What software should a beginner buy to get started?

[ReMark]

Doing the same type of work day-in and day-out lends itself to some systems drafting techniques like creating a sheet of standard details that would apply to most every job you do. That alone will save you tons of time and is something you can develop and work on in-between jobs too.

 

Will you be printing/plotting your own drawings or will you take them to a reprographics company?

[Runnerguy]

Will you be printing/plotting your own drawings or will you take them to a reprographics company?

 

She said she needed a 24X36 printer but if the OP is reading this I would recommend going to a repro company for the big stuff and having a printer that can handle 11X17's in your shop. I'm a one person shop like yourself and do the exact same type of work and this setup works fine and is very cost effective.

 

Also you'll find, like I did, that cad drawings can be plotted at a smaller scale vs. hand and still be entirely readable so the 11X17 format may be used more then you realize. Hand drawing and hand lettering often doesn't scale down that well and remain ledgible while CAD fonts etc. do. And note I said "plotted at a smaller scale". You'll be doing all your drawing at full scale.

 

Doug

[ReMark]

Bad eyesight is my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

 

The OP could always look at used equipment. Some repro firms take plotters/printers in on trade, refurbish them then turn around and sell them at a greatly reduced price. There is also the possibility a firm goes out of business and in the process sells off equipment. Just another couple of ideas for consideration.

[f700es]

I'll am late to this but I will repeat the words of others. If you are lacking training take a community college level AutoCAD class. It will be loads better than a 3 day class offered by some places. Look at AutoCAD LT if you want the real deal. Sure there is DoubleCAD XT and Draftsight (both free and good) which are real close to LT in abilities but these are more geared to seasoned AutoCAD users IMHO. If you decided to buy LT you can get a better deal with Amazon.com. They have AutoCAD 2011 for $780. If you are looking to combine 2D and 3D then also look at SketchUp. The pro version with its dwg import/export feature is an ideal choice to work with LT. It is $500 and while not cheap it is a nice tool. Some graphic software will be needed if you go the 3D route. There will be times to tweak textures and such. There is Adobe PhotoShop and then there are others. PS is nice but expensive. A nice free option is Paint.net (www.getpaint.net) and there are some nice options in The Gimp (www.gimp.org). Both of these have great followings and loads of custom scripts that at times rival PhotoShop.

 

If you are needing equipment get the biggest monitor you can afford. 22" LCDs are cheap and would be my bottom choice in monitor size. Get a good dual core PC, even though LT and SU don't use multi cores it will help with multi-tasking. Get a PC with a dedicated nVidia video card. DO NOT use one with a built-in card with shared memory! If in doubt ask us. Ram is cheap so go for at least 4 gigs. Also to use 4 gigs of ram you will need a 64-bit OS.

 

Lots of info there but dig in and ask us here if you need help.

[mountain girl]

Good morning and thank you all again for your supportive and well-informed replies. I won't have the option of using a reprographics firm - there are none here (we don't even have a Walmart!). I have a printing room with an ozalid machine in my barn and was hoping to acquire a printer that can do 24 x 36 on a sheet of reproducible and then run bluelines. Doable or dumb? I want to stick with 1/4" scale because it is easy and familiar to those that work off the prints doing take-offs and the actual construction. Besides, I think in it and love it. And yes, I want to create my own detail library. I have one now, hand drawn, that I put on sticky-backs. So far, my plan is: acquire the Autocad Bible, start studying, download the free program closest in operation to AutoCAD (DoubleCAD XT?) and jump in. ??????

[Jack_O'neill]

Speaking of plotters...

There are a bunch...and I mean a bunch of HP plotters on ebay this week. Saw a 650c just now that the bid is only 49 bucks so far, and supposedly it works. Granted, buying a plotter on ebay you can save some money on the purchase, but shipping could cost as much or more than the plotter itself. If you can find one close enough to you to go pick up, it could save both time and money if you've got something big enough to haul it in (you won't put a 36" or 42" plotter in a Smart car, I don't think).

 

If you've not been around plotters much, be careful of buying any old plotter. Some of the manufacturers went out of business a long time ago, and it's next to impossible to find drivers and repair parts for them. Calcomp is a good example, they closed in '98 or '99, so the newest Calcomp plotter you could hope to find would be 10 years old.

[Runnerguy]

You'll find it easier to make PDF's of your drawings and just print from that. You won't really need any paper "reproducibles". When a change occurs it's far easier to make another PDF, rather then another reproducible. And of course in converting your drawings to a PDF format, you can email them to the owner or contractor and they can do the printing on their end. My clients call me up with how many sets they want and I send the PDF's to the local printer and the client comes by later to to the printer pick up the sets.

