Assign .shx file-folder to a single drawing

[r.schlich]

We received a .dwg file which uses some 30 custom .shx files. We also received those .shx files. I know i can add those .shx files to one of my support-paths to use them. However that has 2 drawbacks:

1. My support-path gets bloated (My company created a network folder with about every custom font we ever received. That folder now contains so many fonts that, if i add it as a support path, autocad crashes on startup. That's why i'd like to keep my support-paths as lean as possible)

2. Every one of my colleagues would have to also manually add those fonts to their support-paths. I know we could create a network folder, that every adds as a support path, but that would sooner or later inevitably lead to the problem described under 1.)

So my question:

Is there a way to assign support-paths in a .dwg-file itself. So that for this drawing - and this drawing only - fonts would be searched under that specific path for every user on every computer that opens said drawing - no matter what other settings individual users have set their autocad installations to work with?

Any help is appreciated - thanks in advance!

[Moshe-A · Accepted solution]

@r.schlich hi,

No you can no assign private support file to dwg but AutoCAD first look's for it's support files in the folder the dwg was opened, so you can solved this by saving the unique shx files beside the dwg. it still can be done even if AutoCAD font folder has the same shx name as long as the text style is not saved with  full path. on the other hand it will 'dirty' your project folder with unneeded shx files?!

Moshe

[r.schlich]

Is there a way to make Autocad look in a subfolder of the drawing-path? Like you said, the project folder would get "dirty", if i placed the shx just beside the drawing. Creating a subfolder with the required fonts would be a lot cleaner.

[Moshe-A]

yes you can but you will need to add this folder to support file search path and move this folder above AutoCAD font folder.

Another option is to design autocad profiles for each group of projects. on desktop create AutoCAD shortcuts for each group and lunch autocad with a saved profile.

read about autocad profiles on the web.

Moshe

[r.schlich]

I figure adding multiple support-paths with a handfull of .shx-files will eventually have the same effect as stuffing all those .shx files into one "big" font support-path - which is to make autocad slow on startup and eventually crash when the number of fonts gets too high.

I like the idea with custom profiles per project! However that would still require custom adaptions for each user, that works on the project, which is what i would have liked to circumvent by setting support-paths on a per drawing basis....

Well i guess we can't have our cake and eat it too. Anyway, thanks for your help. Much appreciated!