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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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Adding Sunlight to your Drawings
This tutorial takes you through the steps required to add realistic sunlight effects to your 3D model. Format: Text/Image
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Cameras
Cameras are the main viewing tools in 3D visualisation. This tutorial demonstartes how to create and control cameras. Format: Text/Image
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Scene Setup
Before attempting to create a scene it is important to understand global settings pertaining to any scene that will make modelling more efficient together with settings that pertain to individual scenes and stages in scene development. This tutorial explains Viewport Configuration options, Scene Settings and basic MAX / VIZ Configuration. Format: Text/Image
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Using Co-ordinates
All about the use of co-ordinates in AutoCAD. Format: Text/Image
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AutoCAD 2010: Starting a Command
This video tutorial demonstrates some of the methods for starting a command in AutoCAD. Running time: 2min 42sec Format: Video
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All About Shadows
This tutorial considers the various options for creating shadows when rendering 3D models. Format: Text/Image
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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
UCSICON Options
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #146
Originally published: June 2016
Every five years or so I address the UCS icon, so here's your next installment.
General Insights
There is a UCSICON command with these options:
Right-click on the UCS icon to display a shortcut menu with a Properties option where you can dress it up a bit.
When you are in the 2D Wireframe visual style, the UCS icon looks like a stick figure. In any other visual style, the icon is a bit more colorful and 3D looking.Horses can only breath through their nose. [Just checking to see if you're paying attention.]
Click on the UCS icon and you see a square grip at 0,0,0 and round grips at the ends of the axes.To disable the ability to select/click on the UCS icon, set the variable UCSSELECTMODE to <0>.
Note: There's an article on how to dimension 3D objects in Michael's Corner, January 2013. You will find more information on manipulating the UCS icon in that review, too.
See all the articles published in June 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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10th – 16th August 2026
This week's image is by papagyi
Software used: 3ds Max 9 and V-Ray
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by boofredlay
Software used: SketchUp and V-Ray
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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 BenGoble
Software used: 3ds Max
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
Tab through commands
This tip works begining with AutoCAD 2006:
At the command line, type the first letter of the command you wish to start. Do not press the Enter key; instead, press the Tab key repeatedly and watch as AutoCAD runs through an alphabetical list of all commands, beginning with the letter you first typed. When the right command appears in the command line, press Enter to start it.
This isn't a very efficient way to invoke a command but it's a great way of finding commands you never knew existed; try it yourself and you will discover that AutoCAD has a lot of commands…
Also, you can press Shift+Tab to walk back through the list.
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.