Top 5 Tips for Getting Started in Vectorworks
By Jonathan Pickup — Archoncad / Vectorworks Training School
A foundational, plain-language guide for architects, landscape designers, and complete beginners to eliminate digital friction, work effectively, and move seamlessly from 3D model to scaled, professional drawings.
Course Philosophy: The Living Model vs. The Presentation Paper
Vectorworks is far more than an electronic drafting board or a digital sketchpad. At its foundation, Vectorworks operates as an intelligent graphic tool with a built-in database. When beginners and design students struggle, they are rarely battling complex 3D algorithms or advanced modeling tools—they are struggling because their foundational habits, workspace setup, and file discipline work against them.
Approaching Vectorworks with the mindset of an experienced architect means establishing order upfront: setting up your digital workspace cleanly, understanding the clear separation between where you build and where you present, and making the software perform repetitive tasks and calculations for you.
Comprehensive Course Curriculum
Module 1: Think in Shapes, Not Lines (The Cookie Cutter Method)
Lay Concept: The difference between drawing disconnected digital sticks and laying down intelligent geometric cookies that know their own area and perimeter.
Key Skills:
Mastering the 2-click Rectangle Tool and Polyline Tool over the 8-click multi-line workflow.
Real-time area, perimeter, and site coverage quantification via the Object Info Palette (OIP).
Boolean 2D Operations: Add Surface (fusing footprints) and Clip Surface (cutting voids and courtyards).
One-Click BIM Conversion: Right-clicking any shape to Create Objects from Shapes… (turning polygons into Walls, Slabs, Roofs, Hardscapes, or Property Lines) or pressing Cmd+E / Ctrl+E to extrude into 3D.
Module 2: The Two Pillars — Layers (Where) vs. Classes (What)
Lay Concept: Visualizing a physical chest of drawers (Design Layers) versus the material tags attached to the items inside each drawer (Classes).
Key Skills:
Design Layers: Controlling vertical physical storeys, horizontal containment, Z-elevations, layer wall heights, and stacking order (e.g., Foundations, Floor-1, Floor-2, Roof).
Classes: Establishing cross-project material systems (e.g., Walls-Exterior, Doors-Main, Demolition, Joinery) controlling visibilities (Visible, Invisible, Grey) and central graphic attributes.
The "Use at Creation" Checkbox: Automatically forcing geometry to adopt class line weights, colours, hatches, and textures across the entire project simultaneously.
Module 3: Let the Object Info Palette (OIP) Do the Mathematics
Lay Concept: Eliminating the frustration of deleting and redrawing incorrectly sized elements by treating the OIP as your digital control deck and automatic calculator.
Key Skills:
Object Identification: Checking the top-left of the Shape tab to confirm object type, active layer, and assigned class.
The 9-Dot Box Position Indicator: Pinning corners or centers as fixed datums before inputting width (ΔX) and height (ΔY).
In-Field Mathematical Calculations: Typing formulas directly into numeric fields (e.g., +150mm, +6", /2, *3).
Seamless Unit Conversions: Entering imperial units into metric files (e.g., typing 3'6" to automatically yield 1066.8mm).
Module 4: Precision Snapping & The Three Secret Keys (Z, G, B)
Lay Concept: Magnetic guides that prevent costly on-site dimensional errors, and non-mouse keyboard tools that give you magnified vision and floating measuring tapes.
Key Skills:
Snapping Palette Discipline: Turning OFF Snap to Grid to prevent micro-dimensional drifting; keeping Snap to Object, Snap to Angle, and Smart Points active.
Z Key (Snap Loupe): Opening an instant temporary magnifying glass over congested intersections without losing tool positioning or zoom coordinates.
G Key (Floating Datum): Touching an edge or corner, pressing G to drop an on-the-fly zero datum, hitting Tab, and inputting an exact offset distance without drawing temporary guide lines.
B Key (X-Ray Select Mode): Holding down B to turn opaque roofs, hardscapes, or slabs semi-transparent, allowing immediate snapping and selection of underlying elements.
Module 5: Use Viewports and Sheet Layers to Create Drawings
Lay Concept: Moving from the virtual construction workshop to the photographic print on paper. Understanding that you build once at full scale, take live photographs (Viewports) at any reduction, and present them on real paper (Sheet Layers).
Key Skills:
The 1:1 Life-Size Rule: Keeping Design Layers purely as your full-size building workshop—never shrinking a design or drawing title borders directly on your model.
The Camera Concept (Viewports): Taking a snapshot of your design using View > Create Viewport, choosing any scale (e.g., 1:50 or 1:100), and placing it onto a printable Sheet Layer (A3, Arch D).
The Dynamic Live Link: Moving a wall or window once in the model and watching plans, elevations, sections, and 3D views synchronize automatically—no manual redrawing.
Viewport Annotations: Stepping inside the Annotation space of a Viewport to place dimensions, drawing labels, and keynotes so your master model remains clean and uncluttered.
Title Block Border & Batch Publishing: Adding smart title blocks linked to sheet data and using the Publish tool to generate complete PDF sets in one click.
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