mobile app

WS Your Way – Defining Lengths on a Touch Screen

Mar 07

AutoCAD WS is evolving from day to day. As you read this post, our engineers and designers are creating new features and bringing life to new products. We base large parts of our product updates on users’ requests and feedback that we receive from around the world. This blog is also a great platform for us to listen to you about design decisions both large and small.

Today, we want your opinion about how and where to display units when drawing new objects (polyline, circle) or editing an existing object (move, rotate). AutoCAD WS is built for quick editing and sketching, but being able to set units accurately is also important.

Since our last update – Version 1.2 – we now display the units next to a line as you draw it. To help you create accurate drawings we round the units as you draw and, if the line is close to orthogonal, we snap it to an angle of 90 degrees. But we know that your finger can hide the number when using short gestures and it’s not yet possible to type an input.

We want you to let us know the easiest way for you to make accurate modifications such as drawing a 15-inch line or moving a block by 0.5 meters.

Take a look at the following four options and vote in the poll below.

1. Keep it the way it is. The simple display of the units when creating a new object or editing works for me.

2. Display the units at the top of the screen. After specifying the first point, display the units as I drag my finger. This way I won’t have to peek behind my finger.

3. Allow me to edit the units after the line is set. When you lift up your finger you’ll be able to edit the units (for example, changing it from 12 to 12.45). That way you’ll be able to draw quickly and adjust the object’s settings afterwards.

4. Type in the line length and set the angle. Just as you can in AutoCAD, I want to input a precise amount when adding new objects or editing my drawings. Don’t forget that since there’s no mouse on a touch screen, you’ll either have to tap or to type an angle in order to set the direction.

Those are the four choices, now we want to hear what you have to say:

FAQ: Changing Languages in AutoCAD WS

Mar 03

With the latest release, we added eight new languages to AutoCAD WS. Here is the first set of frequently asked questions about the localization project.

How do I change the language of AutoCAD WS on my iPad / iPhone / iPod touch?

You don’t have to do anything! With your iOS device the language you see in AutoCAD WS is governed by the language settings of the device itself. AutoCAD WS detects the language and displays the correct language as soon as you open the app. If your device’s language is set to anything other than Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese or Spanish, AutoCAD WS will appear in English.

How do I change the language of AutoCAD WS in my PC or Mac’s web browser?

Once you have logged in and opened the app at www.autocadws.com, you will see a flag and a language in the top right of your screen. Click on the flag to see a drop down menu where you can select one of the alternative languages. The language you select will be saved for the next time you open the app.

I changed the language on the web app. Why do I still see some things in English?

The localization effort for the web app is being carried out in two stages. For now we have translated all the button texts and the drop downs from all the ribbons. Some of the contextual pop-ups, such as when you share a file have not been translated yet.

I work in one language, but I’m sharing a drawing with someone who uses a different language. What will they see?

The language settings in AutoCAD WS are defined at the account level, not at the file level. That means you can share a drawing with one or more people and each person will view that drawing, in their app, in the language they have selected. Of course nothing in the drawing itself will be translated, but each of you will see the button texts in the language you defined.

I’m sure you have more questions, so let us have them and we’ll add the best ones to this FAQ and move it to our Tutorials section.

What Features Do You Want in AutoCAD WS 1.3? – Poll

Feb 28

Now that most of you have already upgraded to AutoCAD WS 1.2, it’s time for us to think about the next release.

As always, we want to hear from you to find out exactly what functionality you want to see next in AutoCAD WS.

We know that AutoCAD WS for Android is the #1 most requested feature/upgrade we have received, but if we leave the platform aside we want to know what functionality you want to see most.

Save Time With The New Brush Tool

Feb 24

One of the editing upgrades we just added to the new release of AutoCAD WS (available now on the app Store) was the introduction of the Brush Tool in a variety of widths. To encourage you to explore and begin using this tool, I am posting five great ways you can save time with the new Brush tool:

Add a personal touch. Combine technical precision with your artistic skills.
Get them involved. Hand your iPad to your clients and let them get their hands dirty.
Respond quickly. Scribble on and markup the drawing and email it straight back.
Export to DWG. Save markups back to DWG with the WS web app or AutoCAD plugin.
Draw your own symbols. Personalize your markups in your own unique style.

That’s five great reasons for using the Brush tool, but perhaps the most important one of all is, unlike working on paper, with the new Brush tool you can always Undo any of your doodles or markups.

The new AutoCAD WS Brush tool combines the precision of CAD with the freehand creativity of our users. Let us know how you use the Brush tool.