Blog

Ductwork Shop Drawings

Below is a sample of one of my recent ductwork shop drawing projects. I created these drawings for a mechanical contractor. This client of mine provides mechanical services for new construction, rehabilitation, repair and maintenance of institutional heating, ventilation and

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Architectural Drafters

I’ve been running draftingservices.com since 2007. We provide all kinds of drafting support to architects, contractors, engineers and etc.. Currently we have a few different ongoing projects. One of these projects is to draft the construction drawings of a house.

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Top CAD Blogs of 2016

Hey, happy soon to be 2017! I know it’s cliche, because everyone says it, but I can’t believe 2016 is almost completed. It’s crazy. Time flies. The end of 2016 brings me to my customary year end Top CAD Blogs

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Top CAD Blogs of 2015

Welcome, and wazzup! As has been my custom for the past 4 years, on basically the last day of the year I post the Top CAD Blogs of the year. Once again, I’m at it. Let’s see who ranked where.

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Building Surveys

The term “building survey” can mean different things to different people. Below is a partial list of how different professionals may use the term.

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Paper to CAD Conversions

“Paper to cad” is a shorthand phrase that refers to the act of converting a set of paper drawings into CAD format. The focus of this article will be an introductory level explanation of the topic.

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Rent AutoCAD or Revit

Yes, you can now rent AutoCAD LT!! Okay, it’s only the LT version, but that should be good enough for many people’s needs. Here’s how you can rent it.

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Top CAD Blogs of 2012

This is my second annual “Top CAD Blogs” post. I changed things up a bit this year, in hopes that it’d make this post more straight forward. In last year’s

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Free NVIDIA Computer Graphics Card

Back in October of 2010 I bought a Quadro FX 580 graphics card for my then new computer. I paid $160 for it, and eventually determined that it wasn’t compatible with my Dell Inspiron 560 computer.

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My Standing Desk

The other week I wrote about the ergonomic mouse that I bought in hopes it would aleviate the pain I have in the top of my hands and forearms. The mouse definitely did help some, but my pain is due

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How to Rename an AutoCAD Block

Last week I was working on a floor plan drafting project. The project called for me to measure and draft the floor plans of a penthouse apartment on 5th Avenue in New York City. I also had to include the

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Backing Up Your CAD Files

As a sole proprietor I run my own drafting services business, and up until now I’ve been using an external hard drive to backup my CAD files. This has been good, but in reality, not good enough.

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Help! My Hand and Forearm Hurt!

If you’ve been on a computer for years, like I have, then you may have found yourself Googling phrases like “pain in the back of the hand” or “ergonomic workstation” or etc. If you have, then you’re not alone, because

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AutoCAD System Variables

If you’re an AutoCAD user, then sooner or later you will come across “system variables”. I consider these to be a little less intuitive part of AutoCAD, then other parts of the software. Let me explain.

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A Home Architectural Survey Defined

Has your Architect told you that you need an Architectural Survey performed on your house, in order for him to create the home remodeling drawings that you hired him for? Well, if this is so, then you’re not the first

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AutoCAD Cheat Sheet

The mouse is death!! This is a phrase I’ve heard, in reference to one working efficiently on his computer. What it means is, given the choice between using your mouse to execute commands vs. using keyboard shortcuts to execute commands,

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AutoCAD Image Border

When an image is inserted into an AutoCAD drawing, it comes in with a border. The border is more properly known as a frame. I first became aware of the image frame when

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An Introduction to Point Cloud Data

These days, within the AEC industry, and within many other industries too, cloud is a buzzword that I hear fairly often. In my circles the word most often refers to computing or storing data in a cloud. The cloud is

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CADD Geek Health Issues

Here’s a superb video interview of Dr. Andrew Weil, in which the interviewer Kevin Rose asks Dr. Weil health questions that relate to computer geek lifestyles. CADD people certainly spend

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Building Measuring | Project Summary 8

Measuring buildings, for the purpose of creating CAD drawings of them, is what I do for a living. It is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, and each building is a challenge. I get great satisfaction out of trying to

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Floor Plan Service | Project Summary 7

Drafting service businesses, such as mine, provide floor plan services. Doing so entails going to a building (or house) to measure its floor plans, followed by creating a CAD drawing that is based upon the measurements.

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Residential House Drawings | Project Summary 2

Here’s a project on which I needed to create floor plan drawings and exterior elevation drawings of a two story (plus a full basement) residential house in the Bronx, NY. The drawings were delivered to my client in AutoCAD format.

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Existing Conditions Drawings | Project Summary 1

A set of existing conditions drawings for an existing structure are created from on-site measurements of the structure. The on-site measuring is sometimes loosely referred to as a survey. Once the structure is surveyed, the field measurements are used to

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Project Photofly v2 Resources

Creating 2D as-built building elevation drawings in AutoCAD format is one of the services that I provide as a CAD consultant. Typically such drawings are required by my AEC industry clients for

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Top Ten CAD Blogs As Of May 2011

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and here in New York City it’s a point in the year that always seems to me to be a time of transition. I think I get this impression because, quite amazingly, this weekend

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