There are a lot of different selection methods in AutoCAD, but a powerful tool which often gets overlooked is Fastselect (FS).
This tool enables you to select a piece of geometry and then automatically pick all geometry touching it.
- To do this type fs at the command line, then select a piece of geometry as prompted, by default this will be the geometry immediately connected to the selected piece.
If you have large, complex drawings, with overlapping geometry, you may have difficulties selecting a particular piece of geometry. With the Selection Cycling tool, when you select an object that overlaps other objects, AutoCAD displays a dialogue listing all of the overlapping geometry. Geometry highlights in the workspace as you move up and down the list.
To use Selection Cycling, first of all check you have it enabled on the Status Bar:
We have recently had several support queries regarding mouse cursor performance issues in 2011 AutoCAD products. So, if you are experiencing these issues too, then have a look through the items below to potentially help/fix your problem:
- Turn off Selection cycling.
- Turn off Show Tool Tips (Options > Display TAB > untick Show Tool Tips)
- Turn off Show Rollover Tool Tips (Options > Display TAB > untick Show Rollover Tool Tips)
- See the Autodesk paper below, which discusses cursor performance:
- Lastly we are aware that changing the Windows Theme to Classic can help, as this turns off some of the Graphic Acceleration settings.
Are you having difficulties selecting items within a sketch in Inventor, i.e. struggling to pick up an end point, mid point?
If this is the case, there is an option in Application Options > General TAB > Selection > Locate Tolerance, which can help with this.
This Locate Tolerance option sets the distance (in pixels) from which clicking selects an object. Enter a number from 1 to 10 or click the up or down arrow to select the distance. By default this is set to 5!
This is a very quick, but potentially useful Tip, if you regularly change between Selection Types within Inventor.- If you hold down the Shift key and then Right Click within the Inventor Part, Assembly or Drawing environment.
- Then you will be presented with a Selection Menu, which is contextual depending on the environment you are currently working in.
