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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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AutoCAD 2010: 3D Mirror
This tutorial introduces the 3D Mirror tool. This is similar to the normal 2D Mirror tool but it enables you to define a mirror about and plane in 3D space and there are a number of command line options to help you define that plane. Running time: 3min 17sec Format: Video
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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
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Drawing Objects
Getting to grips with AutoCAD's basic drawing tools. This is an ideal start for the AutoCAD beginner. Format: Text/Image
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Editing and Saving Materials
Once materials have been created and edited in the Material Editor to suit a particular scene they no longer need to be kept in the Materials Editor. Materials can be saved in material libraries and retreived for use in any other scene. This tutorial shows you how. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
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Entering Survey Data using AutoCAD
These techniques apply to basic CAD programs such as AutoCAD, IntelliCAD, etc. If you have a civil/survey program or add-on, such as Land Desktop, SurvCADD, Eagle Point, etc., then there are built-in tools for entering lines and curves. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 4 minutes ago
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Site Layout Exercise 2
This exercise is designed to progress your skills in 2D drafting and to test your understanding of layouts and printing to scale from paper space. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 5 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.
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Excel link - Sanity check please
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Finding (and detaching) Raster Image and PDF references in AutoLISP
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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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20th – 26th October 2025
This week's image is by David Bethel
Software used: AutoCAD 2012 and Accurender
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by Andrew1979
Software used: 3ds Max 2012
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Two Weeks Ago
This image is by Titi95
Software used: AutoCAD 2015 and Keyshot
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Three Weeks Ago
This image is by B_Rich
Software used: Inventor
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
Easily set properties for multiple blocks in Tool Palettes

Lots of people think that when you have blocks saved in a Tool Palette, you have to
each individual block to apply custom settings. What if you have 20 blocks and you want them all to have the same setting? Well, just hold the Ctrl key and highlight the blocks you want within the Tool Palette, then right click on any of the selected blocks to apply global settings.Also, you can hold the Ctrl key to select your first block, then hold the Shift key to select the last block, then right click on any of the selected blocks to apply a global settings. Makes things much easier than one at a time.
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.