Engineering & CAD drafting insights.
The ASTCAD Engineering Design and Drafting Blog — practical tutorials, software guides, Australian standards walkthroughs and engineering case studies from our team. Over 200 articles covering CAD drafting, BIM, FEA, mechanical design and structural detailing.
Editor’s pick this week.
AS 4100 Base Plate Design: The Limit State Procedure, Step by Step
The four limit state checks a column base plate has to pass under AS 4100 and AS 3600 — bearing, plate bending, anchorage and weld — and what the shop drawing must state.
Read articleLatest from the blog.
How to Choose the Right Software for Design and Drafting
In today’s world of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) as well as mechanical and industrial design, design and drafting s...
How to Choose the Right CAD Drafting Services in Melbourne
In today’s competitive construction and engineering industry, CAD Drafting Services in Melbourne have become an essential part of every...
How to Choose the Right CAD Drafting Services in Brisbane
In today’s fast-paced construction and design industry, choosing the right CAD drafting services in Brisbane can significantly impact t...
How to Choose the Right CAD Drafting Services in Melbourne…
In today’s fast-paced design and construction industries, precision and efficiency are non-negotiable. Whether you're an architect, eng...
Top Tips for Choosing Reliable CAD Design and Drafting Services…
In today’s fast-paced engineering and design environment, having precise and efficient CAD (Computer-Aided Design) design and drafting ...
How to Design Structural Drafting in AutoCAD: A Complete Guide…
Structural design and drafting are the backbone of any construction or engineering project. With the rise of digital tools, AutoCAD has b...
How to Design 3D Mechanical Parts in AutoCAD: A Complete…
Designing 3D Mechanical Parts in AutoCAD is an essential skill for engineers, designers, and manufacturers who want to bring their ideas ...
How to Make Engineering Drawings in AutoCAD: A Step-by-Step Guide…
Creating precise and professional engineering drawings in AutoCAD is a fundamental skill for engineers, architects, and designers. AutoCA...
AutoCAD 2025 3D Tutorial for Beginners || AutoCAD 2D to…
AutoCAD has always been a powerful tool for engineers, architects, and designers who want to bring their ideas to life. With the release ...
Step-by-Step Guide: Converting PDF Drawings to DWG Files in AutoCAD
In the world of design, engineering, and construction, sharing drawings in PDF format is common practice. However, professionals often ne...
The Future of AI in Engineering CAD Drafting
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in engineering has revolutionized various disciplines, and one of the most promising appl...
AI in Drafting: What Every CAD Professional Needs to Know…
As the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries continue to evolve, the role of AI in drafting has become increasingl...
What the ASTCAD CAD drafting blog covers
The ASTCAD CAD drafting blog is written by working drafters and engineers, which shapes what gets published: practical tutorials on AutoCAD, SolidWorks and Revit workflows, plain-language explainers on Australian drafting standards like AS 1100 and AS 4100, career guidance for drafters entering or advancing in the industry, and honest assessments of the technology waves — AI, automation, 3D printing — as they actually land in Australian drawing offices. Case-study articles walk through real project decisions, and conversion guides cover the file-format questions every multi-software office hits weekly.
How to use this blog
Articles are organised by discipline and linked between related topics, so a reader arriving on a DWG conversion guide will find the neighbouring articles on CAD standards and software selection without hunting. If you are researching a service — structural drafting, 3D scanning, BIM — the relevant articles link through to the service pages where our team can pick up the conversation. New articles are published regularly; the most useful entry points are linked below.
If there is a CAD, drafting or engineering documentation topic you want covered — or a question a client keeps asking you — tell us through the contact page. Reader questions have driven several of the most-read articles on this blog.
The blog also serves a quieter purpose: it is where we document the recurring questions from real client projects — the DWG version conflicts, the standards interpretation debates, the software licensing traps — so the next person searching that exact problem finds a straight answer written by someone who solved it last month. If an article here saved you an afternoon, that is the metric we publish against.
For readers who prefer a starting map: the standards articles anchor the reference material, the how-to-read-drawings guides serve site teams, the software tutorials serve drafters, and the career series serves people entering the industry. Everything else radiates from those four clusters.
New: AS 4100 Base Plate Design: The Limit State Procedure, Step by Step.
Tutorial: Step-by-step — creating your first CAD drawing.
Guide: CAD automation — a step-by-step implementation guide.