Note: The following information is for educational purposes only and may or may not help you in your individual situation. KLH Software, Inc. assumes no liability for the use or misuse of any information contained in this document. In order for us to provide the best possible support for our software we are unable to provide help with the Tips & Tricks area or any questions or problems with its information.

Got a good Tip or Trick of your own?

Submitted by:
The KLH Software support team

Contents

• Overview
• Some tips for shortcut key commands
• A listing of the sample shortcut command scheme

• Importing this sample shortcut command scheme so you may use it

Overview

When you first install the APS software the APS shortcut key definitions are disabled. In order to use the shortcut commands defined with the APS system you must turn them on. (See Turning ON the APS keyboard shortcut commands) Once you turn them on they use the standard AutoCAD shortcuts and the standard shortcuts for the APS commands (To view listings of these standards see standard AutoCAD shortcuts and standard APS shortcuts or the end of the SHORTCUTS command documentation where both lists are combined).

The standard shortcut definitions that come with AutoCAD we feel could use some improvement, but due to the fact that most people are used to them (simply because AutoCAD comes that way) we have used them as the default definitions for the SHORTCUTS command. Please use the SHORTCUTS command to change these definitions in a way that will make you more efficient.

Some tips for shortcut key commands:

• Well defined shortcut commands use letters that can be easily typed with one hand leaving the other to use the mouse/puck.
• They shouldn't require you to look down at the keyboard so you can execute them with a quick flick of your fingers.
• Determine which commands you use the most and assign the easiest key combinations to those commands first. For example, the AutoCAD standard shortcuts use the CIRCLE command for the letter "C". We've found that we used COPY much more frequently than CIRCLE so we assigned the COPY command to the letter "C". Single letter and easy two letter combos should be assigned to the most commonly used commands.
• If you have any "lefties" in the office you will need to also make alternate definitions that can be easily typed on the other side of the keyboard.
• You might try figuring out the easy letters and letter combinations first and assign those to your common commands. Even if the letter or letter combination do not immediately make you think of the command. You will learn them over time.
• One of the traps that most people fall into (including us) is to have too many shortcut commands. If you don't use it very often then it is not a big deal to take that little extra bit of time to access that command another way. Shortcut key commands should be reserved for the "speed" commands that you use a lot. Having too many shortcuts often "muddies the water" and makes it easier to forget some of those commands that you use with "medium" frequency.
• Everyone drafts differently so do what works for you.

A listing of the sample shortcut command scheme

The following shortcuts are an example of a shortcut scheme. This scheme admittedly has faults and does not allow for "lefties" much but is an example that we feel is better than what comes standard with AutoCAD. We welcome better shortcut schemes and any ideas that will help make drafting more efficient. Submit your ideas by clicking the button at the top of this document.

This scheme is as follows:

You can download a Word® version of the above list for printing here.

Importing this shortcut command scheme so you may use it

If you like this setup for shortcut key commands (or like most of it and would like to start here and modify them using the SHORTCUTS command) you can use the sample SHRTCUTS.LSP file that is available here.

First before you do anything make a backup copy of the existing SHRTCUTS.LSP file in case something goes wrong or you want to go back to using the standard shortcuts. It is located in the "Custom" folder.

Then download the SHRTCUTS.LSP file here

Once you have this file copy it over the top of the existing SHRTCUTS.LSP file in the "Custom" folder. The next time you open AutoCAD these shortcut definitions will be used.

Should you want to change these definitions, use the SHORTCUTS command.

To disable these definitions, use the SHORTCUTS command.

If for some reason you want to go back to the definitions that the software came with, copy the "backup" you made above over the top of the SHRTCUTS.LSP file in the "Custom" folder and the next time you open AutoCAD those definitions will be used again.