Getting Started with QSELECT in AutoCAD
Have you ever struggled to select the proper objects in a busy AutoCAD drawing? Manually picking elements can be tedious and error-prone, especially in complex designs. This is where QSELECT comes in, a powerful selection tool that allows you to filter objects based on properties like layer, color, block name, and more.
QSELECT is one of AutoCAD's best filtering tools. It allows you to create selections by filtering objects and their properties. You can easily select objects on layers, objects of a specific color, blocks by name, and many more filters.
This short blog discusses a practical application where QSELECT is a handy tool for cleaning geometry.
A practical application of QSELECT
In AutoCAD Electrical, electrical designers frequently create new symbols and footprints for their projects. Footprints are the 2D representations of electrical components such as pushbuttons, control panels, circuit breakers, and more. These footprints are commonly available to download from manufacturer's websites as DWG or DXF files.
However, these files are not always optimized for immediate use. Many of them contain excessive layers, unnecessary details, and 3D geometry represented with dashed lines or different colors. Manual cleaning of the drawing file is required to some extent before it can be nicely brought into your electrical schematics.
QSELECT is a powerful tool that simplifies the cleanup process. Rather than manually selecting and deleting unwanted elements, you can use QSELECT to quickly filter and remove unnecessary geometry based on layer, color, or other properties.
I am working on a control panel footprint downloaded directly from a manufacturer’s website, as shown in the example below. As you can see in the image, the drawing contains many extra lines and data that I don’t need.
If needed, I start by exploding the blocks to make individual lines accessible for cleanup. Next, I right-click on the drawing and choose the QSELECT command to begin filtering unwanted elements.
The filter I need will select all objects except those on Layer AM_0 in the active drawing. To achieve this, I set the following QSELECT parameters:
- Apply to: Entire Drawing
- Object Type: Multiple
- Properties: Layer
- Operator: <> (Not Equal)
- Value: AM_0
Once the selection parameters are set, I press OK, and QSELECT quickly highlights all elements except those on Layer AM_0. From there, a single press of the Delete key instantly removes the unwanted geometry.
Just like that, with a simple filter, we’re left with a clean drawing ready to be used as a footprint symbol. If you want to take it a step further and ensure your drawing is as optimized as possible, consider running the PURGE and OVERKILL commands.
The PURGE command helps remove unused or duplicate items from a drawing and keep your drawing file clean from clutter.
If you want to streamline your geometry further, the OVERKILL command can be helpful. It detects overlapping or duplicate objects, such as lines and arcs, and merges them into a single entity, making the drawing simpler and more efficient.
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