A few ideas for bypassing LDD's welcome screen

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Attention, fellow LEGO Digital Designer users!

Are you annoyed by how long it takes to get past LDD's welcome screen? Do you wish there was an easy way to skip the welcome screen every time you start up LDD? Well, I have a solution for you!

First of all, either create a blank LXF file, or download mine. After that, it's as simple as opening that file instead of launching LDD from a normal desktop shortcut! (EDIT: Don't forget to set the "Read-only" attribute in the file's properties to prevent it from being overwritten!)

But wait! I even came up with a method to launch LDD like that from the taskbar in Windows 7 and 8 (if you have it pinned there) while keeping the Jump List intact! Starting with an ordinary shortcut to LDD pinned to the taskbar, hold down Shift and right-click the shortcut. Then, left-click on "Properties" in the pop-up menu. Next, clear the "Target:" field on the Shortcut tab, then enter the location of the blank LXF file. Make sure to put double quote marks before and after the location.

Example:

"C:\Users\[insert your user name here]\Documents\LEGO Creations\Models\blank.lxf"

Once you've entered the location of the blank LXF file, click OK. From now on, whenever you launch LDD from the taskbar, you'll go straight to the blank LXF file rather than the welcome screen.

What if you're running Windows 8, and want to pin LDD to the Start screen? For that, I recommend Pin to 8, which will allow you to pin any file to the Start screen or taskbar in Windows 8. (Watch out for any fake download advertisements on that page! If you move your mouse cursor over a button and its URL contains "googleads," it's not the link you're looking for!)

Happy virtual building!

-Toa Of Justice

EDIT: Here's yet another way to bypass LDD's welcome screen, courtesy of fgiorgi. With this method, there's no need to mess with shortcuts to LDD or blank files!

Simply add this line in "preferences.ini", located in

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\

ShowStartHelp=no

Ciao

Edited March 12, 2013 by Toa_Of_Justice

[Calabar]

I suggest to mark the empty lxf file as "Read Only", to avoid that a heedless builder could easily overwrite it.

That will force the user to save the file with another name and preserve the empty lxf file.

[georgebjones]

I have always been annoyed at the long wait time to be able to open a file or start a new one. This is a fantastic idea, and I did it on my Windows 7 machine. It worked like a charm. Thank you for this little tidbit.

[Takanuinuva]

I would like to be able to close ldd without having to open a project. On those chance times I accidentally open ldd

[Toa_Of_Justice]

I suggest to mark the empty lxf file as "Read Only", to avoid that a heedless builder could easily overwrite it.

That will force the user to save the file with another name and preserve the empty lxf file.

That would definitely be a good idea. I tried uploading a read-only version of my blank LXF file to Brickshelf.com, but when I downloaded it, the read-only attribute was lost. I'll add your tip to my post though.

I have always been annoyed at the long wait time to be able to open a file or start a new one. This is a fantastic idea, and I did it on my Windows 7 machine. It worked like a charm. Thank you for this little tidbit.

You're welcome!

I would like to be able to close ldd without having to open a project. On those chance times I accidentally open ldd

I'm not sure I fully understand... are you suggesting that there should be a way to open LDD without opening any file, including a blank file?

-Toa Of Justice

[Takanuinuva]

I'm not sure I fully understand... are you suggesting that there should be a way to open LDD without opening any file, including a blank file?

-Toa Of Justice

I mean when you click on Ldd and it pulls up the loading screen. If you didn't mean to open Ldd you have to wait for the loading screen to finish. Then you have to pick a project or start a new project before you are able to click the X button to close the program

[Masta' Blasta']

I do think it is odd how you cannot close LDD while on the opening screen, Takanuinuva. It can be pain sometimes.

[Philo]

Simple but clever trick, very effective. Thanks!

[Superkalle]

What I usually do, is to open LDD via the Start Menu (Win7). When you click on the LDD icon, a list expands with the recently used files. In the top of that lis I have a small, pinned LXF where I collect all ideas and bugs. Starting that allows me to bypass the LDD start screen. But putting there a completely empty file is better, and even better is then o make the link to the empty LXF the start-ikon in itself as you explain. Very clever idea Mr. Toa.

I do think it is odd how you cannot close LDD while on the opening screen, Takanuinuva. It can be pain sometimes.

Haven't never thought about it, but it's a good point. According to GUI design rule- of-thumb the user shall always have an escape

[fgiorgi]

Simply add this line in "preferences.ini", located in

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\

ShowStartHelp=no

Ciao

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Takanuinuva, Masta' Blasta', and Superkalle: I understand about closing LDD while on the welcome screen now, thanks. Not being able to close LDD without opening a project first from the welcome screen is indeed annoying. It reminds me of Skype's strangely-programmed "X" button.

Philo and Superkalle: You're welcome!

-Toa Of Justice

[Blip]

Simply add this line in "preferences.ini", located in

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\

ShowStartHelp=no

Ciao

Awesomesauce!

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Simply add this line in "preferences.ini", located in

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\

ShowStartHelp=no

Ciao

Wow! That sure beats my ideas by miles and miles! Thanks!

-Toa Of Justice