AutoCAD 2013 – The MULTIPLE Command

by John Flanagan

Using the Multiple Command in AutoCAD will greatly improve your productivity.

Some commands in AutoCAD have the option to choose M for Multiple so that you can continue using the command after the first use, and also so you don’t have to restart the command.

The LINE command is an example of a command that does repeat. You keep picking points and the command keeps going until you tell it to stop. A command that does not have a multiple option is the CIRCLE command. After you pick the center point and then specify the radius, the command ends. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could continue picking away without restarting the command?

Here’s how

• Enter MULTIPLE at the command line and you can then enter the command that you want to use the multiple command with. Then pick away.
• For example, if you want to draw a lot of circles in various locations and sizes. (This also applies to any command you want to repeat.) At the command line type MULTIPLE and then hit the [enter key].  Now, type in the command you want to repeat (like CIRCLE) and hit enter.
  Now, you can keep on creating circles without having to manually start the command over and over.
• For example, if you want to move multiple objects in succession, enter multiple on the command line. Then at the "Enter command name to repeat:" prompt, enter move. After you select and move your first object, the Move command automatically appears again at the command prompt.
• When you are done, just hit the ESC key and that will end your “Multiple” session.