AutoCAD Tutorial

Ufuk ŞEN

May 6, 2021Updated: November 9, 20264 min read1

In our AutoCAD tutorial series, we teach the program in its simplest form, with a fast and clear technique. On our site, we mostly share SketchUp lessons. But we also need other programs, both to improve ourselves and to bring in files from outside. That is why we put together an AutoCAD series of ten or more lessons.

AutoCAD is a very detailed program with a huge range of commands. We, however, move forward with the most commonly used commands, without going into unnecessary detail while drawing. You will see how easy the program really is to learn.

All the lessons are in a single playlist. We recommend watching them in order.

Why learn AutoCAD?

Besides being a technical drawing program, AutoCAD makes many things easier. It saves you a lot of time, especially in 2D design. And thanks to its compatibility with other programs, exchanging files becomes very easy. (The video is in Turkish; this guide walks through the key steps in English.)

For example, you can draw a plan in AutoCAD and easily bring it into 3D programs such as SketchUp or 3ds Max. Most architecture offices also share their projects in DWG format. So reading and editing these files is an important skill for every designer. For the current version of the program, see Autodesk’s official AutoCAD page.

How does the AutoCAD tutorial progress?

In the lessons, we start with the basics of the program and quickly move on to drawing plans. In later lessons, we get into the more detailed parts of the program. We recorded the lessons as improvised walkthroughs rather than from a script. So we made a few small mistakes along the way. But the approach is entirely our own technique: fast and clear.

The series covers 2D drawing only. AutoCAD has many commands you will never use in 2D drawing. We filter those out to show how simple the program really is. You will be surprised when you see how a project gets drawn with a simple method.

What’s in the AutoCAD tutorial lessons?

Introduction: We explain the program’s basic logic and the first settings. This logic makes your work much easier in the later lessons.
Start page settings: We show the settings you need to make before you start drawing, in two parts.
The Line command: We look at Line, the main drawing command, and the finer points of the osnap (object snap) tools. We also explain the difference between Line and Pline.
Layer logic: We explain how layers work on a finished project. This helps you draw clean, error-free plans.
Layer logic, continued: We go deeper into layers and finish the lesson with a sample drawing.
AutoCAD and SketchUp: We turn off items such as furniture using layers. Then we bring the drawing into SketchUp in its simplest form.

Why do the Line command and layers matter so much?

The Line command is the basic building block of drawing in AutoCAD. It is also one of the simplest commands. Once you master it, learning the other drawing tools becomes much easier. And if you use the snap tools correctly, your drawings are both fast and error-free.

Layer logic is the core principle of working in an organized way. If you keep walls, doors, furniture and dimensions on separate layers, the drawing becomes easy to manage. And when you move the project into another program, you hide the items you don’t want with a single click.

Moving from AutoCAD to SketchUp

AutoCAD files work well with SketchUp. If you simplify the drawing and bring in only the items you want to make 3D, modeling becomes much easier. We show these steps in detail in the last lesson of the series.

Our floor modeling lesson, where we model a plan from a DWG file from start to finish, follows on from this topic. For a shorter starter series, see our AutoCAD basics lessons. For a comparison with other drawing programs, our article on leading architectural drawing programs will help.

Practice tips after the AutoCAD tutorial

After you finish the lessons, practice by drawing a simple apartment plan. Add the walls first, then the doors and windows, and the dimensions last. Make a point of keeping each item on its own layer. That way, the organized working habit you learned in the lessons sticks.

Also memorize the shortcuts for the commands you use often. In AutoCAD, you work very fast by typing short letters into the command line. For example, L starts the Line command and C starts the Circle command. You will soon find yourself drawing more with the keyboard than with the mouse.