Saving settings as a template 

So by now, we have set the unit settings and made changes to the drawing limits. It is not always practical to make these changes whenever we want to start with the same set of settings in a blank drawing. You can save these settings as a template file and then these templates can be loaded to start a new drawing with the same set of settings.

In the previous examples, we set the unit and template related settings, and now we will learn how to save these settings as a template file in the following example:

1. Click on the application button in the top left of the AutoCAD window and select Save as the option from the menu. Then, go to the Drawing Template option.

2. The default folder location for the templates will open up. You can save your template here or choose another location from this window. Select the location, give your template file a name, and hit the Save button:

3. Your file will be saved with a DWT file extension, which is the extension for AutoCAD template files.
4. To load the template settings, simply double-click the next time you want to open a new drawing with the same settings as defined in the template.
5. After opening a template once, if you open a new drawing from the Start tab or by clicking the + icon in the file tabs, AutoCAD will load the last-used template, which in this case is the template saved by you.
6. To change the template to some other ready-made template, you need to once again open another template from the Template drop-down menu in the Start tab or click on the + icon in the quick access toolbar and select a template from the list of templates to open a new drawing.

When you simply save the drawing file by clicking the Save icon in the quick access toolbar or by clicking the Save icon in the application menu, the file will be saved in a DWG format. DWG format is the native drawing format with which AutoCAD drawing files are saved.

So, this is how you can save settings and other customizations as a template file in AutoCAD. The template can not only save the settings related to unit and limits, but it can also save other settings, such as status bar toggles and system variables, which we will learn about later in this book.

Now, let's talk about saving the drawing in its native DWG format.