QCAD Tips & Tricks for Newbies

[@jorgesui9298]

Thank you very much! great tutorial however, I would like to see if you can help with architectural drawings and printing. I have been having problems with dimensions in foots and inches, somehow it does not show in the drawings and cannot get the grid measurements to draw in 1/4" = 1'-0"

[@TimMcKay56]

Jorge: Great idea, let me work on this! Tim

[@rinademi3134]

@@TimMcKay56 did u make the arch drawings tutorial?

[@TimMcKay56]

@@rinademi3134 Not yet! Tim

[@RockLander818]

Thank you!!! Saved my drawing as a .dxf and imported right into sendcutsend in seconds for a price quote. Thanks for getting me started at some 2D drawings for plasma cutting parts!

[@TimMcKay56]

RL: Glad things worked out! Tim

[@RockLander818]

@@TimMcKay56 Tim, I came from an RC background growing up flying RC Helios mainly. Nitro engines in the mid 90s-early 2000s… back then the planes were a lot different. They flew a lot more scale like. Is that something that is lost now or are there electric versions that are on par with the older midsize .60 planes?

[@TimMcKay56]

@@RockLander818 Sure, there are plenty of larger ARFs that fly just fine.

[@RockLander818]

@@TimMcKay56 gotcha! Awesome!!!! I guess with electric the availability of a lighter and more convenient options are made possible. Not to mention a much cleaner experience overall than dragging fuel around the oil gets everywhere😆.. Again thank you for making the video!!! Will check out your other ones.

[@TimMcKay56]

@@RockLander818 Thanks!

[@michaelbarth4875]

Newbie here, want to sketch my house / yard / sprinklers with measurements, just watched your video as a first step, thank you!

[@TimMcKay56]

Michael: Thanks for checking in. QCAD is a neat program. Great forum as well at www.QCAD.org Tim

[@davidbrohede]

Thank you for a clear overview!

[@TimMcKay56]

David: Glad it was helpful! Tim

[@donsoldgarage8148]

Thanks for this first tutorial, I have downloaded QCAD and will start watching your videos, I have Cad experience. But cost has stared we away from those programs. I'm 82 and would like to continue building and designing projects, and this looks like just what I'm looking for. I Have watched several of your videos so and have enjoyed them all. Thanks Don "Don's Old Garage" KZbin.

[@TimMcKay56]

Don: No worries, I think QCAD will work out well fir you. Tim

[@TimMcKay56]

Don: No worries, I think QCAD will work out well fir you. Tim

[@stevenschupbach1738]

Tim, this is a really excellent video! Thanks a lot!

[@TimMcKay56]

Steve: Glad you enjoyed it! QCAD really is a powerful and easy to use CAD program. Tim

[@CliffHarveyRCPlanes]

Thanks Tim, this was really useful 👍

[@TimMcKay56]

Cliff: Thanks for checking in! Tim

[@NorthernMonkey62]

Tim. Very informative with great examples. Just starting with Qcad so very helpful.

[@TimMcKay56]

Glad it was helpful! Tim

[@NorthernMonkey62]

@@TimMcKay56 Almost embarrassed to ask this but i will. Have just spent 2 hours trying to get a vertical rectangle of 1250x70mm to sit centrally on to a base plate of 240x8mm and still cant get them to snap together. Any idea's? Must be snap settings i guess.

[@TimMcKay56]

@@NorthernMonkey62 Nothing comes to mind at the moment. www.QCAD.org has a very useful forum, perhaps give that a try. Tim

[@ross2595]

This is a great video, thank you. I have found that QCad is the best free 2D Cad package to use. I really appreciate the style of this tutorial. Simply showing what tools are available and how to use them. It has saved me countless hours. I simply didn't know there was a tool to round corners between two perpendicular lines. I'm sure there are many other tools and techniques I'm missing out on. Further brief videos would be appreciated, not only for the RC community.

[@TimMcKay56]

Ross: Glad this was helpful! Tim

[@DonaldYEastArtist]

Thanks I'm finally on the right place.

[@TimMcKay56]

👍🏻😊 Tim

[@johnhilbrands3274]

John Hilbrands 11 minutes ago (edited) To set up for architecture in foot and inches Do these settings Choose edit- drawing preferences also do the same to Edit-Application preferences so it will be the same for next drawing, change dimension to architectural. in drawing unit choose inch, paper unit inch, and measurement choose imperial. in Printing choose 1'=1/4"(0r 1/8 or whatever). also change paper size so you can make a pdf in a larger size (print dialog wont let you set pdf paper size but if you do in preferences it will) and print at staples their self service machine will do up to ledger (11x17) for 1.00 (much cheaper then blueprint size) and will print from a usb pdf. do print preview and use little hand icon to drag paper to center when happy print and it will print to scale. Remember the design is always 1:1 the printing is scaled. Some helpful points are design a single line home design first and then add wall thickness after all done using parallel set to 5" (or whatever) then make a perpendicular line at 5" and put in ends and then hatch if you like. to get fancy you can make doors and windows and copy and paste around. Its easier though if you put door designs into library and use library browser on far right to select them as an object and they are available next time you can even download lots of these DXF component symbols online and put them in the library. Remember to use different layers for dimensioning or site plan so you can turn off for different prints. I plan to make a KZbin tutorial on this when I get a chance. Hope this helps all those people asking about architectural use.

[@TimMcKay56]

John: Great stuff, you have done your homework! Tim

[@altamirofaria5741]

Muito bom. Abraço. 👍🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@TimMcKay56]

👍🏻 Tim

[@clausbohm9807]

Very elegant and simple program giving you just what you need without all the garbage, many should learn from this. Animation programmers make their software way too complicated, I wish they took the advice and simplified their stuff. Maya, Max, Blender and Houdini don't have to be so complicated. Only C4D tries to simplify. We use maybe 10% of all that crap they give us. There should be a way to reorganize the UI to show only the important commands in these animation programs and then one can dial down deeper if they want to.

