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AutoCAD Classes San Diego

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Discover the power of Autodesk software with a wide range of classes available in San Diego. Learn how to design and create with industry-leading tools and gain the skills to unlock endless possibilities in architecture, engineering, and design.

1 class in-person in San Diego has spots left, and 19 classes live online are available.

AutoCAD Bootcamp

Noble Desktop - Virtually Online

Master the leading computer-aided design (CAD) application with this intensive course. Learn basic and advanced drawing techniques, create 2D drawings, and explore advanced tools to take your skills to the next level. Join industry professionals at Noble Desktop and elevate your drafting and technical drawing abilities.

(372) Beginner 18 and older
$949

5 sessions

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Beginner AutoCAD

NYC Career Centers - Virtually Online

Learn the fundamentals of AutoCAD and master 2D design techniques in this hands-on course at NYC Career Centers. Discover how to draw accurately, insert symbols and text, use layers and styles, and edit your designs with advanced methods. Perfect for beginners looking to dive into the world of AutoCAD.

(679) Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD Level I

Noble Desktop - Virtually Online

Master the fundamental tools and techniques of AutoCAD, including drawing, editing, and printing. Develop skills in inserting blocks, using text for annotations, and working with advanced object types. Join us to build a strong foundation in AutoCAD at Noble Desktop.

(372) Beginner 18 and older
$599

3 sessions

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Introduction to AutoCAD

Noble Desktop - Virtually Online

Discover how to create detailed drawings of real objects using AutoCAD in this introductory course at Noble Desktop. Learn the essential techniques for drawing and modifying, and gain the skills to build mechanical and architectural objects with precision.

(372) Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD Private Training

Noble Desktop - Virtually Online

Master the leading computer-aided design (CAD) application with this intensive course. Learn basic and advanced drawing techniques, create 2D drawings, and explore advanced tools to take your skills to the next level. Join industry professionals at Noble Desktop and elevate your drafting and technical drawing abilities.

(372) Beginner 13 and older

AutoCAD Level II

Noble Desktop - Virtually Online

Take your AutoCAD skills to the next level with this intermediate course at Noble Desktop. Learn advanced techniques for creating templates, working with layers and blocks, and using the interface effectively. Expand your technical abilities and enhance your AutoCAD projects.

(372) Intermediate 18 and older
$449

2 sessions

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AutoCAD in a Day

NYC Career Centers - Virtually Online

Learn the essential drawing and modifying techniques for drafting and technical drawing in this comprehensive AutoCAD course. Master the skills needed to create real objects, from mechanical to architectural, in just one day. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your design abilities.

(679) Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD Level 1 (Virtual)

Technical Institute of America @ Virtual Classroom

Master the fundamental commands and tools of AutoCAD with this beginner-friendly course at the Technical Institute of America. Learn from industry experts and gain hands-on experience creating drawings with live in-classroom instructors. Don't miss this opportunity to learn AutoCAD from great instructors without breaking the bank.

(632) Beginner 18 and older
$749

3 sessions

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AutoCAD Level 2 (Virtual)

Technical Institute of America @ Virtual Classroom

Enhance your AutoCAD skills and become a more efficient user with the AutoCAD Level 2 course at the Technical Institute of America. Learn to define and control settings within drawing files, work with blocks, use the Design Center, and more. Taught by industry experts, this hands-on training will set you apart from the average AutoCAD user.

(632) Intermediate 18 and older
$749

3 sessions

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Inventor Assembly Modeling (INV-102)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Master the art of assembly modeling with a focus on creating multi-component designs, establishing joints and constraints, and effectively managing the Bill of Materials. Build upon your knowledge gained in the Introduction to Inventor and Inventor Part Modeling courses to take your skills to the next level.

Advanced 18 and older

Intermediate AutoCAD

NYC Career Centers - Virtually Online

Expand your AutoCAD skills with this intermediate course focused on advanced layer techniques, customizing layout viewports, and working with external references. Enhance your productivity and gain mastery in positioning and annotation styles. Learn more at NYC Career Centers.

(679) Intermediate 18 and older
$449

2 sessions

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Civil 3D Fundamentals 1 (C3D-101)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Learn to effectively build civil engineering projects from start to finish using the powerful AutoCAD Civil 3D software. Master the surveying fundamentals with this course from D3 Technologies. Ideal for those new to the program or looking to expand their general Civil 3D knowledge.

Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD for Civil Engineers (ACD-320)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Learn the basics of AutoCAD and gain confidence in using the software for civil engineering design in this course at D3 Technologies. Perfect for new users planning to work with Civil 3D who have little or no previous experience with AutoCAD.

