Autodesk AutoCAD Training Courses

Who’s it for?

The AutoCAD Essentials course is designed for those who are new to AutoCAD and want a comprehensive overview of how the program functions and how they can better use it in their given industries. This AutoCAD course is designed from the ground up to cater to all students of varying abilities. You are not required to have any prior knowledge of AutoCAD, CAD software in general, or technical drafting. Nor are you required to have extensive or high-level IT skills, or a background in MFG/AEC industries.

Regardless of whether you are a returning veteran looking to refresh their skills, brand new to CAD drafting, or looking to upskill in your job this course will give you the tools to hit the ground running. Everyone is welcome in this AutoCAD course.

Why Choose this Course?

We structure the course in a very open and approachable manner. Our aim is for our students to get the most out of the training and to walk away feeling confident in their ability to use AutoCAD. We have designed the course in way to cover all the major tools and systems in AutoCAD, as well as common pitfalls or issues students may face. The goal is to create a solid foundation from which students can build upon.

We focus on giving the student the tools and knowledge necessary to handle virtually any task that could be reasonable asked of them as a beginner with AutoCAD. Our groups are small in size which means each student gets focused attention from the instructor and allows for a strong two-way dialogue between the instructor and students.

Students are placed at the very core of our training ethos with them being encouraged to ask questions and have active discussions throughout the course. This is not a lecture style format but rather a formative, engaged, and practical format where instructor and students will work through examples, problems, and solutions together. Time is spent to properly explain the rationale behind why we may use certain tools, the benefits and disadvantages of certain techniques, and the various ways we can achieve our deliverable within AutoCAD.

Our instructors don’t believe that there is one true correct way to create something in CAD. We believe that differences in approach should be highlighted and explored to create a better understanding of CAD environments, their benefits, and their limitations.

Benefits and Learning Aims

As discussed earlier the main benefit of this course is creating a strong foundation for our students to build from. We remain very realistic about the level and volume of content that can be covered over the period of five 2-hour sessions. Other benefits include:

• Industry Relevant Worked Examples
• Pre-prepared worksheets for students
• Open and honest dialogue between student and instructor
• Varied industry expertise and relevance
• Focus on the most used functions in AutoCAD

The learning intentions or goals of the course have been broken down into 6 key objectives. Each subsequent goal is further broken down into specific concrete objectives that are more manageable and achievable.

The key objectives are as follows:

Students who complete the course will be given a firm understanding of the fundamentals of CAD drawing inside AutoCAD as well as real world worked examples to help them apply their skills. Content is kept up to date and relevant to current industry workflows and demands.

Course Overview

The course is broken down into five 2-hour sessions spread over the week. Training either takes place from 10AM-12PM or 2PM-4PM but we provide flexibility where feasible. Each session is broken down into smaller chunks giving students an overview of what to expect on each day.

Session 1

Getting Started

• Starting and closing AutoCAD
• AutoCAD Interface Overview
• Managing Drawing Files

Display Commands

• Drawing scale and view magnification
• ZOOM and pan commands
• Other useful display tools

Drawing Setup

• Drawing setup overview
• Using the command wizard

Session 2

Coordinates and Basic Drafting Tools

• Precision drawing
• Using Snap and Grid
• User and world Coordinate Systems

Creating/Editing 2D Geometry

• Standard drawing and formatting tools
• Deleting and selecting tools
• Modifying geometry – OFFSET/TRIM/EXTEND
• Orthographic views and construction lines

Session 3

Managing Object Properties

• Introduction to layers and properties manager
• Managing/Overriding object properties by layer
• Scaling and line types/weights

Creating Text & Defining Styles

• Intro to single line text & multiline MTEXT Objects
• Creating and modifying text styles

Introduction to Dimensions

• Distance/Ordinate and Angular dimensioning
• Editing and formatting dimensions
• Inserting leaders
• Dimension styles and drawing scales
• Using styles in other drawings

Session 4

Page Setup and Layouts

• Creating new layouts
• Using layouts and viewports
• Setting and locking viewports scale
• Using design centre to import layouts
• Creating new templates/title block

Creating Blocks

• Creating, editing, and inserting blocks
• Defining and extracting attributes
• Block Tool Palette

Hatching

• Adding shading or patterns to objects
• The difference between associative and
• non-associative hatching

Session 5

Publishing & Collaboration

• Shared Views
• External Reference Management
• Plot Settings and Page set up
• Layout Management
• PDF export
• Etransmit

A follow on from the AutoCAD Essentials Training Course is AutoCAD Intermediate training and his course takes participants through the advanced features of AutoCAD to a point where candidates have developed the skills and knowledge using the more complex features of AutoCAD. The trainees are shown how to handle files, Xrefs, Advanced Plotting and Data Management.

As an Autodesk platinum partner and Autodesk authorised training centre, we provide a wide range of training options to give you the knowledge and skills to ensure that you achieve  the best from your Autodesk solution. With offices in Dublin and Limerick we can offer training at our training centres, online or onsite.  Choose from customised training, public courses and 1:1 training. All our courses are delivered by Autodesk Certified Instructors. Talk to us to directly to see if you are eligible for partial funding.