What Is CAD? Understand CAD: A Comprehensive Guide for Design and Drafting Professionals

[The AutoCAD Blog]

What is CAD?

Computer-aided design (CAD) is a designation for software specifically created to assist in designing and drafting for architecture, engineering, product development, manufacturing, and nearly any other design purpose. With CAD software, designers can create, edit, and optimize their designs as either 2D drawings or as 3D models.

From their humble beginnings in the early 1960s, when IBM and GM collaborated to invent DAC-1 (Design Augmented by a Computer), CAD programs have progressed slowly at first, and lately by leaps and bounds. When Autodesk was founded in 1982, it released AutoCAD, the first CAD software made for desktop personal computers. In the 1990s, CAD systems gradually displayed improved 3D modeling abilities. By the 2000s and beyond, CAD software began expanding its capabilities beyond just 2D and 3D design and modeling. 

Now, the most advanced CAD products are mighty, cloud-based platforms. They offer automated documentation assistance, powerful simulations of real-world behavior and functionality, photorealistic rendering for lifelike 2D and 3D visualizations, and even animation.

Types of CAD Software

Different types of modern CAD software are discerned by their ability to aid 2D design, 3D design, or both.

2D CAD Software

CAD’s definition can get misconstrued as exclusively 3D design. However, 2D CAD software provides an essential platform for various industries that need precise, flat technical drawings to define shapes and layouts geometrically.

Such applications include:

• Floor plans, construction site layouts, structural documentation, and permit-ready drawings in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) industry.

• Component and assembly schematics, CNC-ready drawings, technical illustrations, and piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) for manufacturing and industrial engineering.

• Printed circuit board (PCB) design, control panel schematics, and circuit and wiring layouts for electrical and electronics applications.

• Furniture and room layouts for interior design.

• Packaging and labels for the product design industry.

For all of these purposes, 2D CAD software like Autodesk AutoCAD LT ensures precise drafting accuracy with full sets of geometric tools that snap to endpoints, midpoints, intersections, and grid lines; layer management; annotation for dimensions, notes, and symbols; file interoperability; and drawing templates that help enforce industry standards.

AutoCAD LT supplies all of the above, as well as best-in-class collaboration abilities with cloud connectivity, universal accessibility from web browsers, desktop, and mobile devices; and greatly streamlined workflows from AutoLISP, which offers thousands of pre-existing automations and helps to enforce CAD standards.

3D CAD Software

A wealth of 3D CAD software offers deep 3D modeling, rendering, and even animation features, with various strengths and specializations depending on whether the 3D CAD program focuses on aspects of the AECO, product design, manufacturing, or education/training industries.

Types of 3D modeling within 3D CAD software offer different tools and capabilities:

• Parametric modeling: By using constraints and dimensions, the model geometry updates dynamically when changes are made.

• Direct modeling: The model’s geometry can change with quick edits that aren’t tied to a history of constraints and dimensions.

• Assembly modeling: Two or more components are modeled into a functional system using motion constraints.

• Solid modeling: A component or assembly is modeled volumetrically for precision.

• Surface modeling: This specializes in modeling complex curved surfaces—often with high physical or aesthetic standards—for industrial or product design.

Rendering capabilities in 3D CAD software can rival those used in the media and entertainment industries for visual effects and animation. These rendering capabilities allow designers and drafters to create photorealistic visualizations of their designs that accurately simulate materials, textures, and finishes, as well as reproduce lifelike directional or ambient lighting with advanced high-fidelity features like ray tracing, which convincingly reproduces reflections and shadows.

Trends in CAD software show that stronger animation features in 3D CAD products are allowing designers to show off their creations in even more spectacular fashion by, for example, animating the exploded view of a product assembly, demonstrating the accurate mechanical movement of a product in detail, or to create sweeping fly-throughs or walk-around presentations using cinematic camera paths. Intuitive timeline editors controls these animations with keyframes and transitions similar to popular video editing apps. 

