What you can finish in the first hour
A first session does not need to produce a finished project. It needs to produce a project that is real enough to judge: a plan with circuits, the single-line diagram that follows from it, a board, and a first look at the checks.
The point of the hour is to see the workflow loop once. GorkyCAD is built around a single model, so if you draw the circuits in the right place, the diagram, the panel and the schedules come along with them rather than being built again.
Work on a small, familiar job — a flat, a garage, a small office. Something you already know well makes it obvious when the tool is helping and when you have missed a step.
Because the whole loop takes under an hour on a small job, you finish the session with an opinion based on your own drawings rather than on a demonstration.
Before you start
You need almost nothing to begin. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install, and you can start free of charge without a card.
- A rough plan of the space, even hand-drawn, to work from.
- A sense of the main loads — lighting, sockets, kitchen, any large appliance.
- The supply details you normally start with, such as the incoming arrangement.
- A decision about cable types, or a willingness to set them as you go.
Nothing here has to be perfect. You can revise the model as you learn, and because everything is generated from it, a change updates the drawings and documents rather than leaving them behind.
Step 1 — open a project in the browser
Open the project and give it a name you will recognise later. If you are on the Free plan, this is one of up to three projects you keep at a time, so choose a job that is worth finishing.
Set the basics before you draw: the language of the installation, the units, and the cable and device references you intend to use. Getting these right at the start saves renaming half a board later.
If you are working away from a reliable connection, you can carry on offline as a PWA and the project is there when you return.
A clear project name and a matching file name later will save you hunting through work, so set the habit from the very first project.
Step 2 — place the circuits on the plan
Draw the space and then place the points: lighting, socket outlets, and the fixed appliances. This is the part that feels most like ordinary drafting, and it is the foundation everything else reads from.
- Lay out the rooms and the walls so the plan reads as the space you have in mind.
- Place lighting points and switches, then the socket outlets for each room.
- Group the points into circuits — lighting, sockets, kitchen, and any dedicated line.
- Route the circuits back to the board and confirm the runs look sensible.
When a circuit is drawn, its reference exists. That reference is what the diagram, the schedule and the checks all use, so it is worth naming circuits clearly as you place them.
Step 3 — build the single-line diagram
The single-line diagram is where the design becomes a system rather than a plan. Because the circuits already exist in the model, the diagram is assembled from them instead of being drawn from scratch.
Work from the supply inward: the incoming arrangement, the main protective device, the board, and then the outgoing circuits with their devices and cable references.
Keep an eye on the hierarchy as you go. A tidy diagram now is a tidy board later, and the same ordering carries through to the schedule and the switchboard passport.
It is worth reading the diagram back against the plan before moving on. Anything you cannot trace from the supply down to a circuit is usually something the model has not yet been told.
Step 4 — let the checks run
This is the step that repays the structure you just built. GorkyCAD runs its calculations and standards checks against the model, so the result reflects the circuits you actually drew rather than a separate worksheet.
In a first hour, the checks to look at are the ones that catch early mistakes: cable heating, voltage drop over the longer runs, and short-circuit conditions at the board. Standards such as IEC 60364, and the IEC, IS, ANSI and BS set the tool works to, are applied to the design.
Treat a flag as useful, not as a failure. Right now, at the design stage, a cable that is too small or a run that is too long is a minute of editing rather than a problem on site.
Step 5 — export the document set
Finish the hour by producing something you can look at away from the screen. The PDF document set brings together the specification, the cable schedule, the estimate and the switchboard passport, all from the project you have just built.
If a colleague or a supplier needs the numbers, export the list to XLSX, or use DXF, IFC, BCF and GLTF when the drawing has to travel to another direction of work.
Reading your own output is the best test of the first session. If the passport describes the board you had in mind and the schedule lists the cables you drew, the workflow has done its job.
Keep the project rather than clearing it away. It becomes a reference you can compare later work against, and a record of the settings and naming you preferred on the first pass.
Where to go next
After one loop you will know where your own habits fit and which steps you want to slow down on. From there, the natural next move is to take a second, slightly larger project through the same sequence.
Open a project in the browser free of charge — no card required — and give your first hour to a real installation.
Start your first project free →
FAQ
Do I need to install anything for my first project?
No. GorkyCAD runs in the browser with nothing to install, and it also works offline as a PWA. You start free without a card.
How many projects can I start for free?
Up to three basic projects at a time on the Free plan. Pro removes the limit with unlimited projects for €40 per month.
What should I build first?
A small, familiar job such as a flat, a garage or a small office. One complete loop through plan, diagram, board and export teaches you the workflow fastest.
What can I export at the end of the hour?
The PDF document set — specification, cable schedule, estimate and switchboard passport — plus XLSX, DXF, IFC, BCF and GLTF from the same model.