March 25, 2020 – Autodesk official announced the release of Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 and the AutoCAD 2021 Toolsets
The official public release of AutoCAD 2021 is live. Autodesk subscription customers should soon be able to download an install the new release and AutoCAD 2021 Toolsets from the Autodesk Subscription Center.
Trial product downloads are available from the Autodesk website.
AutoCAD 2021
Listings of the new AutoCAD 2021 Features and some 2021 ToolSets specifics can be found here. There are additional short official Autodesk features and benefits videos on the page. The free trials for AutoCAD 2021 and AutoCAD 2021 Toolsets are available or will be by this post’s publication.
The What’s New in AutoCAD 2021 page in the rest of the AutoCAD 2021 online help is live along with the new LISP and Developer help. As of this writing only some of the rest of the ACAD 2021 ToolSets online help is yet live. That may change before you read this. You can visit our Autodesk Online Help page where we will publish the new links as they become available.
The AutoCAD 2021 System Requirements including the additional requirements and issues for the AutoCAD 2021 Toolsets are published.
The New AutoCAD 2021 Highlights
Commands
Blocks Palette Improvements
View and access your blocks content from AutoCAD on desktop or within the AutoCAD web app.
- The Blocks palette has been enhanced to provide more convenient access to blocks anytime and anywhere. Use your Autodesk account with a supported cloud storage provider (Box, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive) to get quick and anytime access to your recent blocks and block library drawings.
Revision Cloud Enhancements
Revision clouds are now a distinct ACAD object. They now include a single value for their approximate arc chord lengths, the distance between the endpoints of each arc segment.
Break Objects at a Single Point
With the new BREAKATPOINT command, the Break at Point tool on the ribbon can now be repeated by pressing Enter. This command directly separates a line, arc, or open polyline into two objects at a specified point.
Streamlined Trim and Extend Option
Instead of having to first select boundaries for the Trim and Extend commands, the default Quick mode selects all potential boundaries by default.
Measure Geometry Option: Quick Measure
The Quick option of the MEASUREGEOM command now supports measuring the area and perimeter within a space enclosed by geometric objects in the plan view of a drawing.
Performance and Connectivity
Performance Enhancements
Experience faster save and install times. Leverage multicore processors for smoother orbit, pan, and zoom operations.
- The speed of panning and zooming in 2D has been enhanced with a technique that takes advantage of objects with similar properties, and another technique that displays appropriate levels of detail at different levels of magnification.
- When panning and zooming in real time in 2D, AutoCAD-based products automatically perform regeneration operations as needed. Normally, this operation is not noticeable except in very large drawings. In those cases, you might want to turn off the RTREGENAUTO system variable to prevent automatic regeneration.
- When working with 3D models, navigation generates higher or lower fidelity graphical representations of the 3D geometry in some circumstances. The program's responsiveness when using 3D orbit, pan, and zoom operations has improved significantly by making use of multi-core processors. This improvement is most noticeable on complex 3D models using visual styles that render curved surfaces.
Cloud Storage Connectivity
Access any DWG file in AutoCAD with Autodesk’s cloud, as well as with leading cloud storage providers. Support for Google Drive is new. One Drive, Dropbox, and Box are supported.
More and Better Compares
Drawing History Compare
Compare past and present versions of a drawing and see the evolution of your work.
Enhanced DWG Compare
Compare two versions of a drawing without leaving your current window.
Xref Compare
See the changes made to your current drawing from changed external references (Xrefs).