AutoCAD 2010 – The New Contextual Ribbon

image

Among the “big new things” inside AutoCAD 2009 was of course a new user interface. At the heart of this new user interface was the all-new Ribbon. Love it or hate it, the ribbon is still inside AutoCAD 2010, but with some new enhancements.  While I got used to the Ribbon inside AutoCAD 2009, I never became a huge fan.  The primary reason for that was because I found myself having to click too much to find the tool(s) I needed.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had this opinion, as Autodesk introduces “contextual ribbon tabs” to the AutoCAD 2010 interface.  With contextual ribbon tabs, the tools I need next are almost always at my fingertips.

On the topic of the ribbon, Civil 3D 2010 does get “ribbonized” in 2010, but with the introduction of contextual ribbons, it’s not as painful as I had anticipated.  Stay tuned, as I will discuss the Ribbon inside Civil 3D in more detail inside a future post.

Donnie Gladfelter
Donnie Gladfelter

Donnie is author of the book and Autodesk Official Press, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT: No Experience Required, a columnist for AUGIWorld Magazine, Autodesk University speaker, and former member of the AUGI Board of Directors.

21 Comments

  1. I think the “contextual ribbon tabs” that Autodesk has introduced to the AutoCAD 2010 interface is going to be very helpful. Another resource is the McGraw Hill directory. I work for McGraw Hill and their directory is full of top quality solutions. You can get lists of products, manufacturers, detailed information and even download an autocad drawing. auto cad drawing

  2. Just installed AutoCAD 2010 – that ribbon is annoying. Changing layers and colours in a pain in the ass when using block editor.

  3. Just installed AutoCAD 2010 – that ribbon is annoying. Changing layers and colours in a pain in the ass when using block editor.

  4. Hey Donnie,
    I came accross your website last week and I was quite impressed with your instructional videos and marked in my favortes to take more time to view them later, but on my return a few days later every video
    I pick on from your site says they are no longer available by youtube….? do you have a different site where I could watch them, or are they just temporarily out of service? Thank you in advance and I hope you can continue the with this web site I have alot of people I would like to dirrect to your site but I will wait until you get it working fully before I pass it on. so please keep me informed. Regards, Isaac

  5. Hey Donnie,
    I came accross your website last week and I was quite impressed with your instructional videos and marked in my favortes to take more time to view them later, but on my return a few days later every video
    I pick on from your site says they are no longer available by youtube….? do you have a different site where I could watch them, or are they just temporarily out of service? Thank you in advance and I hope you can continue the with this web site I have alot of people I would like to dirrect to your site but I will wait until you get it working fully before I pass it on. so please keep me informed. Regards, Isaac

  6. In my opinion, the ribbon is great for inexperienced users. For more experienced users, who know how AutoCAD works, it is unproductive to perform a task with two or three clicks instead of one.

    It seems that Autodesk is on the right track with the new contextual tabs, but I believe they will have to put even more efforts to improve the ribbon interface.

    • Ivan – The AutoCAD ribbon is nice, but I especially like the contextual ribbon in Civil 3D 2010. Naturally I haven’t had a chance to train anyone on 2010 yet, but can already identify how many of my users will find it to be an easier approach as they migrate from Land Desktp. To that end I know a number of people who type most of their commands (myself included), and have come to believe typing is still the fastest way to use AutoCAD for those who have memorized the commands.

  7. In my opinion, the ribbon is great for inexperienced users. For more experienced users, who know how AutoCAD works, it is unproductive to perform a task with two or three clicks instead of one.

    It seems that Autodesk is on the right track with the new contextual tabs, but I believe they will have to put even more efforts to improve the ribbon interface.

    • Ivan – The AutoCAD ribbon is nice, but I especially like the contextual ribbon in Civil 3D 2010. Naturally I haven’t had a chance to train anyone on 2010 yet, but can already identify how many of my users will find it to be an easier approach as they migrate from Land Desktp. To that end I know a number of people who type most of their commands (myself included), and have come to believe typing is still the fastest way to use AutoCAD for those who have memorized the commands.

Leave a Reply to Isaac HarperCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from The CAD Geek

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from The CAD Geek

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading