By Martin Phelps
When starting or opening an existing drawing file, some of the screen components displayed by default may not be required for the current working process. Figure 1 shows AutoCAD’s default drawing set up.
Note: - with the introduction of 2020, Autodesk has reduced the number of icons displayed by default in the status bar to simplify the interface, as shown in Figure 2.
Depending on the draughting process, some of the non-essential items may be removed to increase the drawing area.
Items such as the “View Cube”, the “Navbar” and the “UCS Icon” can be turned off on a temporary basis by selecting the three icons in the “Viewport Tools” panel in the “View” tab of the ribbon, as shown in Figure 3.
The changes made will only affect the current drawing, so the display now looks as shown in Figure 4.
Note: - the “Viewport Control” option is still visible, as shown in Figure 5.
However, should a more permanent solution be required, the “View Cube”, the “UCS Icon”, and the “Viewport Controls” can be turned off in the “3D Modelling” tab of the “Options” dialogue box, as shown in Figure 6.
Note: - the “Navbar” is not controlled from this location, but can still be turned off in the “View” tab.
Having turned off the tools in using the “Options” dialogue, selecting the tool icons in the “View” tab of the ribbon will not reinstate the “UCS Icon” or the “View Cube” but must be toggled on via the “Options” dialogue.
If only one drawing is to be used at a time, then the “File Tab” could also be turned off via the “Files Tabs” icon in the “Interface” panel of the “View” tab of the ribbon, shown in Figure 7.
Personally, there are a couple of settings I would always leave on, the “UCS Icon” at the bottom left of the screen and the “Files” tab below the ribbon.
A further enhancement to improve this process would be to create a new file, set all the preferred setting for the required process and save the file as a “Template”.