Merriam-Webster defines “stymie” as “to present an obstacle to or stand in the way of”. In the world of AutoCAD, you can think of it as something that gets in your way. I’ve seen many users over the years avoid using certain productivity-enhancing tools that pop up near the cursor. They know about them, but they keep them turned off. When I ask why they all say the same thing. "They get in my way", or "I can't see what's behind them". Yep, they’re stymied.
But their points are valid, so I thought I'd show you some ways to alter the appearance of these tools so that you might not find them so obtrusive.
First Things First
First, we’ll need to call up the Drafting Settings dialog box. The easiest way for me is to simply start typing in DSETTINGS on the Command Line (let your AutoComplete take over after the first few letters). Or, you can right-click on an icon in the Status Bar that corresponds to any of the tabs found in the dialog. Depending on the tool, the dialog will open with that tab active.
Dynamic Input
Today, we’re focusing on the last three tabs, starting with Dynamic Input. Note there are several controls, but the one we’re after is Drafting Tools Appearance. Clicking on it will get you the sub dialog as shown below.
Here, we can alter how the tooltips appear to you. You can increase or decrease their size. Valid values range from -3 to 6. You’ll get a preview at the top of the dialog.
You can also increase the transparency of the tooltip. For those of you who might like to be able to see what’s behind your Dynamic Input, this is for you. Move the slider to the right to make the tooltip more transparent. Below are some preview examples of varying size and transparency.
Quick Properties
Moving one tab to the right, we find the controls for Quick Properties. Here, we can control both what quadrant the Palette displays in relation to the cursor, but we can also designate how far away it displays. You’ll need to make sure that Cursor-dependent is selected, then you can choose your desired quadrant and distance (limited to 400 pixels please).
Selection Cycling
Our last tab takes into the controls for Selection Cycling. The good news here is that once you’ve mastered the location controls for Quick Properties, you’ll know how to do Selection Cycling as well. Make sure it’s enabled, then use the same quadrant and distance controls to decide where it displays.
Summing it up
Most graphical elements in AutoCAD are customizable to some degree. Just because the original display isn’t to your liking, dig around. You’ll probably find a way to change it.
To be your most productive, you need a clear vision, so don’t let the default settings in AutoCAD stymie you.
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