If you’re in construction, design, or architecture, you’ve probably heard about CAD already. Effective Use of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) can be very beneficial to anyone drawing up plans for construction.
Some people like to do things the old-fashioned way, or aren’t aware of how CAD can make the design process easier, so in order to bring you up to speed, here’s how you can effectively utilize CAD on your next project.
What is CAD?
As stated above, CAD stands for computer-aided design. It uses computerized design tools to help plan out and design buildings from every angle imaginable. There’s actually no reason to design complex models of buildings by hand anymore.
CAD is infinitely easier, faster, and creates less workload for engineers and designers. You can also run certain simulations with CAD that just aren’t available without it. Especially if you’re looking to plan for something like installing vinyl flooring around a pre sloped trench drain, CAD can help you smooth out the details.
Tips for Effective Use of CAD
CAD is pretty straight forward if you know how to use it already. You’ve got your basic drawing tools, and all kinds of modifiers and adjustments you can make based on your original drawings. You won’t learn CAD in a 2-page pamphlet, but in case you’ve got the basics down already, here are a few of our favorite shortcuts and tips for using CAD.
Overkill
The overkill command in CAD will automatically erase any overlapping lines, 0 values, and duplicates in your drawing. This is perfect for cleaning up old drawings as well as preparing a drawing for the final draft.
Oops
The oops command in CAD will restore whatever the last deleted items were. Similar to the “undo” function, this tool is invaluable when using CAD. It prevents you from accidentally losing a potentially complex aspect of your design and having to start from scratch.
Purge
Purge is a command you can put your own specific filters on. So that all materials or features that meet certain specifications will be temporarily invisible. For example, if you want a better view of your ceilings because you’re planning to install acoustic ceiling tiles, purge is perfect for that.
Qsave
This command automatically saves your CAD file to local or offshore storage. This is helpful in the event that your CAD program is interrupted for whatever reason, and has saved many a CAD user.
Start a Notebook
There are too many helpful commands to list here, which is why you need to have a notebook at the ready with all of them listed. Aside from these four helpful commands, there are dozens of other more basic commands that you’ll want easy access to when using CAD. A CAD command notebook is invaluable for anyone using CAD.
CAD Can Make Your Life Much Easier
If you want your projects to be easier to design and take less time to complete, CAD is for you. Aside from speeding up the process, CAD provides users with tons of unique and helpful features that make the design and engineering process of any project much more effective.
Skylar Ross is a contributor to Innovative Building Materials. He is a blogger and content writer for the architecture industry. Skylar is focused on helping architects and building designers discover new techniques, find ways to save on costs, and discover new modern innovative materials to use in their next project.
