Free, basic, 2D cad software?

[Captain Ledd]

Polar is working mighty fine here, all the usual suspects are present in the snap department.

There is maximize/minimize boxes off to the left when I bring those windows up, are they minimized?

Alright. This is extremely aggrivating, this is literally the 5th download I've tried. I just tried to do a 4th just after I posted but it errord, so I did it again.

And NOW it works fine! I have the buttons on the bottom I was missing before (Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar, Esnap, Etrack), and there's way less clutter around the top of the program. When I searched in the help menu for "polar" it showed up nothing before.

Maybe I was just getting a botched download this whole time? Nothing else me or anyone else has downloaded got screwey, same site I got it from all the other times.

This was the site everyone else used right?

http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Alright. This is extremely aggrivating, this is literally the 5th download I've tried. I just tried to do a 4th just after I posted but it errord, so I did it again.

And NOW it works fine! I have the buttons on the bottom I was missing before (Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar, Esnap, Etrack), and there's way less clutter around the top of the program. When I searched in the help menu for "polar" it showed up nothing before.

Maybe I was just getting a botched download this whole time? Nothing else me or anyone else has downloaded got screwey, same site I got it from all the other times.

This was the site everyone else used right?

http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/

I got nunthin'

I can't get your link to work but it is the same address I used, did you have the wrong system (32bit vs 64bit) or something like that?

 

[Captain Ledd]

Nope, all 64 bit. I checked my OS before I downloaded the first attempt.

 

[509lifted]

i downloaded it and it says i need to activate it so what would i choose if im designing random automotive stuff? would i choose automotive and then automotive engineer?

 

[Captain Ledd]

i downloaded it and it says i need to activate it so what would i choose if im designing random automotive stuff? would i choose automotive and then automotive engineer?

Honestly, I can't remember what I picked. Just pick the ones that are close enough.

I use mine for whatever the hell I feel like drawing out and measuring first, automotive, agriculture, landscaping, architecture, whatever.

Edit:

Which is the best free cad software for 2D and 3D design?

3D is a little trickier. That's where all the modern design is, and hence the money. I can't think of any reason a company would design in 2D, that manufactured parts that needed 3D (well maybe not needed, but would produce a much more flexible model of the part/s, not to mention the analysis tools they have now) would seek out 2D software. Besides, they've all made their money off of 2D stuff anyways, just about everything here on out is going to be in 3D.

I have "FreeCAD", but I really haven't used it or gotten the hang of it.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

3D is a little trickier. That's where all the modern design is, and hence the money. I can't think of any reason a company would design in 2D, that manufactured parts that needed 3D (well maybe not needed, but would produce a much more flexible model of the part/s, not to mention the analysis tools they have now) would seek out 2D software. Besides, they've all made their money off of 2D stuff anyways, just about everything here on out is going to be in 3D.

When I did R&D stuff a few years ago we only used it for wiring diagrams, everything else (designing bucket and boom trucks) was in Inventor in 3D.

I did refrigeration parts at another company in 2D but it was a PITA compared to doing in 3D, possibly hence why they are no longer in business...

 

[Mac]

A lot of places still rely on 2-d for simple stuff but for the more complex use 3-d. Inventor and Solid Works by a lot. We did a lot of equipment skids, lot of piping and several levels of equipment. The good guys used Bently, one of them that let you climb up a ladder and move right thru the equipment. A couple of those guys actually went over to France to give a demonstation of our equipment.
Dave

 

[Masteryeti]

Ive been using and outdated version of autocad and for just simply thing i found nanocad. Its free and it will let you save and print. The only down side is that its very basic and some of the features remind me of the ole c&c programing days lol

Heres a link if you want to give it a shot http://nanocad.com/

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Draftsight has worked fine since I downloaded it. I drew some stuff for my house last night and nothing would show up in the sheet tab, a internet search turned up that you may need to update your graphics driver. So I did that (along with some other updates) and now it crashes at startup.

Any ideas?

A reinstall didn't help at all...

 

[Captain Ledd]

You did register it right? (silly question but I gotta ask)

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You did register it right? (silly question but I gotta ask)

Yup, worked perfect last night aside from only the snap points showing in the sheet tab. Updated the graphic card and now I get a "Draftsight has encountered a problem and needs the close..." message.

I did a system restore and it didn't help, going to do another reinstall and see if that helps.

 

[projectnitemare]

Pretty sure you need a student code (i.e. from the university or professor) to download a student version of solidworks. Like said before you can't print anything from it but I think you can save, it's been a while so I'm not 100% on that one. I used it a lot in college and loved it. I had the student version on an older computer and has since crashed and lost it. It's hard to get the place you work for to pony up the money to buy it though...I think most times their version of CAD is somebody's crappy sketch on a used napkin. For my stuff at home, I have an old version of AutoCAD or I still have my good old drafting kit to do it the old fashioned way.