Where Are Pat Files Located in AutoCAD?

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Where Are Pat Files Located in AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a powerful software used by engineers, architects, and designers for creating precise 2D and 3D drawings. One of the key features of AutoCAD is its ability to apply hatch patterns to objects, which can greatly enhance the visual representation of your designs. These hatch patterns are stored in files with a .pat extension.

Locating the Pat Files

By default, AutoCAD stores its hatch pattern files in a specific folder on your computer. To locate this folder, follow these steps:

  1. Open AutoCAD: Launch the AutoCAD application on your computer.
  2. Access Options: In the top menu bar, click on the “Application” button (the blue ‘A’ icon) and select “Options” from the dropdown menu. Alternatively, you can type “OPTIONS” in the command line and press Enter.
  3. Navigate to Files Tab: In the Options dialog box, click on the “Files” tab located on the left-hand side.
  4. Select Support File Search Path: Under the Support File Search Path section, click on the “” button at the end of the text box.

Add or Modify Paths

A new dialog box will appear displaying a list of folders where AutoCAD searches for various support files. The folder containing your hatch pattern files is likely already listed here. You can either add additional paths or modify existing ones using these steps:

  1. Add New Path: To add a new path, click on the “Add..” button and browse to the location where your .pat files are stored. Once you have selected the desired folder, click “OK” to add it to the list.
  2. Modify Existing Path: If the path to your .pat files is already listed, you can simply select it and click on the “Edit.” button. A new dialog box will appear, allowing you to make changes to the selected path.

After adding or modifying paths, remember to click “OK” in all open dialog boxes to save your changes.

Customizing Hatch Patterns

If you want to create your own custom hatch patterns or download additional ones from external sources, you can place these .pat files in any folder of your choice. To use these custom patterns in AutoCAD, follow these steps:

  1. Open Hatch Dialog Box: Type “HATCH” in the command line and press Enter. Alternatively, you can access the Hatch tool from the Draw panel on the Home tab.
  2. Select Custom Pattern: In the Hatch Creation tab of the Hatch dialog box, click on the “Pattern” panel and then select “Custom” from the pattern type dropdown menu.
  3. Browse for Pattern File: Click on the “” button next to the Custom pattern definition field.

    A file browser window will appear.

  4. Select Custom Pattern File: Navigate to the folder where your custom .pat file is located and select it. Click “Open” to confirm your selection.

You can now apply your custom hatch pattern just like any other predefined pattern within AutoCAD.

Note:

It’s important to remember that modifying or adding paths to the Support File Search Path affects various other support files used by AutoCAD. Exercise caution and ensure that you only modify or add paths related to hatch pattern files.

Understanding the location of your .pat files in AutoCAD can greatly improve your workflow and allow you to easily access and manage custom hatch patterns. Whether you are using the default patterns or creating your own, this knowledge is valuable for any AutoCAD user.