AutoCAD Drawing

CAD software superior to hand-drawing

The user may incorporate accurate measurements in their designs using CAD software. When creating in CAD, it is also much easier to make changes to a drawing and the file sharing procedure is streamlined.

Computer-aided design (CAD) drawing

A CAD design is a comprehensive 2D or 3D depiction of an engineering or architectural project's components. Computer-aided design (CAD) makes use of software to develop drawings that may be utilized throughout the design process, from idea through fabrication and assembly.

Who utilizes computer-aided design (CAD) software?

From idea through handover, Autodesk 2D and 3D CAD design software is utilized across industries to optimize operations.

1. ARCHITECTS:
   Architects use CAD drawing tools to design, develop, and model structures, moving their concepts from concept to a finished construction document. Manual hand drafting is replaced with CAD designs.
2. PROFESSIONALS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRYZ:
   Construction experts utilize CAD drawings to comprehend a project's designs and specifications. Floor plans and elevations are included in these designs, which are created to scale.
3. ENGINEERS IN THE CIVIL SECTOR:
   For civil engineering design and construction documentation, civil engineers utilize CAD drawings. The engineering design process is made easier and more precise with CAD drawing tools.
4. MECHANICAL ENGINEERS (MECHANICAL ENGINEERS):
   Before going into production, mechanical engineers utilize CAD drawings to represent and express their ideas. These models are then utilized to develop and manufacture products.

Take a look at how consumers use CAD design software.

• With AutoCAD, a construction and interior design business shines and expands.
  Danielle Golden Irby started Studio GLDN after several years of working for other organizations. Her enthusiasm for both construction and interior design results in vibrant, customized solutions for her clientele. And she relies on AutoCAD to get the job done.
• A collection of electrical tools aids in the creation of an ice cream sandwich maker.
  Martin Control Systems uses AutoCAD and the Electrical toolset to tackle industrial production and process difficulties, like an ice cream sandwich filler machine.
• Fusion 360 helps Black Diamond Equipment reach new heights in design.
  Black Diamond Equipment's senior designer and design team head, Paul Terry, discusses how Fusion 360 helps the firm build items that will enhance its clients' outdoor excursions.

Benefits of computer-aided design (CAD) software:

CAD drawing software, such as AutoCAD, has several advantages, including:

• Improved precision when sketching exact measurements
• Automating routine tasks
• Libraries of commonly used things such as doors, windows, and industrial parts are available.
• Ability to make rapid changes to a drawing without having to start again.
• Keeping track of intricate design elements in a single file
• Creating blocks for things that are regularly depicted
• Collaboration with colleagues has improved thanks to the option to share and mark the same file.

Best way to print CAD drawings

By selecting PLOT from the Quick Access toolbar, you may quickly export a drawing layout to a printer, plotter, or file. The phrases "plot" and "print" are interchangeable in this context. Simply select your page layout and modify the size and scale accordingly. You may print your CAD drawing as long as you're linked to a network printer.

Best way to render a CAD drawing

With a variety of standard rendering presets, AutoCAD makes rendering a drawing simple. For a photo-realistic effect, rendering entails rasterizing a picture with 3D objects, lighting, and shadows inside the environment. Discover how to render a CAD drawing and the rendering process.

Applications of CAD drawings

Architectural designs, construction plans, goods, mechanical drawings, technical drawings, and more are all examples of CAD drawings. From idea through construction or assembly, AutoCAD replaces manual drafting and simplifies the whole design process.

In AutoCAD, how can I minimize the file size of a CAD drawing?

CAD designs may quickly grow in size, using critical computer resources. To minimize the file size of a CAD drawing in AutoCAD, you may use a simple procedure. You may also minimize the size of a CAD drawing by reducing the 3D parts.

Distinguishes AutoCAD online from AutoCAD mobile.

The AutoCAD online app allows you to edit, produce, share, and view CAD drawings through a web browser on any computer. The AutoCAD mobile app allows you to examine drawings and draughts, edit, markup, and more from your mobile device, whether you're in the field or away from the office. INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTOCAD The top view is selected by default in the View Cube in the top-right corner. If you hover your mouse over it, a little home symbol will appear. Click on it to enter isometric viewpoint. The View Cube has shifted, and in the middle of your sketch space, a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with three axes has appeared. By clicking on the desired view's faces, edges, and corners, you may go to it.

