AutoCAD Exchange is Closing

Autodesk announced yesterday that they will be closing the AutoCAD Exchange website and migrate its contents to other “popular networks” like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

That’s a shame.  When AutoCAD Exchange first launched it had great promise.  It was an online community hosted by Autodesk that had a lot of great content.  It had Featured Videos, Tips and Tricks, Design Showcase, several resources and my favorite, “Ask the Expert”.  I really liked Ask the Expert because they always had great people available to answer your questions.  And those questions were archived so you could revisit them or search through them.  It has been my experience that if one person has a question about CAD, somebody else does too.  Again, it’s a shame it’s closing.  However…the information will not be lost forever.  It will be “migrated” to other networks.

Autodesk launches an AutoCAD Marketplace – the Apps Tab

UPDATE: Autodesk has expanded the Autodesk Exchange App Store to include more than just AutoCAD.  Click the link for the new Autodesk Exchange App Store.


Autodesk announces their June 13th release of the Autodesk Apps Tab that runs within AutoCAD 2012 (only.)  Initially, it will be available for AutoCAD 2012 only.  The Autodesk Apps Tab is an online marketplace where users can purchase, sell and rate apps from within AutoCAD 2012.  These “apps” are companion products for AutoCAD that have been created to provide additional functionality to AutoCAD.  At its launch, the Autodesk App Tab is expected have approximately 150 different apps to choose from ranging in price with several apps being free.

The AutoCAD Apps Tab in AutoCAD 2012

The Autodesk App Tab is an effort by Autodesk to centralize the distribution of AutoCAD add on applications.  It is also an attempt to provide a safe means of distribution for these apps.  It is also an opportunity for users to share and or sell the applications they have created.

AutoCAD Exchange: Have you stopped by lately?

Autodesk recently reworked their AutoCAD Exchange website.  If you haven't heard of it, AutoCAD Exchange is a website created by Autodesk meant to be a central online community where users of AutoCAD and AutoCAD Vertical programs can go for support and information.  Gabrielle Friedly, AutoCAD Exchange Community Manager was kind enough to write a guest post for CAD-a-Blog that discusses AutoCAD Exchange and its new features.  Here is her post:

If AutoCAD Exchange were a movie, I might invite you to “see it again for the first time.” That’s because we recently gave this popular site a new look and feel.

We launched AutoCAD Exchange in March 2009. An average of 70,000 visitors now stop by every month to access learning and productivity tools, discussions, and blog posts related to the AutoCAD® family of products. They also ask questions of colleagues, share work in the design showcase, and network with one another. Based on the feedback from these visitors, we’ve now made it easier to find, view, and experience the content that makes you even more productive with AutoCAD software. Here’s a preview of what we’ve done. 

AutoCAD Exchange - What's New This Week

Here is what is new this week on AutoCAD Exchange.

  Ask the Expert: Waheed Akhtar

Waheed Akhtar is a Senior CAD Technician at McCormick Rankin Corporation. He has more than 15 years experience with AutoCAD, working on various projects that include tunnels and roads, bridges, canals and related structures, and buildings.
He specializes in the creation of new line types and hatch patterns, 3D drawing, digitizing, and CAD standards.

On the Home Page

New Series:

Ged Trias: Biography

Ged Trias is the Associate Director of Design at the Larson Darby Group, based in Rockford, Illinois. Here, Ged explains what his company does, and how long he's been using AutoCAD.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuaWLW55I8Q

Ged Trias: Subscription Benefits

Ged Trias talks about his favorite features of the Autodesk Subscription Program and how it can save his company money.

New Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyPLE_G3Go

AutoCAD 2011: Create and Edit 2D Objects

Many operations in AutoCAD can be done directly with the mouse, or by using tools in the user interface and following prompts. This video demonstrates how to create, view, and modify 2D objects in a drawing.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKUefrZrYts

AutoCAD: David Cohn - Realistic Lighting

David Cohn talks to Heidi Hewett about adding realistic lighting to AutoCAD visualizations.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XbIVFQ_BL0

AutoCAD: Deni Cox - Tech Questions - Layout Tab

Deni Cox of CAD-1 talks about the questions she receives as a Technical Specialist, and how she fields questions about the Layout Tab.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gt899ha1qM

AutoCAD: Donnie Gladfelter - Restore Reset

Heidi Hewett of Autodesk talks to CAD consultant Donnie Gladfelter about how important it is to experiment with AutoCAD and customize the user interface. He also shares a tip for what to do if you need to undo a customization.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsh3nKZRPw