All levels 18 and older

ACE-101 AutoCAD Electrical Essentials

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Learn how to create and manage electrical-controls production drawings with AutoCAD Electrical. Discover how to build intelligent ladder diagrams and leverage the software's powerful features. Develop essential skills for designing according to the NFPA (US) standard.

Beginner 18 and older
$1,195

2 sessions

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AutoCAD for Electrical (ACE-001)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Enhance your skills in AutoCAD Electrical with D3 Technologies' comprehensive course. Explore essential tools, commands, and techniques to excel in control design and gain a competitive edge in the industry. Join now and unlock your potential in electrical drafting and design.

Beginner 18 and older

Civil 3D Fundamentals 2 (C3D-102)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Master the use of AutoCAD Civil 3D software and enhance your civil engineering skills with D3 Technologies. Learn how to effectively build a project from start to finish, utilizing the tools and features available in the software, in this comprehensive course. Perfect for both beginners and those looking to expand their Civil 3D knowledge.

Intermediate 18 and older

C3D-103 Civil 3D Fundamentals 3

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Learn how to effectively build civil engineering projects from start to finish using AutoCAD Civil 3D at D3 Technologies. This course covers intersection modeling, grading, pipe networks, and plan completion outputs using Sheet Set Manager. Perfect for anyone looking to expand their Civil 3D knowledge or those new to the program.

Advanced 18 and older

ACD-100 AutoCAD Basic Drawing & Editing

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Learn the essential skills of basic AutoCAD drafting at D3 Technologies. Discover how to create and edit drawings using fundamental commands and selection options, while mastering precision geometric locations. Perfect for students ready to dive into the world of AutoCAD.

Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD: User Interface & Basic Drawing (ACD-001)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Discover how to navigate and master the fundamental tools of AutoCAD with this comprehensive course. Learn the ins and outs of the user interface, as well as essential drawing and editing commands. Perfect for those with basic computer skills and an interest in design and drafting within the mechanical industry.

Beginner 18 and older

AutoCAD Essential Tools (ACD-101)

Team D3 @ CAD LIVE

Master the essential tools of AutoCAD and unlock your creative potential at a leading technology school. Develop your skills in organizing objects, working with templates, creating with advanced objects, and editing commands. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your AutoCAD skills and take your designs to the next level.

Beginner 18 and older
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Reviews for AutoCAD Classes in San Diego

AutoCAD Classes in San Diego are rated 4.4 stars based on 1,683 verified reviews from actual CourseHorse.com purchasers.

  • AutoCAD Bootcamp

    Reviewed by Benjamin F. on 2/29/2024
    Very thorough class, excellent instructor.
  • Beginner AutoCAD

    Reviewed by Srinivas R. on 1/17/2020
    Great basics course. Helpful workbook that can be used as a refresher anytime after class. This course helped me decipher my company as-builds and drawings better and perform edits more efficiently.

Discover the Best AutoCAD Classes in San Diego

Professionals in many industries employ AutoCAD, a computer-assisted design program for creating 2D and 3D models. While there are other CAD programs—ActCAD, Microstation, and SketchUp, among others—the industry-standard remains AutoCAD. Since 1982, professionals in design, planning, and construction have relied on AutoCAD.

If you’ve heard of AutoCAD, you may think of it in association with drafters or architects who are creating building plans. Yet the program is useful to workers in many other industries. Design professionals such as graphic designers, animators, and game designers are using AutoCAD more and more. Urban planners draw their topographic maps and planned city layouts in the software, while engineers interpret and troubleshoot their designs through 3D modeling in it.

AutoCAD is the preferred software not only because of its history of providing reliable 2D and 3D modeling service to design professionals, but also because of the powerful suite of tools it provides for building, developing, animating, and testing designs. The interface is highly user-friendly. It’s also easy to integrate AutoCAD with other softwares, making it possible to export to any program, including software for 3D printing to produce tangible versions of models constructed in the program. The developers for AutoCAD have also stayed on top of evolving possible use cases. Recently, they’ve moved to incorporate new technologies like augmented reality and artificial intelligence.

Best AutoCAD Classes & Schools in San Diego

#1: NYC Career Centers—AutoCAD in a Day

Students in the AutoCAD in a Day course at NYC Career Centers discover the basic features and functions of AutoCAD. In this class, they learn the use of this software for technical drawing and drafting purposes. The one-day course covers AutoCAD’s fundamental drawing and editing techniques. These allow students to create models of architectural and mechanical objects.

