AutoCAD – One Handed Keyboard
When using AutoCAD, a popular setup is to have one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the mouse. This means that your keyboard hand dances around like you are playing Beethoven on AutoCAD. It works well once you are used to the location of the keys on the other side of the keyboard, but there is a limit to typing like this, and eventually you’ll wonder if there is a more efficient way to enter commands.
One way is to setup your keyboard with a mirrored QWERTY configuration. This system is easy to learn since it does not truly require you to learn an entirely new keyboard configuration. This setup effectively gives you a toggle to mirror the keyboard. The most common key to toggle seems to be to hold the space key down. For example, SPACE + V would enter an M for the the MOVE command. Is this easier or faster than moving your hand from the home position? That is debatable, but it can be nice to have the option.
Directions to setup reverse QWERTY:
- Download and install AutoHotkey
- Copy a half QWERTY script from this link into a new text file.
- Make sure that your file ends in an .ahk extension.
- Double click the file to load the script.
- In AutoCAD, hold the space key and press v; you should see an m in the command line.
Other common commands:
- SPACE + W = Offset
- SPACE + S = Line
- SPACE + V = Move
- SPACE + Q S = PLine
