Tipster Jerry Bandy shares a trick he uses to line up objects on specific planes in AutoCAD.

"I use the often-overlooked Align command to position a 2D or 3D drawing to a given plane. Select a UCS (user coordinate system) and draw a rectangle in the plane of your choice. Enter the Align command and select the object. Next, choose a corner of the part to align with the first corner of the rectangle (I usually start with the lower-left corner). Next, pick the remaining two points. The part will automatically align itself with the drawn rectangle. It's easy to do on any version of AutoCAD, with no need for LISP routines or macros."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: The Align command is one of my favorite tools in AutoCAD. It can scale objects, rotate, and move — all in one command. It's simple to use; just pick two to three points on an object to line them up with corresponding points in your model. If you choose only two points you are given the option to scale the selected object(s) to fit. The Align command will move and/or rotate your object to line it up with your selected points.