One can also take this course as the first day of a three-day class at NYC Career Centers. The second and third days of the course provide instruction in working with measurements, properties, layers, text, and plotting for printing. Students also discover other central principles of working with AutoCAD.

Key Information

At seven hours, this one-day course is full-time. It has no prerequisites. The price of tuition is $325.

More Details

According to students, the “amazing” instructors for this course are “kind” and “super knowledgeable.” They make it “highly interactive” and “to the point.”

#2: D3 Technologies—AutoCAD Mechanical Basics

D3 TechnologiesAutoCAD Mechanical Basics course is designed for mechanical engineers and students who would like to use AutoCAD for mechanical engineering purposes. The course introduces the main features that professionals will need for the mechanical engineering applications of AutoCAD. 

The course starts with students creating and managing layers for their mechanical designs. They move on to using the suite of mechanical tools that AutoCAD provides to build geometric models. Next, they learn how they can use those tools for manipulating the geometrical models they just built. They also explore AutoCAD’s built-in standard parts for mechanical design, similar to included components in a program for software design. The course wraps up with how to use the program’s annotation features to clarify their designs for future builders, including how to apply dimensions and labels to their models.

Key Information

This is a full-time, one-day course. Though there are no prerequisites, it will help to have knowledge of mechanical engineering principles. The tuition cost is $595.

More Details

Students say that D3 Technologies provides “cutting edge” instruction and its teachers have “vast technical knowledge” to share with their students,

According to students, the teachers at D3 Technologies are notable for their “vast technical knowledge” and the “cutting edge” instruction they provide.

#3: Noble Desktop—Introduction to AutoCAD

Noble Desktop’s Introduction to AutoCAD course starts off by taking students through the basic AutoCAD interface, including the simple drawing and editing commands. Students first create a file in AutoCAD, then make a modest drawing using the basic functions, which they can then edit. Starting with a simple image and then making modifications gives the student an opportunity to learn how to make the best use of AutoCAD’s highly precise drawing functions. During this unit, they also study AutoCAD’s display functions, which make it possible for them to examine their drawing in great detail—for example, zooming in on the model or panning across it. The course also covers some keyboard shortcuts that will be important for maximizing efficiency as the students work in AutoCAD.

Next, students move to the full range of AutoCAD’s drawing commands, which include lines, rectangles, and circles. After using these functions to build a drawing, they use the program’s modify tools to convert that drawing into a layout. And they explore how object snap tracking can allow them to look at their model in a projection as if viewed from above.

Then students discover AutoCAD’s more sophisticated drawing tools, including polar tracking, object tracking, and snap tracking. They can use these for precision modeling. The course wraps up with the use of some basic AutoCAD editing tools—like move, copy, scale, rotate, and mirror—to make modifications to the model they’ve created.

Key Information

This three-day program is part-time at three hours a day. There are no prerequisites for this beginner-level class. The cost of tuition is $325.

More Details

Noble Desktop has expert instructors, as well as small class sizes. This makes it possible for each student’s work to get individual attention. As part of their instruction, students receive a proprietary workbook from Noble. Any student who completes a Noble course may retake it for free within one year.

Students say that Noble’s “top notch” instructors have a “very effective” approach to learning, which made the course “extremely valuable.” They “highly recommend” it.

#4: New York City College of Technology—Construction Drawing with AutoCAD

The New York City College of Technology offers a Construction Drawing with AutoCAD course to provide students with instruction in basic 2D drawing and modeling in the software. The course is designed for professionals, particularly those who intend to use AutoCAD as part of their careers in architecture, interior design, mechanical engineering, or structural engineering.

Students begin with an introduction to the basic interface of AutoCAD and the display commands that it offers. Then, they learn the program’s fundamental computer-assisted design tools. The course explores the drawing setup within the software. Students discover the precision tools offered by AutoCAD, including scale coordinate systems, grips, and snaps. Later, the course turns into a hands-on program as students begin to experiment with simple drawing and editing commands within the program. Then they learn to enhance their drawings using the block, text, and layer functions. And they discover the various modify tools in AutoCAD. Finally, they prepare their drawings for printing by plotting them, and they learn how to export and print them from other programs.

Key Information

This is a one-day course taking a total of 4.5 hours. It has no prerequisites. A $20 registration fee is included in the $715 cost of tuition.

More Details

Students appreciate the “interactive and hands-on nature” of the course. The school’s “knowledgeable and skilled” instructors provide graduates with “strong practical skills.”

