Auto CAD Tutorial for Beginners
Hello guys!!! today i am going to share you some basics about how to use Auto CAD. Basically i use Auto CAD 2017 (Civil Version) because i belong to that department.
At this tutorial you will learn Auto CAD in just few easy steps! This Auto CAD Tutorial for Beginners will guide you step by step to design your first object.
In this AutoCAD tutorial, you are going to learn the basics on how to use AutoCAD and create your first objects.Auto CAD is a powerful tool to create 2D and 3D objects, like architectural floor plans, civil drawings containing site plan, location plan, different views or engineering projects. It also can generate files for 3D printing. If you want to start this Auto CAD tutorial for beginners, you should be able to spare some valuable time in here.
In this Auto CAD tutorial for beginners, you’ll learn
- How to install the software
- How to get around in AutoCAD
- How to sketch in 2D
- How to get a genuine Auto CAD software from official web i.e. www.autodesk.com
Auto CAD Tutorial – 1. Installing the Software
In the first step of this Auto CAD Tutorial, you will learn how to install the software. If you already own and installed the software, you can skip to Step 2.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 1.1 Create an AutoDesk Account
AutoCAD is a Computer Aided Design software developed by AutoDesk Inc. It’s a very in-depth, professional software design suite which can generate sophisticated results . To use Autodesk’s software, you must create an account on their website.
The price is quite steep, as this software is made for 3D designer professionals. If you want to get into CAD in general, there are also some free alternatives, which are listed here.
But there are good news: You can get Auto-CAD and all of Auto-desk's products for 3 years if you are a student. To activate your student license, enter your educational email address for registration. If you aren’t lucky enough to be entitled to a student rebate, you still can activate a 3-month free trial for all Autodesk products.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 1.2 Install the software
After completing to registration process you should download the AutoCAD installer. Run the downloaded file. This will download and open the Install wizard. If needed you can change the install directory, chose which components you want to or install or install AutoCAD right away. This will initiate the download of AutoCAD.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2. Basic Orientation
In the second step of this AutoCAD Tutorial, you will learn how to interact with the workspace.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2.1 Set Up the Workspace
When opening the software for this AutoCAD tutorial, click on “Start Drawing” to open a new file or project. By doing this, you opened the “DrawSpace”.
At first, you need to customize your Quick Action Toolbar and add “Workspace” by clicking on it. Change now the new Toolbar “Drafting and Annotation” to “3D Modelling”. This will allow the use of all the Sketch and 3D Tools you need to design your first sketch and 3D Object.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2.2 Change Units in AutoCAD
If you want to change units to the metric system you‘re used to, click on the big red A in the top left corner. This will open the AutoCAD menu. Select “Drawing Utilities” > “Units”. Change the Insertion Scale to Millimeters.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2.3 Explanation of the Workspace
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2.3.1 The Command Bar
At the bottom of the DrawSpace, you find the Command Bar (see image above). You can either enter the commands simply by typing in the command bar. It will contextually show you the options you got in a command. Highlighted letters are shortcuts to those options.
Typing the corresponding letter and pressing “Enter” will directly activate the desired option. It will also list the order of steps you’ll need to take to execute the command correctly and display tips.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 2.3.2 Orientation in AutoCAD
In the top right-hand corner of your DrawSpace you can see a compass. It is set to “Top view” right by default. Hover over it and you will see a little house symbol appear. Click on it to enter isometric view. Now you will see a 3D Cartesian coordinate system in the middle of your DrawSpace with three axes. X-Axis is represented in Red, Y-Axis in Green and Z-Axis in Blue.
Also, the compass got extended by a cube. You can click on the faces, edges, and corners of the cube to enter the desired view. To pan the DrawSpace click on the “Hand” symbol or move around by holding down the mouse wheel. If you want to orbit your DrawSpace, click on “Orbit” in the right-hand toolbar. Click and hold on the DrawSpace to rotate around the center of the coordinate system by moving your mouse. You can also do so by holding the “Shift” key and the mouse wheel. If you want to orbit around a certain point, select “Free Orbit” by clicking on the extend arrow.
To pan the DrawSpace, click on the “Hand” symbol or move around by holding down the mouse wheel. With the “Zoom Extends” option you can fit all of your created objects and sketches into your field of view.
Right now, you do not have anything to rotate around so hop the next step of this AutoCAD tutorial to start sketching!
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3. 2D Sketches
In the third step of this AutoCAD Tutorial, you will learn the basics to do 2D sketches.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.1 Set up Snapping
When sketching with AutoCAD you can make use of its Snapping option. To enable Grid Snap, simply press F9 on your keyboard or click on enable “Snap to Drawing Grid” in the bottom right hand corner. By opening Snap Settings, you can adjust the Drawing Grid as well as the accuracy of Grid Snap.
