SchoolCAD basics
The SchoolCAD screen, moving the view, selecting, Undo, the Guide, Search tools and the usual order for modelling a part.
- Undo Ctrl+ZTop bar: the undo arrow
- Redo Ctrl+YTop bar: the redo arrow
SchoolCAD is CAD (computer-aided design) that runs in your web browser. You design your own parts in the Part Studio, using the same CAD terms and the same order of work as Onshape, Fusion and SOLIDWORKS, so what you learn here carries over to them. There is nothing to install and no account to make.
The screen#
| Part of the screen | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Top bar | Your design's name (click it to rename the design), Documents, Versions, Part Studio and Quick design, boxes for Your name and Class, Language, Undo and Redo, Open file, Save file, 3D print, Render, Export ▾ and Settings (⚙). |
| Toolbar | The modelling tools, in groups: Search, Sketch and Plane, the tools that make 3D shapes (Extrude, Revolve…), the tools that add details (Fillet, Hole…), the tools that copy and combine parts (Mirror, Pattern…), Mate and Joint, then Measure, Check and Section view. While you sketch, it shows the sketch tools instead. |
| Feature tree | On the left: every step of your design, in order. See Feature tree. |
| Parameters | Named sizes, such as t = 12. See Parameters. |
| Parts | Each part with its size (length × width × thickness). Click the eye to hide or show a part, or the colour square to change its colour. |
| The view | Your model in 3D. The three see-through squares are the Top, Front and Right planes. They meet at the origin, the point every position is measured from. Drag Explode to spread the parts apart. |
| View cube | At the top right of the view. Click a face of the cube to look straight at that side, or an edge or corner for a view in between. The arrows around it turn the view 15° at a time, and its ▾ opens a menu of views. Next to it are Home (the 3D view), Fit, Persp or Ortho, and the display style (Shaded + edges, Shaded, Hidden lines or Wireframe). |
| Guide | On the right: help for whatever you are doing (see below). In a tutorial, the tutorial steps are here. |
| Status bar | Along the bottom: what to do next, when your design was last kept in the browser, Exact geometry (the engine for true fillets, chamfers and STEP files), Guide, Shortcuts, Help (these pages) and About SchoolCAD. |
Moving the view#
These are SchoolCAD's standard mouse buttons:
| To | Do this |
|---|---|
| Turn the view | Drag with the left button on empty space, or drag with the right button. |
| Move (pan) the view | Hold Shift and drag with the left button, or press the scroll wheel down and drag. |
| Zoom | Roll the scroll wheel. It zooms in where the pointer is. |
| Fit the whole model in the view | Press F, or click Fit. |
| Look straight at one side | Click that face of the view cube. |
From the keyboard, the arrow keys turn the view 15° (Shift: 90°, Ctrl: 5°), Z zooms out and Shift+Z zooms in. On a touch screen, drag with one finger to turn and pinch with two fingers to zoom. While you are in a sketch, dragging moves the view instead of turning it, so the sketch stays flat.
Selecting#
- Click a face of a part to select it. The status bar says what kind of face it is and which feature made it.
- Hold Shift and click to select more parts. Click empty space, or press Esc, to select nothing.
- Click a plane, in the view or in the feature tree, then click Sketch to draw on it.
- Double-click a face to change the feature that made it.
- In the Parts list, click a part to select it, or double-click it to rename it.
Undo and Redo#
Click the Undo arrow in the top bar, or press Ctrl+Z. Redo is Ctrl+Y. SchoolCAD remembers up to 100 steps. In a sketch, Undo takes back one sketch step at a time, and while a feature's dialog is open, Undo cancels it. Undo starts again when you open another design or reload the page, so save versions of work you might want back.
SchoolCAD also keeps your design in this browser as you work: the status bar says Kept in this browser and the time. See Documents and files.
Standard and Advanced#
The switch at the end of the toolbar chooses the tool set. Standard shows the tools most projects need. Advanced adds every extra tool: Coil, Bend, Draft, Dogbone, Split and Import, and more file types in the Export menu. You can also change it in Settings → General.
In Standard the extra tools still work: their keyboard shortcuts still start them, Search tools still finds them, a tutorial step shows the one it needs, and features already made with them can still be edited.
Search tools#
Press Alt+C (or the backtick key, left of 1), or click Search at the start of the toolbar. Type part of a tool's name and press Enter, or click the tool.
You can also type what Onshape, Fusion or SOLIDWORKS call a tool, such as press pull, hole wizard or smart dimension. The result shows the SchoolCAD name with the other program's name beside it, such as Push/Pull · Fusion: Press Pull, so you learn both. Small typing mistakes and everyday words work too (filet, spring, laser). Search tools finds every tool, view and export, plus commands such as Save file, Versions and Settings.
Right-click menus#
Right-click (click, do not drag) for a menu of what you can do with the thing under the pointer:
- A face of a part: Edit the feature that made it, Sketch on this face, Look straight at this face (Normal to), hide the part, Isolate, Hide others, Make see-through, Zoom to this part, and Rename, colour or material…
- Empty space: Zoom to fit (F) and the standard views. Show all parts appears when some are hidden.
- A feature in the feature tree: edit, rename, suppress, roll back or delete it. See Feature tree.
- A part in the Parts list: rename, hide, isolate or delete it, or choose its material.
- In a sketch: ✓ Finish sketch (Enter), Look straight at the sketch (N) and Stop drawing (Esc).
The Guide#
The Guide panel on the right helps with whatever you are doing. It shows the proper name of the tool, what other CAD programs call it, what it does, and a numbered checklist that ticks itself off as you work. The next tool to use is highlighted in the toolbar.
| Level | What you see |
|---|---|
| Full | The whole card, on the right. |
| Hints | Just the next step, in a line over the model. |
| Off | No guide: plain CAD. |
Click Guide: Full in the status bar to change the level (each click moves to the next one), or use the buttons at the top of the Guide panel, or Settings → General.
The usual way to make a part#
Most parts are made in the same order, in SchoolCAD and in industry CAD. For example, the side of a phone stand:
- Sketch. Click Sketch (S), then click a plane or a flat face. Draw the shape roughly: the side profile of the stand. See Sketch.
- Dimension. Make it exact with Dimension (D) and constraints. Lines turn from blue to black when the sketch is fully defined. Click ✓ Finish sketch.
- Make it 3D. Click Extrude (E) to give it thickness, or use Revolve, Sweep or Loft.
- Add details. Round edges with Fillet, drill with Hole, copy with Pattern or Mirror, and join boards with Joint.
- Check and share. Use Check, Measure and Section view, then Export a drawing, a laser cut file or a 3D model.