#5: Technical Institute of America—AutoCAD Level 1

At the Technical Institute of America, the AutoCAD Level 1 course begins with an exploration of the program’s interface. Students discover how panels, tabs, and ribbons work in the program. They learn about its browser applications and the help features it offers. Next, they learn AutoCAD’s basic drawing tools, including how to make lines, rectangles, polylines, circles, and arcs. The course then covers using object snaps to make a draft drawing more precise.

Next, students learn the various copying commands available in the program. They learn to move and copy basic objects, then explore more sophisticated copying functions such as array, mirror, and offset. Next, they modify objects in their drawings with functions including extend, stretch, scale, trim, fillet, and chamfer. They learn how to apply hatch commands to their drawings in this unit as well.

The course then covers how to annotate drawings to assist a future builder and clarify what the models require. Students learn to add dimensions to their plans. They discover how to create descriptive and explanatory text for the builders’ benefit. At this point, they also discover layers. Once they’ve learned to create and manage a layer, students use the off, freeze, lock, and isolate commands to adjust layers and their respective states. And they explore how to create multiple layouts of their drawings. This allows students to plot the drawings for printing, set their scales, and use the program’s viewport ability to examine the drawings at different scales. The course concludes by introducing students to concepts of paperspace and modelspace.

Key Information

This one-day workshop is full-time. It is a beginner course with no prerequisites. Tuition costs $749.

More Details

According to students, the “fantastic” instructors at Technical Institute of America are “thorough,” “clear,” and “straightforward.” They make the course “enjoyable” and “entertaining.”

#6: ONLC Training Centers—AutoCAD for Novice Users

In the AutoCAD for Novice Users course at ONLC Training Centers, students explore the AutoCAD user interface at its full scope. They begin by creating a simple image in two dimensions. As they pursue their studies, they develop this drawing further, making use of increasingly advanced tools in AutoCAD. The course involves hands-on projects that allow students to practice the architectural, schematic, and mechanical applications of AutoCAD.

The course begins by exploring the interface. It introduces students to the program’s cartesian workspace and the commands that make it possible to manipulate models within it. Once they’ve created a new file in AutoCAD, students can discover the program’s basic tools for drawing and editing.

Students discover drawing in AutoCAD by beginning with the basic tools, which include the ability to create lines, rectangles, and circles using vertical and horizontal axes. They create a drawing using these basic shapes, which gives them a base product that they can modify and manipulate as they progress through learning AutoCAD’s different functions. It is also at this point when they learn how to erase an object they’ve added to their drawing, as well as how to undo and redo actions in the software. Next, they discover more drawing functions. These include object snaps, object snap tracking, running object snaps, object snap overrides, and polar tracking at angles.

The course moves on to editing functions. Students learn how to scale, move, rotate, and mirror objects. Then they explore some of AutoCAD’s more advanced tools. Vitally, they discover how to use layers as an organizing principle for a model or drawing. They also learn how to work with more complex varieties of objects in AutoCAD. For example, they work with measurement functions and object properties to make their models more precise. This unit also covers many of the program’s modify tools, including trim, stretch, extend, and offset.

Once they’ve created a more sophisticated model, students learn how to create a layout in the program in order to prepare their model for printing. They also discover that they can make it easier for others to understand their model by inserting dimensions, annotations, and tables. Now that the students have learned advanced 2D image manipulation, the course wraps up with a quick overview of the 3D functions in AutoCAD.

Key Information

This four-day course is full-time. There are no prerequisites for this beginner-level program. Tuition is $2745, but it may be possible to get a discounted rate of $2495 by registering early.

More Details

According to students, the instructors at ONLC are “very knowledgeable” and provided them with “a wealth of information.” One said that ONLC’s training was “the best I’ve experienced.”

San Diego Industries That Use AutoCAD

According to its city government, the major industries in San Diego are international trade, manufacturing, the military, and tourism. Design engineers in manufacturing can use AutoCAD to replicate parts, manipulate designs, and work with dimensions at a highly precise level of detail. The military employs many civil engineers, as well as electrical and mechanical engineers, all of whom can use AutoCAD for design purposes. The tourism industry employs many graphic designers, who are increasingly using AutoCAD for 2D rendering. 

AutoCAD Jobs & Salaries in San Diego

A San Diego-based manufacturing engineer would make an average of $90,000 yearly. Civil engineers there average $98,000, electrical engineers $108,000, and mechanical engineers $94,000 annually. Graphic designers in San Diego average $65,000 a year.

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