Getting to Know AutoCAD - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 20

Displaying the Ribbon tools
The Ribbon's default location is at the top of the screen, but it can be moved or
docked almost anywhere on your screen. Individual panels have a number of dis-
play options built into them as well. In the following exercises, you will have the
chance to explore many of these display options.
Collapsing, Moving, and Hiding the Ribbon
Available drawing area is always at a premium, and you can regain some of it by
collapsing the Ribbon. When you click the Minimize button to the right of the
Ribbon tabs once, the panels are collapsed vertically, showing only an icon for
each Ribbon panel. Clicking it a second time collapses the Ribbon further so only
the tab and panel names display. Clicking it a third time collapses the Ribbon so
only the tabs show. When the Ribbon is in either of these states, you can expand
any panel or tab by clicking its visible panel or tab name. Clicking the Minimize
button a fourth time returns the Ribbon to its default state.
Rather than cycling through each display option, you can use the small Down
icon to the right of the Minimize Ribbon button to quickly switch between states.
A list of available display states (Figure 1.20) will appear after clicking the Down
icon. Select the desired visibility to switch directly to it, as opposed to cycling
through the other options.
FiGuRE 1.20 List of available Ribbon display states
The Ribbon's default location is at the top of the screen, but it can be undocked,
or floating over the drawing area; or it can be moved to a second monitor, or
docked on either side of the drawing area. To undock the Ribbon, right-click to the
right of the tab names and choose Undock from the pop-up menu, as shown in
Figure 1.21.
The Ribbon detaches from the top of the drawing area and floats on the screen,
as shown in Figure 1.22. To dock it, click the title bar on the side of the floating
Ribbon and drag it to the side or the top of the drawing area. Experiment with
detaching the Ribbon, but when you are finished, dock it back at the top so that
you can follow the graphics in this topic more easily.