AutoCAD for Beginners

(AutoCAD.AE1)/ISBN:978-1-64459-515-2

This course includes
Lessons

Here's what you will get

The AutoCAD for Beginners course is your gateway to the exciting world of Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Whether you're entering fields like architecture, engineering, or design, or if you're simply curious about creating digital drawings, this course is tailored to offer a comprehensive and beginner-friendly introduction to AutoCAD. The AutoCAD for Beginners course will help you acquire skills highly sought after in industries such as architecture, engineering, and interior design.

Lessons

28+ Lessons | 100+ Quizzes |

Here's what you will learn

Download Course Outline

Lessons 1: Introduction

  • About This Course
  • False Assumptions
  • Conventions Used in This Course
  • Icons Used in This Course
  • Where to Go from Here

Lessons 2: Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT

  • Launching AutoCAD
  • Drawing in AutoCAD
  • Understanding Pixels and Vectors
  • The Cartesian Coordinate System

Lessons 3: The Grand Tour of AutoCAD

  • Looking at AutoCAD’s Drawing Screen
  • Getting with the Program
  • Fun with F1

Lessons 4: A Lap around the CAD Track

  • A Simple Setup
  • Drawing a (Base) Plate
  • Taking a Closer Look with Zoom and Pan
  • Modifying to Make It Merrier
  • Following the Plot

Lessons 5: Setup for Success

  • A Setup Roadmap
  • A Template for Success
  • Making the Most of Model Space
  • Making Templates Your Own

Lessons 6: A Zoom with a View

  • Panning and Zooming with Glass and Hand
  • Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
  • A View by Any Other Name
  • Degenerating and Regenerating

Lessons 7: Along the Straight and Narrow

  • Drawing for Success
  • Introducing the Straight-Line Drawing Commands
  • Drawing Lines and Polylines
  • Squaring Off with Rectangles
  • Choosing Sides with POLygon

Lessons 8: Dangerous Curves Ahead

  • Throwing Curves
  • Going Full Circle
  • Arc-y-ology
  • Solar Ellipses
  • Splines: Sketchy, Sinuous Curves
  • Donuts: Circles with a Difference
  • Revision Clouds on the Horizon
  • Scoring Points

Lessons 9: Preciseliness Is Next to CADliness

  • Controlling Precision
  • Understanding the AutoCAD Coordinate Systems
  • Grabbing an Object and Making It Snappy
  • Other Practical Precision Procedures

Lessons 10: Manage Your Properties

  • Using Properties with Objects
  • Working with Layers
  • Using Named Objects
  • Using AutoCAD DesignCenter

Lessons 11: Grabbing Onto Object Selection

  • Commanding and Selecting
  • Selecting Objects
  • Perfecting Selecting
  • AutoCAD Groupies
  • Object Selection: Now You See It …

Lessons 12: Edit for Credit

  • Assembling Your AutoCAD Toolkit
  • The Big Three: Move, COpy, and Stretch
  • More Manipulations
  • Slicing, Dicing, and Splicing
  • Getting a Grip
  • When Editing Goes Bad
  • Dare to Compare

Lessons 13: Planning for Paper

  • Setting Up a Layout in Paper Space
  • Any Old Viewport in a Layout
  • Practice Makes Perfect
  • Clever Paper Space Tricks

Lessons 14: Text with Character

  • Getting Ready to Write
  • Creating Simply Stylish Text
  • Taking Your Text to New Heights
  • Entering Text
  • Using the Same Old Line
  • Saying More in Multiline Text
  • Turning On Annotative Objects
  • Gather Round the Tables
  • Take Me to Your Leader

Lessons 15: Entering New Dimensions

  • Adding Dimensions to a Drawing
  • Dimensioning the Legacy Way
  • A Field Guide to Dimensions
  • The Latest Styles in Dimensioning
  • Scaling Dimensions for Output
  • Editing Dimensions
  • And the Correct Layer Is …

Lessons 16: Down the Hatch!

  • Creating Hatches
  • Hatching Its Own Layer
  • Using the Hatches Tab
  • Scaling Hatches
  • Pushing the Boundaries of Hatch
  • Editing Hatch Objects

Lessons 17: The Plot Thickens

  • You Say “Printing,” I Say “Plotting”
  • The Plot Quickens
  • Plotting the Layout of the Land
  • Plotting Lineweights and Colors
  • It’s a (Page) Setup!
  • Continuing the Plot Dialog
  • The Plot Sickens

Lessons 18: The ABCs of Blocks

  • Rocking with Blocks
  • Creating Block Definitions
  • Inserting Blocks
  • Attributes: Fill-in-the-Blank Blocks
  • Exploding Blocks
  • Purging Unused Block Definitions

Lessons 19: Everything from Arrays to Xrefs

  • Arraying Associatively
  • Going External
  • Blocks, Xrefs, and Drawing Organization
  • Mastering the Raster
  • You Say PDF; I Say DWF
  • Theme and Variations: Dynamic Blocks

Lessons 20: Call the Parametrics!

  • Maintaining Design Intent
  • Understanding Geometric Constraints
  • Understanding Dimensional Constraints
  • Lunchtime!

Lessons 21: Drawing on the Internet

  • The Internet and AutoCAD: An Overview
  • The Drawing Protection Racket
  • Outgoing!
  • AutoCAD Web and Mobile

Lessons 22: It’s a 3D World After All

  • The 3.5 Kinds of 3D Digital Models
  • Tools of the 3D Trade
  • Modeling from Above
  • Changing Work Planes
  • Visualizing 3D Objects
  • On a Render Bender

Lessons 23: From Drawings to Models

  • Is 3D for Me?
  • Getting Your 3D Bearings
  • From Drawing to Modeling in 3D
  • Adding the Third Dimension to 2D Objects
  • Modifying 3D Objects

Lessons 24: It’s Showtime!

  • Get the 2D Out of Here!
  • Visualizing the Digital World
  • Adding Lights
  • Creating and Applying Materials
  • Defining a Background
  • Rendering a 3D Model

Lessons 25: AutoCAD Plays Well with Others

  • Get Out of Here!
  • Open Up and Let Me In!
  • Translation, Please!
  • The Importance of Being DWG

Lessons 26: Ten AutoCAD Resources

  • Autodesk Discussion Groups
  • Autodesk’s Own Blogs
  • Autodesk University
  • Autodesk Channel on YouTube
  • World Wide (CAD) Web
  • Your Local Authorized Training Center
  • Your Local User Group
  • Autodesk User Groups International
  • Books
  • Autodesk Feedback Community

Lessons 27: Ten System Variables to Make Your AutoCAD Life Easier

  • APERTURE
  • DIMASSOC
  • MENUBAR
  • MIRRTEXT
  • OSNAPZ
  • PICKBOX
  • REMEMBERFOLDERS
  • ROLLOVERTIPS and TOOLTIPS
  • TASKBAR
  • VISRETAIN
  • And the Bonus Round

Lessons 28: Ten AutoCAD Secrets

  • Sheet Sets
  • Custom Tool Palettes
  • Ribbon Customization
  • Toolsets
  • Programming Languages
  • Vertical Versions
  • Language Packs
  • Multiple Projects or Clients
  • Data Extraction and Linking
  • Untying the Ribbon and Drawings