9 Tips you Should Know before using AutoCAD

1. Object Snap

To get the menu above, you should right click on 1.

Now you are able to configure its settings. I will recommend to start by activating features 2,
3, 4 which are respectively Midpoint, Quadrant, and Tangent.
A. Midpoint

When you activate this feature, AutoCAD help you start a new object by sticking the first
point on the exact midpoint of a line. Lets use the example of having a square.

In order to draw a line starting from the midpoint of the upper line of the square, I need to
activate Midpoint. Without it, it will surely be impossible to know if my ends are set on the
middle on a line.
B. Quadrant

Quadrant allows you to start you next object from the 0, 90, 180, 270 degree edge of a circle.

Line C has its beginning and its end and the 90 degree edge of a circle, and that was possible
because of the Quadrant feature. Try drawing the figure above (line C, D, E and both
circles) before and after activating Quadrant to grasp the full meaning of this.

C. Tangent

To draw point 1, 2, 3 and 4, You will have to activate Tangent. It simply allows you to stick
the end of your line at a point tangent to a circle.

2. Mouse shortcuts
A. Pan

Click on the scroll wheel and hold, then move your mouse to see what it does; it allows you
to move the views planar to the screen.
B. Zoom

Scroll up and down to see what it does; This allows you to zoom in and out.

3. Ortho Mode

When this is activated, it pushes AutoCAD to draw only vertical or horizontal lines. With
this, you are sure to be moving on a line, according to the direction you want to go. it is not
only important while drawing lines, it is also important for other manipulations like, copying
an object, moving an object from one position to the other, among others.

4. Setting the right Units

Simply write UNITS using your keyboard and press ENTER. This windows pops up and
allows you to specify and configure the drawing units.

5. Keyboard shortcut
ESC and ENTER or SPACEBAR keys
These keys helps you to end a command in most cases. Lets say, you have just drawn a line
but the command is still activated allowing you to draw a new line starting from the end of
the previous one. Press the ESC, ENTER or SPACEBAR key to quit the command if you do
not want to draw the new line.
Use SPACEBAR instead of ENTER key.
DELETE key
The DELETE key helps you delete an object; To use it you need to select the object to be
deleted before pressing the DELETE key.

6. Dynamic input

When this is activated it helps you have information about the position of the cursor in the
drawing interface. This also gives you more information, such as angle and length of object.

7. Polar Tracking

You can ask AutoCAD to help you draw with a specific angle. Therefore, this does not
require the command windows. Right click on Polar Tracking (shown on the image above)
and specify angles you would like to work with.

8. Communication with AutoCAD

The Command window helps you communicate with AutoCAD. Each time you use a
command, either after a click on its icon or by typing it in, this area help you know the next
step to take and offers you options along the way. If you are an absolute beginner, you need
to learn how to use this window. Follow the AutoCAD command window tutorial.

Using the command window in AutoCAD

The command window in AutoCAD, for the less I can say, is where all what you are doing is
being recorded. It is also the means AutoCAD uses to communicate with you. It is important
to know how to use it.
All icons are shortcut of commands.
lets take as an example the process of drawing a line in AutoCAD. What do you do when
you want to draw a line in AutoCAD? You click on Line to activate the Line command.
You could as well just write LINE in the command window to activate the same command.
Sometime to go faster, for some very often used command, you need to remember them,
specially for cases where you need to change the interface to find the icon corresponding to
this command.

The most important is, while using the command window in AutoCAD, you can change the
behaviour of the command you are working with.
I recommend you read this post solving a simple 2D exercise in AutoCAD using the
command window.
Let's start with a simple case in which we will draw a circle of Radius 10. If I type CIRCLE
and hit ENTER.
1. Command: CIRCLE
2. Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:
3. Specify radius of circle or [Diameter]: 10
On step 2, AutoCAD is asking to specify the center of the circle I am trying to draw, and the
part into bracket allows me to change the normal behavior of this command.

Let say I want to draw a Circle, but I want to specify the Diameter in step 3, not the radius,
this is how it will look like
1.
2.
3.
4.

Command: CIRCLE
Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter] <10.0000>: d
Specify diameter of circle <20.0000>: 10

in step 3, I wrote d to tell AutoCAD I would like to enter the diameter, not the Radius and
it provided me with a means to do so. Why did I enter d? because in the word [Diameter] into
bracket, the letter d is in CAPITAL. It is also possible to enter the whole word [Diameter]
to activate this feature.
Lets try working in changing the behavior in step 2, Lets look at it first. in Step 2, we have
[3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)] which represent drawing a circle using 3 points/2 points/ 2
tangents and a radius playing the same role with icons shown on the image below.

Using the feature 3P in [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)] we will have

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Command: CIRCLE
Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]: 3p
Specify first point on circle:
Specify second point on circle:
Specify third point on circle:

In step 3, 4 and 5, I used the mouse to give those information by clicking on the exact point in
the drawing area. It is possible to enter points coordinates instead.
Some command lines help you access other features easily, like the DIMSTYLE command,
LAYER command, VIEWPORTS command and many more.

9. Drawing Objects
To draw objects

Most of the time use both the hands on key board.

Type the short commands like L for Line, A for Arc, C for Circle and so on ( Short
commands list is attached)
whenever it is required then only use the mouse.