD so when one is updated the changes are reflected in the
other. So a quantity in the AutoCAD parts list can be increased and the change is
reflected in the Excel sheet
that the Project Manager will
use for ordering.
You can start by entering
DATALINK in the command
line, going to the Menu bar
under Insert, or by opening
the Reference Palette and
selecting Attach Reference.
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In the dialog box that appears, after locating the file to link, you can choose an entire
sheet from the workbook or even just a specific range. To allow two-way updating, make
sure Allow writing to the source file is checked. After clicking ok, you can place the
table into your drawing anywhere you like. When the Excel file is updated, you will
receive a notification as shown. If you want to manually sync the information, you can
use the command DATALINKUPDATE.
Once inserted, you can control and alter the appearance of the table just like any
other table including sizing the rows and columns as well as altering gridlines.

Open GL Core Activation

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a programming interface for rendering 2D and 3D
vector graphics. It is used to interact with the graphics processing unit (GPU) to achieve
hardware accelerated rendering. Hardware acceleration is the use of hardware to
perform functions faster than normal software can achieve by allowing for concurrent
calculations as opposed to the software executing instructions one by one.
The option is found under Application
Preferences (in the Menu Bar under AutoCAD
or accessed by typing OPTIONS) in the
General tab. Certain graphics cards may
actually be hindered with this option so I
encourage you to check the readme file
installed with AutoCAD for Mac 2015. If you
find the application becomes sluggish or the
graphics erratic after activating the OpenGL profile, disable it in the Application
Preferences and restart AutoCAD for Mac.

Command Preview
Checking this option will display a preview of what will happen as you make changes
during a command, like showing which segments will be removed during the Trim
command. This preview applies specifically to the following commands: trim, extend,
lengthen, break, match prop, fillet, chamfer and offset. This allows you to see exactly
what your result will be before you commit.

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Lasso Selection
The Lasso tool allows you to create a selection window that is not rectangular but any
shape you can draw. It is accessed any time you are asked to select objects in
AutoCAD (or when no command is active, like the normal selection tools) by clicking
and dragging your cursor (as opposed to clicking and releasing to begin a selection
rectangle.) You can drag your cursor around as if you were drawing with a pencil to
create your selection set.
While in Lasso selection mode, click on the space bar to toggle between
selection window, crossing window or fence. Selection window is shown as a blue
highlighted area with a solid line and will only select objects that are completely
enclosed within the white boundary line. A crossing window is depicted as a green
shaded area with a dashed
boundary line that will select all
objects enclosed in the selection
boundary as well as any object
that crosses any of the boundaries
(meaning if any part of the
geometry touches the boundary
line, it will be included.) A fence
line is shown as a dashed line with
no fill and will only select geometry
that crosses the boundary line but
will not select objects enclosed
within the boundary.

Viewport Improvements
AutoCAD for Mac has added a toggle button so when in paperspace and you click
inside a viewport to access modelspace, you can now toggle the new paper / model
button to switch back to paperpsace without zooming out or typing the paperspace
command.
Also, after creating multiple viewports in model space, the active viewport is now
identified by a bright blue boundary. Any viewport can be resized by dragging the
horizontal or vertical viewport boundaries. A new + icon allows you to create new
viewports by clicking the icon and dragging. Also you can hold the Ctrl key while
dragging to split the modelspace viewport.
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Copy Nested Objects (NCOPY)

NCOPY is a wonderful tool that allows you to copy objects from an XREF and blocks
without binding or exploding them. NCOPY is available from the command line or from
the Modify menu. Simply enter the command and select the objects from the block or
external reference you want to copy.

Dimension Improvements
AutoCAD for Mac 2015 has gained some intelligence in regards to applying dimensions
to our drawings as well. Now existing dimension extension lines are ignored when
snapping to geometry to prevent them from being accidentally snapped to. Also, when
creating continuous or baseline dimensions, AutoCAD will inherit the layer and
dimension style of the base dimension. This means I can enter my dimensions, switch
to another layer to add some centerlines, then return to add continuous or baseline
dimensions without changing my layer back. This is controlled with the system variable
DIMCONTINUEMODE.

Cursor Enhancements
The cursor in AutoCAD for Mac is now more
contextually descriptive, showing small icons
during commands like move, distance, list, and
scale. New badges are also shown during
selection windows to show if you are creating a
crossing window or a selection window. These
are controlled with the system variable
CURSORBADGE.

MTEXT Enhancements
The new MTEXT Editor
background is now transparent so
you can see geometry even
below the window and the
window can now be resized using
the corner resize handle in the
lower right corner in addition to
hovering over the bottom or right
edges of the text editor.
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TEXTALIGN
The new TEXTALIGN command allows you to distribute and align single line and
multiline text. After starting the command and selecting the text you can choose either a
text object to align the text to or selecting points to define a line to align and distribute
the text to. You can choose to distribute the text objects evenly, set a specific spacing
value or maintain the current horizontal or vertical spacing.

Polyline Enhancements
You can now use fillet to close polyline arc segments. Enter the FILLET command and
select two or more polyline arc objects. The appropriate fillets are created among the
selected polyline arcs. Also, you can hold Ctrl to reverse the direction of the polyline
arcs as you create them.

Reset AutoCAD
Under the AutoCAD menu there is now an option to reset
AutoCAD to its defaults. Selecting this will restore the default
settings of AutoCAD for Mac to the out of the box factory
defaults, including preferences and system variables. This is
an especially useful tool if you experience an issue with
frequent crashes or errors. It is also helpful if AutoCAD for
Mac begins producing unexpected results like dialog boxes
not appearing or commands not giving the desired result.

So these differences are ones that may effect your decision to move to AutoCAD
for Mac. If there is a feature that you require in your workflow that is not supported right
now, your decision is a bit harder. Fortunately as part of this class we will be able to
voice our opinions on some of these features and tell Autodesk directly where these
tools rank for us and what they should be working on.

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