AutoCAD for Beginners
Technical drawing on a computer, from your very first line to a real floor plan.
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What this course is
AutoCAD is the software behind the drawings that buildings, machines and furniture are made from — and "knows AutoCAD" appears on thousands of job listings for drafters, engineers, architects and interior designers. This course assumes you have never opened it and have never done technical drawing. We start with what CAD even is, learn the handful of commands that do most of the work, and finish Module 1 with you drawing accurately — the thing that separates CAD from doodling.
By the end you will be able to
- Explain what CAD is and why industries run on it
- Navigate AutoCAD's screen and talk to it through the command line
- Draw lines, circles and shapes at EXACT sizes — not approximate ones
- Use snaps and tracking so everything connects with total precision
- Modify drawings confidently: move, copy, trim, offset and undo
What’s inside
4 modules · 20 lessons
Your First Drawing
What CAD is, how to talk to AutoCAD, and drawing your first precise shapes — the foundation everything else stands on.
5 lessons · 36 min
- What is CAD, and why do so many jobs want it?Computer-aided design replaced paper drafting for one reason: precision that paper cannot match. Here is the landscape.6 min
- Meeting the screen (and the command line, your best friend)AutoCAD's interface scares beginners for ten minutes. Then you learn that everything is really one text box.7 min
- Drawing at exact sizes (the whole point of CAD)Click-click gives you "roughly". Typing gives you EXACTLY. This lesson is the moment you start actually drafting.8 min
- Object snaps: clicking exactly where you meanHow to click the EXACT end of a line, the EXACT centre of a circle — the tool that makes drawings truly connect.7 min
- Editing: where CAD earns its keepReal drafting is 30% drawing and 70% editing. Move, copy, offset, trim and the sacred undo.8 min
Layers, Dimensions & Text
Organising drawings like a professional and making them speak: measurements, labels and line-weights.
5 lessons · 36 min
- Layers: the transparency stackWalls on one sheet, furniture on another, notes on a third — and why every office demands it.8 min
- Line types and weightsThick walls, thin furniture, dashed hidden edges — the visual grammar of drawings.7 min
- Dimensions: drawings that state their sizesLinear, aligned and radius dimensions — placed so builders thank you.8 min
- Text, labels and leadersRoom names, notes and arrows that point — at the right size for printing.7 min
- Hatching: filling areas with meaningBrick, concrete, tile patterns — and the transparency trick that keeps them readable.6 min
The Real Thing: a Complete Floor Plan
A start-to-finish one-bedroom apartment plan — the project that goes in your portfolio.
5 lessons · 39 min
- Before you draw: setup and strategyUnits, layers and the drawing order professionals follow (walls first, always).7 min
- Walls, doors and windowsOffset-and-trim wall technique, door swings, and window openings.9 min
- Kitchen, bathroom and furnitureStandard sizes, reusable blocks, and not drawing the same toilet twice.8 min
- Dimensioning the full planThe dimension chains a builder actually needs — no more, no less.8 min
- Title block and final checksThe frame, the drawing info, and the pre-delivery checklist.7 min
Printing, Blocks & Getting Work
From perfect on-screen to perfect on paper — plus the reuse tricks and career doors.
5 lessons · 39 min
- Blocks: draw once, use foreverMaking reusable components and building your personal library.8 min
- Layouts: framing your drawing for paperModel space vs paper space — the concept that confuses everyone once.9 min
- Printing to scaleWhy 1:50 matters, and producing a PDF a builder can measure from.8 min
- Working with other people's drawingsOpening client files, external references, and not breaking what you receive.7 min
- Getting hired: portfolios and pathsDrafter roles, freelance platforms, and what a junior CAD portfolio needs.7 min
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