[@TimMcKay56]

Claus: Fully agree, QCAD a great option for a powerful, easy to use and affordable 2D CAD program. Tim

[@davidpadget7181]

I deal with building dwgs. and have the layers for walls - new or demo etc. (so I can turn them off or on) Also need model space/paper space (working drawing to scaled printout)Does QCad do that?

[@TimMcKay56]

Not sure, but do check out their blog at www.QCAD.org

[@stephenlewotsky8300]

Hi Tim, Thanks for the tutorial, really good information. Quick question: can I set the scale before I begin drawing? For example, I want to draw a site plan at a scale of 1/4" = 1', is there a way to set that before I begin the drawing? Thanks.

[@TimMcKay56]

Stephen: Best approach is to simply Google "Can you set the scale in QCAD." I did this, came up from the www.QCAD.or site and blog with ":Select the entities you want to scale. Set the center of the scaling with the mouse. The scale dialog is displayed where you can enter the scale factor (also will show the proper icons). Tim

[@stephenlewotsky8300]

@@TimMcKay56 Thanks Tim. I'll give it a try.

[@jongrace9133]

I noticed that you are using a light background, I tried to change it in drawing preferences but just not right. Can you shared the correct settings.

[@TimMcKay56]

Jon: I am not sure off the top of my head on the background chance. www.QCAD.org has a great forum section, I am sure someone there will know. Tim

[@sandrabrown4993]

QCAD is intuitive when drawing but I find it very difficult in the application/drawing setup. I'm using it for my personal landscape design and need to have the drawing dimensions match my physical space. So I was able to import a bitmap from Google Earth and then set the drawing dimensions in QCAD using a known dimension in the imported map. I then built layers on top of this bitmap containing my design (and hid the original bitmap layer). All was well and good but one day when I opened the file, the drawing dimensions had changed and instead of my approx 100'x100' space the grid was showing about 8.5'x8.5'. Do you have any idea what might have caused this change and how to get it back? I just ordered the paper manual in hopes of figuring this out. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! And I can't remember how I set up the original dimensions.

[@TimMcKay56]

Sandra: Would love to assist, but I believe you are far ahead of me on QCAD. I would check the QCAD forum on their website, lots of experts there. Tim

[@sandrabrown4993]

@@TimMcKay56 thank you for responding!

[@lwill53951]

Hey Tim i have been using QCAD for a year or so and I’m wanting to mill a one inch hole .750 deep and use a .200 inch carbide emill i can have it do the hole but i want it to start i the center and spiral out to 1.0 inch i want to take about ten passes do you know how to do this thanks les Williams

[@TimMcKay56]

Les: Would love to help you out, but you are more advanced than me at this stage!! Tim

[@914_werke]

perhaps Im dense but fail to see a simple way to select a corner of varying degree and apply a defined radius ? It seems far too complicated

[@TimMcKay56]

My technique with learning a CAD program is to work an issue, then simply take a break when stuck. Amazing how many challenges clear up. Also, a great forum at QCAD.org. Tim

[@tgaddo]

Tim, how did you make the context menu pop up at 8:53 into the video?

[@TimMcKay56]

Tim: Right click on the mouse button. Right clicking for a lot of tasks is most helpful, oftentimes a good menu selection. Tim

[@tgaddo]

@@TimMcKay56 Thanks Tim. Right click was the first thing I tried, but it doesn't work for me. Might be a problem with my mouse, although it works fine in other applications. There isn't an option in qcad I could have turned off is there? Thanks again. Tim

[@TimMcKay56]

@@tgaddo Not sure. I use a Mac, maybe check the System Preferences menu for the mouse, see if there is an option there. May be worth getting an inexpensive USB mouse off Amazon, see how that button works. Tim

[@tgaddo]

@@TimMcKay56 Interestingly, I swapped the mouse buttons: still no context menu. And my laptop is set to "allow right click on the touchpad", no context menu there either. The Qcad applications preferences has only a couple mouse options, not related to right-click. I'll keep working on it. Thanks, Tim

[@fernandoh.2609]

Hey I can’t see my line when I drawl on a box line ?? Can someone help please I was messing with the settings / colors and I messed something up 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@TimMcKay56]

Best advice when stuck on learning any CAD program: Take a break, amazing how things can clear up. Also a great forum on www.QCAD.org Tim

[@archcast5550]

Yeah it opened Cad files that cannot be opened in nanocad and librecad wew!

[@TimMcKay56]

👍🏻 Tim

[@archcast5550]

@@TimMcKay56 I was able to actually just use model space the problem with free version is there is no match properties but with only 40$ it is a win win situation... I recently installed it and I looked thru the menu and toolbars wow! The interface is unique but understandable! The copy arrays blew my mind, This is more advance vs classic cad . I am confident I can make floor plans easily with this under an hour of looking at the shortcuts. the shortcut keys just lovely! Thanks TIM! The thing that surprised me most is the command line using surveyors syntax for technical plotting of land still works! This is an underrrated 2d cad application!

[@TimMcKay56]

Arch: Fully agree, QCAD is a keeper! Tim

[@francoisBonin-phils]

before buying , be aware that the $40 fee does not gives you access to the CAM plugin , you have Qcad pro , that's all , no CAM.I was trapped in this...

[@TimMcKay56]

Copy!

[@davidpadget7181]

What is CAM?

[@agnelodearaujo7413]

@@davidpadget7181computer aided machining