AutoCAD 2017 New Feature Summary

The following is an overview of the changes made to AutoCAD 2017.

Smooth Migration

Migration is now easier to manage. A new migration interface organizes AutoCAD customization settings into groups and categories from which you can generate a migration summary report.

PDF Support

You can import the geometry, fills, raster images, and TrueType text from a PDF file into the current drawing. The PDF data can come from either an attached PDF in the current drawing, or from any specified PDF file. The precision of the data is limited by the precision of the PDF file and of the supported object types. Some properties such as PDF scale, layers, lineweights, and colors can be preserved. Because SHX text is not supported by PDF, additional tools were added to convert PDF geometry into multiline text, and to combine multiple mtext objects.

Primary command: PDFIMPORT

Share Design Views

You can publish design views to a secure, anonymous location within Autodesk A360. You can share views of your design by forwarding a generated link to the people that you specify without releasing the DWG file itself. Access to these views is provided by any supported web browser, and does not require recipients to have an Autodesk A360 account or install any additional software. Supported browsers include Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that support WebGL 3D graphics.

Primary command: ONLINEDESIGNSHARE

Associative Center Marks and Centerlines

You can create center marks that are associated with arcs and circles, and centerlines that are associated with selected line and polyline segments. For compatibility, this new feature does not replace your current methods, but are provided as an alternative.

Primary commands: CENTERMARK, CENTERLINE

Coordination Model: Osnap Support

You can specify precise locations on an attached coordination model using the standard 2D endpoint and center object snaps. This feature is available only for 64-bit AutoCAD.

Primary system variable: CMOSNAP

User Interface

Several conveniences were added to improve your user experience.

• Several dialog boxes are now resizable: APPLOAD, ATTEDIT, DWGPROPS, EATTEDIT, INSERT, LAYERSTATE, PAGESETUP, and VBALOAD.
• The preview areas are expanded in several dialog boxes used for attaching files, and saving and opening drawings.
• You can turn on the new LTGAPSELECTION system variable to be able to select objects in the gaps of non-continuous linetypes as if they were set to a continuous linetype.
• You can choose whether to use the AutoCAD crosshairs cursor or the Windows arrow cursor in the drawing area using the CURSORTYPE system variable.
• You can specify the delay timing for basic tooltips in the Options dialog box, Display tab.
• You can easily send your 3D models from AutoCAD to Autodesk Print Studio for automatic final preparation prior to 3D printing. Print Studio support includes Ember, Autodesk's high-precision, production-quality (25-micron surface finish) manufacturing solution. This feature is available only for 64-bit AutoCAD.
• For product updates, an orange dot automatically displays on new ribbon buttons, dialog box options, and palette settings. You can control this option from the Help drop-down menu or the HIGHLIGHTNEW command.

Performance Enhancements

• The performance and reliability of 3DORBIT has been improved for rendered visual styles, especially for models with a large number of small blocks containing edges and facets.
• The performance of 2D panning and zooming operations has been improved.
• The visual quality for linetypes has been improved.
• The performance of object snapping has been improved by skipping geometric center (GCEN) computation for polylines with a huge number of segments.

AutoCAD Security

Any files in the Program Files folder tree that are under the operating system's UAC protection are now trusted. This trust is indicated by displaying the implicitly trusted paths in Trusted Paths UI and graying them out. Also, the AutoCAD code itself continues to be hardened against more sophisticated attacks.

Miscellaneous Changes

• The HPLAYER system variable can now be set to a nonexistent layer for new hatches and fills. The layer is created when the next hatch or fill is created.
• The DIMLAYER system variable is now used by all dimensioning commands.
• The TEXTEDIT command now automatically repeats.
• Unnecessary tooltips have been removed from the Quick Select and Purge dialog boxes.
• A new unit setting, US Survey Feet, has been added to the list of insertion scales in the UNITS command.