lily97•28d ago

Switched from drawing everything by hand to using AutoCAD full time about 6 months ago

I used to trace every duct layout on vellum with a pencil and ruler, but after a big commercial job in Austin forced me to speed up, I finally caved and learned the software. Has anyone else made the jump late and felt like they were relearning the whole trade from scratch?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_eva28d ago

Jump into it and memorize your keyboard shortcuts first...

troy_wilson828d ago

Man, I hear you. That switch from hand drafting to full on digital is brutal at first, especially when you've got muscle memory from years of pencil and vellum. I did the same thing back in 2014 and spent three months feeling like I had no idea how to do my own job. @the_eva is right about keyboard shortcuts though, that was the thing that finally clicked for me after I stopped trying to fight the software. It's like learning a whole new language for your hands to speak while your brain is still trying to do things the old way. Stick with it, that feeling of starting over does pass eventually.