Editor’s Pick: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2018 Released

Dear DE Reader:

When a pacesetter comes out with a new edition, it’s always something to check out. The newest version of the AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT design systems fit that bill and are what’s on tap with today’s Editor’s Pick of the Week. Let’s get cracking.

A quick description of what’s new in the 2018 versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT is that there are new tools and performance enhancements engineered to help you design faster and with fewer potential hassles. But from the sound of it, you can add in that this release seems to offer a number of improvements that are highly responsive to user feedback.

AutoCAD 2018 debuts the ability to use the SHX text recognition tool to convert imported PDF geometry to text and Mtext objects. Image courtesy of Autodesk Inc.

Among version 2018’s notable new capabilities are a set of integrated tools to make fixing broken paths for externally referenced files easier. Autodesk says that these will save time and minimize frustration. You can do things like replace the paths of one or more missing references with a new path, assign a relative path to a reference file when your host drawing is nameless, search for and replace all references that use a specified path and other neat stuff.

Performance enhancements are all over this release. For instance, AutoCAD 2018 introduces some updates to the DWG format that can improve the efficiency of open and save operations, particularly if your drawings contain a lot of annotative objects and viewports. 3D navigation actions like zoom, pan and 3D orbit operations perform much faster in version 2018. In general, Autodesk says that you should see the performance of manipulating 3D models as nearing the spunkiness you’d expect manipulating 2D drawings.

Also everywhere in this release are “little” improvements that make life easier. For example, you can lengthen the time you share a design view online by an additional 30 days. There’s also a command to regenerate the views in a drawing to repair anomalies in the display of 3D solids and surfaces. And you know that temporary “rubber-band” line that stretches dynamically within a drawing area as the cursor moves between two points? You can now control its color so that you can see it better your own way.

There’s a lot more to AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2018. Start your discovery with today’s Editor’s Pick of the Week write-up and the linked videos. After that, sign up for a trial copy and take it for a spin. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, DE