Creating an AutoCAD User Profile

Creating an AutoCAD user profile allows AutoCAD to be "customized" in order to function efficiently within an environment. A few examples of data that is stored in an AutoCAD profile are support paths and plotter paths such as the location of .ctb files. Additionally, some of the most important elements in an AutoCAD user profile are the Customization (CUI) Files.

There are two primary CUI files, Main and Enterprise. The difference between these are that Main is editable by the user while the Enterprise CUI file is read-only by default. This makes the Enterprise CUI a great choice for providing customized content to your users through a shared network CUI file.

To create an AutoCAD user profile that points to your network CUI file we will start in AutoCAD. Select Tools | Options | Profile Tab | Add to List and enter a new profile name.

Click Apply & Close and then select the new profile and click Set Current. Your new profile should be highlighted and should show up as the current profile.

Select the Files Tab and point the Enterprise Customization File to the network cui file that you will be using. (Note: You can use UNC instead of a drive letter if you do not have a common network drive map for all users).

There are several other paths, settings, and configurations that can be controlled by the AutoCAD user profile but we will only change our Enterprise CUI for now.

Let's now export this profile so we can place it on a network file server making it available to all users. To do this go back to the Profiles tab and click Export. This creates a single file with an .arg extension. Once this .arg file is on the network we need a way to load it into AutoCAD. For this we can create an AutoCAD desktop icon that will load the new profile.

Copy an AutoCAD desktop shortcut into a network location (we can share this new shortcut with all users).

Right click on the AutoCAD shortcut and select Properties. We can now point to the .arg file using the /p (profile) parameter on the Target line.

Note: the /p goes after the acad.exe parameter that is already in the Target line. The full target line now looks like this:

"C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2010\acad.exe" /p "X:\SLD\Profiles\SLD.arg"

This AutoCAD shortcut can be re-named and copied to each users' desktop and double clicking it will load the new profile you created!

The beauty of this approach is you do not need to modify anything on the users' machines, just simply copy the shortcut. You can automate the process of copying the shortcut to their desktops several different ways. The method I use is a batch (.bat) file that can be executed through a hyperlink on a web based collaboration tool such as SharePoint. This allows any user to get any profile (desktop shortcut) on to their machine with a single click.

You can make as many .arg files as you need depending on unique client needs, vertical application needs, or discipline needs.

With the core structure of our AutoCAD environment in place we have set the stage for endless customization possibilities. Next we will talk about loading an .mnl (menu lisp) file along with the CUI file and how this can be the key to providing all sorts of customized apps to your users.