Other orienting tools are available in the Navbar, although for CAD applications, mouse shortcuts are frequently preferable. Simply move the mouse around while holding down the wheel button to pan around the draw space. Alternatively, on the Navbar, click the "hand" (pan) symbol.

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE AUTOCAD

1. Basic Orientation

By default, the View Cube in the top-right corner is set to the top view. If you hover your mouse over it, a little home symbol will appear. Click on it to enter isometric viewpoint. The View Cube has shifted, and in the middle of your sketch space, a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with three axes has appeared. By clicking on the desired view's faces, edges, and corners, you may go to it. Other orienting tools are provided in the Navbar, while mouse shortcuts are typically preferred in CAD programmes. To pan around the sketch space, simply move the mouse around while holding down the wheel button.  Alternatively, on the Navbar, click the "hand" (pan) symbol.

Instead of panning, hold down the Shift key and the mouse wheel combined to orbit the draw space around the coordinate system's center. On the Navbar, there's also an Orbit button.

The fundamentals of draw space orientation are covered here. We'll then finish setting up the workstation so that we can start drawing in two dimensions.

• Getting Your Workspace Organized             

To begin, gather all of the 3D modelling tools we'll need to complete this session. When looking at the Quick Access Toolbar, click the downward expand arrow to customize it. Select "Workspace" from the dropdown menu to enable this feature. The Quick Access Toolbar will now have a new button. By default, it is set to "Drafting & Annotation," but we can change it to "3D Modeling" by clicking on it and selecting this option from the dropdown menu. We will be able to use all of the essential 2D and 3D tools for our lesson as a result of this. Finally, click the big red 'A' in the top-left corner to change units. The AutoCAD menu will appear. Select "Drawing Utilities > Units" from the drop-down menu. We'll be using the metric system in this lesson, so adjust the "Insertion Scale" to millimeters.

We should now be ready to begin creating!

2. Sketching in two dimensions

Before we go on to three-dimensional objects, let's have a look at 2D drawing. AutoCAD is most known for its drawing capabilities, such as floor plans and layouts.

• Snapping

Grip snapping is an excellent AutoCAD drawing tool. To enable Grid Snap, just press F9 on your keyboard or select the "Snap to Drawing Grid" button in the lower right-hand corner. From the expand arrow next to the "Snap to Drawing Grid button," choose "Snap Settings..." This box allows you to alter the grid as well as the precision of the grid snap. On the "Object Snap" tab, enable "Object Snap." By pressing F3, we can now snap to corners, lines, points, and midpoints, among other things. To pick object snapping, click the expand arrow as shown. To activate it, click on "Tangent" as shown above. Turn "Snapping" on or off if you're having problems entering coordinates or sketching, and avoid using Grid and Object Snap at the same time. This tool is excellent for rapidly making sketches and filling in gaps in your sketch.

• To Draw Lines

To begin, select top view using the View Cube and disable Grid Snap using the F9 key. Use the Ribbon to access the line command, or type "line" into the search box. Simply type the first few letters of any command into AutoCAD, and the application will autocomplete and display all commands that are available.

• Choosing Object

Enter 0 for the X-coordinate, then press Tab to switch to the Y-coordinate input box and enter 0 there as well. Press Enter to confirm. The coordinates of the coordinate system's centre, also known as the CenterPoint, have now been picked as the starting point of your line (0,0). Drag your mouse up the Y-axis next. The coordinate input has changed from Cartesian to polar coordinates, which is worth noticing. By pressing Tab, enter 25 for the line length and 0 for the angular input. Enter: You've just made a mark! Now try drawing a whole square. Keep in mind that the angle value is always relative to the origin, so you'll need to adjust the angle values accordingly. Once you've returned to the middle, press Esc to exit the line command.                                             

Simply left-click on sketched items to pick them. Hold down Shift and click again to deselect.

