Coming from AutoCAD
You already know the drawing. The difference is that there is no command line to type into — every tool is a key, a dock button, or a click, and the geometry answers constraints instead of layers.
The gestures, mapped
| In AutoCAD | Here |
|---|---|
| LINE | Press L (or the dock), click the start, keep clicking to chain, Esc or right-click to end the chain. |
| CIRCLE | C, click the centre, pull the radius. The centre attaches to whatever you snap it to. |
| ARC | A, click the start and the end, then pull the bulge. Cross the chord to flip it; pull past the far side for the major arc. |
| RECTANG | R, two opposite corners — you get four welded lines already held horizontal and vertical. |
| TRIM | T, hover the span between two crossings, click to remove it. Works on lines, arcs, and circles (a trimmed circle becomes an arc). |
| EXTEND | E, hover the end that stops short, click — it carries on to the first thing it meets. |
| PLINE / SPLINE | N draws a spline through every point you click. Double-click the curve later to add a handle where you click. |
| DIMLINEAR / DIMRADIUS / DIMANGULAR | One dimension tool, D: pick a line (length), a circle (radius), two points (distance), a point and a line (offset), or two lines (angle) — then click to place. Edit the number and the geometry becomes it. |
| OSNAP running object snaps | Always on: endpoints, midpoints, centres, intersections snap as you approach. No flags to set. |
| Construction / xline layers | Construction geometry is a property of an entity, not a layer — the drawing holds one list, and construction lines mark, measure and constrain without being profile. |
| Zoom / pan | Pinch or wheel to zoom, two fingers to pan. On a mouse the wheel zooms toward the cursor. |
| Model space / paper space | 2D is the drawing; press 3D and the same document stands its solids up on it. Blueprint lays the sketch out as a bordered drawing sheet with a title block, dimensions and notes. |
The one idea to pick up
Dimensions here are not annotations that report a length — they are instructions. Pick a line, place a dimension, type 40, and the line becomes 40 mm; everything constrained to it follows. Draw freely first, then let the dimensions tighten the drawing, the way a sketch was always meant to work.
What goes out the door
The drawing exports as DXF, and the solids export as STL for the printer or STEP for the machine shop. Import an STL or a DXF to bring work in.