The Ribbon

Note: The following catalog of content covered in this webinar is time stamped to allow you to follow along or skip to sections of the video that are relevant to your questions. You can also search for content on this page using the FIND command in your browser (CTRL + F in Windows, Command + F in Mac OS.)

• Intro/TOC
• Overview of the Ribbon
• How to Switch Between the Ribbon and Toolbars
• Tour of the Ribbon
• Customizing the Ribbon

0:00 –2:30: Intro/TOC

2:31 – 12:44: Overview of the Ribbon

What is the ribbon? (2:31)

A ribbon is a horizontal array of panels containing buttons that allow you to access tools in AutoCAD.

Each ribbon is organized by tabs, which consist of several panels, which are made of tool buttons. (2:41)

Flyout menus (2:50)

Overview of the ribbon in CAD (3:10)

Enabling the ribbon by typing Ribbon in the Command line (3:27)

The F/X CAD custom ribbon (4:07)

How to get the F/X CAD ribbon (4:40)

If you want the F/X CAD 2019 ribbon, you can download our F/X CAD 2019 CUIX file and install it.

If you have F/X CAD 2019 or newer, you already have the ribbon.

Installing and loading the downloaded acad.cuix file (5:48)

Differences between the standard AutoCAD ribbon and the F/X CAD ribbon (9:25)

• Polyline flyout menu
• Titles on every button
• Buttons reorganized into appropriate panels and flyout menus
• Land F/X tools added (examples: F/X Hatch, F/X Text Manager, F/X Dimension tools, etc.)
• Tools organized to fit landscape architects’ and irrigation designers’ workflow

12:45 – 16:59: How to Switch Between the Ribbon and Toolbars

Adding the toolbars back in by typing -TOOLBAR in the Command line (12:58)

Loading the toolbars one by one (14:00)

Hiding the toolbars (14:50)

The pull-down menus (menubar) (15:18)

Enabling and disabling the menubar by typing MENUBAR in the Command line (15:50)

Location of the Layer Properties toolbar on the Quick Access Toolbar in F/X CAD (16:15)

17:00 – 24:29: Tour of the Ribbon

Collapsing the ribbon into different states (17:06)

Undocking and docking the ribbon (18:10)

Dragging the panels around and putting them back (19:55)

Organization of the panels on the Land F/X ribbons – they’re arranged by order of use in a project workflow (21:25)

Saving your workspace to save the current configuration of your ribbons (22:50)

Returning to the default workspace, and switching between workspaces (23:45)

24:30 – end: Customizing the Ribbon

Light and dark themes (24:40)

How to make a backup of your acad.cuix file (menu file) (26:05)

The Customized User Interface (CUI) (28:10)

The CUI is a central control center for all AutoCAD commands, where you can make changes to any ribbon, panel, or tool.  

Adding a tool back into a ribbon panel from the CUI (29:30)

Removing a tool from a ribbon panel (32:20)

Customizing the Land F/X ribbons (33:20)

Transferring your ribbon and menu configuration between computers (34:25)

We recommend achieving this by making a copy of the acad.cuix file and loading it onto the other computer.

Why use the ribbon? (36:15):

• It’s organized clearly from the start.
• It allows a smooth transition between workstations.
• All buttons are big, placed appropriately, and labeled clearly.
• Helps with Land F/X tool readability.

How to show or hide specific ribbon tabs and panels (37:40)

Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar (38:50)

How to tell whether you have the latest Land F/X ribbons (39:50)

The difference between the regular CAD Dimension buttons and the Land F/X Dimension tools (41:12)

The Land F/X Dimension tools allow for easier control of your Dimension Styles (DimStyles) and scale.

Location of the Snap tools on the F/X CAD ribbon (43:15)

You can also right-click while pressing the Control key.

Integration of more buttons on the F/X CAD ribbon (45:15)