Advanced Topics

Autocad Template Files

Whether you know it not, you have already used templates to begin a new drawing. AutoCAD uses a template every time it starts up. If you do not use your own template, AutoCAD will use a default one.

A template is a drawing file that includes some of the following settings:

Unit type and precision Drawing limits Snap, Grid, and Ortho settings Layer organization Title blocks, borders, and logos Dimension and text styles Linetypes

In many cases, you do not want to set these things every time you begin a drawing. By having a template with all of these parameters pre-set, you can work more efficiently, faster and consistently. There is no difference between a template file and regular DWG other than the extension.

Most companies should have a set of template (or prototype) drawings available to their CAD staff. This would include presets for layer names, colors, title blocks, etc so that every drawing from that company has a consistent look.

You will see this dialog box:

You have to change the ‘Files of type' setting from a DWG file to a DWT (template) file.

Once you've changed this, make sure you save it in the folder where you can load it later.

To use the template for a new drawing, choose the 'New' option to start a new file and select the template you want.