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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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Getting yourself a Domain Name
After you've built your website, you'll want an address where people can find it. This tutorial describes how to go about getting your own domain name. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
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AutoCAD 2010: Joining Lines, Polylines and Arcs
This video tutorial demonstrates how to join lines, polylines and arcs using the Join command and the Edit Polyline command. Running time: 6min 49sec Format: Video
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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All About Shadows
This tutorial considers the various options for creating shadows when rendering 3D models. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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All About Images
This tutorial tells you all you need to know about working with images in AutoCAD. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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Uploading Files with SmartFTP
This tutorial guides you through the process of uploading your website files to a web server using the SmartFTP client. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 4 minutes ago
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Preparing an AutoCAD drawing for 3D
This tutorial explains the main issues to consider when drawing in AutoCAD and preparing a drawing for use in 3D work. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 4 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.
Forum Latest
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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
Text Frame on Mtext
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #148
Originally published: October 2016
Yes, you can Enclose Text in Objects from Express Tools — See Michael's Corner, June 2004 — but when using the Text Frame property on Mtext, the frame adjusts when you size the Mtext or change the text content!
Just select your Mtext, open Properties [Ctrl 1], then set Text Frame to <Yes>.
To test it, change the size of your Mtext or edit the content and the frame automatically adjusts!
See all the articles published in October 2016
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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14th – 20th July 2025
This week's image is by papagyi
Software used: 3ds Max Design 2009
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by good_m
Software used: SketchUp
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Two Weeks Ago
This image is by Lazarus
Software used: AutoCAD 2009
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Three Weeks Ago
This image is by neekcotrack
Software used: AutoCAD 2005
Gallery of Work
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
Oops is your friend
Most AutoCAD users know about the undo command, which allows you to step back through the command sequence. This is useful if you make a mistake and need to retrace your steps. But what if you deleted something a while back and in the meantime you did some useful stuff that you don't want to lose in order to recover your deleted stuff. Oops to the rescue!
The oops command recovers the last deleted selection set, without undoing everything in-between. It can also be used to recover objects removed after using block or wblock.
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.