Search for the trace command in AutoCAD and nearly every page teaches the same thing: type TRACE, click a series of points, and out comes a straight band with thickness, filled solid. Follow that on the 2027 release and nothing appears at all.
The reason is not a typing mistake. The command has changed what it does. This article shows what the 2027 release actually answers, what the command is for now, and what to use instead for solid-filled linework. For the full set of drawing commands see our AutoCAD for Construction course.
What the 2027 release answers when you follow an older tutorial
Do exactly what the tutorials say: type TRACE, then give three points. The command line, copied verbatim from the 2027 release:
Command: TRACE
Enter an option [New/Open/Delete/reMove contribution/Rename/Close/?]: 1000,1000
Invalid option keyword.
Enter an option [New/Open/Delete/reMove contribution/Rename/Close/?]: 3000,1000
Invalid option keyword.
Enter an option [New/Open/Delete/reMove contribution/Rename/Close/?]: 5000,1000
Invalid option keyword.It does not ask for a point. It asks for an option, and a coordinate is not one of the seven it lists. After three refusals the drawing is still empty: 0 objects.
Trying again with two points, then three, then four, changes nothing: every run ends at 0. So this is not a matter of giving too few points or too many. The command declines coordinates at its very first question.
Nor is it a missing hyphen. Typing -TRACE and typing _TRACE both land on exactly the same prompt, and neither creates an object.
What the command does now
Autodesk's TRACE page puts it in one sentence: "A trace is created in the AutoCAD web app, the AutoCAD mobile app, or AutoCAD desktop to provide feedback, comments, markups, and design exploration of the drawing without altering the content of the drawing."
In short it is a markup layer: a sheet of glass over the drawing that someone else can draw comments on without touching a single line of the drawing underneath. Exactly what is wanted when a lead engineer reviews a colleague's sheet, or when site sends remarks back.
The seven options in the prompt, read off the 2027 release:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
New | Starts a new markup layer on the open drawing |
Open | Reopens an existing markup layer |
Delete | Deletes a markup layer for good |
reMove contribution | Strips out the markup you added yourself |
Rename | Renames a markup layer |
Close | Closes the open layer |
? | Lists the layers that exist |
The valuable part is the phrase "without altering the content of the drawing". Comments sit on their own layer, so once the review is done they come off cleanly, with no hunt for stray lines somebody drew in.
What to use for solid-filled lines
If what you actually want is solid-filled lines — a straight band with thickness, filled in — there are three live alternatives.
The first is the polyline width option. Type PLINE, choose Width, declare a starting and ending width, then draw as usual. This is the one used most in real drawing production, because a polyline stays editable, reports its length, and joins to its neighbours. Polylines are covered in our article on polylines in AutoCAD.
The second is DONUT when a filled ring is wanted. It builds a closed polyline with thickness, and that thickness is exactly half the difference of the two diameters. Declare an inside diameter of 200 and an outside of 500 and the polyline comes out with a width of exactly 150, that is (500 − 200) / 2, running on a circle of diameter 350, that is (200 + 500) / 2. Declare an inside diameter of 0 and you get a filled dot.
The third is a hatch. Draw the boundary, type HATCH, and pick the SOLID pattern. This suits an area of any shape rather than a straight band. Hatching is covered in our article on the hatch command in AutoCAD.
Where to start it
Read straight out of the acad.cuix interface file of the 2027 release.
| Way in | What to use |
|---|---|
| Full command | TRACE |
| Alias | none |
| Ribbon | none |
| Classic menu | none |
| Toolbar | none |
Four empty rows, which is a rare thing. This command has no way in at all except typing its name — no button, no menu entry, no toolbar. Across the whole run of commands the Institute has measured, very few are that quiet.
The reason is easy enough to see: markup was built for the web app and the mobile app, where the person reviewing a drawing sits. The desktop release mostly receives those layers to read and act on, so it needs no place on the interface.
That also explains why the change catches people out. A command that loses its old job usually loses its name too, or at least gains a warning. This one kept the name, kept accepting input at a prompt, and simply answers a different question — so an old tutorial appears to be working right up to the moment nothing is drawn.
Why the old tutorials are still around
The old command dates back a long way and drew an object type of its own, called TRACE. Almost nobody used it, because a polyline does everything it did and does it better.
Tutorials about it were largely written for older releases and then copied from page to page without anyone retesting on a current one. That is why the same content turns up on many sites, word for word in places, and why they are all wrong in the same way on the 2027 release. None of them is careless in isolation; the fault is that nobody in the chain opened the program again.
Checking is quick: type the command name and read the prompt. If the program asks Enter an option [New/Open/Delete/...] you are in the markup feature, not a drawing command.
That test works for an outdated tutorial of any kind, not just this command. A prompt is the hardest thing to get wrong: it appears in front of you and depends on nobody's memory. A tutorial that copies prompts verbatim can be checked in three seconds; one that only describes things in words cannot.
What a markup layer is for in real drawing production
On a structural package the review loop usually runs like this: the engineer issues sheets, the lead reads them and writes remarks, the engineer corrects and reissues. The step that goes wrong is writing the remarks.
Writing them straight onto the drawing mixes comments into content, and after the corrections somebody has to check they were all erased — one line missed and it goes to print. Printing and marking up in red pen loses any ability to search.
A markup layer solves exactly that: remarks sit on their own tier, visible with the drawing but not part of it, and come off with one command. The remove contribution option even strips out only your own additions, so several people can mark the same sheet without treading on each other.
It also changes who can take part. Because the layers are made in the web and mobile apps, a site engineer with a phone can mark up a sheet without a seat of the full program and without knowing a single command. The drawing office opens the same layer on the desktop, works through the remarks, and closes it. Nothing in the DWG has to change hands, and nothing in it has to be cleaned up afterwards.
Three things people say that are not true
| What people say | What the 2027 release actually does |
|---|---|
Type TRACE, click points, get a solid band | It answers Invalid option keyword. and creates nothing |
Adding a hyphen for -TRACE reaches the old command | -TRACE and _TRACE land on the same option prompt |
| The command is somewhere on the ribbon | No button, no menu entry, no toolbar |
Frequently asked questions
Is the trace command in AutoCAD gone for good?
The name is still there, but it belongs to the markup feature now. The old drawing behaviour has no route back on this release: -TRACE and _TRACE reach the same prompt.
Why does typing TRACE draw nothing?
Because on the 2027 release the command opens a collaboration markup layer rather than drawing. It asks for an option, and a coordinate is not one of them.
What draws a straight band with thickness instead?
PLINE with the Width option. A polyline stays editable and reports its length, which the old trace object never did.
Does a markup layer damage the drawing underneath?
No. Autodesk states plainly that it allows comments "without altering the content of the drawing".
How do I start it from the ribbon?
You cannot. The 2027 interface file declares no button for it at all; typing the name is the only way in.
Who creates these layers?
Usually the reviewer, working in the web app or the mobile app. The desktop release opens them again to read and act on.