 

For me, knowing nothing about AutoCad, I ordered from Amazon four or five books. And having multiple books ended up working very well because everything was explained in slightly different ways with different examples. What was unclear in one book, became clearer in another when presented differently. And books, given the task of learning AutoCad, are cheap.

 

I got Finkelstein (AutoCad Bible) of course and a few others but the book that was probably most helpful was "AutoCad [insert year here] No Experience Required" by David Frey. What made this book my main one was the whole book is centered around drawing a project, a cabin, a project type that'sright up your alley. You start by drawing the walls, creating blocks for the doors, windows, fixtures, etc. At the end you have a completed set of drawings for the cabin. Every exercise you do relates to all the other exersices. They all build on the previous work, just like doing a real project. Bible is great and indispensible but it's not as cohesive as No Experience Required.

 

Good luck.

 

Doug

[ReMark]

PDFs are fine right up to the point where you get a guy like my old boss who insisted on having "that piece of paper". To him the paper was real; the PDF was just pixels in space! LOL

[Runnerguy]

PDFs are fine right up to the point where you get a guy like my old boss who insisted on having "that piece of paper".

 

Two years ago I was that guy. LOL

 

Doug

[mountain girl]

Runnerguy, really great advice. I will definitely get that book as well. Sounds as if it's right up my alley. So, I'm assuming that there is a way reproduce the PDF's in 1/4" scale? And what if you just love the look of those blue and white prints?

[f700es]

... And what if you just love the look of those blue and white prints?

 

Change your pen table to print white and use dark blue paper :wink:

 

Thank you folks, I'll be here all week. Remember the 9:00 show is completely different from the 7:00 show.

[ReMark]

This guy ^ ^ ^ is way too funny for CADTutor. He should be on the Dave Letterman show.

 

Blue ON white as in diazo prints? I just love the smell of ammonia in the morning.

 

I don't think anyone makes real blueprints any more do they (white lines on a very dark (postal) blue background)?

Edited December 16, 2010 by ReMark

[rkent]

Plot for blueprint look using named plot styles (STB)

Cover PS in solid hatch, color 156

set to named plot style "Color 75%", set screening to 75%

Use HATCHTOBACK command.

Set up a plot style where all styles are set to plot 0% screening except "Color 75%" set to plot color.

Plotter pc3 set for lines over write.

Plot dialog, uncheck plot PS last.

 

It would be similar for CTB.

This uses lots of ink, BTW.

[Runnerguy]

So, I'm assuming that there is a way reproduce the PDF's in 1/4" scale?

 

One of the big things you'll have to get used to when you're drawing in CAD, you're not drawing in any scale other then 1:1.

 

Whether you're drawing the eye of a needle or the Golden Gate Bridge, you'll be drawing it at full scale (1:1). It's only in plotting you convert to an appropiate scale relative to your selected sheet size. So even though you love 1/4" scale, it's going to go away when you're drawing.

 

In hand drawing, when you draw a wall that will be 40' in real life, you pull out your trusty scale, flip it over to the 1/4" scale side and draw the wall 40', which is actually 10" on your paper. In CAD you draw the wall at 40' and then convert it to the desirable scale when you're setting up your sheets.

 

And yes, when you do this and are making PDF's, you can set any scale you wish. It's easy.

 

And I love the look of those blue and white prints too. I've managed to set up my stuff with profiling and a hand lettered font so it looks about the same.

 

Since we're in the same line of work but likely non competitors (No "mountains" in Maryland and we have plenty of Walmarts), I'll send you a PM. You're exactly where I was back in 2008.

 

Check Notifications> Inbox

 

Doug

Edited December 15, 2010 by Runnerguy

[kevingohery]

i recommend u download vuze and get a free pirate version:)

[mountain girl]

You guys are cracking me up. I meant blueLINES, of course. And the smell of ammonia in a chilly barn in the early morning can be quite bracing.

[Bill Tillman]

Don't forget to check out TurboCAD. It's about $129 and it will work with AutoCAD files.

[Jack_O'neill]

You guys are cracking me up. I meant blueLINES, of course. And the smell of ammonia in a chilly barn in the early morning can be quite bracing.

 

Get a color inkjet plotter and set all the pens to print in blue. Or,refill your black ink cartridges yourself, with a custom mix of cyan and black to get the blue you want. Just one caveat...don't get them wet!

 

On the plus side, you know how regular blue prints will fade after a while, especially if exposed to sunlight? The inkjet plots won't do that. Laser plotters are ok, but sometimes the toner will flake off along fold lines.

 

I guess you could get an old pen plotter and just put blue pens in it too (if you can find one that you can make work these days).

[ReMark]

i recommend u download vuze and get a free pirate version:)

 

We do not condone the use of pirated software. I suggest that in the future you bear this in mind. Thank you.

[f700es]

That will be their only warning