From a Customer: "On this job, the main is sloping (using the sloping pipe block), as are the lines. I need the last head to be 5” down from the deck. I Gave them a fixed elevation of [5 Bts] and a fixed elevation at the top of the riser, [34 BTS], but it does…

From a customer: "When I mirror typical piping for an area, how can I get the riser nipples to rotate properly without having to reinsert them all?" This is from the drawing he sent me: There is a solution. And, the truth is, I didn't know about the following tool myself. 1. Pick the 3D…

You likely know that Ceiling Heights and Drop/Sprig Lengths are inserted using the same tool, but here is a list of some things you might not know about this tool: 1. If you are manually specifying the drop lengths, then use the User Specified setting under Length Determination. If you want the computer to figure…

These four commands really make it easy to modify drawings. Move Main and Move Line have different options, but Erase Main and Erase Line work the same as each other. Move Main Move Main can be used to move your main over just a little, or over a lot. It can even be used to…

Sometime back, I don't know when (between AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD 2013), AutoCAD altered the command line so that you can select the option on commands instead of typing it in. To see what I mean, type in ARRAY at the command line to see an example. Select any drawing entity and press enter. The…

The Lay Out Hangers command came about because one of my coworkers suggested that it would be cool if a hanger command existed that acted like Main Couplings. Why? Well, Main Coupling will allow you to pick a welded line to visualize where the couplings will go before they are inserted, and it will offset…

RapidRefs has been around for a while, previously as its own command with its own button and everything. It is now integrated into the Reference Point command as an option. What's it for? It excels at labeling ref points at the top and bottom of multiple riser nipples, as in those present along a main…

If you want to select an intersection, but don't have two lines that meet, what do you do? Many times while training customers, I have noticed hesitation when this comes up. Users will often extend lines so they meet, or try to finagle some other osnap into doing what they want. But, there is an…

If you have found that some of the commands you used to use no longer have a button, you can add the button back in yourself in most cases, because we did not delete the command, only the button. And, it isn't that hard. For example, let's say that you want to add back in…

This week I gave bad news to two long-time, independent customers – the AutoCADs they own cannot be upgraded and, furthermore, are likely pirated. One bought theirs from eBay, the other from a website that sells (and buys) older AutoCADs. In the industry, these are called 'non-traditional sources'. The problem? The serial numbers are not…