If multiple tabs need to be protected, it is also possible to set the whole folder as read only which will protect every palette tab the folder contains. Start AutoCAD and investigate the tool palette, the protected tabs should now display a padlock symbol. This indicates that you cannot modify the tool palette beyond changing its display settings and rearranging the icons.
If a tool palette file is set with a read-only attribute, a lock icon is displayed in a lower corner of the tool palette. Choose which palettes are to be protected and click read-only. Within the Palettes folder, the custom tool palettes will be present along with a unique handle suffix that AutoCAD has added. The path, version number and location will vary according to the version of AutoCAD. Locate the tool palettes file locations group. To check where AutoCAD stores its tool palettes, open AutoCAD's options menu and access the files tab. It looks like you have closed the ribbon, just type the word ribbon at the command line to get it open again, or from the menubar across the top select 'tools - palettes - ribbon' Linkedin Report 1 Like Reply Message 7 of 7 julian. To protect the data, we need to set the file attribute to be read only.įor AutoCAD 2022 the location will be like the following:Ĭ:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2022\R24.1\enu\Support\ToolPalette Tool palette data is saved as an external file in an XML format, with an ATC extension. In summary, protect standard content from breakages! In addition, we don’t want anybody to delete or add items to tool palettes accidentally. Custom tool palettes can represent hours of painstaking customisation and it is desirable to be able lock the tool palette so that others can’t modify it. Enjoy.A question I was recently asked by a senior AutoCAD user was How do we lock our AutoCAD tool palettes? Not actually locking the position, but to lock it so people can’t modify the items within the palette. There you have it - a simple way to crank out palettes and edit their properties in bulk, thus saving you a ton of time whenever you need to create new palettes. That indicates that multiple palette objects are being edited at once. To create your own folder within the tool palettes menu right. Notice the *VARIES* in the Name field at top. To get the Tool Palette menu up on your AutoCAD screen hold down CTRL and press the number 3. Go to Tool Palettes File Locations to find the location of the Tool Palette ATC files. Now you can edit palette object properties (like scale handling or layer creation) globally by using standard click and Shift+click selection methods. Choose Tools>Options and click the Files tab. The new palette is placed at the top of the palette list. The palettes will be created for you and inserted into your current palette library - all the more reason to have everything well organized and networked. On the Tool Palettes tab of the Customize dialog box, select and tool palette. If you add it to your acad.lsp file it will add another duplicate line to the setting every time your acad.lsp runs. Right-click on the folder of blocks you'd like to "palettize," like this. You only need to run this once as the file paths are stored in the registry. Now right-click on your folder of choice and select the Create Tool Palette of Blocks option. The key is to browse to the directories you'd like to create in Design Center.ĭesign Center's browsable interface shows you folders and blocks available for insertion.
Using Design Center (remember Design Center?) you can quickly crank out a series of palette pages based on the directory names you used to organize your block folders. By the way, I highly recommend getting everything on a network drive so you can keep one library of blocks and palettes in a master location.
Delete all your old blocks, update the ones you want to use, if required, and put everything in an organized directory folder structure. These tips work for all AutoCAD-based products.īefore setting up new tool palettes for block libraries, clean house. In this CAD Manager's Toolbox, I will pass along some of the client's favorites. I was recently working with a client to develop some tool palettes for the client's block libraries when I shared a few tips to reduce the amount of time required for this task. Creating Tool Palettes in AutoCAD (CAD Manager's Toolbox) 26 Feb, 2008 By: Robert Green A simple way to quickly create tool palettes and edit their properties in bulk.