Back to the Drawing Board • Tutorials

Tutorials

This tutorials section is a new part of our web site. We will be continually updating this content with additional tutorials so please check back soon.

The tutorials in this section cover the basic skills you'll need to create drawings in Back to the Drawing Board. Feel free to skip around, but we recommend that you cover the tutorials in the first two sections, Creating drawings and Drawing lines and entering points before moving on. These cover some basic information that we will build on in the remaining tutorials.

Tip: These tutorials can be displayed in a snap view while using the Back to the Drawing Board app. We recommend showing the browser panel minimized on the left side of your screen with Back to the Drawing Board filling the remaining space on the right side.

For best results, please make sure you have installed version 3.0.0.0 or newer of Back to the Drawing Board (or later) before completing these tutorials. The app version is shown in the lower right corner of the home page.

Creating drawings

The Creating drawings tutorials show how to create new drawings and set up your drawing environment including paper and model units, drawing scale, theme, grids and layer definitions. They also cover the use of drawing templates.

Task 1.1: Create a full-size metric A4 drawing sheet Task 1.2: Create a 1/4"=1'0" scale ANSI B-size drawing Task 1.3: Set up grids Task 1.4: Set up layers Task 1.5: Create drawing templates Task 1.6: Create a new drawing from a template

Drawing lines and entering points

The Drawing lines and entering points tutorials cover the various ways you can enter points in Back to the Drawing Board. They also cover the use of the Line tool.

Task 2.1: Set your view Task 2.2: Draw a line using a mouse Task 2.3: Draw a line by entering coordinates Task 2.4: Draw a five-point star using polar coordinates Task 2.5: Draw a line using construction points Task 2.6: Draw a line using keypad arrows Task 2.7: Draw a line using touch Task 2.8: Draw single-segment lines

Drawing linear objects and working with layers

The Drawing linear objects and working with layers tutorials cover various ways to draw Polygons, Curves and Doublelines. They also introduce the concept of layers.

Task 3.1: Set your view Task 3.2: Draw a filled triangle using the Polygon tool Task 3.3: Draw a wave shape using the Curve tool Task 3.4: Draw a rectangle using the Doubleline tool Task 3.5: Draw a filled doubleline with closed ends Task 3.6: Showing and hiding layers

Drawing shapes

The Drawing shapes tutorials cover various ways to draw Rectangles, Circles and Ellipses.

Task 4.1: Set your view Task 4.2: Draw rectangles by locating corners Task 4.3: Draw rectangles by specifying width and height Task 4.4: Draw circles by locating center points Task 4.5: Inscribe and circumscribe circles about a rectangle Task 4.6: Draw an ellipse inscribed in a rectangle Task 4.7: Draw an ellipse by defining its major axis

Drawing arcs

The Drawing arcs tutorials cover various ways to draw circular and elliptical Arcs.

Task 5.1: Set your view Task 5.2: Draw circular arcs by locating center points Task 5.3: Draw circular arcs by locating center points, radius and angles Task 5.4: Draw circular arcs by locating three points Task 5.5: Draw semi-circles by locating two points Task 5.6: Draw circular arcs tangent to two intersecting lines Task 5.7: Draw elliptical arcs

Text objects

The Text objects tutorials cover various ways to add Text objects to your drawing.

Task 6.1: Set your view Task 6.2: Locate text with a single point using each of the alignment options Task 6.3: Locate text with two points Task 6.4: Text rotation considerations Task 6.5: Using text styles

Dimensions and Arrows (leader lines)

The Dimensions and Arrows tutorials show how to add Dimensions and Arrows (or leader lines) to your drawing

Task 7.1: Set your view Task 7.2: Dimension a rectangle Task 7.3: Dimensions at arbitrary angles Task 7.4: Drawing arrows (or leader lines) Task 7.5: Changing dimension attributes