Architectural designer Robert Geiger shares some ideas about how to alter the keyboard commands in AutoCAD to speed up the file-saving process.

"First, open the ACAD.PGP file so you can make a few changes to it. Set Q to Qsave, and train yourself to habitually hit the Q key and the Enter key twice; this will update both the DWG and the BAK files. Do this every time you get up from your workstation. (This has saved my keister a few times in the past.) Next, set SA to SaveAll. This is similar to the Qsave tip above, and is especially useful if you typically have several DWG files open at one time."

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: Perhaps one of the best efficiency customization tools in AutoCAD is the PGP file, which contains the keyboard shortcuts. To open it for editing go to the Manage tab in the ribbon, then the Customization panel. Click on the Edit Aliases button; this will open the PGP file in Windows Notepad. Go to the very bottom of the PGP and make your changes there.

Don’t override what is there, just add to it. That way you can easily revert to the original settings if something goes wrong. AutoCAD reads the PGP file from top to bottom. If there is a conflict, whatever is at the bottom wins. Since there is an L shortcut for the Line command, I can use the letter L for Leader if I want to as long as I place it at the bottom of the file.

The formatting adheres to this pattern:

Shortcut,     *command

Shortcut is the keystroke that you want to use for the shortcut, such as L. This is followed by a comma, then a tab, then an asterisk (*), and finally the command. My example would look like this:

L,     *leader