Autocad is the world-leader in drafting software, and for many of the millions of Autocad users the main purpose is to create home plans, for construction as well as council approval. We show you how in our Autocad 2d courses. 
The first step in the process is to conduct a context study which incorporates  the site survey, site visit, aerial photography, zoning and building codes, and hand sketches. The Autocad process starts with opening a template which usually includes various layers, dimension styles and page layouts.
Autocad layers are like transparent sheets or overlays. We can have several of them, called a stack, with separate information on each layer in different colours, line types and weights. For example, you could have one layer for drawing lines, another for hidden, dashed lines, another for construction lines, another for dimensions and yet another for text. If you switch a layer off it becomes invisible. This can be a very sophisticated method of organizing your drawing content, and drafting firms often have their own layer conventions. To create and manage layers, click the Layer Properties Manager button on the top Layers toolbar, or type LA into the Command line.
Most objects in an AutoCcad drawing consist of a combination of lines, polylines, circles and arcs. There are a variety of methods for creating these. A line may be drawn by choosing the Line tool from the Draw toolbar, or by choosing Draw>Line from the drop-down Menu, or by typing L in the Command line. Note that the Command line is not case-sensitive. Horizontal and vertical lines may be drawn if ORTHO (F8) is turned on at the Status Bar. After choosing a tool, several options are available in the Command window, eg. starting point, next point and end point for lines. Pull your cursor in the direction you wish to draw, enter the required width from your number pad and press Enter to complete the line.
To add dimensions to a drawing first make active the Dimension layer from your layers drop-down list. You can add dimensions in several ways: you can first type DIM in the Command window to open a mini-application within Autocad. Then you type abbreviated commands in the Command window and click on the appropriate objects. An easier method, however, is to right-click on any toolbar and choose the Dimensions toolbar from the list. Linear is used for both horizontal and vertical dimensioning. Annotations and multi leaders may also be added at this point, as well as tables either created from scratch or by importing from Word or Excel.
The final step in creating your house plans is to go into a paper layout and scale the viewport window. Typically this would be 1:50 or 1:100 on an A3 or A2 sheet. Sheet sizes are chosen in the Page Setup Manager, and scaling is performed by selecting the viewport and choosing a scale from the pop-up menu on the bottom right of the Status bar. Alternatively, you can create a custom scale. Note that you can have one or many viewports on the one sheet. Lastly, we would output the drawing as a PDF: simply go to Application > Print > Plot and choose Adobe PDF as your printer, or the DWG to PDF option. A Preview button is located on the bottom left of the dialog box. The resulting PDF will open in either Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, depending on which program the recipient has.
More information on all features of Autocad can be found at the AutoDesk website. And see many examples of our clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Autocad 2d Blog Posts:

• Autocad 2d basics
• Autocad 2d introduction
• Autocad 2d drawing
• Autocad 2d workspace
• Autocad 2d isometric