Free 2D CAD Software?
- Dick_Morris
- Posts: 2841
- Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:09 pm
- Location: Anchorage, AK
Free 2D CAD Software?
The free version of Draftsight has served me well for a number of years, but I lost my copy when one of my hard disks failed. Unfortunately, Dassault Systems no longer offers the free version and says all free versions will cease to run after 12/31/2019.
Many of my CAD needs are now met by Freecad, a 3D program, but sometimes 2D comes in handy and it would be nice to be able to open and edit my old drawings without a lot of extra effort. Are there any recommendations on a free 2D CAD program with capabilities and feel similar to the free version of Draftsight or the early versions of Autocad LT?
Many of my CAD needs are now met by Freecad, a 3D program, but sometimes 2D comes in handy and it would be nice to be able to open and edit my old drawings without a lot of extra effort. Are there any recommendations on a free 2D CAD program with capabilities and feel similar to the free version of Draftsight or the early versions of Autocad LT?
- warmstrong1955
- Posts: 3568
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:05 pm
- Location: Northern Nevada
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
I hear ya. Need some 2D cad, but at this point, how much should it cost?
I have been using Draftsight, since they came out with the first beta. When I switched to Win7, my AutoCad LT 2004 could not go with it. That's a shame, because LT 2004 is a perpetual license. Seems the new rage is 'pay for view'. I don't like that. That's when I installed Draftsight.
So now, with Draftsight ending tonight, I looked into alternatives, free ones, and some free trials, and tested several.
I am now using NanoCad Free, and, it's free forever. For what I do, it's fine.
Not as good as Draftsight or AutoCad, but it opens all my old and new .dwg files, without corruption or distortion. That was my first concern.The same was not true for all the others I tried, including TurboCad, which is not free. I opened files, and things like dim's & arrows were scattered all over.
I had to find where a few things were on NanoCad, like how to tune dimensioning, and how to plot views or plot to pdf.....but it's all doable. I just had to figure it out.
Good thing is, that the prompts, are all the same, (unlike QCad) and the toolbars are pretty much the same too.
It was not a big learning curve.
https://nanocad.com/products/nanoCAD/
Works for me, and free is a very good price. You might give it a shot.
Bill
I have been using Draftsight, since they came out with the first beta. When I switched to Win7, my AutoCad LT 2004 could not go with it. That's a shame, because LT 2004 is a perpetual license. Seems the new rage is 'pay for view'. I don't like that. That's when I installed Draftsight.
So now, with Draftsight ending tonight, I looked into alternatives, free ones, and some free trials, and tested several.
I am now using NanoCad Free, and, it's free forever. For what I do, it's fine.
Not as good as Draftsight or AutoCad, but it opens all my old and new .dwg files, without corruption or distortion. That was my first concern.The same was not true for all the others I tried, including TurboCad, which is not free. I opened files, and things like dim's & arrows were scattered all over.
I had to find where a few things were on NanoCad, like how to tune dimensioning, and how to plot views or plot to pdf.....but it's all doable. I just had to figure it out.
Good thing is, that the prompts, are all the same, (unlike QCad) and the toolbars are pretty much the same too.
It was not a big learning curve.
https://nanocad.com/products/nanoCAD/
Works for me, and free is a very good price. You might give it a shot.
Bill
Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.
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- Posts: 2930
- Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:39 pm
- Location: Woodinville, Washington
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
I never learned CAD - focused almost exclusively on the GIS world, but have heard a lot of encouraging talk about Autodesk Fusion 360. It’s free to individuals and small business users, I think. More complex than simple 2D work, and probably involves some serious learning curve. But Autodesk seems to have made a strong commitment to support legacy file formats and particularly to give you a way forward as they continually upgrade and add stronger new functionality.
For my money, the real strength in software systems is each vendor’s willingness to support your legacy data and drawing files forward, as they continually upgrade and expand their code base.
Glenn
For my money, the real strength in software systems is each vendor’s willingness to support your legacy data and drawing files forward, as they continually upgrade and expand their code base.
Glenn
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum
Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge
Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge
Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
- Chris Hollands
- Posts: 546
- Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:38 am
- Location: Vancouver ,Canada
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
Autocad offer free 2D and 3D just signup as a student , if you want 2D then go on the autocad site and you can download versions from various years up to 2019.
Once you have it and do the screen setup you can open / save various files including draftsight - DXF /autocad lt / autocad 2004 etc .
I was use to the older version of autocad so you will have to adjust your thinking a little bit but it is still basically the same as the older versions .
Once you have it and do the screen setup you can open / save various files including draftsight - DXF /autocad lt / autocad 2004 etc .
I was use to the older version of autocad so you will have to adjust your thinking a little bit but it is still basically the same as the older versions .
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
You can check out LibreCAD: https://librecad.org/
- Greg_Lewis
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
- Location: Fresno, CA
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
For the Mac users out there, I'd suggest Cadintosh. It's not free, but $30 is a very fair price for what it does. And the guy who wrote it responds in a day or two to questions and suggestions.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
- ChuckHackett-844
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 3:54 pm
- Location: Tampa, Florida
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
Fusion 360 is free as long as you certify that you make less than $100,000
Regards,
Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
I suspect that would describe most of us around here.ChuckHackett-844 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:58 amFusion 360 is free as long as you certify that you make less than $100,000
Happy New Year...and no, it's not the start of a new decade.
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Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
I have been using Linux since I retired, so I am always on the look out for functioning open source software. I recently discovered QCAD. It is free and works very similar to my recollections of Autocad for DOS circa 1990. Their website https://qcad.org/en/ says it will work with Mac and Windows as well.
- Dick_Morris
- Posts: 2841
- Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:09 pm
- Location: Anchorage, AK
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
When I selected 3D CAD software I was put off by Fusion 360 not being on my own computer. Not being able to get it to operate on my computer sealed the deal and I went with Freecad. Does Fusion 360 support 2D CAD as well as 3D? NanoCad looks interesting, but I'm a bit reluctant to put Russian software on my computer.
Thanks for all the responses. One of these should work for my occasional needs.
Thanks for all the responses. One of these should work for my occasional needs.
Re: Free 2D CAD Software?
Not free any more.Tim B Guenther wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:59 pm I have been using Linux since I retired, so I am always on the look out for functioning open source software. I recently discovered QCAD. It is free and works very similar to my recollections of Autocad for DOS circa 1990. Their website https://qcad.org/en/ says it will work with Mac and Windows as well.
Fred V
Pensacola, Fl.
Pensacola, Fl.