Thursday, April 26, 2012

AutoCAD Prank – Snap On With No Limits – Muhahahaha!


AutoCAD has tons of settings. It so many that it’s easy to play tricks on your fellow CAD users.  Here’s one that I would like to share with you.  It involves changing the Limits and turning on the Snap feature.

Figure on left drawn with Snap Mode on.
On the right are the Snap Mode  control settings
Snap Mode (not Osnaps) is a feature in AutoCAD that allows for quick drawing.  It locks your cursor/crosshairs into a defined grid.  It is similar to drawing on graph paper (the old fashion way - with pencils even!) but only being allowed to draw to points on the graph where the rows and columns are.  Your endpoints, center points, and vertices can only be picked with your cursor if they are on the grid.  It constrains your mouse movement.  Look at it as a matrix of dots defined by columns and rows each set (by you) to a defined distance.  You can set up a grid system to any distance.  If you set the Snap Grid to One (1) then the distance between rows and columns will be one unit.  This will allow you to quickly draw lines that are one unit long.  You don’t have to type in distances or coordinate points.  However, if you need a line (or any drawing object) that is off the grid, you can manually override it by typing in the appropriate distance or coordinate point.


You can further control this grid by setting your drawing’s limits.  Limits will control the lower-left corner and the upper-right corner positions of your grid.  It can also control where you can enter points.  This is called Limit Checking.  When this feature is on it “limits” your working area to within the defined Limits coordinates.  When you turn Snap Mode on (press F9) you can only Snap to the grid area.

This is where the Auto CAD Prank comes in.  Go to Paper Space.  Set both the first Limits coordinates to 0,0 and the second to 0.0001,0.0001 and turn Snap Mode on.  Let the magic happen.  Muahhahahahahahaha!!

UPDATE (in italics)


Several of you have found that you cannot set the Limits while in Paper Space.  After more research I found that you cannot set Limits in Paper Space if you are displaying the Paper Background.  Go to OPTIONS, Display Tab and uncheck this.  Once this setting is off you will be able change the limits in paper space.


Also, if you open the Drafting Settings control window (type OS on the command line) and go to the Snap and Grid tab you can make some changes there that will mess with people.  Change the Snap Spacing (X and Y) to a size that is much larger than the screen (in paper space).  For example, if the drawing is in Imperial units and it is a 24 inch by 36 inch size sheet, set the snap grid spacing to a very large number like 200.  Make sure this number is greater than the limits.  This will “limit” the number of snappable points to just one and the user will not be able to move their crosshairs in the drawing area.

6 comments:

  1. i have a prank i tell almost every class when i explain snap: when your colleague isn't looking, set snap to an extremely high interval such as 1000000x1000000, and turn it on.

    very few people use snap and it takes a while to dawn on them to check.

    thereafter, my students easily understand the feature.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pranking people with AutoCAD settings is a great way to teach them those features. Nicely done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I cannot set limits coordinates to 0,0 in paper space.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lisa, it is mean but essentially harmless. Patriiick, what version of AutoCAD are you using?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Based on these and several other comments, I have updated this post address some issues with the prank. Great work finding these things out!

