Introduction to AutoCAD 2009: 2 - Quick Properties & Quick View

Another new feature of AutoCAD 2009 is ‘Quick Properties’ options. If it is turned on, properties of the selected objects are briefly listed on the screen (Figure 1).
Figure 1

You can turn on the option by using status bar which is mentioned in the previous article or setting the QPMODE variable to 1 or 2. ‘1’ for turning on the option for all objects and ‘2’ for turning on the option for the objects you chose. You can also use ‘CTRL+SHIFT+P’ if you prefer. This little menu shows general properties of the object. Geometric properties of the object can be changed via this menu. You can access the advanced options of the ‘Quick Properties’ menu by right-clicking on the window frame and pressing ‘settings..’ (Figure 2).
Figure 2

You can edit the objects that will be included, where the window opens and the ‘automatic turn off ‘function. Normally, the menu appears near to the clicked point, but with ‘Float’ option its place is fixed. You can filter the object types that are going to be included in the ‘Quick Properties’ by accessing the ‘Customize…’ menu.

A similar feature to ‘Quick Properties’ is ‘Quik Layout View’ in AutoCAD 2009 (Figure 3).
Figure 3

You can access this feature via QVLAYOUT command or status bar. Turning this option on, adds whole list of layouts and models to the preview windows. Two small icons appear in the preview menu (when you hold the mouse on the file) for the plot and publish processes. A little and speedy layout view menu appears just in the middle below. You can permanantly turn those preview menus on by pressing the PIN icon in the menu. The plot options of the preview windows can be accessed by right-clicking as we did same in the LAYOUT TABS options earlier (Figure 4).
Figure 4

The last component of the Quick View series is Quick View Drawings menu. Samely, you can access the option by typing QVDRAWING in the command line or from status bar (Figure 5).
Figure 5

The whole drawings open at the moment are listed in the preview menus when the option is turned on. Upon holding the mouse on the drawing, small layout views are listed.
We think that these quick preview options can speed up the drawing. We are looking forward to hearing your experiences and comments.