By pressing F3 or clicking on Object Snap you can activate clipping to corners, lines, points, midpoints and many more. Edit the object snapping to your current drawing goals. If you have problems with entering coordinates or sketching try turning snapping on or off and try to not use Grid and Object snap simultaneously. This tool is useful to draw sketches fast and to prevent holes in your sketch.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.2 Drawing a Line
To create your first sketch, select Top View with the compass. Disable Grid Snap by pressing F9. Now type “line” and press Enter. This will enable the Line command.
With AutoCAD, you can simply type in the first letters of any command. The software will autocomplete or show any available commands. When you have entered the line command it asks you to specify the first point. You can now either select a random point in your DrawSpace or enter the coordinates. Enter 0 for X-Coordinate, change to Y-Coordinate by pressing Tab, enter 0 as well and confirm your coordinates by pressing Enter. You have now selected the center of the coordinate system as Start.
Now move your mouse to the positive side of the X-Axis. You can now see how the coordinate input changed to Polar coordinates. Enter 25 for the length of the line by pressing Tab you can switch to the angular input. Try sketching a square for starting. When you have returned to the center, press Escape to end the line command.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.3 Select an Object
To select objects, you can click on them. Unselect by holding down the “Shift” key and clicking again. Select multiple objects by left clicking and moving from left to right. This will select all objects fully enclosed within the blue rectangle. When you drag from right to left you will select all objects touched by the green rectangle. Click again to confirm selection. Clicking and holding the left mouse button will enable the lasso, which lets you select a in a random shape.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4 Drawing Tools
Of course, AutoCAD offers simpler ways to draw a square or rectangle. Select your entire rectangle by marking it. Click on the far outside of your rectangle once. This will enable rectangular selection. If you click and hold you can lasso around the entity you want to select. Press the Delete Button on your keyboard or type “Delete” to remove the selected lines.
In the upper toolbar, you can find all drawing tools. You can either type in the command or click on the tool you want to use in the next steps. Coordinates, values, and angles are separated by a dash like so: X/Y/Angle°. You do not need to set ° to an angle when entering it in AutoCAD.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4.1 Drawing Basic Shapes and Edit Sketches
For this AutoCAD tutorial, type in “Rectangle” and press Enter to initiate the command. Start at the CenterPoint and end at 10/50.
Start a circle at 0/47.5 and confirm by pressing enter. Set the radius to 8. If you made a mistake, simply double-click on the sketch you want to edit. In the popped-up window edit the values.
Start a center ellipse at 0/30. Set the major radius parallel to the X-Axis to 70 and set the minor radius to 30.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4.2 Draw a second circle with Object Snap enabled
Draw a second circle at 25/47.5. Turn on Object Snap with by pressing F3 and guide the radius of the circle parallel to the Y-Axis until you intersect with the ellipse. Click when you see a green Cross. Draw a line starting at 10/55, you might want to turn off Object Snap, so the starting point will not get caught at the corner of the rectangle. When you have placed the starting point turn, on Object Snap with the “Tangent” option enabled. Draw a line in a 65° angle until it snaps with the second circle. Start a second line at the top right corner of the rectangle. Enable “Nearest” in Object Snap option draw a line in a 130° angle, snapping to the first circle.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4.3 Drawing with the Spline Command for Beginners
Create a Spline starting at the center point. With the Spline tool, you can create a continuous curved sine connecting points. First, you enter the distance, followed by the angle. If you made a mistake type in “U” and press Enter to undo the last step. Enter the following polar coordinates: 20/30°, 5/300°, 5/55°, 10/30°, 5/320°. End with a 230° Angle on the Ellipse. Now type in a “T” to End Tangency and type in 190° for the angle and press Enter.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4.4 Trim Entities
Using the “Trim” command you can remove extra lines up to an intersection. You can also switch within the Trim command to “Erase” by typing R. This will remove lines not which are not intersecting like the Delete command. Start the Trim command and press Enter to select the entire Sketch for trimming. Trim the overhanging lines like in the picture. If you removed a line by mistake type in “U” to Undo. Also, take a close look for any lines stuck in between small edges. Those will most likely trouble in the extrusion process which will make your sketch 3D. Confirm with Enter when you finished.
Next select the line in the middle and the spare ellipse on the left and delete them. Finally, highlight the tiny ellipse line in the upper triangle and delete it as well.
After Trimming and Erasing you should end up with this.
AutoCAD Tutorial – 3.4.5 Mirror a Sketch
When drawing symmetrical sketches, it comes in handy to simply draw one-half of the sketch and mirror it afterward. Type in “Mirror” or select Mirror in the modify toolbar. Then mark the entire sketch and confirm with Enter. Select CenterPoint as the first point of mirror line and for the second point a positive coordinate along the Y-Axis. Click “No” on the question to remove source object.
Congratulations! You have now sketched your first 2D draft with this Auto CAD Tutorial!
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