Frequent tipster Danny Korem shares some tips about prepping AutoCAD files for storage on the cloud — or anywhere, really.

"Lately, I've been busy preparing CAD files for cloud backups. The framework takes into consideration various services, including Autodesk 360 and its respective CAD engine, AutoCAD WS. One thing is certain: I'm not interested in uploading any kind of garbage, since I consider the newer backup technologies as a great opportunity to clean up and standardize our legacy files.

"One of the foundations of good CAD file maintenance is the good old AutoCAD Purge command, which has improved in recent versions. I select the following options:

• Uncheck the 'Confirm each item to be purged' box. That way you will never be prompted to confirm anything. No unused data should be left in the drawing — that's the rule, although one can disagree for justified reasons, of course.
• Check 'Purge nested items' to shorten the path to a totally clean CAD file.
• Check 'Unnamed Objects — Purge zero-length geometry and empty text objects,' since in both cases, this unnamed object could drive AutoCAD nuts. This is an innovative and precious feature, which is grayed out if unnamed objects are absent from the file. When present, it's the best and shortest way to get rid of empty-void objects.
  
  
   

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Reviewer Brian Benton: Storing drawings has always been a concern, even before computers and CAD. Storing your files in such as way that you can easily retrieve them when necessary is very important — you want to be able to use what you’ve created.

The method presented here is to help remove nonessential data from your files. This reduces the file size, which will allow you to store more files. Autodesk has a cloud-based storage service called Autodesk 360, where anyone can create an account and receive a small amount of online storage space (subscription customers gain a significantly greater amount). These files can be accessed via AutoCAD WS, a web browser, or AutoCAD 2013.