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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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Basic 3D and Surface Modelling
Although AutoCAD has a number of commands for creating special 3D objects, a lot can be achieved by changing the properties of basic 2D objects like polylines. This tutorial provides a basic introduction to creating and viewing 3D objects. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: less than one minute ago
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Creating an Image Rollover
This tutorial demonstrates the best way to create image rollovers in Microsoft FrontPage. It also shows some variations on the basic technique along with some examples of how it could be used. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
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ISO Paper Sizes
There has alwas been some confusion over the size of standard ISO drawing sheets with AutoCAD.The stated sizes in the plot dialogue box are not the true ISO sizes. This tutorial explains why and how to plot to scale from Model Space. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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Object Snap
A tutorial giving an overview of all the AutoCAD object snaps (osnaps) with some worked examples. The tutorial also covers the use of temporary tracking points and object snap tracking. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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Animation
Design visualisation animation generally involves animation of cameras in walkthrough, panaround or flyover movies to give the client a much richer and more informative view of the design. This tutorial covers the basics. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 8 minutes ago
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AutoCAD to Photoshop
This tutorial demonstrates a number of workflows from quick and simple to high quality. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 10 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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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
To or From the Current Layer
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #133
Originally published: April 2014
There are two really handy buttons on the Layers panel—Make Object's Layer Current and Change to Current Layer.
Make Object's Layer Current
Use this command to set the current layer by selecting an object that's on the layer you want to be current.
Ex: You just added the topographic lines to the site plan on the TOPO layer, and now you need to add more notes to the NOTES layer. Click Make Object's Layer Current, click on some text that's on the NOTES layer, and that becomes the current layer.
Change to Current Layer
This is a great editing feature when you need to move objects from one layer to another.
Ex: The NOTES layer is current as you add text to the drawing and discover text objects that are a different color. So you hover over the object to display the rollover tip where you see it's on the wrong layer. Click Change to Current Layer, then select the errant objects and press [Enter] to change them over to the NOTES layer that happens to be current.
See all the articles published in April 2014
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 February 2025
This week's image is by Red333
Software used: AutoCAD Architecture 2009
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by mehiar
Software used: 3DS Max and mr Proxy
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Two Weeks Ago
This image is by busseynova
Software used: AutoCAD 2010
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Three Weeks Ago
This image is by arjun_samar
Software used: 3ds Max and V-Ray
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
Convert to solid
You may still have some old 3D drawings where objects have been constructed from rectangles, circles or closed polylines which have been given a thickness. Well, you'll be glad to know that you can now convert these objects to solids with one simple command. You'll find the Convert to Solid command at or simply type convtosolid at the keyboard.
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.