Whether you’re getting into home building, ready to tackle your first major project or it’s finally time to start that long-overdue renovation project, AutoCAD can provide just the thing you need to bring your ideas to life. Here are 10 tips to get you started.

1. Use Symbols to Save Time

Symbols are prebuilt CAD drawings that serve as placeholders for objects in the design process that will be replaced later on. You can start off with a symbol for your living room to simply get going, then replace it later in the process when adding specific dimensions.

Symbols are also helpful when designing special accommodations such as a wheelchair ramp or elevator shaft. Placeholders make these areas easy to work around. They also give you the ability to see how they will function without having to design the entire object or change your existing layout to accommodate them. 

When ready, you can always use AutoCAD to design the specific dimensions of each piece of furniture and even go as far as using 3D printing to manufacture them.

2. Use 2D Layouts for Elevation

Utilize 2D layouts for areas within a house that has an elevation change, such as a split-level layout or a portion of the home where stairs are located. These 2D layouts can easily be worked around for designing the layout of your home and to provide a quick reference for elevation changes.

3. Create Keynotes to Denote Material Choices

Materials are key when creating an architectural plan. Add material keynotes to provide details on material choices for each aspect of construction for your home design, from walls and flooring to windows, pipes and roofing.

4. Generate 3D Renderings While You Work

There are few things more helpful than viewing your design in real time as you work. Generating 3D renderings as you go along will provide instant feedback for the overall look, feel and flow of the house you are designing. Use this to tweak and change your design plans while you go along rather than getting to the end and realizing you need to change an entire wing of the house.

5. Utilize Renovation Mode

With AutoCAD Architecture, you can utilize the renovation mode to work with an existing floor plan and begin your renovation project. It’s a simple way to adjust measurements, change parameters and design features around elements already in place.

6. Track Construction Phases

As every architect knows, a well-organized and labeled drawing is always easier to update as the project progresses. With this in mind, use a title block to create headings for each new construction phase. Include the date and project name in the title block to easily track phases and your overall progress.

Use a layer called "Construction Lines" for all drawing lines, such as walls, doors or windows. And be sure to utilize multiple layers while you work so that your drawing isn't cluttered from the start.

7. Use Text Callouts

A good habit to get into early in your design process is labeling everything with a text callout. This will come in handy as you edit and update your drawings, especially if it's on a separate layer.

8. Use Labels and Leader Lines

Labels should be used to show you which items you've drawn, such as a window label detailing what's inside a particular opening. They should also tell you whether you’re looking at an outside wall or an interior wall.

Leader lines are guides that show where to draw a line. If you have an intersection of walls, for example, the leader will lead from one point on one wall to another point on the other wall. This helps with accuracy as you set up your floor plan.

9. Use Alignments and Dimensions

Alignments provide consistency in your drawings by lining up various elements so that you don't have to do it manually each time. This not only saves tons of time but also ensures accuracy.

Dimensions provide measurements for all of the elements in your drawing and help you take a good look at the overall design before going any further with construction plans.

10. Utilizer Layer Organization

If you're using AutoCAD Architecture software, then layers are like folders that keep all of your shapes and images organized. If you're using Civil Engineering software, then layers are more like a category with everything sorted in specific groupings. Either way, layers keep your project organized and neatly arranged.

Author Bio: Christine Evans is the Director of Product Marketing & Content Strategy at Fictiv, an on-demand manufacturing company. Over the past six years, Christine has grown Fictiv’s popular Hardware Guide and Digital Manufacturing Resource Center, with over 2,000 teardowns, DFM guides and mechanical design articles to help democratize access to manufacturing and hardware design knowledge.

cover image © unsplash