HOUSE DESIGN and Drafting and Design
Basic Acad Drafting H ints and T ime S avers

1. If you use AutoCAD to draw anything that is symmetrical, just draw one half of it and use the Mirror command.
2. Offset can be a quick way to show the thickness of something or to draw the wall on the other side of the room.
3. Use Object Snaps (in the dialog box under Tools) to make your work easier and accurate. I generally keep several of the OSnaps active simultaneously. I generally keep Endpoint, Perpendicular, and Nearest switched on.
4. Never draw anything twice. Use Copy, Offset, or Array whenever more than one of anything is needed.
5. To add a second view and third view (elevations), create a layer just for construction lines that have a unique color. Use this layer to draw lines that transfer information from one view to the other. The Const Layer can be frozen when you don't want to see the clutter of it and before printing.
6. Another way to add views is to use Copy and Otho (F8 key) to get identical placement information from view to view.
7. Draw the extra views next to (in line with) previous views so you can transfer all the information from the previous view. Using Move (M key) views can easily be relocated on the sheet.
8. Learn to make blocks of anything that is used often (use Block command). These are inserted (use Insert ) when needed. If you have ever drawn anything in any prior drawing, it can be made into a block and inserted into your current drawing. Use explode , if you don't care to keep it as a block in the current drawing. This allows you edit parts of it.











In the P:Drive we have a place to start a collection of blocks to share with others in the House Design class. Put your initials on the files you contribute to the class to use in houses. You will get credit for contributing useful blocks that can be used by others in the class. We can periodically print out a sheet of file names with pictures of the available blocks in our collection.  Examples: oak tree (plan and elevation view), toilet, kitchen stove, and so on.