All 3D CAD products have similarities, but many of them differentiate by excelling particularly well for certain purposes. Revit, for example, specializes in Building Information Modeling (BIM) for architecture, infrastructure, and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) systems. Inventor’s advanced parametric and assembly modeling with powerful simulations make it a favorite for industrial design and mechanical engineering.

In addition to parametric, direct, and freeform CAD modeling, Fusion includes computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and PCB toolsets, making it ideal for product design and manufacturing, as well as electronics engineering. AutoCAD offers both 2D and 3D CAD tools for design and drafting and has been trusted amongst architecture, construction, and product engineering professionals for decades.

All four of these Autodesk 3D CAD solutions include high-end rendering and animation functionality, AI-assisted workflow streamlining, and cloud connectivity with world-class collaboration abilities.

Specialized CAD Toolsets

In some cases, uniquely specialized CAD software products, or specific toolsets within larger CAD software, offer hyper-focused abilities, directly tailored for certain industries.

AutoCAD specialty toolsets: AutoCAD has seven add-on toolsets that increase productivity with thousands of intelligent objects or symbols, as well as enhanced features. For example, AutoCAD Architecture Toolset‘s 8,800+ architectural components like doors, windows, and walls help with automated generation of floor plans, ceiling grids, and more. AutoCAD Mechanical Toolset automates BOM (bill of materials) creation and includes 700,000+ parts and features for mechanical engineering and manufacturing. AutoCAD Electrical Toolset automates wire numbering and component tagging with the aid of 65,000+ intelligent electrical symbols. The 10,500+ intelligent pipes, fittings, ducts, and other objects in the AutoCAD MEP Toolset greatly increase MEP design productivity.

Civil 3D: For civil engineering design and documentation, Civil 3D supplies complex infrastructure tools in a 3D modeling environment. These include terrain modeling, corridor design, stormwater and sanitary sewer analysis, and automation assistance for tasks like grading optimization, pipe layout, and more.

Advance Steel: Built for structural steel detailing and fabrication, Advance Steel 3D steel design software assists with parametric steel connections, folded plate modeling, and stairs, railings, and cage ladders. It automatically generates steel fabrication deliverables like shop drawings and NC files. Its Dynamo Extension also automates repetitive tasks like making parametric steel connections. Advance Steel integrates with Revit, Navisworks, and others to make your workflow smooth.

Benefits of Using CAD

Out of CAD’s many benefits, the major advantages include improved accuracy, efficiency, collaboration, presentation, and everybody’s favorite: cost savings.

Increased drafting precision and accuracy

Designers enjoy the highest level of accuracy in their CAD models, all the way down to the micrometer (one millionth of a meter). This precision comes at a fast pace as well. Dimension tools, constraints, and snap grids help designers and drafters work quickly, while doing away with manual drafting errors. With parametric modeling, precise geometries stay accurate and consistent despite numerous revisions.

Improved design quality and efficiency

CAD tools speed up design and drafting tasks in myriad ways. Preloaded templates jumpstart similar projects and often build-in standards to adhere to. Libraries of common reusable components, symbols, and other elements maintain consistency while boosting work speed. Advanced CAD software can also automate a number of processes, such as generating BOMs and annotations.

Enhanced collaboration and communication

Integrated documentation within CAD software improves clear communication with both internal and external collaborators, like manufacturers. It’s easy to track revisions with markup tools and version control. Autdodesk’s CAD options with cloud connectivity also allow multiple users to collaborate on a project simultaneously from any device.

Cost savings and less rework

Simulation and analysis tools in CAD software help to detect design flaws early in the process, cutting down on rework stemming from errors and contributing to cost efficiency. Highly detailed and accurate documentation also reduces mistakes, rework, and material waste in the fabrication stage. Automation functions in some CAD software reduce the time needed for tedious, repetitive design and drafting tasks, allowing more work to be done in less time.

Better visualization and presentation

The photorealistic and engaging results of high-end CAD software’s 3D rendering and animated walkthroughs or exploded views impress stakeholders with vivid presentations. This helps especially when seeking approvals from non-technical audiences. These animation and simulation tools can convey real-world functionality, so you can make tweaks before expending resources on physical prototypes.

