AutoCAD LT 2018 New Feature Summary

Applies to 2018.1 Update and later

The following is an overview of the changes made to the AutoCAD LT 2018 Update, including the AutoCAD LT 2018 and AutoCAD LT 2017 Update releases.

AutoCAD LT 2018 Update

The following is a summary of the primary improvements to the AutoCAD LT 2018 Update release.

Views and Viewports

You can now easily create, retrieve, and place model views together with automatically sized and scaled layout viewports onto the current layout. When selected, layout viewport objects display two additional grips, one for moving the viewport, and the other for setting the display scale from a list of commonly used scales.

Primary commands and system variables: MVIEW, NEWVIEW

High resolution (4K) monitor support

Support for high resolution monitors continues to be improved in the AutoCAD 2018.1 Update. More than 200 dialog boxes and other User Interface elements have been updated to ensure a quality viewing experience on high-resolution (4K) displays. Examples include the Edit Layer State and Insert Table dialog boxes as well as the Visual LISP editor.

Cyber Security

Potential security exploits are continuously being researched, identified, and closed. Significant Autodesk engineering resources are invested in response to increased activity by cyber criminals and foreign intelligence services. Due to persistent and accelerating cyber security threats, the AutoCAD Security feature team strongly recommends that you install all AutoCAD-based product updates as they become available.

Xref Layer Property Enhancements

To provide more flexibility for controlling xref overrides, the Layer Settings dialog box, which is accessed from the Layer Properties Manager, includes new controls for managing Xref layer properties. When the option to retain overrides to xref layer properties is turned on with the VISRETAIN system variable, you can now specify which xref layer properties that you want to reload. The various layer property options are stored in the registry as specified by the new VISRETAINMODE system variable. The Layer Properties Manager also includes a new status icon to indicate when a layer associated with an xref includes overrides.

Primary commands and system variables: LAYER, VISRETAIN, VISRETAINMODE, XREFOVERRIDE

AutoCAD LT 2018 and AutoCAD LT 2017 Update

The following is a summary of the primary improvements to the AutoCAD LT 2018 and AutoCAD LT 2017 Update releases.

High Resolution (4K) Monitor Support

User interface elements such as the cursor, navigation bar, and UCS icon display correctly on high-resolution (4K) monitors. Most dialog boxes, palettes, and toolbars are correctly adjusted to the Windows setting for the display scale. For the best results use Windows 10 due to operation system limitations, and use a DX11-capable graphics card.

High Resolution (4K) Monitor Support

User interface elements such as the cursor, navigation bar, and UCS icon display correctly on high-resolution (4K) monitors. Most dialog boxes, palettes, and toolbars are correctly adjusted to the Windows setting for the display scale. For the best results use Windows 10 due to operation system limitations, and use a DX11-capable graphics card.

PDF Import

PDF files generated from AutoCAD drawings that contain SHX text store the text as geometric objects. You can use the PDFSHXTEXT command to convert the SHX geometry back into text, which now includes an option to use the best matching SHX font. The TXT2MTXT command has been enhanced with several improvements including the option to force uniform line spacing.

Primary commands: PDFIMPORT, PDFSHXTEXT, TXT2MTXT

Visual Experience

The improvements include the following:

  • Hatch display and performance are enhanced.
  • Anti-aliasing and high quality graphics settings for supported graphics cards can now be controlled independently from each other.
  • Off-screen object selection works as expected in all cases.
  • The orange rubber-band line that appears when you create and edit objects can now be set to any color from the Options dialog box, Display tab, Colors button.

Primary system variables: LINESMOOTHING, HQGEOM, SELECTIONOFFSCREEN, OPTIONS

External Reference Paths

The default path type for external references is now set to Relative. Two new path options are available: Select New Path, and Find and Replace. Additional capabilities include the following:

  • When you fix the path for a missing external reference, you can now apply the same path for other missing reference files.
  • When you save the host drawing in a new location, you are prompted to update the relative paths for the external references.
  • The Change Path Type option in the External References palette now reflects the current path type when a single external reference is selected.
  • You can attach references with Relative Path type for unnamed files.

Primary command and system variable: EXTERNALREFERENCES, REFPATHTYPE

DWG Format Update

The DWG format has been updated to provide improvements in the efficiency of open and save operations, especially for drawings that contain many annotative objects and viewports. Additionally, 3D solid and surface creation in AutoCAD now uses the newest geometric modeler (ASM), which provides improved security and stability.

Primary commands: OPEN, QSAVE, SAVEAS

Related Concepts

Related Reference