About Custom Linetypes and Hatch Patterns

Custom linetype and hatch pattern files are used to store new linetypes and hatch patterns that do not come with the AutoCAD-based product.

Linetype and hatch pattern files are ASCII text files with the file extensions .lin and .pat respectively. These files can be edited using a simple text editor such as NotePad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac OS.

Note: The AutoCAD-based product loads the first acad.lin or acadiso.lin and acad.pat or acadiso.pat files that it finds in its support search paths, which are defined on the Files tab of the Options dialog box.

When you transitioning to the latest release, linetype and hatch pattern files from a previous release can be copied to one of the support search paths in the latest release. If you added linetype or hatch pattern definitions to acad.lin or acadiso.lin and acad.pat or acadiso.pat in the previous release, use the Migrate Custom Settings utility to migrate the user-defined linetypes or hatch pattern definitions in the LIN and PAT files to those in the latest release or you can copy them directly between LIN and PAT files.

If you have custom linetype or hatch pattern definitions stored in other files, place those files in one of the support search paths already defined for the AutoCAD-based product or add the location of your LIN/PAT files to the Files tab of the Options dialog box to use them in the latest release.