Ability to turn on/off Snaps and Orthos While Drafting an Item

[Anonymous]

When I'm in the middle of drafting an item, whether it's simply a line, circle, or annotations of some kind, I sometimes forget to turn on/off my snaps and/or orthos first. To fix that, I have to hit ESC and undo what I was editing before I can make the necessary switches in my snaps/orthos.

Would like to be able to make snap/ortho switches AS I'm drafting a particular item, instead of having to cancel what I'm doing, make the switch(es), and start again. Can be time-consuming depending on the item being drafted.

Thanks! 🙂

[steven-g · Accepted solution]

F3 snaps on/off and F8 ortho both work whilst a command is active and you can also type the first 3 letters of an osnap eg. "CEN" followed by the enter key (for center) also in the middle of an active command this is called a snap overide and only that single snap type will be available for just the next snap point, then all (set) snaps are back for further points. Snap overides are also available by right clicking your mouse mid command. And if you really want to get adventurous then using the ' apostrophe lets you use certain options transparently so you could type 'dsettings which will open the osnap settings dialogue box make changes and close the dialogue all without having to press "ESC" whilst mid command

[vinodkl]

Hi,

There is no need for you to escape the command and then turn on ortho or object snap. You could do it while you have the command active by pressing F3(obect snap) and F8(ortho). 

My advice would be keep the object snap active with the modes which you use the most. If in case you need a snap mode which is not active you could activate it temporarily by typing in the first three letters of the mode as said in the above post or you can also press shift and then right-click to get the temporary snap modes. And you could have the ortho turned on and then temporarily disable it during the time when a command is active by holding on the shift key.

[steven-g]

Sounds like there is a parrot in here, that is just about word for word the same information as post 2

[pendean]

@steven-g Someone is trying to bump up their forums stats 🙂

[cadffm]

Vinodkl added the SHIFT feature, so it is 1:1 PLUS one information more for the TO.

[Anonymous]

If the ability is there in AutoCAD via those methods, you'd think the engineers would also let you simply click the commands at the bottom too 🙂 No reason not to!

[Anonymous]

Appreciate the SHIFT key suggestion! 🙂

[vinodkl]

Hi @steven-g 

I am not a native English speaker and I have seen many people in the forum who post questions and are not native speakers as well, so tried to put up in simple way which I know and my only intention was to help the user and give some information in a simple way. You guys in forum are far more superior in knowledge and experience than me and I stand nowhere in front you guys. If you feel like I am a parrot putting up some information which is not useful then I don't mind being called a parrot🙂

[Anonymous]

Good news is, according to science, you're not a parrot unless you have an avian bone structure, feathers, beak, and go CAW. I don't think you fall into that category, but I could be wrong.

[pendean]

You are doing great in the forums: we are just having fun with you my friend 🙂
Keep up the great work.

[steven-g]

@vinodkl 😋 You made a good and valid point on the use of the shift key, so it would have been sufficient just to add that point like --- "You can also use the shift key to override ortho........"

@Anonymous And yes you can select the icons at the bottom of the screen as well whilst a command is active. Or use command modifiers, you can even do a lengthy math function using the 'cal command all without stopping an active command

[vinodkl]

Thanks Dean😄 BTW I didn't take those comments seriously.

[Anonymous]

Hey gang, to be a total pain, I actually meant to turning on ISODRAFT whilst editing. My brain for some reason remembered it as snaps/orthos

[peterbrooksWY8MV]

I got a new computer and now F8 doesn't turn ortho on and off,  is there a way to make that turn ortho on and off?

[pendean]

@ peterbrooksWY8MV What about all the other F-keys?

And is this a 3rd party keyboard (or a laptop keyboard) designed to do something else when you press any of the F-keys?

[peterbrooksWY8MV]

It does all the functions of windows, like adjust the volume, the brightness etc.  but the AutoCAD functions won't hold.  I used to press f8 for ortho now it wants to adjust the brightness.  I've tried everything to override it and can't figure out what to do.

[pendean]

---

@peterbrooksWY8MV wrote:

It does all the functions of windows, like adjust the volume, the brightness etc.  but the AutoCAD functions won't hold.  I used to press f8 for ortho now it wants to adjust the brightness.  I've tried everything to override it and can't figure out what to do.

---

See your other post for how to find your fn-lock key

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-lt-forum/autocad-2021-lt-ortho-f8/m-p/12725878#M205039 

[CGBenner]

@peterbrooksWY8MV 

It sounds from these posts like you are working on a laptop, is this correct?  

If yes, most laptops require that you hold down the Fn key (usually in the lower left corner on laptops) to operate any of the "F" functions on the top row of keys.  Just pressing the key itself performs the tool associated with the top image on that key.  In your example of F8, on my keyboard that key without the Fn key will put my laptop into airplane mode.  I hope this helps.

 

[peterbrooksWY8MV · Accepted solution]

I am using a new HP PC., windows 11. The windows 10 started spinning wheels, blue screened and then wouldn't restart. after two days of research on this topic, I pretty much gave up trying to figure this out. I will press the right-angle button or fn plus f8 from now on. I have been drafting on AutoCAD since 1984, I use the keys for just about everything because there was no windows/buttons when I learned. I thought about taking the old keyboard from the old computer and see if that works, it doesn't have an fn lock either, but I thought it worked before so I might try it, it uses batteries and I prefer not having to replace them when they run out of juice. So for now I need to start getting work done and not let this derail my productivity.