drawing without hitting tab

[Katerina]

I found it easier in other programs to draw a line, wall, etc. by just clicking the start point, then heading the curser in the direction of the next point and immediatly entering distance (architectural)

[jan15]

I had forgotten that the Tab key can be used to select the coordinate windows and enter values. That's a very awkward procedure.

But there's another way to enter coordinates, which I think makes VectorWorks the best program I've ever seen at this task:

1. Hit the Enter key on the numeric keypad.

2. Type in the X coordinate. It's easiest to do this with the numeric keypad -- with one hand; and you quickly learn to do it without looking, using the raised dot on the 5 key to get centered.

3. Hit the same Enter key again (not the Enter key near the letter keys), which locks in the X coordinate you typed (or if you didn't type anything, it locks in the value supplied by the cursor at the time you first hit the Enter key) and then takes you on to the Y coordinate.

4. Repeat until all desired values are specified, then hit Enter again to lock in the last one.

5. When you release the mouse button (or click again), the cursor location fills in any values you didn't enter -- so if you entered all required values, it doesn't matter where the cursor is when you release or second-click.

This works especially well if you mouse with the left hand, which is an easy thing for right-handed people to do after a few days of getting used to it. The numeric keypad on a standard keyboard is designed for right-handed people to use with their right hand. You never have to take your hand off the mouse, except to type text, and your right hand moves back and forth between selecting tools with the letter keys and entering coordinates with the keypad.

It quickly becomes a very fast and natural procedure for entering coordinates. One click for X, two clicks for Y. To stretch a rectangle vertically, hit the keypad Enter key twice, then type the Y coordinate, then Enter again. To stretch it horizontally, hit the Enter key once, then type the X coordinate, then Enter again. You'll never look at the coordinate boxes again.

[ 01-24-2003, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: jan15 ]