Tipster Perry Pattiz shares a tip showing how to customize keyboard shortcuts for quick input of AutoCAD object snap overrides.

"Many times, when you try to select an osnap in a crowded area, the wrong osnap pops up and you don't make the selection that you intended. There is a very easy way to avoid this: Assign keyboard shortcuts to different osnaps and press F3, or click on the osnap icon to turn the osnaps off when you make your selection.

"To assign the shortcuts, do the following: Open the CUI and select Keyboard shortcuts, and then Temporary override keys. Select Object snap override: endpoint, then click in the cell on the right side of the key(s) line in the shortcut area and click on the ellipses. When the assignment dialog box comes up, hold down the Shift key and press E. This will assign Shift+E as an endpoint whenever an osnap is needed in a drawing.

"Do the same thing for the rest of the osnaps you use regularly. It is handier to assign all the osnaps on the left side of the keyboard. Here are the keys I have assigned:

Shift + E = endpoint
Shift + R = perpendicular
Shift + C = center
Shift + Q = quadrant
Shift + T = tangent
Shift + X = nearest
Shift + S = midpoint

"With a little practice, this will become a very efficient and natural way to select osnaps."

Notes from Cadalyst tip reviewer Brian Benton: This is a great tip highlighting a customization tool that we (myself included) often forget about. Many of us use command aliases all the time, and we also know how to change those to fit our needs. It's a classic efficiency tip: setting custom keyboard shortcuts, which means using the Shift, Alt, and Ctrl keys in conjunction with the regular keys. You can also use alternate key combos, such as Shift+Ctrl. Because these extra keys are located on both sides of the keyboard, they are easy for right- and left-handed CAD users to access.