CAD applications across industries

Industries benefitting most from CAD include AECO, product design and manufacturing, and other related custom design industries.

Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC)

Every piece of the AEC industry feels the impact of CAD technology, from initial architectural concepts to the monitoring of a BIM digital twin for building lifecycle management.  

CAD fuels the architectural design process, including floor plans, elevations, and sections. It’s also critical for presenting building and interior designs with animated 3D walkthroughs and stunning architectural visualizations.  

Specialty tools like Revit and Advance Steel provide structural engineers with vital abilities like load analysis, reinforcement, and steel detailing. Meanwhile, options like AutoCAD MEP use intelligent object modeling to streamline the design of HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems.   

Larger infrastructure and civil works projects also benefit from CAD software like Civil 3D to facilitate terrain modeling, grading, and other site planning and infrastructure design jobs.  

These same CAD tools can continue to feed data into the BIM digital twin of a finished building for lifecycle management and clash detection.

Manufacturing

The influence of CAD applications has helped the manufacturing industry reach new heights of precision and efficiency.  

For example, parametric modeling tools like Inventor are critical for designing the highest-performance mechanical components, assemblies, and tooling. Sheet metal and mold design are more efficient than ever with special features for sheet metal unfolding and nesting and for creating injection molds.  

Advanced CAD software’s capacity for high-level simulation allows virtual thermal and stress testing, as well as analyzing a product’s material behavior and motion dynamics before the prototyping and fabrication stages.  

Some CAD software, like Fusion, integrate CAM and can export data directly to CNC machines and 3D printers for rapid prototyping and custom or small-batch production. CAD modeling tools also integrate with product lifecycle management (PLM) systems to inform their version control and compliance.  

Product design

Designers of some of the most intricate and high-performance products get special creative and functional assistance from CAD software. For example, industrial designers can experiment with the most sculpted surfaces, the most ergonomic modeling, and the most refined aesthetics with a tool like Autodesk Alias. And electronics engineers have dedicated capabilities in Fusion like PCB layout, thermal simulations, and enclosure design.

Fusion also includes extensive generative design abilities to explore thousands of quickly generated design permutations based on the designer’s constraints. The software can also export the design to CNC machines or 3D printers for iterative prototyping.

Product design also gains marketing and client visibility with CAD software’s built-in visualization and rendering for creating photorealistic graphic and animated presentations.

General design and drafting applications

Apparel designers make use of CAD for drafting patterns, simulating garments, and textile layout. Interior designers can strategize furniture and cabinetry layouts and visualize materials. Commercial designers model and test packaging solutions, design signage, and layout trade booth or retail displays. Jewelry designers appreciate the exacting precision of CAD software for casting and stone setting.

The Future of CAD

A wealth of exciting emerging trends in CAD technology point to CAD tools becoming even more central creative hubs for the industries they serve, with wide-ranging implications for the design and drafting professions.

Emerging trends in CAD

Most of these future trends in CAD are already underway in the advanced CAD tools that are available now, but they will become even more important for industry professionals and industries to adopt. For example, cloud-based CAD software—like Autodesk’s CAD tools—will become an essential feature of workflows, as they allow designers and all their colleagues and stakeholders to work and collaborate from anywhere on any device. Distributed hybrid and remote teams immediately see the advantages of simultaneous multiple users being able to review, edit, and comment. Cloud platforms like Fusion perform processing in the cloud, putting less pressure on users’ machines and allowing businesses to scale.

AI functions will also become more prevalent. Machine learning already drives generative design and predictive analysis to detect potential performance issues and suggest geometries and materials. Other automation tools on the market include AI-assisted block placement and quantity tracking in AutoCAD LT and automated dimensioning, component placement, and error checking. CAD companies’ continued research into integrating AI will automate more repetitive tasks for greater accuracy and to free up designers and drafters for the more creative aspects of their work.

