Explore the 2018 release of AutoCAD for Mac. Learn about the new features offered in this update, as well as improvements to existing tools. Autodesk released AutoCAD 2018 for Mac back in November of 2017, consistently updating its flagship CAD application for Apple’s macOS platform annually in the fall. Beyond the new features exclusively available to AutoCAD 2019, users also receive access to the new features Autodesk added to AutoCAD 2018 in the fall with its AutoCAD 2018.1 update. My personal favorite feature from that update was the new Views and Viewport functionality. Log Into Your Account. Use a Key View My Agreements. Copyright © 2018 Autodesk Powered by Centercode Privacy Policy.
Autodesk just announced the release of AutoCAD 2018 and with it a wealth of new tools designed to help you stay at the forefront of design. Beyond the collection of new features typical of the new release, AutoCAD 2018 also marks the 35th anniversary of the world’s most popular design platform. My impression of this release is that it is as much about the legacy of AutoCAD as it is the future of AutoCAD. Opening AutoCAD 2018 for the first time you will find tools to help with common workflow challenges, improvements to save performance, the ability to fully leverage your high-resolution 4K monitor, and more.
Better Save Performance – Compliments of a New File Version.
Autodesk typically updates the DWG file version every three years. Spanning across five versions of AutoCAD, the AutoCAD 2013 DWG file format has been a welcome exception to that rule. The reign of the AutoCAD 2013 DWG file version comes to an end with the release of AutoCAD 2018.
The benefit of new DWG file versions is not always apparent, but 2018 is also a welcome exception to that rule. Using the new 2018 DWG file version, you will notice solid performance gains when opening and saving drawings. Our testing has found performance gains for most drawings, but drawings including blocks with annotative scaling, Mtext columns, block attributes (including multiline) will see the greatest benefits.
Speaking of saving, the automatic save functionality now performs incremental saves instead of full saves (which are slower) whenever possible.
Better Display Performance with Sprinkles on Top
It does not always translate into new features that we can touch, but Autodesk has invested heavily in modernizing the code that powers AutoCAD. Code modernization has many across the board benefits, but despite the hours spent, it rarely translates to new features we can touch. AutoCAD 2018 once again breaks the mold in this area.
Support for High-Resolution Displays
The big news here is AutoCAD 2018 is now fully compatible with high-resolution 4K displays. You can now take advantage of every pixel on your monitor without fear of whether the interface will correctly scale. As expected, the Ribbon interface works beautifully on high-resolution displays, but the shocker is the classic interface. Autodesk also updated the classic menus and toolbars to support high-resolution displays.
Smooth Line Display
If you do choose to run AutoCAD on a 4K display, you may want to have a look at the new Smooth Line Display setting. The High Quality Geometry and Smooth Line Display settings were previously combined, but are now two separate settings. Autodesk separated the settings because of high-resolution displays.
When Smooth Line Display is enabled, AutoCAD will apply anti-aliasing to the linework in your drawing. Anti-aliasing is beneficial when running AutoCAD on a standard resolution display, but not always necessary when running on a 4K display. Although enabled by default for compatible graphics cards, disabling Smooth Line Display on 4K monitors will likely improve performance without an appreciable display quality sacrifice.
Linetype Gap Selection
Technically first introduced in AutoCAD 2017.1 (released last fall), you can now select the gaps of dashed linetypes. When I first took advantage of this functionality, I thought it was just that – a new feature. I only recently learned this is as much a new feature as it is a performance gain resulting from updates to the code powering AutoCAD. In the past, AutoCAD drew dashed lines on the screen as a series of individual lines. What we might see as a single line with 16 dashes, the computer saw as 16 different lines. AutoCAD 2017.1/2018 now leverages your graphics card to draw a single line that with a series of transparent segments. The result is not just a new feature, but also a better performing graphic engine.
Relative Path External References – Simplified
One of my favorite improvements to AutoCAD 2018 is the refined external reference functionality. Using relative path external references is a longstanding best practice. The simple reason for this is to make it easier to share projects. By omitting the drive letter of a reference, it is easy to share/backup a project to a DVD without any of the references breaking.
Despite the many benefits of relative path external references, I find there’s much confusion about how to create them. Users commonly encounter errors saying AutoCAD cannot create a relative path reference, and end up turning to full path references to get the job done. AutoCAD 2018 lifts the shroud of mystery around relative path references.
The default path type w hen creating new references in AutoCAD 2018 is now relative. In addition to changing the default path type, it is also now possible to create a relate path reference without saving a drawing. If a drawing is not saved before creating a relative path reference, AutoCAD will simply figure out the relative path when you save the drawing. Taking things a step further, AutoCAD will now prompt you to update reference paths if you save you drawing in a new location. These new improvements alone should go a long way towards avoiding broken external references.
Text Recognition and Mtext Conversion
Though first introduced in AutoCAD 2017.1, the 2018 version represents the first release where these features are available out of the box. AutoCAD 2017 added the ability to convert PDFs into AutoCAD drawings. As impressive as that feature is, text using an AutoCAD font like Simplex.shx would import as a series of lines – not text. I will spare you the nerdy explanation but suffice to say the imported result was not what many people expected.
To help with this, Autodesk introduced the Recognize SHX Text command with the 2017.1 update last fall. Using this tool, you can select a series of lines that form letters, and AutoCAD will convert it back into text. Although this core functionality remains the same in 2018, we do get some updates over the version in the 2017.1 update. In 2017.1 the first font meeting the Recognition Threshold was applied to converted text. Starting with AutoCAD 2018 we now have the option to Use The Best Matching Font.
As an example, Simplex.shx and Romans.shx are very similar. The Recognize SHX Text command in 2017.1 would frequently confuse these two fonts. Thanks to the new Use The Best Matching Font setting in 2018, AutoCAD does a much better job distinguishing between Simplex.shx and Romans.shx.
Get AutoCAD 2018 Today
AutoCAD 2018 is available for download today. Customers with an active subscription to AutoCAD can download the new version from the Autodesk Account site. If you do not have an active subscription, our team is here to help. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we not only explore some of the other features packed inside AutoCAD 2018 but also demonstrate during our upcoming What’s new in AutoCAD 2018 webinar.
Have you downloaded AutoCAD 2018? What are your first impressions about this release? Let us know in the comments below.
- Software: AutoCAD
- Tags: 2018, AutoCAD, New Features
Join our team on April 20, 2017 to see all of the new features outlined in this post and more in action.
With over 15 years of industry experience, Donnie is a recognized Autodesk design solutions expert. His extensive knowledge of the technical requirements for completing design and engineering projects empowers his clients to fully realize the power of their technology solutions.
Donnie is also a published author, having written the Autodesk Official Training Guide -AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT: No Experience Required. He is a regular instructor at Autodesk University each year, delivering critical information to address specific needs of Autodesk users.
Product News
We’re excited for you to get to know AutoCAD 2018 for Mac and AutoCAD LT 2018 for Mac. Read on to find out about updates to existing functionality and all-new features.
Migrate Custom Settings
We know that re-customizing AutoCAD every time you get a new version can be a frustrating and time-consuming process. That’s why we’re happy to announce that with AutoCAD 2018 for Mac, you can seamlessly migrate your custom files and settings from AutoCAD 2017 for Mac. The migration utility will automatically start the first time you launch the new release after upgrading.
Choose which settings you want to migrate (if you don’t want all of them) by clicking the Details button. In just a few minutes, your settings will be migrated, which means you can start designing again instantly!
Tabbed Palettes and Auto-Hide Docked Palettes
If you’re like a lot of people, you’re probably using two monitors at the office but only one at home. That’s why we’ve updated the User Interface in AutoCAD 2018 for Mac to support both scenarios, and to give you the flexibility to position the drawing and palettes in a way that works for you.
Now, when working with two screens, you can drag the floating palettes to the second screen, optimizing the drawing real estate on the first screen. When using only one screen, you can dock and arrange the active palettes on the right-hand side to optimize screen space and access. These tabbed palettes are contextual and can be activated by command prompt — or just by clicking on them.
As an added benefit, when working with just one monitor, you can ‘hide’ these palettes to the extreme right. To access these palettes, just hover over the palette name for it to ‘show.’
Command Alias Editor
Are you one of the many, many AutoCAD customers who was trained to use AutoCAD with Commands? Get ready to have your world ROCKED. New in AutoCAD 2018 for Mac is the Command Alias Editor, a feature that allows you to build shortcuts for your frequently used commands. Build your own names, and enter them at the command prompt to minimize keystrokes and avoid having to memorize long, complicated names.
Object Selection
In AutoCAD 2018 for Mac, you can begin a selection window in one part of your drawing and then pan and zoom to another part while maintaining selection of the off-screen objects!
PDF Import Enhancements
AutoCAD 2018 for Mac offers new tools to support importing SHX text from PDF files. The PDF format stores text using TrueType fonts. But since PDF does not support text that uses AutoCAD SHX fonts, text objects that use SHX fonts are instead stored in PDF as geometric objects to maintain visual fidelity.
Combine Text
Additionally, with AutoCAD for Mac 2018, you can use the SHX text recognition tool to quickly convert imported PDF geometry to text and Mtext objects. You’ll find that the enhanced Text to Mtext tool enables you to convert a combination of single- and multi- line text objects to one multi-line text object, automatically inferring formatting.
Plot and Page Setup
Anyone who’s worked in AutoCAD knows that Plot is one of the most important workflows when you’re converting a drawing into a PDF (to share or print). With that in mind, we’ve enhanced Plot and Page Setup to give you easy access to the settings you need to correctly plot a drawing.
Get access to settings including Paper Size, Scale, Offset, Plot Stamp, and more with just one click. You can even switch, save, or import a page setup and apply it to an active layout! Select custom paper sizes — or inherit that information from your drawing by selecting ‘none’.
Flatten*
In AutoCAD 2018 for Mac, you can convert 3D drawings to 2D using the new FLATTEN command. FLATTEN creates a 2D representation of selected objects and projects them onto the current viewing plane.
FLATTEN results in 2D objects that retain their original layers, linetypes, colors, and object types where possible. Use FLATTEN to create a 2D drawing from a 3D model, or you can use it to force the thickness and elevations of selected objects to 0.
*Not available in AutoCAD LT 2018 for Mac
Improved Xref Path Management
We heard you! With AutoCAD 2018 for Mac’s improved Xref path management, you can set Xrefs to a relative path to prevent broken and missing paths. This path can even be applied to other missing Xrefs, too. Now, when you save a host drawing in a new location, you’ll be prompted to update the relative paths of the associated drawings.
Touch Bar Support
Buy Autocad 2018
We actually introduced Touch Bar support in AutoCAD for Mac 2017.1, but we love it so much we didn’t want you to forget about it! If you have a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, you have even easier access to some of the top key function shortcuts. There are 10 default functions, but you can also customize the Touch Bar by adding from the list available.
Autocad For Mac 2018 Torrent
Download AutoCAD 2018 for Mac and AutoCAD LT 2018 for Mac Now!
What are you waiting for? We know you’ll love these new features and enhancements, so if you’re on a Subscription or Maintenance plan, head over to your Autodesk Account and download it today. Just curious? Download a 30-day free trial of AutoCAD 2018 for Mac or AutoCAD LT 2018 for Mac and explore.