The purpose of an image tile menu is to provide an image that can be selected instead of text. You can create, edit, or add image tiles and image tile slides.

An image tile dialog box displays images in groups of 20, along with a scrolling list box on the left that displays the associated slide file names or related text. If an image tile dialog box contains more than 20 slides, the additional slides are added to a new page. Next and Previous buttons are activated so that you can browse the pages of images.

The following is an example of an image tile menu.

You define an image tile menu in the Customize User Interface (CUI) Editor. The following table shows the properties for an image tile menu.

The following table shows the properties for an image tile slide.

You can use any slide generated by AutoCAD as an image. Keep the following suggestions in mind as you prepare slides for an image tile menu.

• Keep the image simple. When an image tile menu is displayed, you must wait for all images to be drawn before making a selection. If you show numerous complex symbols, use simple, recognizable images rather than full renditions.
• Fill the box. When making a slide for an image, be sure to fill the screen with the image before starting MSLIDE. If the image is very wide and short, or long and thin, the image tile menu will look best if you use PAN to center the image on the screen before making the slide.

  Images are displayed with an aspect ratio of 3:2 (3 units wide by 2 units high). If your drawing area has a different aspect ratio, it can be difficult to produce image slides that are centered in the image tile menu. If you work within a layout viewport that has an aspect ratio of 3:2, you can position the image and be assured that it will look the same when it is displayed in the image tile menu.

• Remember the purpose of the images. Do not use images to encode abstract concepts into symbols. Image tiles are useful primarily for selecting a graphic symbol.

Procedure

To create an image tile slide

1. In AutoCAD, draw the geometry that you want to appear in the slide.
2. Click View tab Navigate panel Zoom drop-down Center.At the Command prompt, enter zoom.
3. At the Command prompt, enter mslide.
4. In the Create Slide File dialog box, specify the file name.
5. Click Save, and add it to a slide library file if desired. You can associate this image slide to a new image tile.

To view an image tile slide

1. At the Command prompt, enter vslide.
2. In the Select Slide File dialog box, browse to and select the slide file you want to view.
3. Click Open.

   The slide file should be displayed in the drawing window. Perform a Regen on the drawing to clear the slide file from the display.

To create an image tile slide library

1. Place all your slides in a single folder location that you want to add to a slide library.
2. Click Start menu (All) Programs Accessories Command Prompt.
3. At the DOS prompt, enter CD <folder location of slides>.

   As an example: CD “c:\slides”

4. While in the location of the slide files, enter dir *.sld /b > <file name>.

   As an example: dir *.sld /b > “myslides”

   A text file will be created with the names of the slide files contained in the current folder.

5. With the text file created of all the slide files in the current folder, enter <AutoCAD Install folder>\slidelib.exe <slide library file name> < <text file with slide names>.

   As an example: “C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2011\slidelib.exe”“myslidelib” < “myslides”

6. When you finish, close the DOS window.

WarningAfter you create the slide library, place the individual slide files in a safe place so they do not accidently get deleted. This is important if you need to rebuild the slide library one day.

To create an image tile menu and assign an image tile slide

1. Click Manage tab Customization panel User Interface. At the Command prompt, enter cui.
2. In the Customize User Interface Editor, Customize tab, in the Customizations In <file name> pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Legacy to expand the list.
3. In the Legacy list, right-click Image Tile Menu. Click New Image Tile Menu.

   A new image tile menu (named ImageTileMenu1) is placed at the bottom of the Image Tile Menus tree.

4. Do one of the following:
   • Enter a new name over the default name ImageTileMenu1.
   • Right-click ImageTileMenu1. Click Rename. Then, enter a new image tile name.
   • Click ImageTileMenu1, wait, and click again over the image tile’s name again to edit its name in-place.
5. In the Command List pane, drag a command to the new image tile menu in the Customizations In <file name> pane.
6. In the Properties pane, enter the properties for the new image tile slide as follows:
   • In the Name box, enter the text to display in the list box for the image tile.
   • In the Description box, enter a description for the image tile.
   • In the Slide library box, enter the name of the image tile slide library that contains the slide for the image tile. The image tile slide library must be in one of the folders that defines the Support File Search Path. If you do not have a slide library, but rather an image tile slide file, you enter its name in the image tile slide library box.
   • In the Slide label box, enter the name of the image tile slide file contained in the image tile slide library listed in the Slide library box.
7. Click Apply.

Quick Reference

Commands

CUI

Manages the customized user interface elements in the product.

MSLIDE

Creates a slide file of the current model viewport or the current layout.

VSLIDE

Displays an image slide file in the current viewport.