Expert Training

The eXplode command makes it easy to explode polylines (Chapter 5), dimensions (Chapter 10), hatches (Chapter 11), and block inserts (Chapter 13) into their constituent objects. The only problem is that someone probably grouped those objects together for a reason. So until you understand that reason and know why it no longer applies, leave the dynamite alone.

Become knowledgeable about CAD standards in your industry and company, and take advantage of any standardized resources and approaches that are available to you. (See Chapter 14 for suggestions.) By following standards consistently, you can apply your creativity, expertise, and energy to the interesting parts of the job at hand, not to arguing about which hatching patterns to use. And if you find that things are a mess in your company because no one else pays much attention to industry standards, well, knowing those standards makes you very employable as well.

Aretha Franklin once sang, “Thank you, I’ll do it myself.” This is a typical and very human attitude, but one you usually should avoid in your CAD work. Using an existing drawing as a starting point is one form of re-use. Blocks and xrefs, described in Chapter 13, are another. When you sit down to draw, take a minute to consider which elements of your drawing are repeated from other drawings, or within the drawing. Grab pieces from elsewhere and create block definitions. By taking advantage of existing work, you’ll probably get a big jump on your new project. And, assuming that the existing work was done with reasonable care, you’ll reap the advantage of starting out with stuff that conforms to the CAD standards and practices in your office.

Warning On the other hand, know when to start over, too. Recycling is a great idea unless what you’re recycling is garbage! If that earlier drawing wasn’t done right or doesn’t quite fit your current situation, you’ll get better results and may even save time by starting over.

Tip Build up a pool of well-executed drawings you can confidently reuse