    ReplyDelete

Categories

AutoDesk (110) autocad (109) AutoCAD 2009 (40) augi (40) efficient (38) news (37) drafting (33) training (33) articles (30) CADaBlog (29) AutoCAD WS (23) Update (23) quick tip (22) video (21) mobile (19) review (19) cad (16) 3D Mouse (15) 3Dconnexion (15) Impression (15) Android (14) AutoCAD 2013 (14) cadalyst (14) me (14) AutoCAD 2010 (13) text (13) off topic (12) survey (12) Apps (11) hotfix (11) tips (11) 3D (10) AU (10) AutoCAD 2011 (10) service pack (10) workstation (10) Autodesk Labs (9) CAD Manager (9) annotation (9) blocks (9) cloud (9) fun (9) inventor (9) HP (8) Review-Product (8) autocad lt (8) videos (8) AutoCAD 2014 (7) Autodesk 360 (7) CUI (7) Windows 8 (7) iOS (7) new (7) IMSI Design (6) cad standards (6) files (6) google (6) infinite skills (6) printers (6) reference (6) ribbon (6) support (6) updates (6) workaround (6) RSS (5) TurboViewer (5) Upgrade (5) data (5) email (5) fields (5) guest post (5) keyboard (5) layers (5) paper space (5) pi (5) pi day (5) quotes (5) rant (5) selection (5) standards (5) styles (5) subscription (5) tech (5) 2D (4) AutoCAD Exchange (4) AutoCAD for Mac (4) Mac (4) Mastering AutoCAD (4) SketchBook (4) TurboCAD (4) UI (4) action recorder (4) dimension (4) driver (4) fills (4) large format printing (4) leaders (4) math (4) mobile workstation (4) salary (4) sheet sets (4) Amazon (3) Apple (3) AutoCAD 2012 (3) AutoCAD 2015 (3) AutoCAD 360 (3) AutoCAD Fundamentals (3) Civil 3D (3) DVD (3) DWF (3) Fusion (3) GIS (3) Kindle Fire (3) Lenovo (3) Microsoft (3) Review-Software (3) Wiley (3) Windows Phone 8 (3) Windows RT (3) annimation (3) announcements (3) autodesk plm (3) book (3) command alias (3) contest (3) filters (3) find (3) hardware (3) history (3) iPad (3) license (3) license software (3) lisp (3) menu browser (3) properties (3) purge (3) quick view (3) saas (3) tables (3) toolbars (3) weekend rant (3) what not to CAD (3) what not to do (3) #CADaBlogDVD2013 (2) 3D Modeling (2) 3ds Max (2) AutoCAD LT 2013 (2) AutoCAD LT for Mac (2) AutoCAD MAC (2) Autodesk. (2) BIM (2) CAD Services (2) CADSpeed (2) DWG (2) DXF (2) Designjet (2) Error (2) FAIL (2) Facecast (2) Freestyle (2) Fusion for Mac (2) George Omura (2) Mac OS (2) Mountain Lion (2) Novedge (2) Recomend (2) Review-Book (2) Revit LT (2) SpaceMouse Pro (2) Sybex (2) Tablet (2) Thinkstation (2) TurboReview (2) TurboViewer X (2) What Not To Do In AutoCAD (2) What's New (2) Windows (2) array (2) as-builts (2) beta (2) blog (2) circles (2) civil (2) civil design (2) collaboration (2) color (2) command line (2) commands (2) computer (2) copy (2) design (2) design review (2) dim style (2) download (2) eBook (2) eTransmit (2) file naming (2) free (2) geek stuff (2) grid (2) hotnews (2) interview (2) jobs (2) knowledge base (2) limits (2) look back (2) mouse (2) pallets (2) pgp (2) plotting (2) posts (2) press release (2) pricing (2) purchase (2) redlines (2) reference files (2) rental plans (2) shortcuts (2) sketchup (2) status bar (2) technology preview (2) tool pallet (2) tooltips (2) tv (2) units (2) video editing (2) viewer (2) webinar (2) 123D (1) 123D Catch (1) 123D Create (1) 123D Make (1) 2014 (1) 2015 (1) 3d Printing (1) ACAD/Medre.A (1) ADR (1) AEC (1) AUGI World (1) Account (1) Adobe (1) Apps Tab (1) AutoCAD 2016 (1) AutoCAD Error (1) AutoCAD LT 2012 (1) AutoCAD LT 2014 (1) AutoCAD LT 2015 (1) AutoCAD Mechanical (1) AutoCAD Revit Suite (1) Autodesk Account (1) Autodesk BIM 360 (1) Autodesk Instant (1) Autodesk PLM 360 (1) Autodesk ReCap (1) Award (1) CADDork (1) CADO (1) CTB (1) CadMouse (1) Camtasia (1) Communication Center (1) Corel (1) DWFx (1) Dassault Systemes (1) Death Star (1) Dell (1) Design Feed (1) Design Suites (1) DesignCAD (1) DoubleCAD (1) Duratec (1) E32 (1) ESET (1) ESRI (1) EliteBook (1) Epson (1) Evernote (1) Exchange Apps (1) FTP (1) ForceEffect (1) Free Form (1) Fusion 360 (1) GIS Day (1) GeoViewer (1) Geographic Information Systems (1) Geographic Location (1) Google Chromebook Pixel (1) Google Earth (1) Google Earth Pro (1) HP Designjet T2300 eMFP (1) HP EliteBook (1) HP EliteBook 8570w (1) HP Z1 (1) Help (1) Homestyler (1) IT (1) Infocenter (1) Inforbix (1) InfraWorks (1) InfraWorks 360 Pro (1) Infrastructure Modeler (1) Instant (1) Inventor 2013 (1) Inventor 2013 SP1 (1) Inventor LT (1) JPEG 2000 (1) Kickstarter (1) Kindle (1) Language packs (1) Lawsuit (1) Lenovo Thinkstation E32 (1) LizardTech (1) MS Exchange (1) Map 3D (1) Maya (1) MrSID (1) OS (1) OS X (1) Office Suite (1) Orange Juice Studios (1) P-Series (1) PLM (1) Photoshop (1) Pixel (1) Pixlr (1) Pixlr Express (1) Pixlr-o-matic (1) Plant (1) PogoPlug (1) Point Cloud (1) Previous (1) Project Artoo (1) Project Geppetto (1) Project Snap (1) R&D (1) Red Dot Award (1) Review-Service (1) Revit (1) Revit LT 2013 (1) Rhino (1) SDK (1) SMS (1) Secureload (1) Socialcam (1) Softimage (1) Solid Edge (1) SolidWorks (1) SpaceMouse Wireless (1) SpaceNavigator (1) Star Wars (1) SureColor (1) T-Series (1) TechSmith (1) The Future (1) Thinkstation E32 (1) Touch Screen (1) Trimble (1) TurboSite (1) TurboSite Reader (1) TurboViewer Pro (1) Unreconciled Layers (1) VBA (1) VOIP (1) Vault (1) Vault 2012 (1) Vela Systems (1) Visualization (1) WebOS (1) Welcome Screen (1) Windows Vista (1) Windows XP (1) Z1 (1) acad.doc (1) acad.lsp (1) acaddoc.lsp (1) acquisition (1) advice (1) aerial (1) all-in-one (1) angles (1) archive (1) arcs (1) author (1) autocad 2012. autocad lt 2012 (1) autocad. autocad for mac (1) autodesk logo (1) background (1) break (1) burrito (1) business (1) celebrate (1) check (1) checklist (1) chrome (1) chrome os (1) chromebook (1) climate (1) coming soon (1) communicate (1) constraints (1) construction (1) copier (1) crowd funding (1) customize (1) deadlines (1) design process (1) designer (1) desktop subscription (1) different language (1) draftsight (1) eMFP (1) ePrint (1) employee (1) employer (1) engineer (1) environment (1) event (1) feeds (1) file sharing (1) filepath (1) fix it (1) folders (1) font (1) government fail (1) groups (1) guide (1) hatching (1) imagery (1) initial setup (1) input (1) install (1) intel (1) internet (1) investment (1) isometrics (1) labels (1) layer manager (1) linetype (1) livestream (1) logo (1) macro (1) malware (1) message (1) mice (1) model space (1) modeling (1) multi leaders (1) navigation (1) newsletter (1) notifications (1) offset (1) opinion (1) options (1) overrides status bar (1) parametrics (1) patches (1) pay-as-you-go (1) perpetual license (1) podcast (1) poll (1) polyline (1) prank (1) printer failure (1) printers color (1) project draw (1) project files (1) project workflow (1) questions (1) recommend (1) release (1) remove (1) rent (1) repair (1) resume (1) reverse line direction (1) right click (1) save (1) scale (1) scanner (1) screen capture (1) sea turtles (1) send files (1) settings (1) snap (1) software (1) solutions (1) sony (1) student (1) subscription center (1) sustainability (1) system variables (1) tabs (1) tech snob (1) transparency (1) trial (1) undo (1) uninstall (1) viewports (1) virus (1) webcast (1) wiki (1) workplace (1)