Learn AutoCAD with our Free Tutorials
Welcome to CADTutor
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
-
Animating Materials: Water
Just about everything in the Brycean world can be animated, including materials. This tutorial shows you how to simulate ripples on the surface of a standard Bryce water material by modifying the offset and rotation of the texture component of the material. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 6 minutes ago
-
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: 6 minutes ago
-
Dimensioning
This tutorial describes the options and commands available for dimensioning drawings and how to use them. The correct use of AutoCADs dimension tools is the key to producing clear and concise measured drawings. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 8 minutes ago
-
Keyframe Animation
This tutorial gives a basic but comprehensive introduction to keyframe animation in Bryce and introduces some key concepts in animation generally. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 11 minutes ago
-
The UCS Icon
All about the UCS icon. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 12 minutes ago
-
The Interface
This tutorial gives a brief explanation of the MAX interface items commonly used and introduces you to the important areas of the interface. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 13 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.
Forum Latest
Currently Active Topics
Getting Error message on opening Cadtutor.
by BIGAL
17 replies
Last post: 9 hours ago
ucs and drawing problem
by LIU
12 replies
Last post: 15 hours ago
STEP vs SAT: Which one preserves editable 3D geometry more reliably?
by indiancad
2 replies
Last post: 36 hours ago
Replacing the Classic SCENE command
by Paul Li
0 replies
Last post: 42 hours ago
Using Arraypath function via scripting, duplicating lines are created in opposite direction of curve path
by harshil
9 replies
Last post: 51 hours ago
Python Slide(.SLD) to wxImage
by Danielm103
0 replies
Last post: 52 hours ago
This Week's Hot Topics
Why do hatches become difficult to manage in complex drawings?
by indiancad
10 replies
Viewed: 455 times
Using Arraypath function via scripting, duplicating lines are created in opposite direction of curve path
by harshil
9 replies
Viewed: 339 times
Is the LIST command enough to troubleshoot CAD geometry?
by indiancad
6 replies
Viewed: 274 times
STEP vs SAT: Which one preserves editable 3D geometry more reliably?
by indiancad
2 replies
Viewed: 136 times
Xref hatches plot solid black and fonts change on my machine only
by xurshid_viewport
1 reply
Viewed: 135 times
[Architecture] Building "Cloud-Native" LISP Plugins without writing a single line of Network Code
by VicoWang
0 replies
Viewed: 225 times
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
User Increment Angles for Polar (new in 2015)
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #138
Originally published: February 2015
The Polar tracking feature [F10] comes with several preset increments. But what if you want your own increment, like, 12? This is now available for the first time in AutoCAD 2015 where you can specify an increment value, and AutoCAD will snap to all instances of that increment!
How to Add Additional Polar Angles
Click the drop-down arrow beside Polar Tracking, then click Tracking Settings.
Check the box for Additional Angles, then click New and enter a new angle. Click OK to close the Drafting Settings dialog box.
Click the dropdown arrow beside Polar Tracking, then click your new angle increments.

See all the articles published in February 2015
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
-
12th – 18th October 2026
This week's image is by boofredlay
Software used: SketchUp and Twilight Render
-
Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by mitchellrodhous
Software used: AutoCAD 2011
-
Two Weeks Ago
This image is by herdy1212
Software used: 3ds Max
-
Three Weeks Ago
This image is by Dorian
Software used: AutoCAD 2008
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
Trim Up
Often, you find yourself using the Trim command to tidy up loose ends of lines. If this is the case, don't bother selecting cutting edges, just use the "select all" option.
Start the Trim command, from the pull-down menu or TRIM from the command line. At the prompt, simply hit the Enter key to accept the <select all> option.
Now, just pick the line ends you want to remove.
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.