Contents

• What is a shortcut key command?
• Turning ON the APS keyboard shortcut commands
• Standard shortcut definitions

What is a Shortcut Key Command?

One of the fastest ways to issue a command in AutoCAD is to use keyboard shortcut commands. Common examples of shortcut commands are using E for ERASE,  SA for QSAVE, TR for TRIM etc. For those who have never used a shortcut command before type "E" and then press the <Space> bar with your thumb. It is that easy. As you get used to using shortcut commands you will find the best position for your hand on the keyboard. Experiment and you will figure it out.

Shortcuts are typically defined in the acad.pgp file but can also be defined using AutoLISP®. AutoCAD comes with many shortcut commands already defined, but many people feel that the AutoCAD definitions could stand some improvement. This is why we developed the SHORTCUTS command. The SHORTCUTS command allows you to easily define shortcuts without having to edit the acad.pgp file or know AutoLISP. Definitions can be changed on the fly right from within AutoCAD.

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.

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.

An example of some shortcut definitions that are a little better (at least for "right handers") can be found in the Tips & Tricks area.

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Turning ON the APS keyboard shortcut commands

When you first install the APS-2008 software the APS shortcut key definitions are disabled. In order to use the shortcut commands defined with the APS-2008 system you must turn them on. The steps to turning them on are very simple:

Type SHORTCUTS at the command prompt and you will see the following dialog:

UNcheck the box next to Disable all APS-2008 shortcut command definitions. This will allow the shortcut definitions listed to be used. You may modify any of the definitions listed if you like. When done press .

See the SHORTCUTS command for more on setting and using shortcut commands in your drawings.

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Standard Shortcut Definitions

These are the "standard" shortcut definitions that come with AutoCAD. We hope you will use the SHORTCUTS command and change them to make them (and you) more efficient. See above under What is a shortcut key command? for more on using shortcut commands to make you more efficient.

AutoCAD comes with several "shortcut" commands already defined in the "acad.pgp" file. (Click here to see the standard AutoCAD shortcut commands) Each of these shortcuts will be used in your drawings until you define a replacement shortcut. Any shortcut definition that is created using the SHORTCUTS command will take precedence over one defined in the "acad.pgp" file. So if for example you define "B" to be "BREAK" in the SHORTCUTS command it will no longer be "BLOCK" as defined in the "acad.pgp" file. There is no need to get rid of the "B = BLOCK" definition in the PGP file, the commands defined in the SHORTCUTS command are loaded after the PGP file so they will always override what is defined there.

APS-2008 also has some standard shortcut commands that are already defined in the SHORTCUTS command. (Click here to see the standard APS-2008 shortcut commands)

AutoCAD standard shortcuts that are defined in the "acad.pgp" file do not show up in the list that appears in the SHORTCUTS command. To allow you to see more of a complete list in the SHORTCUTS command, many of the more commonly used standard AutoCAD shortcuts have been added to the standard list used by the SHORTCUTS command.

Below is the default shortcut list saved with the SHORTCUTS command. This list includes the standard APS-2008 shortcuts, the more commonly used AutoCAD shortcuts, and a few AutoCAD shortcuts that now use APS-2008 commands.

If you would like to print out the list of shortcuts we have created two files to help you:

Shortcut Commands.pdf   (Adobe Acrobat® format)
Shortcut Commands.doc (Microsoft® Word® version 2.x format )