Welcome to the CAD LAB. A place to learn AutoCAD, AutoCAD MEP, and general design concepts through both written and video lessons. The CAD LAB is a place where the design community can come together through the All Things CAD blog pages, and the Ask the Cad LAB Question and answer page

Fundamental AutoCAD Skill Set

AutoCAD and CAD drafting is a broad topic With many applications, but at the core of all of this is a very specific skill set. I will break this down into three categories so we can better understand what we need to learn to develop solid fundamentals. All of these are covered in the tutorials on the CAD LAB web site. They are as follows:

Drawing tools and skills:

Know the Graphical User Interface

Know how to start, setup, and save a new AutoCAD drawing

Starting a new drawing

Learn to start a new AutoCAD drawing

Fundamental AutoCAD Tools video lesson series

Fundamental AutoCAD Tools is a Free Video Tutorial series that will walk you step by step through building your CAD drafting tool set.

Draw Menu Tools

· Line, Polyline

· Circle, ellipse, Arc, Rectangle

· Hatching Tools

· Divide and Measure

Modify Menu Tools

· Erase

· Move, Copy, Rotate

· Trim, Extend

· Fillet, Chamfer

· Stretch, Mirror, Scale

· Offset

· Rectangular and Polar array

· Break

Drafting Utilities And Concepts

· Dimensioning tools, and good dimensioning practices

· Working with Single Line and Multi Line text

· Working with Leaders

· Layer Properties and how to work with Layers

· Reference Manager and how to work with External References

· Properties Manager

· Understanding the Model Space Environment

· Understanding Layout space, and how to print your work

· Working with blocks

· Windows Cut, Copy, Paste, and related functions