Customize Tool Palettes (Concept)

AutoCAD 2008 User's Guide > The User Interface > Tool Palettes >

Customize Tool Palettes

Concept

Procedure

Quick Reference

You can add tools to a tool palette with several methods.

You can create new tool palettes using the Properties button on the title bar of the Tool Palettes window. Add tools to a tool palette with the following methods:

Drag any of the following onto your tool palette: geometric objects such as lines, circles, and polylines; dimensions; hatches; gradient fills; blocks; xrefs; raster images.
Drag drawings, blocks, and hatches from DesignCenter to the tool palette. Drawings that are added to a tool palette are inserted as blocks when dragged into the drawing.
Use the Customize dialog box to drag commands to a tool palette just as you might add them to a toolbar.
Use the Customize User Interface (CUI) editor to drag commands to a tool palette from the Command List pane.
Use Cut, Copy, and Paste to move or copy tools from one tool palette to another.
Manage tool palettes by creating new palettes from scratch, renaming, deleting or moving palettes with the shortcut menu.

NoteIt is not recommended to create or rename tool palettes when the Customize User Interface (CUI) editor is displayed.
Create a tool palette tab with predetermined content by right-clicking a folder, a drawing file, or a block in the DesignCenter tree view, and then clicking Create Tool Palette on the shortcut menu.

NoteIf the source drawing file for a block, xref, or raster image tool is moved to a different folder, you must modify the tool that references it by right-clicking the tool and, in the Tool Properties dialog box, specifying the new source file folder.

Rearranging Tools and Tool Palettes

Once tools are placed on a tool palette, you can rearrange them by dragging them around or by sorting them. You can also add text and separator lines to tool palettes.

You can move a tool palette tab up and down the list of tabs by using the tool palette shortcut menu or the Tool Palettes tab of the Customize dialog box. Similarly, you can delete tool palettes that you no longer need. Tool palettes that are deleted are lost unless they are first saved by exporting them to a file. You can control the path to your tool palettes on the Files tab in the Options dialog box. This path can be to a shared network location.

Read-Only Tool Palettes

If a tool palette file is set with a read-only attribute, a lock icon is displayed in a lower corner of the tool palette. This indicates that you cannot modify the tool palette beyond changing its display settings and rearranging the icons.

To apply a read-only attribute to a tool palette, right-click the tool palette (ATC) file in the following location: C:\documents and settings\<user name>\application data\autodesk\AutoCAD 2008\r17.0\enu\support\ToolPalette\Palettes. On the shortcut menu, click Properties. On the General tab, select Read-only, and click OK.