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
-
Stage 1: AutoCAD Drawing
In stage 1 on this project, surfaces are created from an accurate landform mesh made from 2D and 3D polylines using Quickscape surfacing routines. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
-
Transforming Objects
Transforming objects means changing the position, size or number of an object without altering the integrity of the geometry itself. MAX offers a host of transformation tools to do these tasks. This tutorial gets you started. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
-
Multi/Sub-Object materials
A Multi/Sub-Object material is a container for a number of sub-materials. This type of material is used when you need to assign different materials to different parts of an object and is used in infrastructure and environment projects mainly for objects such as benches, tables, lamposts, buildings etc. This tutorial works through a number of examples. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 4 minutes ago
-
AutoCAD 2010: Extrude & Press/Pull
This tutorial introduces the AutoCAD extrusion tools, Extrude and Press/Pull. A good understanding of both tools is important for developing 3D modeling skills. Running time: 9min 53sec Format: Video
Last visited: 4 minutes ago
-
AutoCAD to Photoshop
This tutorial demonstrates a number of workflows from quick and simple to high quality. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 5 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: 5 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
How to force running commands in the created drawing ?
by Engineer_Yasser
9 replies
Last post: 32 minutes ago
Selecting Dynamic Blocks and Activating Action Parameters.
by DavidP
3 replies
Last post: 1 hour ago
sorting by block attributes
by Terry.T
19 replies
Last post: 2 hours ago
Selection set filter
by maahee
10 replies
Last post: 4 hours ago
Program to measure in a PDF doc?
by MAREBER
13 replies
Last post: 5 hours ago
Explode nested blocks only
by Cazza
44 replies
Last post: 10 hours ago
This Week's Hot Topics
EXTRACT TEXT OF SIDE (SEGEMENTS) FROM POLYGON
by leo321
11 replies
Viewed: 332 times
Selection set filter
by maahee
10 replies
Viewed: 202 times
error numberp
by Greenland
9 replies
Viewed: 453 times
How to force running commands in the created drawing ?
by Engineer_Yasser
9 replies
Viewed: 172 times
Best place to purchase AutoCAD LT
by JLH
5 replies
Viewed: 185 times
Convert a .lsp file into a .scr file
by NicuT
4 replies
Viewed: 254 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
“Best of” Basics: Irregular Viewport
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #145
Originally published: April 2016
When you need a viewport shape other than a rectangle, the first order of business is to be able to view the objects in Model Space at the desired scale. From there, you can create a polyline to essentially ‘crop’ the objects in Model space, then turn it into a viewport.
The best drawing for testing this is in the path…
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Sample\Database Connectivity
If you have AutoCAD 2014 or prior, the drawing name is db_samp.DWG
If you have AutoCAD 2015 or later, the drawing name is Floor Plan Sample.DWG
How to Create an Irregular Shaped Viewport
Right-click on a layout tab and make a new layout with a large viewport.
Double-click in the viewport, then set the desired scale from the scale list on the Status bar. You may want to start with 1/64″ = 1′-0″ so you can see all of it.
Return to Paper space and create any closed polyline, spline or circle to be the viewport.
Note: If you are creating a Polyline, you must use the Close option if it is to be converted into a viewport. If you did not use the Close option, use Pedit and select the polyline, then use the Close option.
In this illustration, I created a polyline around the perimeter of the floorplan. (Ideally, this would be on a dedicated layer on which you typically create your viewports).
On the Layout tab, click Clip.
When prompted to select the ‘viewport to clip’, select the rectangular viewport.
When prompted to select the ‘clipping object’, select the polyline (or whatever object you created in Step 3, above).
AutoCAD will convert the polyline into a viewport and erase the original rectangular viewport!
See all the articles published in April 2016
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
-
31st March to 6th April 2025
This week's image is by Lazarus
Software used: AutoCAD 2008
-
Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by hazardman
Software used: AutoCAD and 3ds Max
-
Two Weeks Ago
This image is by jkristia
Software used: SolidWorks
-
Three Weeks Ago
This image is by rgarjr
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
Copy and Move without commands
You can copy or move objects without using any commands!
To move an object select it once, then click and drag it (not the grips) to move it to wherever you want. Release the mouse button to drop it.
To copy an object, select it once, then right-click and drag it. When you release the mouse button, you are presented with a menu, allowing you to Move, Copy or Paste as Block.
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.