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Create Selection Sets with Quick Select
Tip# 4044 By Danny Korem On 14-Jan-2013
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Categories : 2D Operations
Software type : AutoCAD 2013
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Select objects more quickly and easily.

Frequent tipster Danny Korem sent in a tip to help you select the right objects in your AutoCAD file.

"We probably spend 80% of our time in AutoCAD on editing and modifying existing data, and the remaining 20% on creating new data. That's the reason that creating selection sets effectively can catalyze our tasks.

"There are several ways to select objects, but in this tip I'll focus on the non-picking ones. The two goals are to select objects quickly and easily, and to select them all at once (once you trust what you're doing, there's no need to zoom and pan to select, and no tedious selecting and deselecting).

"So, here's the drill: right-click and access the Quick Select pop-up floating menu option, as shown below.



"Pull down the combo box labeled Multiple and browse for the object type you're trying to select. Note that unlike other lists in AutoCAD, this list is sorted chronologically, not alphabetically. In other words, if the object is new to the current file, you should drop to the end of the list.



"Once you locate and click the object type, you should try to match the property or properties to concentrate your search. If more than one property is needed to exactly describe your search, check the 'Append to current selection set' box at the bottom of the dialog box. You can also opt for looking in a specific area of your drawing if you click on the Select Objects icon (located to the right of the 'Apply to' line at the top of the dialog box). Quick Select has been there for many versions and is a refreshing addition to the old filter option (which still works, but I'll deal with it separately).

"Another way to select more quickly is to manually select one or more objects (different object types), right-click, and opt for Select Similar. This is the fastest way to select objects in AutoCAD. You have to be careful, however, because AutoCAD's selection set might differ from your intent. The more systematic you are, the faster and more trustworthy your selection. If combined with the presence of the Properties palette and/or the Quick Properties pop-up menu, you'll get instant access to altering the selection set."

Notes from Brian Benton, Cadalyst tip reviewer: The Quick Select tool is very useful. It helps AutoCAD users refine their selection set to make sure they get what they need in a quick manner. There are a few ways to access the Quick Select tool; one is to bring up the right-click menu. If you have this functionality turned off, you can use the button in the Properties palette in the upper right-hand corner to start Quick Select. You can also find the command in the Home tab of the ribbon in the Utilities panel (the icon is circled in the image below). You can also type QSelect on the Command line.



Once you start the command, select your objects. Press Enter. Change the filter settings to refine your selection set. Once the selection filters have been set you can choose to either add those items or remove those items from your selection set.

 

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User comments
Comment by Jessup,Allen
Posted on 2013-01-16 08:53:03
Also remember the FILTER command. Although it has not been updated with some of the newer objects. It does offer ways to build complex selection sets and save them for later use.