AutoCAD Tutorials: Learning Basics for Beginners

A Very First Introduction to AutoCAD

Learn AutoCAD Basics- Photo by AutoCAD 2020© Logo.

1- AutoCAD Meaning and History at a Glance

AutoCAD stands for Computer-Aided Drafting. It was developed and marketed by Autodesk© in the year 1982, as an application running under the DOS operating system and with the help of microcomputers at that time.

Back in the year 1979, drawing by hand with traditional drafting tools was in high demand for the mechanical and hardware industries. So, people there find AutoCAD© remarkably useful and adopt it for their work and projects that need a long time to be accomplished because of the huge amount of details included in each drawing. (See the figure below for an example of mechanical detailed sheets.)

Example of complicated Mechanical Detailed Drawings; In fact, it is absolutely very difficult to draw them by hand with classic tools.

Later, in the year 1979, the first edition was released under the name of Interact CAD, which then became AutoCAD, the official commercial name of the application.

2- Does AutoCAD work by itself? | The AutoCAD common misconception

The answer to this question is a big NO! Let's see what the official manual published by Autodesk itself said about this specific matter.

AutoCAD works for you; it doesn't put anything into your drawing on its own.

- From the official "AutoCAD Release 12 Reference Manual," Chapter 1: Introduction to AutoCAD.

But before starting, I'd like to bring your attention to a misconception that some people, especially those who don't know much about how the technology works, believe that AutoCAD can do the designing job for you!... At least such was the idea of our instructors at the Architecture Institute! Believe it or not.

Not surprising anyway; Every new invention has its worries and prohibitions. It took us the whole semester to convince them and to remove this fake idea from their minds, to allow us to use AutoCAD in our last project for graduation.

So, the concept mentioned above is what you need to understand here, and keep it clear in your mind whenever you're starting a new course with AutoCAD. This idea is definitely true, in that the software only follows the instructions given by you and acts accordingly.

3- Where is AutoCAD utilized? | Learning AutoCAD Basics

Many fields of work and professions use Autodesk AutoCAD © today! For example, but not limited to:

• Architectural drawings of all kinds.
• Drawings for Electronic, Electric, Civil, Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical, and other Engineering trades.
• Topographic maps.
• Graphical Art such as logo-making or else...

But the fields of application are not restricted to static images or drawings; In fact, when used in combination with other Autodesk© products, the 3ds Max Design©, and other animation engines, AutoCAD forms the basis for making presentations and interactive displays, as well as advertising media and brochures.

4- Saving Time with AutoCAD | How to use AutoCAD properly?

• It lets you make updates and corrections easily without redrafting the whole drawing. In the past, when a correction was provided to a drawing, we were obliged to redraw the entire document and spent precious time finding a way to erase the parts to be modified.
• Clarity and cleanliness of drawings and better presentations without traces and ink marks from the past.
• More precise and detailed drawings to reduce cumulative errors perfectly for execution and shop drawings production.
• More productive for the contractors' offices is a critical matter ahead regarding their work strategy: The more shop drawings are produced, the more money you can get from the consultant.

5- Commands in AutoCAD | How does AutoCAD work? | AutoCAD Basics

• AutoCAD provides various sets of Entities for constructing multiple drawings.

Let's first define the word "Entity" in AutoCAD terminology. An Entity is a Drawing Element in AutoCAD that constitutes only one geometric element, such as a Line, Circle, Text, Rectangle, etc...

AutoCAD User Interface (UI) showing its main parts

For example, to instruct AutoCAD on which Entity or Object to draw, you type the command into the Command Line Prompt: For a circle, for example, enter the word ci (short for circle), then you specify its parameters (like its diameter, location of its center point, etc.), then the entity will appear on the working area.

Almost all the AutoCAD commands have this same sequence of entering commands:
1- Enter the command_name.
2- You will be shown a list of options to choose from, depending on each command.
3- Press the Enter button again to exit or re-enter another command.

I will be extracting a useful paragraph from where I discussed how to enter commands within the program in a prior post, as follows:

1. Utilizing the Pull-Down Menus If you take the most advantage of the AutoCAD screen, or what we called the model space,  you will notice menus like Draw, Edit, Modify, and so forth, located on the top side.
Interact with these menus to dispatch AutoCAD commands.
As you become progressively acquainted with AutoCAD, you may choose to utilize the toolbars and the "Command Line" prompt along with aliases to give orders.
However, new users and beginners learn and work more quickly with the option of having all their familiar commands stuck inside the drop-down menus.

🛈 Read more: In the meantime, you can read the complete article about the 10 Tips and Tricks for New AutoCAD Users working in Companies previously posted on this blog.

Sometimes entities are formed from multiple other geometric elements that will form a one-unit entity by itself; this is what we call the "Blocks", to be discussed in a later post from this AutoCAD Tutorial.

6- The Essential Tools of AutoCAD | What Makes Working with AutoCAD Easier

Follow these tips for better AutoCAD manipulation:

• 6. a- Using the right tool at the right place → Organizing your Work
• 6. b- Getting the Most of AutoCAD → Using the proper Tools

The most powerful tools in AutoCAD are three, to be discussed individually in the upcoming learning courses (randomly ordered)

1. AutoCAD Layers
2. AutoCAD Blocks
3. AutoCAD Dimensions

Anyway, the power of these tools can only be specified by professionals, making their tasks easier to achieve overall...

Besides, AutoCAD is full of other useful drawing aids that are time-savers, like Snap Mode, Grids, and many more to discover later on. If you want more details on those features, please subscribe to my blog. You can always learn more about AutoCAD Basics and AutoCAD for students in the next articles.

👉 Explore and subscribe to this page for more helpful courses.

E-Tutorial Recommendation

I hereby recommend reading and practicing this concise and minimal e-course for learning AutoCAD; It is my own publication. Get it at an affordable price today for all and benefit from the valuable information and content you can get for both 2D and 3D sections. In addition, benefit from the special FREE section for Rendering in AutoCAD!

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Other Valuable Book Recommendations

If you want to go further and in-depth with learning AutoCAD the right way, there is no better way than referring to the proper tutorial, so you will be set up and running with your program in less time and quickly. You will be surprised by the huge number of AutoCAD courses out there, but I will refer you to two Titles that are worth checking out:

• Mastering AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD LT 2013 by Georges Omura and Brian C. Benton
• AutoCAD 2020, 2D-3D by Ahmad Khamis in Arabic.

Check it out and order your copy today!

Check your knowledge with this quick Quiz!

Welcome! Here you can test your knowledge about your favorite CAD software: AutoCAD by Autodesk. In this dedicated section, which includes 5 beginner-level questions, you can test your capabilities to see how far you can go in your learning. So, let's get started with the first one:

A) The extension for AutoCAD drawing files is:

1. DWG
2. DWT
3. DWF
4. DXF

B) What is the keyboard shortcut for saving AutoCAD drawings in a PC (Windows) interface?

1. CTRL+S
2. SHIFT+S
3. ALT+S
4. CTRL+ALT+S

C) The extension for the AutoCAD template is: DWG

1. DWT
2. DWF
3. DXF

D) The command for opening the "drawing units" window is: U

1. UN
2. UNI
3. UNIT

E) Whenever you save a drawing in AutoCAD, a new backup is created that contains the latest changes you make. What is the extension of that file?

1. DWG
2. SVG
3. BAK
4. BCK

Hope you enjoyed the Quiz, and see you on the next one! Good luck!

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