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Open Drawings in the Application of Your Choice
Tip# 3231 By Al Thibault On 05-Jul-2009
4.5
Rated By 2 users
Categories : Misc. User Tools
Software type : AutoCAD 2010
Rename File To : No Files to download.
This tip provides a method where users can set up a simple right-click to open the file the way they want.

Al Thibault shares a tip that works with AutoCAD files or any other files you access via Windows Explorer.

"Opening a drawing with the desired [software] product (rather than double-clicking on the drawing in Windows Explorer and waiting to see which product was last used to save a drawing and have this drawing open with that product) can make a CAD user's day much more enjoyable.

"First, you will need to copy the product desktop icon to your Windows profile 'Send To' folder.(C:Documents and SettingsusernameSendTo)

"In this example, I have copied the AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 and AutoCAD Land Companion Enabled Map 2008 icons into this folder.

"Browse to the drawing location in Windows Explorer, right-click on the drawing file, click on Send To, then select the Autodesk product you wish to use to open your drawing.

"You can add other applications to the Send To folder as well. For example, I added WordPad to open text files with this product versus Notepad.

"That's all there is to it!" 

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: Many of us use different design programs to open DWG files. Or, perhaps we need to open other file types and sometimes we want a specific program to open it in. This tip provides a method where we can set up a simple right-click to open the file the way we want.

 

 

Average Rating:
4.5


User comments
Comment by Rieben,Mike
Posted on 2009-07-06 16:59:40
Great TIP! I would note not to add one for Land Desktop. You may or may not get the proper project associated with the drawing or get a "_SCRATCH" project if the drawing wasn't ever associated with one. Thanks!
Comment by Bliss,Jackie
Posted on 2009-07-07 09:07:46
Very handy tip! I have many users that double click on a file through Explorer and forget that it will fire up the last AutoCAD program they used. We have had more than one drawing get mistakenly upgraded to a newer version because people weren't paying attention. This tip will help. Thanks
Comment by Busacker,Kevin
Posted on 2009-07-13 13:43:40
Similar to the SendTo shortcuts idea, since Autodesk normally poplulates our Desktop with the shortcuts anyway, I usually just drag n drop the DWG from Windows Explorer on top of the desired shortcut to launch in the version of choice.