AutoCAD 2012: NCOPY and OVERKILL are graduated from express tools

Do you like using express tools? You may notice that now copy nested objects (NCOPY) and delete duplicate objects (OVERKILL) are no longer available in express tools. You can find them under home tab> modify panel. The tools are considered mature and become built in AutoCAD tools.

For AutoCAD users, it may not gives significant effects. But for AutoCAD LT users, it can be a good  news. It means that LT users have a good chance to have these tools too.

As far as I know, yes they are. Check this AutoCAD LT 2012 new features by Dean Saadalah. So AutoCAD LT users can wish that more express tools command graduated in next version!

If you aren’t already familiar with these tools, here are some short explanation about them.

NCOPY

NCOPY is used for copy objects from inside a block (or XREF) to our active drawing. Without this tool, we need to explode the block before start copying them.

For example, the left drawing below is a block. Without exploding it, I can take the polygon and copy it to the right.

OVERKILL

Overkill is also a very handy tool. We messed up with our drawings a lot. In a complex drawing, we often find our objects overlapping to each other. It can be very disturbing our drawing process. We can snap to wrong points, for example.

Using overkill, we can select them, then let AutoCAD to find overlapping objects that met our criteria, then delete them. We can determine the overlapping tolerance. You can also choose to combine co-linear objects.

In short, this tool allows you to simplify the drawings. Either by deleting duplicate, or combine partially overlapped objects.

I’m interested to hear if you are using express tools regularly. What are your favorite tools?And why are they become your favorite? I’m aware about it, but often overlooked those handy tools. Probably because I don’t use AutoCAD regularly now.

About Edwin Prakoso

I work as a Sr. Consultant in PT Cipta Satria Informatika. I've been using AutoCAD since R14 and Revit since Revit Building 9. I occasionally write for AUGIWorld magazine and I am also active in Autodesk discussion forum. I'm a member of Autodesk Expert Elite, an appreciation for individuals who give contributions to the Autodesk community.
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