Home / Non-Accredited / Graphic Design & CAD / AutoCAD Essentials (2D) (3 days)
Quick Look Course Summary:AutoCAD Essentials (2D) (3 days)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 3 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 21,125 EX VAT 3 Person R 13,658 EX VAT 10 Person R 9,155 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Training Advice
AutoCAD Essentials (2D) (3 days)
A complete beginner leaves able to set up, draw, edit, dimension and plot an accurate 2D drawing to scale – without calling in a specialist.
Engineering, architectural, facilities and manufacturing teams all reach the point where someone needs to open a drawing, make a change and get it to print at the right scale. Without proper grounding, people draw by eye, ignore layers and print drawings that measure wrong on paper. This AutoCAD training takes complete beginners through the current version of AutoCAD and builds the everyday 2D skills that drafting depends on.
Day one covers the interface, setting up a drawing correctly, the precision tools – coordinates, object snaps and tracking – and drawing and editing basic geometry. Day two adds accurate editing with trim, extend, fillet, offset and arrays, the Properties palette and measuring tools, layers and creating blocks. Day three covers inserting and reusing blocks, text, hatching, dimensions, layouts and viewports, and plotting to scale on paper or PDF.
The focus is on working in real drawings rather than memorising menus, with a practical exercise in every session. It is the first step in BOTI's AutoCAD path: delegates finish with the foundation that AutoCAD Advanced assumes and that the Civil 3D, Electrical and Plant 3D courses build on.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Staff who can make drawing changes in-house instead of waiting for a specialist
- Drawings set up and layered consistently from the start
- Fewer printing and scale errors on drawings sent to site or to suppliers
- A clear two-course path from beginner to productive CAD user
For your delegates
- Draw and edit precisely, not by eye
- Organise any drawing with layers and blocks
- Dimension and annotate drawings that other people can read
- Plot to scale on paper or PDF with confidence
What delegates will be able to do
- Navigate the AutoCAD interface and start, open, save and close drawings
- Set up drawing units, limits and a template before starting work
- Draw lines, circles, arcs, polylines, polygons and ellipses accurately with coordinates and object snaps
- Move, copy, rotate, scale, mirror, trim, extend, fillet, offset and array objects
- Query and change objects with the Properties palette, Quick Select and the measuring tools
- Create and manage layers, and create, insert and reuse blocks
- Add text, hatching and dimensions in consistent styles
- Set up layouts and viewports and plot a drawing to scale on paper or PDF
Who should attend
Anyone new to AutoCAD who needs to produce accurate 2D drawings: draughting assistants, junior designers and technicians, site and facilities staff, and technical administrators moving from paper or sketch-based drawing to CAD. No previous CAD experience is needed. This is the recommended starting point before AutoCAD Advanced, Civil 3D, AutoCAD Electrical or AutoCAD Plant 3D.
Course outline
Day 1 – Interface, set-up, precision and basic geometry
Getting oriented in AutoCAD
- The interface: start page, ribbon, command line and status bar
- Starting, opening, saving and closing drawings
- Running commands from the ribbon or the command line
- Navigating with the mouse: pan, zoom and views
- Model space and layout space, explained simply
Setting up a drawing correctly
- Drawing units and scale basics
- Limits and drawing templates
- Undo, redo and recovering from mistakes
- Why correct setup saves rework later
Drawing precisely
- The Cartesian workspace: absolute, relative and polar coordinates
- Object snaps for exact points
- Grid, snap, ortho and polar tracking
- Object snap tracking
- Why drawing by eye causes errors further down the line
Basic drawing and editing
- Drawing lines and circles
- Selection methods and erasing
- Move, copy, rotate, scale and mirror
- Editing with grips
More geometry
- Arcs, polylines and editing polylines
- Rectangles, polygons and ellipses
- Exercise: drawing a simple floor plan or part outline
Day 2 – Accurate editing, properties, layers and blocks
Getting information from a drawing
- The Properties palette and Quick Properties
- Match Properties
- Quick Select for filtering objects
- Measuring distances, angles and areas
Advanced editing
- Trim and extend
- Stretch
- Fillet and chamfer
- Offset
- Rectangular, polar and path arrays
- Fixing edit mistakes without starting over
Working with layers
- Why every drawing needs layers
- Creating, naming and colour-coding layers
- Linetype, lineweight and visibility
- Linetype scale
- Layer states and a simple layer standard
Creating blocks
- What blocks are and why they keep drawings consistent and light
- Creating a simple block
- Choosing the right layer and base point for a block
Day 3 – Annotation, layouts and plotting
Inserting and reusing blocks
- Inserting blocks from the current drawing and from other files
- Inserting at a set scale and rotation
- Reusing content with DesignCenter and tool palettes
- Redefining a block throughout a drawing
Text and hatching
- What annotation is
- Single-line and multiline text
- Text styles and readable sizes
- Creating and editing hatches
- Annotation mistakes that confuse site staff
Dimensions
- Linear, aligned, angular, radius and diameter dimensions
- Dimension styles that match the drawing scale
- Editing and repositioning dimensions
- Checking a dimensioned drawing for accuracy
Layouts, viewports and plotting
- Setting up a layout in paper space
- Creating and scaling viewports
- Page setups and plot style tables
- Plotting to PDF or to a printer
- Why a drawing that looks right on screen can print wrong
- Final check: scale, layers and annotation
Wrap-up and next steps
- The full 2D workflow, from setup to plot
- Common beginner errors and how to avoid them
- Where to go next: AutoCAD Advanced and the specialist courses
How it is delivered
Three days, 08:30-16:00. Training runs on your licensed Autodesk software at your offices (or on licensed machines you provide); it can also run live online when every delegate has a licensed copy. One delegate or a group of up to 20. Each delegate receives a training guide and practice drawings.
AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor and Civil 3D are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. BOTI is an independent training provider.
What our clients say
“The facilitator effectively encouraged participation and used practical examples, discussions and interactive activities to ensure that the concepts were understood and could be applied in the workplace.”
“Business Optimization Training Institute facilitated Microsoft Excel Training for our company. The course was efficiently scheduled and planned around our timetable. We were impressed by the quality of training.”
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Frequently asked questions
Do delegates need any CAD experience?
No. The course starts from first launch. Delegates who cannot yet read a technical drawing may find our Introduction to Technical Drawing course a useful first step.
What is the difference between this course and AutoCAD Advanced?
Essentials takes a beginner from first launch to plotting a dimensioned drawing to scale. AutoCAD Advanced Course assumes those skills and adds constraints, dynamic blocks, company templates, styles, advanced layouts and external references.
Does it cover 3D?
No. This is a 2D drafting course. The specialist courses – Civil 3D, Plant 3D and the Revit and Inventor courses – cover 3D modelling for their own disciplines.
Do we need our own AutoCAD licences?
Yes. Training runs on your licensed Autodesk software at your offices, or on licensed machines you provide. We train one delegate or a group of up to 20, anywhere in South Africa.
Is this an Autodesk qualification?
No. Delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance, and this is a non-accredited short course. BOTI is an independent training provider, not an Autodesk training centre. Autodesk runs its own Certified Professional exam for AutoCAD, which delegates can book themselves through Pearson VUE.