In this Article...
This is your first challenge in the Work Better with AutoCAD program.
In this first challenge, you will set goals. You will define what you are going to achieve and what problems you have when you work. Your first task is to examine your existing drawings.
Find drawings that you consider to represent your current standard. You may work with more than one type of drawing. If you are working in multiple disciplines, collect an example for each type of drawing that you will work with in the future.
Your existing drawings can be hardcopy, but it will be better if you have the DWG file.
The objective
After “Preparation”, your next challenges will be based on your standard and what drawings you plan to produce. Therefore, this first step is quite important.
When you decide on your standards, you can plan what you will put in your drawing template. If you do not yet have a standard, it’s a good time for you to explore available standards for your industry and location.
After you know what type of drawings you will produce, you can create the necessary reusable contents and customization.
If you are already implementing CAD standards, use this step to examine if you need to update them. Are there any layers, annotation styles, or reusable content you need to add? Have you implemented features like sheet sets, layer states and filters, dynamic blocks, or annotation scaling? Do you plan to implement them later?
Practical guidelines
In your drawings, find what objects and settings you have in common. You can use these questions as your guide:
- What layers, annotation styles, and scales do you have in your drawings? Do they cause problems when you collaborate with other companies?
- What objects do you repetitively draw? Do you need to have them in your library?
- What objects require a lot of time and are prone to errors when you revise the drawing?
- What processes require a lot of time during drawing creation? Can you automate them?
You can add more questions in the comment section below and share them with others.
Why is using a CAD standard is important?
Why is a CAD standard important? Shaun Bryant puts it this way:
CAD Standards are necessary and very important to the industry to allow designs and drawings to be interchanged between teams on projects. Sometimes large projects use multiple CAD platforms, so CAD Standards are essential for the project to function.
You can also share from your experience why you think CAD standards are important in the comment section below.
Discuss it with us
Now that you have collected your drawings and taken this first step tell us what you found.
How many drawing types do you have? Can you define your standard drawings now? Do you think this standard will help you to better collaborate with your team and other companies?
What problems do you have with your current workflow? Where do you think you can improve it?
Please discuss this in the comment section below. If you read this in a feed or the email newsletter, please visit the website and leave your comments there. Please share your experiences, as they can help others. Don’t forget to share obstacles you encounter as well; we might be able to help!
If you are finished, go to the next challenge: create an AutoCAD template.
Thank you very much to Michel Mattson for the editorial correction!
I am looking forward to this. As it turns out, I am in Murray Clack’s beginning position and it’s 2015! We are a very small office, our engineering department consists of 4, and have locations we serve in several states. I’m guessing the “salty dog” syndrome is to blame here as well along with the fact that only I, the only CAD person, care for standards past, “does the drawing look right”. I care because I know they will make my job faster and more effective and, if needed, easier for any new hires to understand.
Siempre es necesario una pequeña variedad de plantillas, en mi caso trabajo poso con obra nueva, y realizo la mayor parte de mi trabajo en reformas, y diseño de interiores, es aquí donde tengo una plantilla diferente pues prescindo de capas de cimentación, estructura, y otras que se suelen crear en un plano de obra nueva.
Si necesito capas y elementos anotativos para crear mis planos de obra existentes, y reformas a realizar, así mismo siempre tendré los elementos comunes entre las dos plantillas, como mis presentaciones, paletas de herramientas etc.
Creo que es muy importante tener unas paletas de herramientas debidamente creadas, las cuales te pueden ahorrar mucho tiempo, si vamos a crear un muro y primero tengo que situarme en la capa muro porque no tener en la paleta de herramienta, la herramienta Muro que al seleccionarla se situé directamente en la capa muro, ahorrando una gran cantidad de tiempo, y poder usar la cabeza expresamente en el diseño, y no en labores como en que capa estoy situado
A good site here. I try to follow you.
Correct that last address should be rjrcubed.blogspot.com
Check out my latest blog post…from 14 yes ago that deals with this topic/issue…rcubed.blogspot.com
Excellent stuff for AutoCad beginners like me.But how to save and keep layers,repetitive tools and commands on hand every time I open a new dwg.file?
We use two standards in our office. We have one the states how a drawing is to be “presented”, layout, text, line type etc. and we use a template for that, then we have one that states how the data in the drawing is to be exported out to be populated in our geodatabase for use in our GIS. Both are used internally and externally and are co-dependent on each other.
I’m working for an architectural practice specialized in shop fitting and renovations.
Many years ago somebody in the office created a standard drawing that is still (more or less) used.
The three main challenges are:
– sharing files with other practices (although our custom layers are easily recognizable and there’s no risk of overlapping);
– this standard drawing is quite old and many new possibilites have appeared since then. The standard should be implemented with things like annotative dimensions and dynamic blocks.
– introducing something new always finds some resistence in some colleagues… moreover, when somebody new starts working with our office, they don’t receive any training on this and it can lead to confusion and mistakes.
Thanks for setting this challenge, it will be a great opportunity to improve our current way of working with autocad!
Hi
I would like to add that you should write articels about linking excel sheet and autocad drawings to be updated constantly.
Have you tried Excel datalink in AutoCAD?
I forgot to mention on a prior post that the USACE CAD Standards are free and all files can be downloaded from https://cadbim.usace.army.mil/.
Give it a look, it is worth it.
Thank you very much Carlos!
This is a good place for anyone who hasn’t implemented standards yet.