By left-clicking (not holding) and sliding the mouse from left to right, you may choose numerous items. All objects completely encompassed inside the blue rectangle will be selected. When you drag from right to left, any objects touched by the green rectangle will be selected. To confirm your choice, click once more.

The lasso is activated by clicking and holding the left mouse button, which allows you to choose a random form. After that, try picking your square in a few different ways to get some practice. Once you've finished, select it once again and remove it by pressing the Delete key or typing "delete."

• Creating Forms

AutoCAD, of course, makes it easy to create basic forms. To make a new form, let's draw a few shapes. We promise we'll get somewhere if you stick with us.

On the ribbon, click the "Rectangle" icon, or type it into the command bar. Now, enter (0,0) for the rectangle's origin, exactly as we did with the line, and press Enter.

The rectangle command will then inquire for the opposing corner coordinates. Press Enter after entering the numbers (10,60). That concludes our discussion. It's worth noting that the Cartesian coordinates are preserved for this command.

• Spline

Let's draw a spline next. You may make continuous curves between connected points using the Spline tool.

Begin by drawing a spline from the centre point (0,0). You start by adding a distance, then an angle. Then, to go to the next point, hit Enter.

(20,30°), (5,300°), (5,55°), (10,30°), and (5,320°) are the polar coordinates to enter. Leave both values empty for the last point and manually intercept the ellipse as illustrated above. To cease tangency, enter 'T' and press Enter. Once more, press Enter.

You might be able to predict what's to come. We're nearly there.

• Trim

Trim is used to get rid of superfluous lines up to a junction.

Begin by entering "trim" and erasing a line segment by clicking on it. Finally, you should look at the image above. If you accidentally removed a line, go to the Quick Access Toolbar and select "Undo."

Take a close look at any lines that are caught between tiny edges. If we were to 3D model it, those would very certainly become an issue. When you're finished, press Enter to confirm the trim.

• Mirror

We'll employ a crucial drawing tool for this final step: the mirror. Making one side of a sketch and then mirroring it comes in helpful when drawing symmetrical drawings.

Type "mirror," then select the entire sketch and hit "enter" to confirm. Choose CenterPoint (0,0) for the first point of the mirror line and a positive Y-axis coordinate for the second point.

To delete the source object, answer "No" to the query. That concludes our discussion. Congratulations! You've completed your first AutoCAD 2D draught!

3. Modeling in three dimensions

One of the most intriguing aspects of this class is 3D modelling. You'll be able to construct your own 3D models if you go 3D.

• Making Simple Shapes

Let's start with some tools for direct modelling. This is when we employ Boolean operations to generate things from predetermined forms like spheres and cubes (union, subtraction, and intersect).

Toggle to the isometric perspective by clicking on the small house icon in the View Cube.

Let's get started by making a nice circular body. Fill in the blanks with "spherical" and place it in the center of the page (0,0). Move your mouse around it once that's done to give it shape. Alternatively, you may provide a radius value, which in this example is 10 mm.

This is how fundamental three-dimensional forms are made. Isn't that simple? Still, the item does not appear to be a solid. Let's make a change.

Visuals should be changed

By entering in "visualstyles," you can adjust the visual effects used when showing 3D objects. A new window will open, allowing you to select your preferred visual style.

Change the visual style to "Shades of Grey" from "2D Wireframe." That's starting to look like it!

Let's attempt some of the Boolean operations we discussed before. Let's start by making a cylinder that overlaps the sphere we just made.

To do so, put "cylinder" into the search box and draw the cylinder's base like a basic circle. Choose CenterPoint (0,0) as the origin and a radius of 10 mm. Next, slide the mouse downwards, like you did with the sphere, to watch it extrude.

The first operation we'll study is union, which involves merging items. Although the sphere and cylinder appear to be one piece, they are actually two independent sections.

To unite them, put "union" into the search box and select both forms. By pressing Enter to confirm the process, you should now have one solid body.

Subtraction is another fundamental process. Let's start by undoing the last union operation using the Quick Access Toolbar's "Undo" button.

Now type "subtract" into the command prompt and press Enter. First, we must choose the item from which we will remove. Select the cylinder and click Enter to confirm. Then, as the object to remove, pick the sphere and confirm.