In my day job, I’m an architect with decent experience in AutoCad & Illustrator. My previous workflow was to create designs in AutoCad and then refine for GF in Illustrator or InDesign. I no longer have free access to AutoCad directly, and am looking for an alternate that works similarly. I do still have Adobe access, but am not familiar with illustrator and how to draft things to scale, so a tutorial for that would also be great.
I used DraftSight for awhile but they have also gone to a subscription model that I cannot afford. Does anyone have software that they recommend? All I really need is the ability to create a 2D drawing to scale using simple tools, ideally with tools like offset, fillet, trim. DWG export is a plus, but I’m happy to work in PDF as well.
Looking for any recommendations, thanks in advance!
All I really need is the ability to create a 2D drawing to scale using simple tools, ideally with tools like offset, fillet, trim. DWG export is a plus, but I’m happy to work in PDF as well.
Inkscape does all of that except DWG and is free.
You can make DXF, though. And there are many free converters out there for SVG to DWG/DXF.
I use Inkscape daily, and have yet to find a design problem I can’t solve with it. This was designed in inkscape:
That’s a super cool project, thanks! I have used Inkscape a bit in the past on my linux machines. How do you draft to scale in it? My experience with Illustrator is that typing in dimensions is difficult and cumbersome, but maybe Inkscape uses a different workflow?
It’s hard to say because I’m not sure what your standard for difficult and cumbersome is.
If you have a relatively simple design that you’re trying to make, post it here and I’ll duplicate it in Inkscape and document how I do it. That would probably be the most effective way to illustrate my workflow.
(EDIT: sorry for all the typos, Siri ran away with my dictation, hah. I’ve corrected them.)
While it isn’t on sale anymore, Solidworks for Makers is only $48/year.
You can also get a free/makers version of Fusion 360. Find it on Google.
There is also Freecad, OnShape, TinkerCAD, and more.
Since you’re not really invested in Adobe Illustrator do what several have already suggested and check out Inkscape.
You’re going to have to invest a bit of time to learn all of these, so check out some YouTube videos and see what gets you excited enough to want to learn.
Dimensions are a pain in Inkscape. I was doing Autocad since 1988 and so was used to rediculous accuracy, but because of that could not do what I called “squishy” things where the math got rediculous. Inkscape is designed to do “squishy” things but is harder about doing the math the way cad does.
The easiest thing is to set up a grid where Inkscape will keep two levels. I set one to inches and the other to 1/8 inches colored light blue and light red. You can set snap there and then layout the design pretty quickly.
There is a measure tape but you can’t do more than measure, and it will not give real length of a squishy curve.
Thanks, I think I just need to sit down and commit to it. My workflow had been to draw two x-lines in CAD and then offset distances of those lines to create the piece, then trim down to just what’s needed. I would guess I could try snapping to a grid, it may be worth just getting use to that workflow.
Thanks for the offer of re-creation. I don’t currently have anything in the works, this was just a problem I’ve had off and on for a few years.
Thanks! At various points I have explored FreeCad & TinkerCad, maybe I just need to give those more time.
I use Autodesk Revit now in my day to day, and in my experience programs that think in 3D are tricky to use in 2D, but that may be an outdated thought.
I’ll do some youtube exploring and check out solidworks. Thanks!
Yeah, that was my experience with Illustrator. It was easy to make rectangles at the size I wanted, but more complex finger joints and radii were really tough to do with any accuracy (squishy, as you say).
The Inkscape grid may be the best way to go. At least I’ll get more familiar with the software…
FYI, Illustrator recently added dimensioning. I haven’t worked with it yet so I don’t know how well it works. For CAD I use Shapr3D, but since you want to avoid a subscription that probably wouldn’t work for you. I really like its ease of use though. They do have a very limited free tier, that might work for you if you’re not interested in 3D printing.
Personally I think grids are cumbersome and only useful in very specific narrow cases. I can’t even tell you the last time I used one.
What I do use is guides. Lots of guides.
I also will use math in the dimension and position fields. If I need two lines that are an inch apart I:
Make a line.
Copy.
Paste in place.
And then add one to the x-position.
I use the same process for moving objects as well. It works for any amount of separation, 1 inch is an easy number to do but if you Need to move it 1/17 of an inch, it’s easy to do that too, everything is the same and total number four which becomes:
Append “+(1/17)” to the x-position.
If I needed to do this many times, or even more than twice, that’s when I would probably reach for a guide. The process now becomes very similar:
Create or snap a guide in place
Duplicate the Guide by repeating the process or by right clicking the guide and selecting duplicate.
Double click on the guide to open up its properties window
Add the appropriate amount to the X-position
And now you can snap as many things as you like to the two properly placed guides.
There’s a lot more you can do with guides that would be very difficult to achieve with a grid if not impossible. Converting an object to guides is a single key stroke, which allows for some very clever tricks. For example:
Create a seven sided polygon using the shape tool.
With the polygon selected hit shift-g
And your polygon will be instantly converted to guides.
If you need to keep the original polygon you should duplicate it before you hit shift G.
As I’m writing this I’m realizing that probably needs to be an inkscape guides master post. It’s a deep topic and I’m just scratching the surface.
I use Fusion 360. It’s an amazing piece of software that unfortunately pulled a bait and switch on a lot of us hobbyists with their pricing changes. But there’s still a free version for personal use.
I recently made a video showing the complete process of designing a tool with it. In this case for 3D printing, but the same applies for laser projects. (I also have an older one on that topic). Maybe this will help you identify if it fits your needs.
