Guides, standards and workflows for CAD, BIM and structural engineering — from the team behind CadnPDF.
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Construction drawings follow the same conventions everywhere. A beginner's guide to reading them confidently — title blocks, scale, drawing types (plans, elevations, sections), symbols, and a reliable reading order.
External references (Xrefs) keep teams synchronized by linking drawings instead of copying geometry. A clear guide to Attach vs Overlay, path types, clipping, binding, and the performance habits that keep large projects manageable.
Plotting to PDF is where wrong scales and washed-out colours creep in. A reliable, step-by-step AutoCAD plot-to-PDF workflow using the built-in DWG To PDF plotter, page setups, and plot styles — plus fixes for the common errors.
Model space vs paper space is the concept that confuses new AutoCAD users most. A clear explanation of the two environments, how viewports bridge them, and the workflow that makes drawings print at the right scale every time.
Blocks turn many objects into one reusable component you can update everywhere at once. A practical guide to creating blocks, adding attributes for data extraction, and building dynamic blocks that stretch, flip, and switch views.
Layers and lineweights separate a messy DWG from a professional drawing set. How to set up layers by function, assign lineweights ByLayer, understand the CTB/STB plot hierarchy, and lock it all into a template.
The real speed in AutoCAD comes from the command line, not the ribbon. Here are the essential AutoCAD commands every drafter should know — drawing, modify, view, and annotation — with their common aliases.
AutoCAD or Revit first? They solve different problems — AutoCAD for precise 2D drafting, Revit for intelligent BIM models. A clear guide to which foundation to learn first based on your career goals.
In Revit you don't redraw drawings — you compose views onto sheets inside a title block, and everything stays linked to the model. A step-by-step guide to creating sheets, placing views, and building a smart title block.
Revit's two-letter keyboard shortcuts roughly double your modeling speed once they're muscle memory. Here are the essential ones (WA, DR, MV, CO, RO, AL, DI, VG…), grouped by task, plus how to customize them.
Families are the heart of Revit. A clear guide to the category–family–type hierarchy and the three kinds of families — system, loadable, and in-place — plus how to create a loadable family step by step.
A beginner's walkthrough of the Revit interface — the Ribbon, Properties, Project Browser, and Drawing Area — plus a step-by-step first project from levels and walls to your first section view.