CAD software’s visualization capabilities are already quite impressive, but as VR and AR technology matures and gains wider adoption, CAD tools will offer immersive XR (extended reality) presentations of building walk-throughs, automotive walk-arounds, and so on. These presentations could happen remotely in VR or in physical locations using AR overlays to see how 3D models would look in the real world.

As the methods and materials behind 3D printing continue to advance, there will be greater options for not only rapid prototyping but also more viable production runs using additive manufacturing and hybrid manufacturing—a combination of additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing from CNC machines. This will make design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) a more significant consideration for product designers and engineers if additive can provide an equal-quality product faster and/or for less money. And CAD tools like Fusion with integrated CAM will be able to handle the iterative development of a product from concept to production—all within a single platform.

Sustainability and the quest for a circular economy are here to stay and even more viable thanks to the trends in CAD technology. CAD software’s simulation abilities include energy use simulations, daylight analysis for optimizing the natural light and temperature implications in buildings, and material impact assessments to help make more eco-conscious material choices. CAD software also enables digital twins—real-time replicas of physical products, buildings, and larger systems—which use big data streams and AI for predictive maintenance and lifecycle optimization.

Future impact on designers and drafters

All these emerging trends in CAD enforce what was already a momentous shift away from CAD being just a drafting tool to CAD platforms being centralized creative and collaborative hubs for designers and businesses. This shift will impact design and drafting professions.

For one thing, there’s inertia away from 2D drafting and more toward intelligent 3D modeling capable of collecting product lifecycle data for informing BIM and product digital twins. Professionals in these fields would do well to add parametric modeling, CAD simulation, and interdisciplinary coordination skills to their repertoire. The jobs may evolve further into being more like design strategists and creative technologists, where they use more automation and AI tools to realize their creativity and to optimize collaborative workflows.

Return-to-office (RTO) orders are trendy in certain tech-focused businesses for now, but what will happen when cloud-based CAD becomes the norm and enables cross-border remote teamwork to be as effective and fruitful as ever? Also, the increasing accessibility of advanced CAD features, AI tools, and cloud-based processing should theoretically empower smaller studios and individuals to compete with larger operations for jobs. Design and CAD modeling education is also evolving to become more accessible to more people and to emphasize concepts like digital manufacturing, systems thinking, and sustainability. Employers and employees alike will need to embrace lifelong learning in order to advance along with the evolving CAD technology.

Careers in CAD

Discover the opportunities, industry demand, and qualifications needed for today’s CAD careers.

Career paths and opportunities

As CAD tools and platforms become more capable and more central to design businesses, there’s never been a more exciting time to pursue these CAD careers.

• CAD drafters/technicians produce 2D or 3D technical drawings for the AECO and manufacturing industries.

• CAD designers create detailed 3D models and prototypes, often with their own freedom to make design decisions.

• CAD engineers in fields like civil infrastructure or mechanical engineering add engineering analysis—like finite element analysis (FEA)—to CAD design duties.

• BIM coordinators manage building information models in the AECO industry.

• Specialist CAD roles hone in on specific areas like piping layouts, electrical schematics, or fashion pattern drafting.

• CAD leadership roles advance from previous positions into jobs like project manager, CAD manager, and design lead.

Required skills and qualifications

To begin a CAD career, the top requirement is proficiency in one or more of the leading CAD toolsets, such as AutoCAD, Revit, Fusion, Civil 3D, or Inventor. Technical knowledge is also key, including engineering principles, geometry, spatial reasoning, and drafting standards.

Soft skills are also highly desirable. These include things like attention to detail in order to avoid errors in manufacturability, compliance and so on. Communication and collaboration soft skills are also more important than ever to work with interdisciplinary team members and clients who may be entirely non-technical. Skilled people who can demonstrate CAD proficiency without educational credentials can find employment. However, a bachelor’s degree or at least an associate’s degree in drafting, design, or engineering is typical for CAD careers. One can also boost both their skills and credibility by earning certs, such as the many Autodesk Certifications.

Industry demand and job outlook for CAD careers

The outlook for CAD careers is still strong, although traditional drafting jobs are on a bit of a decline, while hybrid roles that combine CAD with a BIM specialty or engineering are in more demand.

