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CADTutor provides the best free tutorials and articles for AutoCAD, 3ds Max and associated applications along with a friendly community forum. If you need to learn AutoCAD, or you want to be more productive, you're in the right place. See our tip of the day to start learning right now!
Free Tutorials and More…
The Tutorials section provides over 100 original tutorials for AutoCAD, 3ds Max and other design applications. Michael’s Corner is an archive of productivity articles that brings you the best AutoCAD tips and tricks. Our Forum is a lively community where AutoCAD users can ask questions and get answers. The Downloads area provides free AutoCAD blocks, free AutoLISP routines and free images.
Tutorials of the Moment
Recently viewed tutorials
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Uploading Files with WS_FTP
This tutorial guides you through the process of uploading your website files to a web server using the WS_FTP client. Format: Text/Image
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Perspectives, Slides and Scripts
AutoCAD can be used to create a simple "walk through" of any 3D model. This tutorial shows you how. Format: Text/Image
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Creating a Walkthrough
This tutorial shows how to create an animated walkthrough of your AutoCAD 3D model using 3DS MAX 5. All you need to start is an AutoCAD drawing with some 3D content. The end result will be a .AVI file which can be viewed on any Windows PC. Format: Text/Image
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Selection Methods
Keeping track of and selecting objects in a scene is a crucial part of 3D modelling. Develop a good strategy for naming, selecting, grouping and displaying objects before embarking on a project. This tutorial shows you the way. Format: Text/Image
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Entering Survey Data using AutoCAD
These techniques apply to basic CAD programs such as AutoCAD, IntelliCAD, etc. If you have a civil/survey program or add-on, such as Land Desktop, SurvCADD, Eagle Point, etc., then there are built-in tools for entering lines and curves. Format: Text/Image
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Paper Space Exercise
AutoCAD's paper space mode is a bit like having a page in a scrapbook onto which you can paste different views of your AutoCAD drawing. This whole page can then be plotted. This exercise demonstrates how. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
CADTutor Tutorials
Our tutorials are comprehensive but straightforward introductions to AutoCAD and related software. They are designed to help beginners get to grips with design workflows as quickly as possible. There are over 100 to choose from, some text/image based and others in video format. Whatever stage you are at in your learning, you should find a tutorial to help.
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CADTutor Forums
Our forum is a vibrant community of experts and beginners. The main focus is helping beginners get to grips with AutoCAD and to help more advanced users become more productive. The AutoLISP forum is one of the busiest out there, providing expert advice for busy professionals.
AutoCAD Productivity
To or From the Current Layer
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #133
Originally published: April 2014
There are two really handy buttons on the Layers panel—Make Object's Layer Current and Change to Current Layer.
Make Object's Layer Current
Use this command to set the current layer by selecting an object that's on the layer you want to be current.
Ex: You just added the topographic lines to the site plan on the TOPO layer, and now you need to add more notes to the NOTES layer. Click Make Object's Layer Current, click on some text that's on the NOTES layer, and that becomes the current layer.
Change to Current Layer
This is a great editing feature when you need to move objects from one layer to another.
Ex: The NOTES layer is current as you add text to the drawing and discover text objects that are a different color. So you hover over the object to display the rollover tip where you see it's on the wrong layer. Click Change to Current Layer, then select the errant objects and press [Enter] to change them over to the NOTES layer that happens to be current.
See all the articles published in April 2014
Michael's Corner
Between 2003 and 2016, Michael Beall (and one or two guests) wrote almost 600 articles for CADTutor. The focus of these articles is AutoCAD productivity, and although some of them are now more than a few years old, most remain relevant to current versions of AutoCAD. The article above is just one example. Check out Michael's Corner for a full listing.
Image of the Week
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17th – 23rd February 2025
This week's image is by papagyi
Software used: AutoCAD 2008
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by Red333
Software used: AutoCAD Architecture 2009
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Two Weeks Ago
This image is by mehiar
Software used: 3DS Max and mr Proxy
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Three Weeks Ago
This image is by busseynova
Software used: AutoCAD 2010
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Over the years, our forum members have contributed hundreds of images, showcasing their amazing work. The images above are just a small selection that demonstrate the wide range of project types our community is involved with. Take a look at our gallery to see all the images published in the last 12 months.
Tip of the Day
AutoCAD Alias Editor
If you're new to AutoCAD or even if you're not and you find it difficult to remember all the keyboard shortcuts to your favourite commands like L for Line and C for Circle or even 3DO for 3DOrbit, then you need to know about the AutoCAD Alias Editor.
Enter ALIASEDIT at the command line and AutoCAD will launch a tiny application window that lists all the shortcuts in alphabetical order. As this is a seperate application, you can keep it minimised on your taskbar until you need it for reference.
Essentially, this editor simply lists the contents of the acad.pgp file where all the command aliases are stored. Those of you who are a bit more adventurous, may even like to use the Alias Editor to create your own aliases or edit existing ones.
Missed a Tip?
Did you miss yesterday's tip? Maybe you forgot to drop by or maybe you don't visit over the weekend. If so, you can now see all the tips published during the past week. Also, if you have a tip you'd like to share with us, you can post it on our forum and if we like it, we'll publish it here.