Open and Save Tab (Options Dialog Box)

File Save

Controls settings related to saving a file.

Save As

Displays the valid file formats used when saving a file with SAVE, SAVEAS, QSAVE, and WBLOCK. The file format selected for this option becomes the default format for saving drawings.

Maintain Visual Fidelity for Annotative Objects

Controls whether the drawing is saved with visual fidelity.

(SAVEFIDELITY system variable)

Annotative objects may have multiple scale representations. Annotative objects are decomposed and scale representations are saved to separate layers, which are named based on their original layer and appended with a number.

Note: Enabling Maintain Visual Fidelity for Annotative Objects only impacts drawings saved to a legacy drawing file format (drawing version 2007 and earlier).

Maintain Drawing Size Compatibility

Controls large object size limit support when you open and save drawings.

(LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT system variable)

Thumbnail Preview Settings

Displays the Thumbnail Preview Settings dialog box, which controls whether thumbnail previews are updated when the drawing is saved.

Incremental Save Percentage

Sets the percentage of potentially wasted space in a drawing file. Full saves eliminate wasted space. Incremental saves are faster, but they increase the size of the drawing.

(ISAVEPERCENT system variable)

If you set Incremental Save Percentage to 0, every save is a full save. For optimum performance, set the value to 50. If hard disk space becomes an issue, set the value to 25. If you set the value to 20 or less, performance of the SAVE and SAVEAS commands slows significantly.

File Safety Precautions

Assists in avoiding data loss and in detecting errors.

Automatic Save

Saves your drawing automatically at the intervals you specify. You can specify the location of all Autosave files by using the SAVEFILEPATH system variable. SAVEFILE (read-only) stores the name of the Autosave file.

Note: Automatic save is disabled when the Block Editor is open. (Not available in AutoCAD LT)

Minutes Between Saves: When Automatic Save is on, specifies how often the drawing is saved.

(SAVETIME system variable)

Create Backup Copy with Each Save

Improves the speed of incremental saves, especially for large drawings.

(ISAVEBAK system variable)

For information about using backup files, see About Creating and Restoring Backup Files.

Full-Time CRC Validation

Not Available in AutoCAD LT

Specifies whether a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) should be performed each time an object is read into the drawing. CRC is an error-checking mechanism. If your drawings are being corrupted and you suspect a hardware problem or a software error, turn this option on.

Maintain a Log File

Writes the contents of the text window to a log file. (LOGFILEMODE system variable, see also LOGFILEPATH and LOGFILENAME)

File Extension for Temporary Files

Specifies a unique extension for temporary save files. The default extension is .ac$.

Digital Signatures

Provides options for adding a digital signature to a drawing when you save it.

Display Digital Signature Information

Presents digital signature information when a file with a valid digital signature is opened. (SIGWARN system variable)

File Open

Controls settings that relate to recently used files and open files.

Number of Recently Used Files: Controls the number of recently used files that are listed in the File menu for quick access. Valid values are 0 to 9.
Display Full Path In Title: Displays the full path of the active drawing in the drawing's title bar, or in the application window title bar if the drawing is maximized.

Application Menu

Number of Recently Used Files: Controls the number of recently used files listed in the application menu’s Recent Documents quick menu. Valid values are 0 to 50.

External References (Xrefs)

Controls the settings that relate to editing and loading external references.

Demand Load Xrefs

Turns xref demand-loading on and off, and controls whether it opens the referenced drawing or a copy.

(XLOADCTL system variable)

Disabled: Turns off demand loading.
Enabled: Turns on demand loading and improves performance. Select the Enabled setting to enhance the loading process when working with clipped xrefs that contain a spatial or layer index. When this option is selected, other users cannot edit the file while it is being referenced.
Enabled with Copy: Turns on demand loading but uses a copy of the referenced drawing. Other users can edit the original drawing.

Retain Changes to Xref Layers

Controls the properties of xref-dependent layers.

(VISRETAIN system variable)

Allow Other Users to Refedit Current Drawing

Not available in AutoCAD LT

Controls whether the current drawing can be edited in-place when being referenced by another drawing.

(XEDIT system variable)

ObjectARX Applications

Not available in AutoCAD LT

Controls settings that relate to AutoCAD Runtime Extension applications and proxy graphics.

Demand Load ObjectARX Apps

Specifies if and when to demand-load certain applications.

(DEMANDLOAD system variable)

Disable Load on Demand: Turns off demand-loading.
Custom Object Detect: Demand-loads the source application when you open a drawing that contains custom objects. This setting does not demand-load the application when you invoke one of the application's commands.
Command Invoke: Demand-loads the source application when you invoke one of the application's commands. This setting does not demand-load the application when you open a drawing that contains custom objects.
Object Detect and Command Invoke: Demand-loads the source application when you open a drawing that contains custom objects or when you invoke one of the application's commands.

Proxy Images for Custom Objects

Controls the display of proxy objects in a drawing.

(PROXYSHOW system variable)

Show Proxy Information Dialog Box

Displays a notice when a proxy is created.

(PROXYNOTICE system variable)