Overview of AutoCAD 2021 Enhancements
AutoCAD 2021, along with its lighter version AutoCAD LT 2021, brings a series of innovative features designed to enhance productivity and efficiency. This release focuses on improving the user experience through collaborative tools and advanced functionalities. Let’s explore one of the standout features: Drawing History.
Introducing Drawing History
A significant addition to AutoCAD 2021 is the Drawing History feature, which allows users to track changes over time easily. If you save your drawing files to popular cloud storage options like OneDrive, Dropbox, or Box, accessing historical versions becomes seamless. This capability is particularly beneficial for teams working on a single project, enabling straightforward comparisons of revisions.
How to Utilize Drawing History
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Accessing Your Drawing: Open a drawing file stored in OneDrive, Dropbox, or Box.
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Navigating to Drawing History: Within AutoCAD, look for the Drawing History palette. You can access this by typing
DWGHISTORYinto the command line. This opens a window displaying a timeline of previous versions. -
Comparing Versions: Use the filtering options in the palette to select which version you would like to compare. You can filter by date, user, or even the time interval since the last save.
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Visualizing Changes: Once you’ve selected a version for comparison, click the Compare button. This action activates the DWG Compare feature, highlighting differences directly in the current drawing view.
- Importing Changes: If you decide to incorporate adaptations from a previous version, the software allows real-time imports of those alterations into your active drawing.
Added Commands for Efficiency
Along with the introduction of Drawing History, AutoCAD 2021 includes new commands to streamline the user experience:
- DWGHISTORY: This command opens the Drawing History palette, showing the version history associated with a cloud storage service.
- DWGHISTORYCLOSE: Use this command to close the Drawing History palette quickly.
Understanding New System Variables
AutoCAD has also revamped its system variables to reflect the changes in functionality:
- DWGHISTORYSTATE: This variable tells you whether the Drawing History palette is currently open or closed, enhancing your workspace management.
Exploring Other New Features
Beyond Drawing History, AutoCAD 2021 includes additional features aimed at improving your design workflow. The upcoming articles will delve into the new Xref compare tool, which promises to simplify referencing external files and comparing changes.
FAQs
1. What is Drawing History in AutoCAD 2021?
Drawing History is a feature that allows users to view and compare past versions of their drawings stored in cloud services, helping teams collaborate effectively.
2. How do I access the Drawing History feature?
To access Drawing History, open your drawing stored in a supported cloud service and type DWGHISTORY in the command line to open the palette.
3. Can I import changes from previous versions into my current drawing?
Yes, AutoCAD 2021 allows you to import modifications from past versions into your active drawing in real time after viewing the differences using the Compare function.