by John Flanagan
AutoCAD – Shift for a Change (I didn’t know it could do that).
On AutoCAD training courses, delegates are often surprised by the versatility of the Shift key. Several delegates have commented “I didn’t know it could”. Using the Shift key in conjunction with the mouse and right click menus will greatly improve your efficiency and productivity in AutoCAD.
Tips & Tricks: Using the Shift Key in AutoCAD
The SHIFT key is very versatile; it provides other options as well as changing some commands.
Shift + Right mouse button will bring up your OSNAPs during editing commands providing your Right Click options are set accordingly in Options > User Preferences.
Shift + Left mouse button will remove objects from your selection set providing you are selecting the objects before issuing a command.
If you want to FILLET or CHAMFER with a 0 distance, start the FILLET or CHAMFER command, pick your first line, hold down shift and pick the second line. It will fillet with a zero radius without changing the radius you may have previously set.
If you hold down SHIFT while using Trim or Extend it will perform the opposite command, so you can issue the TRIM command, trim a few lines, then hold down shift and when you pick lines, they will EXTEND to the ‘trim’ line.
Shift + Middle mouse button (wheel) will do one of two things:
- 1. Hold Shift then Middle mouse button (wheel) and you will start a 3D orbit around you model as you move your mouse.
- 2. Hold Middle mouse button then hold Shift and you will pan orthogonally vertical or horizontal when you move your mouse.
In my next blog, I will outline some useful tips for selecting objects in AutoCAD.