An Introduction To AutoCAD

AutoCAD is the most known and respected name when it comes to 2D and 3D CAD design. AutoCAD software is a drafting tool that facilitates the process of designing and communicating the results with others. In this day and age, most structures that are built are based on CAD drawings. The majority of them use AutoCAD.

Most people associate AutoCAD with architectural house design, however, there are many different industries that use AutoCAD. For example, many: mechanical, electronic, electrical, AEC, geographical, multimedia, surveying, engineering, town planning, and even garment companies use AutoCAD.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) features have also been recently added to the list of things that AutoCAD can do.

AutoCAD was created by AutoDesk Inc. over thirty years ago. AutoCAD can be used on either Windows or Macintosh. They remain the leaders in the field even among all of the competition that had come and gone since 1982 when they first started. We all know that the computer scene has continued to change drastically and at an increasingly rapid pace since the 1980's. AutoCAD has kept up with the changes and has become much more complex and efficient than the original software was, however, the main principals are still very simple and work logically.

In 1993 AutoCAD LT was introduced as a cheaper and simpler alternative. It does not include several advanced features such as 3D. However, it is still a complete program.

In 2010 AutoCAD for Mac was released and it works the same as on Windows. Some complain that the interface layout has not changed on the Mac version since the pre-2009 era.

AutoCAD 2D has many features and capabilities. It obviously can draw and modify structures accurately. Text and precise dimensions can be added easily. The geometry can be viewed at different scales, and the project can be organized by layers, colours, and styles. Another nice feature is that a variety of layouts can be set up for printing purposes.

Another plus is that it is easy to collaborate with other AutoCAD users over the internet.

Getting started with AutoCAD is relatively simple. There are three basic steps that you will need to take.

1. Drawing
2. Adding text and dimensions
3. Printing or "plotting."

AutoCAD is made simple by the fact that it is a procedural program, which means that the command window prompts you to enter commands in a logical step by step manner.