AutoCAD 2021 - Drawing History

by Martin Phelps

Saving a drawing file to cloud locations such as “Onedrive”, “Dropbox” or “Box” is not new, however what is new is the ability to save each version of the file to create a “Drawing History”. The latest version of the file is created each time the file is saved and the drawing closed.

Note:- The cloud storage provider will set the number of file versions stored and also their expiry date. These files are normally held for 30 days, but some providers will offer longer periods of time.

The previously created versions of the drawing file are listed in the new “Drawing History” pallet, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

The “Drawing History” dialogue normally opens automatically when a file is open from the cloud storage location.

However, if the “Drawing History” pallet is not displayed, it can be accessed from the “View” tab of the ribbon menu, as shown in Figure 2.   

Figure 2.

With the “Drawing History” pallet open, previous saved versions of the file are displayed by “Date and Time” and “User”.

To reduce the number of files shown in the pallet, the list can be filtered by “Date”, “User” and by “Specifying a Minimum Time Increment Between Versions”, the “Filters” as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

To “Filter by Date” using the Calendar, select the “Filter by Date” icon at the top left of the “Drawing History” pallet. This opens the “Calendar”, the dates on which the drawings have been saved are highlighted in “Grey”, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4.

By selecting two “Dates”, this will “Filter” out saved drawings between the specified dates, which are now highlighted in “Blue” , as shown in figure 5.

Figure 5.

Selecting the “User” filter will display the list of “Users” that have modified the current drawing file, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Dragging the slider bar at the top right of the “Drawing History” dialogue will show the minimum time period between previously saved versions of the drawing and reduce the number of drawings shown in the “Drawing History” pallet, as per Figure 7.

Figure 7.

To clear the “Filter”, select the “Remove All Filter” icon just below the funnel symbol at the top right of the “Drawing History” dialogue box, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8.

Moving the pointer on to any of the displayed files will enable the “Compare” tool, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9.

Selecting the icon will “Compare” the two files.

Note: Most supported cloud storage providers maintain drawing versions for 30 days, but some providers will offer longer periods of time.