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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
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Cameras
Cameras are the main viewing tools in 3D visualisation. This tutorial demonstartes how to create and control cameras. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
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Keyframe Animation
This tutorial gives a basic but comprehensive introduction to keyframe animation in Bryce and introduces some key concepts in animation generally. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 1 minute ago
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Animating Materials: Water
Just about everything in the Brycean world can be animated, including materials. This tutorial shows you how to simulate ripples on the surface of a standard Bryce water material by modifying the offset and rotation of the texture component of the material. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 2 minutes ago
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Drawing Objects
Getting to grips with AutoCAD's basic drawing tools. This is an ideal start for the AutoCAD beginner. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 4 minutes ago
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AutoCAD 2010: Joining Lines, Polylines and Arcs
This video tutorial demonstrates how to join lines, polylines and arcs using the Join command and the Edit Polyline command. Running time: 6min 49sec Format: Video
Last visited: 6 minutes ago
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ISO Paper Sizes
There has alwas been some confusion over the size of standard ISO drawing sheets with AutoCAD.The stated sizes in the plot dialogue box are not the true ISO sizes. This tutorial explains why and how to plot to scale from Model Space. Format: Text/Image
Last visited: 9 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.
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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
Use the INSERT Osnap on Blocks
From: AutoCAD Productivity Articles #134
Originally published: June 2014

In Michael's Corner February 2013 I covered the use of the Insert object snap for text. It also happens to be the Osnap you can use for Blocks.
When you need to snap to the insertion point of a block, I don't bother to set it as an Osnap since it's such a seldom-used feature. When the time comes, simply Shift + Right-click to display the Osnap shortcut menu, then click Insert or use the ‘INS’ keyboard shortcut.
See all the articles published in June 2014
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
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31st August to 6th September 2026
This week's image is by CADken
Software used: SketchUp and AutoCAD 2010
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Last Week's Image
Last week's image is by Red333
Software used: AutoCAD 2009
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Two Weeks Ago
This image is by RODDY1
Software used: AutoCAD 2009
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This image is by papagyi
Software used: 3ds Max 9 and V-Ray
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
Offset to the current layer
When you use the offset command, the new object always ends up on the same layer as the source object. That's the default option but you can have objects offset to the current layer.
Start the Offset command, from the pull-down menu or OFFSET from the command line. At the prompt, enter L for "Layer" and then C for "Current". Now, each time you use Offset, objects will be created on the current layer.
To set Offset back to the default, use the same sequence but enter S for "Source".
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.