Every interior designer should learn AutoCAD and focus on mastering its key commands to make accurate drawings. Hello readers, this blog has brought a full list of the most essential AutoCAD tools and commands for interior designers and all learners in interior design training in Delhi. These commands help designers to create floor plans, elevations, sections, and more. So, let’s take a look at them one by one.
Best AutoCAD Tool & Commands to Create Interior Design Drawings
Image Source: https://www.autodesk.com/
I’ve listed out the commands of all tools in two parts below: Draw & Modify Tools and Annotation, Layers & Block Tools
1. Draw & Modify Tools
Image Source: AutoCAD 2025 Help
Everything starts with the Draw and Modify tools, as they help in creating as well as editing the drawings. Whether we want to create elevations or a top-view plan, these tools are a must to use in AutoCAD. We locate them inside the ribbon area of the top toolbar in the application.
Let’s talk about the Draw tools and commands first.
Draw tools
These tools give us a starting point as they create new geometric shapes like lines, arc, circles, rectangle, etc. These tools allow us to construct the basic structure of 2D floor plans that include furniture, walls, windows & doors, staircases, balconies, etc.
In interior design, draw tools are used to create the initial layout of a space. For instance, sketching a floor plan with walls, windows, doors & staircases (using line and rectangle tools) and adding furniture (using rectangle tool, circle, polyline, etc.).
List of the tools and their functions:
Line: It draws straight lines for walls, windows, doors & furniture pieces. Shortcut key is L.
Polyline: It creates custom lines for complex shapes like curved walls by using line and arc tools to create a continuous line. Shortcut key is PL.
Circle: It creates a circle either using radius or diameter as a measure. We can create things like round tables, stools, light fixtures, sinks, etc., using it. Shortcut key is C.
Arc: Best for making curved lines and shapes like arches, window frames, steps, and other parts of furniture pieces. There are many ways to create an arc, like using an angle, radius, length, with start and end points. Shortcut key is A.
Rectangle: Draws rectangles for rooms, windows, furniture pieces like tables & kitchen counters, etc. Shortcut key is REC.
Ellipse: Draws ellipses, and its shortcut key is EL.
Hatch: Fills closed spaces like walls with a pattern (brick) or solid fills. Shortcut key is H.
Modify tools
Now we have Modify commands that are helpful to edit or refine existing geometry. We use them to adjust, reshape, or reorganize the drawing design.
We have tools like scale and stretch that reshape existing drawn objects. There are some rotate, move, and mirror options to further alter the designs in order to match the design requirement.
For every interior designer, it is equally important to practice on Modify tools as they improve designs and control quality.
Whether we have to adjust wall lengths, modify edges, duplicate objects or rearrange furniture, AutoCAD has a particular modify tool for us.
Let’s take a look at the complete list of the tools and their commands:
Move: helps in moving objects from one point to a new location. We just have to set the distance value or move manually using the mouse. You can use it for moving furniture, walls, windows, and doors. Shortcut key is M.
Copy: Use this tool, if you want to make copies of objects/elements and place them in a new location. For example, making multiple copies of a chair around a table. Shortcut key is CO.
Rotate: use it for rotating objects around a base point. Used to align furniture and fixtures at specific angles. Shortcut key is RO.
Mirror: this tool is used to create a mirror image of an object or element like creating a mirror of a night lamp on a bedside table to give a symmetrical look to the bedroom. Shortcut key is MI.
Trim: this is a very useful tool as it cuts away excess parts of walls created with line tool. Shortcut key is TR.
Extend: you can use this tool to lengthen short lines to meet them with other lines or objects. For example, extending one wall to meet another wall. Shortcut key is EX.
Stretch: you can use itwhen a part of an object is selected and you want to lengthen the object by a specified value. Shortcut key is S.
Scale: resizes objects like making a chair smaller or bigger or a making a sofa as per a specific dimension. Shortcut key is SC.
Fillet: rounds corners, like those of a coffee table or mirror frame. Shortcut key is F.
Chamfer: adds angled edges to detail furniture items. Shortcut key is CHA.
Array: there are 3 types of array commands: rectangle, polar and path array. These tools help in creating multiple copies of objects in a specific format. In rectangular array, using rows & columns, for example, we can create a lot of chairs to fit a hall or auditorium space. Shortcut key is AR.
Erase: deletes objects & lines. Shortcut key is E.
Offset: used to create copies of lines at a specified distance. This tools helps in creating the thickness of walls in a floor plan. Shortcut Key is O.
Get a close look at these commands with our guide: Tools to Create 2D Plan in AutoCAD
2. Annotation, Layers & Block Tools
These tools are also placed on the ribbon panel in AutoCAD. They are useful to keep your drawings organized and ready to reuse.
Annotation tools
As per my own experience, these tools are very helpful as they give labels to elements, provide measurements, and add notes for our clarity. I generally use them in my documentation too.
Let’s check them below:
Dimensions: adds measurement to show the length, width of a room, door& window widths. Includes linear & radius dimensions.
Text: This can be single line or multiline text for naming rooms or writing directions etc.
Tables: creates a table with rows & columns. This is useful to name projects, create legends etc.
Layer tools are used to place different elements of a floor plan or drawing on different layers by grouping them into categories. These categories can have different colors & line styles. For example, we can create a different layer for Walls, Doors, Windows, Furniture, Dimensions, Text.
By clicking on Layer Properties Manager, we can open the layers panel where we are able to
- Hide/unhide layers
- Change colors
- Add line styles
- Rename the layer
- Lock/unlock a layer to make it locked /editable
By double clicking on a layer, we set it to current and this will be the active layer. We can also shift objects & elements from one layer to another.
Block Tools
These tools are used to create reusable objects again in other drawings. For example, we can make a door or window manually with line, rectangle tools and group them together to create a block using the create block tool.
We can insert premade blocks available online and also edit blocks. Usually, we find blocks made for furniture like beds, sofas, tables, chairs, doors, windows, railings, sinks, toilets, etc
Conclusion on Essential AutoCAD Tools and Commands for Interior Designers
We can use the draw tools to make the basic structure, like the walls, doors & windows of a floor plan. Then we can use the modify tools to ensure the walls are of a certain thickness & trim to cut the excess part of the walls. The move tool is used to place the doors & windows in their precise location on the plan.
The layers tool is very useful to organize elements on the drawing & to modify them with ease. While the block tool helps us import pre-existing furniture blocks into the drawing, or make new blocks to be reused again. Adding Annotation tools makes it easy for anyone receiving the drawing to understand the floor plan by adding labels & measurements.
Author Introduction
I’m Radhika Singh, a student of AutoCAD master course at ADMEC Multimedia Institute. I previously worked in the fashion & graphic design industry for the last 15 years. I studied fashion design at NIFT, New Delhi and later went on to do a Master’s in Fashion, Design & Experience Management from SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy. I worked with renowned fashion designer, Manish Arora for 3 years handling his Paris exhibitions, sales & design management processes within the organisation.
I later went on to start a design studio where I designed company & brand stationery like visiting cards, logos, packaging, brochures & website design. I used softwares like adobe photoshop, illustrator & indesign. I still operate that business on a freelance basis through www.studio297.co.uk.
In the year 2020, during Covid-19, I started an online e-commerce brand by the name RADKA. Here me & my team worked relentlessly to create stunning designs for the Indian customer through www.shopradka.com.
My limited experience in interior design extends to renovating rooms & bathrooms in my personal home in New Delhi & working for 6 months with a lighting design firm by the name Vis-à-vis Ltd. I hope to learn all aspects of Interior design as my next foray into the design world.
