Maximizing your AutoCAD workspace 104

In my previous post, I described how you can gain drawing space by turning off the scrollbars. This works great for reclaiming the vertical ribbon of space that was used by the vertical scroll bar. However, the horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the display is simply replaced by more space for layout tabs. This additional space for layout tabs can be helpful if the drawing contains many layout tabs and you switch between them frequently. However, if your drawing only has a few layout tabs, much of that space is wasted.

Beginning in AutoCAD 2007, you can choose to display the Layout and Model tabs as buttons on the Status Bar rather than tabs. Simply right-click over any Layout or Model tab and choose Hide Layout and Model tabs.

The horizontal ribbon that was previously used by the Layout and Model tabs is reallocated as drawing space and new Layout and Model buttons are automatically added to the status bar! Even if your drawing contains many layouts, you might find them easier to access using the status bar buttons because a flyout menu enables you to view and select layouts without having to scroll across a long ribbon of layout tabs!

You can easily change your display back from status bar buttons to tabs by right-clicking over the Layout or Model buttons and selecting Display Layout and Model Tabs.