The AECO industry needs CAD professionals for BIM design and operations, MEP systems, building plans, and more. Likewise in civil engineering and infrastructure, CAD skills are essential in the design, building, and support of projects such as roads, bridges, waterworks, and other utilities. In manufacturing and product design, CAD pros are vital for prototyping, tooling, and other aspects of CAM integration.

Across industries, there are growing opportunities to merge CAD skills with the expanding areas of XR (VR, AR, and mixed reality), sustainable design, and 3D printing/additive manufacturing.

Professional development and advancement

Workers at every stage of their CAD careers will likely benefit from continual learning, upskilling, and focusing strategically on in-demand skills, like generative design, simulation, and parametric modeling.

Continuing education, whether advanced degrees or modular options like courses and certifications, can build your reputation and yield projects to show in a professional portfolio. Networking through professional associations or conferences can help advance a CAD career while also being learning opportunities.

Getting Started with CAD

While there’s no wrong way to get started with CAD, some thoughtful choices will help to use your time wisely. Think about your end goals, like if you want to learn 2D CAD drafting, 3D CAD modeling, or both, and whether you want to specialize in CAD for a particular industry.

Also consider whether you need software made for beginners or are already comfortable with technical software. Do you need free software, or do you have a budget? Free software usually has a limited feature set, but can be very handy for first-time learners. Do you prefer browser-based web apps, or are you okay with downloaded software?

For 2D drafting, AutoCAD LT is a great place to start. For beginner-friendly 3D CAD, Fusion has an inviting interface, a limited free version for personal use, and tons of free tutorials to get started. The place to go for a free 3D CAD web app for absolute beginners is Tinkercad, and make sure to check out the free tutorials in the Tinkercad Learning Center.

However, if you’re ready to jump into serious CAD software that offers both 2D and 3D CAD and is entrenched across various industries, consider one of the versions of AutoCAD. The best option for students, casual users, and less active CAD collaborators is AutoCAD Web, the affordable, web and mobile version with limited but essential AutoCAD features for basic designs and light editing. AutoCAD Web’s features also come included with AutoCAD LT and the full version of AutoCAD, the go-to solution for industrial designers and AECO professionals needing 2D/3D technical drawings and CAD models. It has customizable workflows and many helpful automations that make large-scale projects more manageable.

If you specialize in a certain field, seven AutoCAD Toolsets provide thousands of intelligently adapting objects and elements for your designs, as well as purpose-built workflow enhancements for specific professional needs. These toolsets serve architects (Architecture toolset), mechanical engineers (Mechanical toolset), electrical engineers (Electrical toolset), MEP contractors (MEP toolset), plant designers (Plant 3D toolset), GIS professionals (Map 3D toolset), and surveyors and archivists (Raster Design toolset).

Exploring the Future Advancements of CAD Tools

While CAD’s definition of computer-aided design has remained, CAD’s meaning to design and drafting professionals and businesses has undergone seismic shifts over decades of development.

Using advanced CAD tools to their fullest extent benefits users with much greater precision and accuracy, design quality, and efficiency. Cloud-connected CAD platforms improve communication and collaboration. Rendering and animation make for better presentations and visualizations. Perhaps most importantly, by increasing accuracy while also streamlining workflows, CAD tools reduce both rework and overall production costs—essential as firms face tighter budgets.

The near future promises even more CAD advancements and more incentives for industries to optimize their CAD use. New AI-assisted automations will continue to streamline workflows.  Maturing 3D printing technologies will allow CAD/CAM systems to command new prototyping and custom manufacturing options. XR will expand CAD’s presentation and collaboration possibilities. Also, CAD tools will play a larger part in sustainability, helping designers and builders choose more eco-friendly materials, design more recyclable or reusable products, and produce more locally. 

All of this makes the industries relying on CAD exciting places to be, while also spelling change on the horizon for design and drafting professionals. Adopting new skills and technologies, as well as a mindset of lifelong learning can help to stay relevant and employed in the expanding, creative world of CAD.

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