if you are a complete AutoCAD beginner and you want to know all about learning AutoCAD right from scratch up to a professional level then watch this video till the end in this video I'll not only share the step-by-step method of learning AutoCAD but also I'll share a list of mostly free and some premium resources like PDF guides books and courses that will help you learn AutoCat from scratch up to a professional level now before we start let me know in the comments down below what is your current AutoCAD knowledge level is it a beginner intermediate or a professional level so with that let's get [Music] [Applause] [Music] started now the step one of learning aad is getting the software there is no point learning aat without the software obviously so the first step is obviously you should get the software now if you are a student then you can get AutoCat for free from Autodesk with onee license that renews every year as long as you are a student all you need is a student ID that you can scan and share with Autodesk and they'll give you the license I've discussed more about this option in an article Linked In the description of this video but what if you are not enrolled in a college or a school and you still want to learn aad and you want the software for it well in that case your options are quite limited but not closed completely you can go for aad LT which is really a trimmed down version of of aad without 3D tools and some Advanced features like sheet set and data extraction is not available in LT but for learning AutoCAD AutoCAD LT is really great as it just costs a fraction of what actual AutoCAD license costs and it contains almost all the features of full version AutoCAD as long as you are learning 2D tools and that's all you need when you are just starting to learn aad now the next option is 15-day free trial but as you can see it is quite limited option and not very practical as after 15 days you need to upgrade or you need to install it on a different PC and you simply cannot keep finding new pc every 15 days so use this trial option only when you are done learning with aad LT and you want to try only some Advanced tools and commands then only you can go for this full version of AutoCAD now other options like Flex tokens are not even worth discussing but yes they are available and if you want to check it well once again I have created an article where I've mentioned everything about all the available options that you can check in the description now after you have the software the next step is learning the basics and I really mean the basics you should ignore all the advanced concepts at this stage to avoid the overwhelm when you are a new user you should only focus on topics that will get you up and running with aad like basic draw commands modify commands Dimensions annotations basic of layer and a little bit about blocks and printing tools once you are confident with these basic topics you can move to the next level or the next Advanced topics you can cover all the basics of aad with free aad Essentials course that I've created for this exact reason this course covers only the basic topics in a step-by-step way all from scratch and it also has practice lessons and quizzes for self assessment now these topics are also explained using practical examples so you'll not only know about using audat but you'll also know where to use well specific tools and in which part of the drawing you should use which specific tools so essentially you'll not only learn about aat tools but also how to use it in a real world scenario once again the link of this course is in the description of this video and it's also in the pinned comment by the way it's completely free now on a side note I have created a massive list of 200 AutoCat commands in a PDF ebook format now it is also linked in the description of this video and this ebook is also completely free so download it and you can use it as a reference when you are learning aad now step three is practicing with drawings now this step of practicing with 2D drawings is also essential well without this everything that you have learned so far will be lost sooner than you know so if you don't practice you'll simply forget everything that you've learned so far to practice you can simply Google aut at practice drawings and from the image section find as many drawings as you can and make these drawings yourself using AutoCAD if you don't want to use random drawings from Google then you can download the free practice drawing ebook that I've created well for this specific reason this aat practice drawing ebook has nearly 100 practice drawings from 2D as well as 3D AutoCAD it also has some projects with fully dimensioned drawings the link of this free practice drawing ebook is also available in the description of this video now the next step is moving into the advanced aad territory now you know the basics of aad and you've practiced with simple drawings as well it's time you start learning Advanced topics for advanced topics you should rely on professional aat courses from platforms like LinkedIn learning and obviously Source cat as well you can also opt for instructor Le trainings but these are usually expensive and if you are learning it all by yourself then these online platforms are really great now these courses are made in a step-by-step way and they explain all the topics with complete detail also the instructors of these courses are subject matter expert who know what they're talking about and when it comes to professional AutoCAD courses we at sourcecad have really nailed it and we have made this course that fits the requirement well well AutoCAD courses on sourcecad are super comprehensive they cover all the topics in complete detail with practical examples quizzes and practice exercises now the aate courses on sourcecad are made by me me and I am a published author of AET book by pack publication and I'm also a certified AES aat professional now apart from Link in learning and source card you can also check other online platforms like Udi but I usually don't recommend it as author credentials in Udi are not always verified but they also have some really Great aat Courses so you can check it if you want now as the next step you should go for aat certification exam well this step is optional but useful for users who are looking for work that needs AutoCAD as an essential skill this certification comes directly from Autodesk and it's the best way to validate your skills there are essentially two levels of AutoCat certification the user level and professional level though a beginner can go for user level exam I never recommend it rather I always ask my students to go for professional level exam I've explained everything related to aicat certification exam with complete details about exam pattern syllabus and more in this video you can check it in the pin at the top and also it's linked in the description of this video we've also created an AutoCat certification learning path that will help you Ace the certification exam in the very first attempt all you have to do is follow the courses in the learning path from top to bottom the link of that learning path is also mentioned in the description of this video finally the last step is learning articat 3D now this step is also optional and only need needed if you really want to use AutoCAD for 3D drawings aad is not well known for 3D tools but if you really want to use it for 3D drawings well then you should start by learning the basics of AutoCat 3D once again the free AutoCat Essentials scores that I mentioned previously in the beginning will help you learn the basic 3D tools without overwhelming you with Advanced tools and commands once you are done with the basics of AutoCAD 3D you can learn the advanced tools like mesh modeling rendering and making manufacturing ready drawings using AutoCAD the free AutoCAD Essentials course that I mentioned at the beginning of this video contains the 3D part as well so you should definitely start with that course if you are new to aat 3D and if you want to become a pro after learning about the basic tools then you should go for the comprehensive aad 3D course that we have on sourcecad now in this comprehensive course you'll also learn about making complete project right from a scratch with materials details full photo realistic renderings environment settings and quite a lot more once again the link of this comprehensive autate 3D course is mentioned in the description of this video so that was my sixth step process of learning aad right from scratch along with a list of resources that anyone can use once again let me know what's your current aad knowledge level is it beginner intermediate level or a professional level just let me know in the comments down below and also let me know which topic you want us to cover in the next video I'll see you soon in the next one [Music]