Customize AutoCAD with Initial Setup

With Initial Setup you can perform some basic customization of AutoCAD.

You respond to a series of questions that are used to gather information about specific features and settings in AutoCAD. You specify which industry best describes your work, add task-based tools to your default workspace, and specify the drawing template you want to use when creating a new drawing.

Select an Industry

When Initial Setup is displayed, you are prompted to select an industry. Select one of the listed industries that is closest to the type of work that best describes the drawings you create. The following features and settings in AutoCAD and Initial Setup are affected by the industry you select:

Content Search. Used as part of a generated query to find content from Autodesk Seek.
Partner product search. Used as part of a generated query that is sent to the Autodesk Partner Products website to find relevant third-party utilities that might be beneficial to your work.
Initial Setup. Used to determine which drawing template file might be appropriate to your industry for new drawings when compared to the supplied default templates that come with AutoCAD.

Add Task-based Tools

With Initial Setup, you can add task-based tools to your default workspace (for example tools to review red-line markups created from Autodesk Design Review or tools used to create photorealistic renderings).

The following task-based tools can be added to your default workspace from Initial Setup:

3D modeling
Photorealistic rendering
Review and markup
Sheet sets

You can use the Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor to further control which task-based tools are displayed in a workspace. For more information about workspaces, see Customize Workspaces in the Customization Guide.

Specify a Default Drawing Template

With drawing templates you can reuse a set of settings and styles when you create a new drawing. In Initial Setup you can specify the default drawing template to use when you create a new drawing. Initial Setup has the following drawing template options:

Default drawing template. Use the imperial or metric drawing template that is installed by default.
Existing drawing template. Specify an existing drawing template that is available on a local or network drive.
If you migrated your custom settings and files from a previous release, the migrated default drawing template file is listed. For information about migrating custom settings and files from a previous release, see Migrate Custom Settings.
Industry focused drawing template. Use the drawing template that is associated with the industry you selected in Initial Setup, and either the imperial or metric measurement type.

Drawing templates are often project- or company-specific to ensure consistent styles and settings from one drawing to the next. It is recommended that you use a drawing template that follows your company’s CAD standards.

For information about creating a custom drawing template, see Use a Template File to Start a Drawing in the User’s Guide.

Procedure

To customize AutoCAD with Initial Setup

Click the Application menu button Options.
In the Options dialog box, User Preferences tab, click Initial Setup.
In Initial Setup, Industry page, specify an industry that best describes your work. Click Next.
On the Optimize Your Workspace page, select the task-based tools you want to display in your default workspace. Click Next.
On the Specify a Drawing Template File page, select the drawing template file that you want to use when creating new drawings. Click Finish.
In the Options dialog box, click OK.