9 CAD Productivity Tricks I Wish I Knew Sooner 💡
Plus the Free AI Tool That's Saves me a ton of time
Hey All,
TGIF!
With summer just around the corner and construction season in full swing, I know firsthand how hectic this time of year can get. Between jobsite visits, design deadlines, and trying to sneak in a bit of sun and family time, it’s easy to feel stretched thin.
This past week, I found myself in a crunch, focused on getting multiple designs finished up and sent out while also needing to clean & export data for a contractor, all while trying to find time to make it to watch my kids’ Track Meet Events during my lunch and breaks!
And I’m glad I was able to make it all work since they killed it and cleaned up with Ribbons :)
Even though it’s been an exhausting few weeks…
I’m just glad I have knowledge, experience, and shortcuts in place so I could finish up faster and make time to fit in what really mattered too!
If you’ve ever felt stuck inside tweaking layers, fighting AutoCAD, or simply cleaning up drawings while the rest of the world is enjoying summer, this one’s for you.
Let’s dive into some simple, but powerful AutoCAD productivity boosters that’ll save you hours this month:
Quick Tip:
Knowing how to work proficiently in any software is the key to producing a quality and professional-looking product. Anyone can pick up a new software, whether it’s CAD or something completely different, and fumble their way through it. Learning on the fly and making mistakes is part of life.
But we don’t need to do this, and if you want to make design/drafting a part of your career, you need to understand the best practices and shortcuts that pros use to make things fast.
Check out this video to learn a handful of must-know shortcuts in just a few minutes!
7 AutoCAD Shortcuts You'll Wish You Knew Sooner!
CAD Productivity Boosters You’ll Actually Use!
Here are a few under-the-radar commands and habits that can make a huge difference in how quickly and cleanly you work in AutoCAD:
1. QSELECT – Precision Selections Fast
Need to find all the red dashed polylines on Layer 3? Boom. QSELECT. It’s your go-to for batch selecting objects by layer, color, type, or property. Perfect for cleanup or edits on cluttered drawings.
2. OVERKILL – Clean Up the Clutter
Run this command to delete duplicate lines and overlapping geometry. This not only speeds up your drawings but can also prevent weird plotting issues and bloated file sizes.
3. LAYMRG – Merge Like a Pro
Standardize messy layer setups by merging similar or redundant layers into a single clean one. Super helpful when working with drawings from different sources.
4. LAYDEL – Delete the Undeletable
Got a stubborn layer that just won’t go away? Even with objects still on it? LAYDEL will force delete it! Just be sure you mean it.
5. CTRL + R – Viewport Hero Move
Cycle between viewports without clicking around like a maniac. Especially handy in layout tabs when you’re juggling multiple views.
6. CHSPACE – Paper ↔ Model Space Magic
Move objects between spaces while keeping their scale intact. This one’s a must for detailing and layout adjustments on the fly.
7. Use Template Files (.DWT)
Start every project with your standards preloaded: layers, title blocks, linetypes, plot styles, you name it. Less setup, more drawing.
8. Command Aliases = Muscle Memory
Train yourself to use short aliases for your top commands (C = Copy, M = Matchprop, etc.). One hand on the mouse, one on the keyboard = speed mode unlocked.
9. Layer States/Groups/Filters
Layer filters and saved states help you keep your drawings organized and allow you to toggle setups before presenting or exporting. Snap back to a clean view with one click.
Learn the Full System (and Work Smarter)
If you found even one of those tips useful, just wait till you see what’s inside my AutoCAD Fundamentals & Workflows Course.
It’s built to help you go from overwhelmed and frustrated to confident and fast, without needing to spend 10+ years learning it the hard way like I did.
👉 Check it out here + grab 15% off this week only
🔍 Tool/Tech/AI Pick of the Week
NotebookLM (by Google) has quickly become one of my favorite research tools—especially when I’m knee-deep in design guidelines, city bylaws, or trying to decipher a 200-page government PDF.
It lets you upload long documents (like code books, engineering specs, or regulations) and then ask questions directly about the content, summarize sections, or even get key takeaways without scrolling endlessly or using clunky search functions.
💡 Example:
I recently used it to extract drainage setback rules from a 150+ page municipal bylaw doc... in seconds. It’s like having an AI-powered assistant who actually read the manual.
If your work involves digging through large technical docs (which, let’s be honest, it does), this is a serious productivity boost.
You can try it out here:
https://notebooklm.google.com/
That’s it for this week! Try out a few of these tips and let me know which one makes the biggest difference for you. Also, let me know if you use NotebookLM or which AI tools are currently in your daily rotation!?
Let me know in the comments or on twitter: @cadintentions !
That’s all for today, enjoy the sun and don’t forget to save, save, save (and maybe run OVERKILL once in a while 😉).
As always, thank you so much for reading and watching, I am super excited for the rest of the year, growing the content, tutorials, and blog with you all.
Cheers and happy Drafting!
Brandon