AutoCAD Tips & Tutorials

Creating Custom Toolbar Buttons

(For AutoCAD 2005 and earlier. For AutoCAD 2006 and later, click here.)

Any time you would like a custom version of an AutoCAD command, you can create a toolbar button for it. It's very easy to do and will greatly enhance your ease of work and efficiency.Let's say that you often fillet multiple sets of lines and want to make the mUltiple option the default.

(For the macro, see my tip, Changing Multiple Options of Commands.)

Here are the steps:

1. Back up your AutoCAD menu files. To find these files, choose Tools>Options and click the Files tab. Double-click the Menu, Help, and Miscellaneous File Names item to find the location. Choose Tools>Customize>Toolbars. (If you have AutoCAD 2005, I suggest that you choose the new CUSTOM menu group from the Menu Group pane.)Click New. Name your toolbar (something short and simple) and click OK. You now see a small toolbar on the screen. Usually, you can start from an existing toolbar button. Press and hold down the Ctrl key and drag any button to the new toolbar. (Holding down Ctrl copies the button instead of moving it.) You can also click the Commands tab of the Customize dialog box and choose a command from the list. To start from scratch, choose User Defined from the Categories list and then drag the User Defined Button to your new toolbar.Cick the button to display its properties.In the Macro Associated with This Button box, enter the macro. Most macros start with ^C^C to cancel any existing command. For information on macro format, choose Help>Help and look on the Contents tab. Open the Customization Guide and look for The Menu File>Create Menu Macros. Click Apply, then click Close to close the Customization dialog box.
   
2. Try out your new button. If you need to edit it, re-open the Customization dialog box and click the button to display its macro. 

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