Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
Don't know if this is what you're looking for....but you might start here:
Cheers!
EGO II
On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 12:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage dsavage@peaknet.net wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
You can try FreeCAD on RPM Fusion (non-free due to OCE). It's still under heavy development but you may find it feature complete enough.
Richard
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
I use Ribbon Soft Qcad. There is a free edition but I use the pro edition.
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/en/qcad
On 10/28/2012 03:06 PM, Mark LaPierre wrote:
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
I use Ribbon Soft Qcad. There is a free edition but I use the pro edition.
I looked at some of these things, and the free QCad is probably the nearest to AutoCAAD, but it's NOT AutoCAD--some of the commands don't work. And some of the features that you might need are not there. (I couldn't find "scale".) It's the same old problem-- any imitation CAD routine will cause you to have to learn all over again. If you have Windows, there are sources of (quite a bit) lower-priced AutoCAD. I won't go into detail but there are! You just can't call Autodesk for help! I will never understand why some of these ultra-high-priced outfits don't make older editions available for a reasonable price. AutoCad could sell the old Light version from 2000 or so for, say, $150, which is probably not much lower than when it was new, and make a nice buck out of people who will never buy the latest four-figure version--or the five-figure full-blown version.
--doug
On 10/28/2012 04:33 PM, Doug wrote:
On 10/28/2012 03:06 PM, Mark LaPierre wrote:
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
I use Ribbon Soft Qcad. There is a free edition but I use the pro edition.
I looked at some of these things, and the free QCad is probably the nearest to AutoCAAD, but it's NOT AutoCAD--some of the commands don't work. And some of the features that you might need are not there. (I couldn't find "scale".) It's the same old problem-- any imitation CAD routine will cause you to have to learn all over again. If you have Windows, there are sources of (quite a bit) lower-priced AutoCAD. I won't go into detail but there are! You just can't call Autodesk for help! I will never understand why some of these ultra-high-priced outfits don't make older editions available for a reasonable price. AutoCad could sell the old Light version from 2000 or so for, say, $150, which is probably not much lower than when it was new, and make a nice buck out of people who will never buy the latest four-figure version--or the five-figure full-blown version.
--doug
Qcad has scale. From the help menu:
Menu: Modify - Scale Scale: sz Command: scale Description: Scales entities by a given factor towards a given center. This tool can create single or multiple copies of existing entities. Procedure: After starting the scale tool, the CAD toolbar shows the selection tools. Use them to select the entities you want to scale. Click the right arrow button in the CAD toolbar to continue. Set the center of the scaling with the mouse or enter a coordinate in the command line. The scale dialog is displayed (Figure 52). To scale the entities without keeping the original entities, choose "Delete Original", to copy them choose "Keep Original". Finally you can create a number of scaled copies at once, by choosing "Multiple Copies" and entering the number of copies in the text line below. Note that '9' will create 9 copies and keep the original - so there will be 10 instances of the entities in the end. The copies will have the same attributes and be on the same layer as the original entities. To change that default behavior, you can check "Use current attributes" or "Use current layer". Click OK to scale the entities. The selected entities will be deselected automatically.
The free community edition does not have all the features found in the Pro edition. You don't get what you don't pay for.
On Sun, 2012-10-28 at 16:33 -0400, Doug wrote:
On 10/28/2012 03:06 PM, Mark LaPierre wrote:
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights, IL
I use Ribbon Soft Qcad. There is a free edition but I use the pro edition.
I looked at some of these things, and the free QCad is probably the nearest to AutoCAAD, but it's NOT AutoCAD--some of the commands don't work. And some of the features that you might need are not there. (I couldn't find "scale".) It's the same old problem-- any imitation CAD routine will cause you to have to learn all over again. If you have Windows, there are sources of (quite a bit) lower-priced AutoCAD. I won't go into detail but there are! You just can't call Autodesk for help! I will never understand why some of these ultra-high-priced outfits don't make older editions available for a reasonable price. AutoCad could sell the old Light version from 2000 or so for, say, $150, which is probably not much lower than when it was new, and make a nice buck out of people who will never buy the latest four-figure version--or the five-figure full-blown version.
With you there Doug. Having seen Windows 8, maybe Autodesk will do an about face and return to UNIX/Linux as its primary platform.
Before hiring a contractor, I need to revise old hard copy drawings and completely redo the electrical and lighting layers. The ability to build a list of materials would be a real plus.
--Doc Savage Fairview Heights
On 10/28/2012 01:56 PM, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
Can anyone suggest an architectural CAD package comparable to AutoCAD for use in preparing layered drawings for residential remodeling?
No FOSS package approaches AutoCAD, unfortunately, although I've used QCad for minor household renovations.
If you need something heavier-duty, these are some non-FOSS but Fedora-runnable options:
http://www.varicad.com/en/home/ http://www.bricsys.com/en_INTL/bricscad/
- Mike
I do almost all my CAD work these days using OpenSCAD/ImplicitCAD etc.
However if you are not coming from a programming background they will I suspect throw you completely.
It's possible to use blender for this kind of stuff, particularly visuals but it's not really good for doing the actual design side.
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Alan Cox -
Doug -
Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak -
EGO-II.1 -
Mark LaPierre -
Richard Shaw -
Robert G. (Doc) Savage