I get asked a lot when I teach AutoCAD Electrical, "Mark, how can I make my Ribbon more productive for me? It seems everytime I need the Layer control or the Electrical Audit I have to go somewhere on the Ribbon that I normally do not venture." My answer usually involves two responses.
- Create your own Ribbon with your own Tabs and Panels (very time consuming but the ultimate in customization)
- Customize your Quick Access Toolbar (very quick for a couple very often used commands or functions)
For this post we will focus on the latter. Here is a look at my Quick Access Toolbar. I have included the Layer Control pull down, a Close All button (very handy in Electrical), and the Electrical Audit commands.
Adding commands to the QAT is actually quite simple and actually more reliable than some of the other Ribbons that Autodesk has such as the bug in the Inventor 2010 Ribbon that SP1 fixed. Also this sticks for all environments unlike the Inventor one that has to be customized for each environment that is used (drawing, part, assembly, studio, etc). To add something to the QAT, simple right mouse button (RMB) on it in the Ribbon and select the logical option.
A little more in depth method to add these to the QAT is by using the CUI (Customize User Interface) dialog. Simply type in CUI and hit enter. In the upper right window pane find the QAT for Electrical.
You can drag and drop commands from the lower window pane's command search. Now if you are trying this as you read you might see that the Close All command does not actually have a button image so adding it gives you a question mark. Well, that's the next more in depth step. With Close All selected from the lower left window pane a descriptive preview shows up in the upper right window pane. Simply use an existing button image like I have or create your own.
One last note on the QAT customization: You can only reorder the items here in the CUI, once they are placed or added in the normal interface they cannot be dragged around the QAT like Panels can inside of Tabs. Be default it will just add the newest addition to the end of the QAT.
Don't forget if you also like your Tool Palletes back in 2010 (they discontinued them this year), you can also bring them back with your old XTPs. I have also included them in a previous blog post in case you need them.
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