AutoCAD Secrets Every User Should Know

CAD software is used in so many fields of design that it would be impossible to develop
extensive standards that apply to all of them.

I’ve trained people who use AutoCAD to design quilts, hearing aids, doll clothes, houses, barns, commercial buildings, M16s, submarine hatches, and the myriad components of machinery. But there are some foundational rules that represent a consensus among serious users of CAD.

You’ll find exceptions to these rules, of course, but think of them the way you think of the rules for dimensioning drawings: You follow them if possible. The fact that a rule has rare exceptions doesn’t reduce its value as a guide.

You certainly follow the rules requiring you to drive on the proper side of the road all the time except when a dog darts out in front of you, or the road is washed away by a flash flood, or you’re passing someone. So, here are some of my rules for using AutoCAD.