I’ve participated in the launch of many AutoCAD releases during my 17+ years with Autodesk but I think the AutoCAD team has outdone itself with this one! Here’s what you have to look forward to… starting with my favorites!
Parametric Drawing functionality in AutoCAD 2010 enables you to dramatically increase productivity by constraining drawing objects based on design intent. Geometric and dimensional constraints help ensure that specific relationships and measurements remain persistent even as objects are modified!
Dynamic Blocks support geometric and dimensional constraints plus you can drive block geometry based on values in a block properties table, create construction geometry, and even test the block without saving or exiting the Block Editor!
Smooth Mesh tools enable you to create 3D models that are free-form and flowing. The building in the image above was modeled completely in AutoCAD 2010!
3D Gizmos allow you to easily move, rotate, and scale selected objects within the constraints of a specified axis or plane.
Subobject Selection Filters restrict the selection of subobjects to faces, edges, or vertices.
PDF Output provides flexible, high quality output. Export TrueType fonts as text rather than as graphics, specify merge control, include layer information, and automatically preview the plotted PDF!
PDF Underlay was one of the top wish list requests granted in AutoCAD 2010. Attach a PDF file to an AutoCAD drawing in the same way you work with other external references including DWG, DWF, DGN, and Image files. You can even snap to key points on PDF geometry using familiar object snaps!
Hatching is more robust and flexible including the ability to grip edit non-associative hatch objects!
Initial Setup enables you to easily tailor the AutoCAD environment to meet your needs. The settings you specify are automatically saved to a custom workspace!
Application Menu, displayed in the upper left corner of the AutoCAD window, is streamlined to provide easy access to tools.
Ribbon is updated to provide greater flexibility, easier access to tools, and consistency across Autodesk applications. Voted as one of the *favorite* features among AutoCAD 2010 beta participants!
Quick Access Toolbar is enhanced with more functionality and provides consistency with other Windows® applications.
Multileaders provide more flexibility by enabling you to apply properties to individual Multileader segments, specify vertical attachment for multileader styles, and more!
Find and Replace functionality enables you to zoom to a highlighted text object and quickly create a selection set of highlighted objects!
New Features Workshop is updated to include AutoCAD 2010 functionality.
Mtext includes a default column mode of Dynamic with manual height and the corner grips on Mtext objects are consistent with table objects.
Spell Checker includes an Undo button that enables you to undo actions you made for the previous spelling mistake.
Dimension enhancements provide more control over the display and placement of dimension text.
Color Selection is easier to see in the AutoCAD Color Index and you can even change the layer color directly from the Layer drop-down list.
Measure tools enable you to measure the distance, radius, angle, area, or volume of a selected object or a sequence of points.
Reverse tools enable you to reverse the direction of lines, polylines, splines, and helixes.
Spline and Pline editing tools include the ability to convert a spline to a polyline.
Purge includes an option for purging zero-length geometry and empty text objects.
Viewport Rotation enables you to control the rotation of a view within a layout viewport.
Reference tools on the Insert tab of the ribbon enable you to attach and modify any externally referenced file including DWG, DWF, DGN, PDF, or Image formats.
Sheet Sets enable you to specify which sheets and/or subsets should be included in a publish operation and sheet list tables are more flexible than ever before.
Quick View Layouts and Quick View Drawings include a preview image of Model space in addition to the layout previews.
File Navigation dialogs such as Open and Save support auto-complete when typing file names.
Object Size Limit is increased to at least 4 GB (depending on your system configuration), providing more flexibility.
3D Printing enables you to output your 3D AutoCAD drawings directly to STL-supported 3D printing vendors through an internet connection.
eTransmit and Archive provide new options to include unloaded file references in the eTransmit package.
Autodesk Seek enables you to quickly search product information and designs from the web and download them into your AutoCAD drawing. In addition, vendors can easily share their designs by uploading them directly from AutoCAD.
CUIx package file format that improves performance when working with the CUI Editor and contains the custom images used by the commands defined in the file.
Action Macros include a new Action Macro Manager, a basepoint option, and streamlined prompts.
Online License Transfer enables you to move stand-alone licenses between computers.
With AutoCAD 2010, you can tackle your most challenging problems with ease. Create almost any shape imaginable with free-from design tools, cut revision time and keep everything connected with parametric drawing, share your ideas as PDFs, or bring them to life with 3D printing. AutoCAD 2010 takes you from idea to reality faster.
To learn more, download the AutoCAD 2010 Preview Guide!
AutoCAD 2010... Coming soon to a computer near you!
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