QCAD

Design in 2 dimensions with high precision and detail

Avantages :

Forget about a private software QCAD works perfect for two dimension designs, you can do simple or very complex designs, the tools are very intuitive, you can use for draws or design buildings, house, kitchens, the layout and the print option are very easy to use, it is free and very powerful.

Inconvénients :

It can be a little unstable sometimes, but the greatest limitation is that you can modeling anything in three dimensions, and if you want to do a render you have to use another software.

Great open source alternative to AutoCAD

Commentaires : This has been a joy to discover as AutoCAD is very pricey for my needs. I need a CAD software that does the basics well but I am not using it all the time. I need to work with the industry standard .dwg and convert to PDF. QCAD does all this and more.

Avantages :

Simple but robust feature set for routine 2D CAD work. Good interface, more like AutoCAD 2000 than 2021, but very usable. Dedicated advocates who develop additional features and functions. Simple annual payment gets one all the upgrades that year as a perpetual license. Good interoperability with .dwg files.

Inconvénients :

The UI is a little dated and some of the tools are not as polished as they could be, but these are small issues given the excellent price point.

It's good, however!

Commentaires : This software has potential to be amazing, especially if it stays at the same price. However updates / improvements are needed in my opinion. Mostly to do with ease of use. Simplifying some of the standard tools in my opinion would be helpful. Vcarve (which is a vector CNC software) is a great example of what I mean. I use that on a daily basis and it's extremely easy to use and is centered around the same mechanics as 2D CAD software. Unfortunately I will be sticking with DraftSight for now despite costing double the price. To be honest it costs more because at the moment it's a better software.

Avantages :

The best thing about this software is the price. I currently use DraftSight, however this is half the price for essentially the same thing. It looks professional and has a lot of features. The layout I really like. It seems to be optimized well and I haven't found any bugs as of yet. This could be used to create some really complicated and in depth drawings.

Inconvénients :

It might be because I'm swapping over from different software after so long, but some of the simplest tools such as trimming seem to be overly complicated. From my experience so far the auto trim is simply useless. When I want to trim a line that over laps another line, I want to select the trim option then trim the line I want to trim, that's it! This software does not operate like that. You have to do everything separately through a series of different tool editors within each tool. It's just to much. I literally spend most of the time on this software trying to figure out how to trim or get a polyline to bend or some other simple task that shouldn't take long at all. The ease of use is quite terrible and it unfortunately effects the efficiency. For me, I can draw something on DraftSight in half the time. This is probably the reason why they recommend to purchase the training document alongside this software. In my opinion 2D CAD software is 2D CAD software, the only deciding factor is the price (that's pretty much the only difference between AutoCAD and DraftSight). If I cant open this program and draw something that I have previously drawn on other software packages within relative ease then I'm at a loss.

Excellent product

Commentaires : Very simple to download. This cad software works well ... better than Autodesk LT, and Draftsight. Well done team!

Avantages :

Qcad has the best range of useable functions I have found. Lots of text options, fills, snap points and drawing tools for 2D drafting.

Inconvénients :

The trim functions could be a little easier to use. However the break tool is great.

Solid, Free CAD Offering

Commentaires : For free software, QCAD gives you a solid platform to handle most CAD work. I use it for doing detailed design of some aspects of building design etc. I'm a general contractor, not an architect, and I find it easy enough to use. I watched a couple of quick YouTube videos to get started and I'd recommend that if your not coming from a CAD background.

Avantages :

Quick and easy to draw things. Decent keyboard shortcuts to avoid to much mouse work. Very stable, it's never crashed on me.

Inconvénients :

The ability to print and export is pretty awful and I often end up doing some tidy up in an image editor. The snapping to grid is kind of a pain at times. I find I often end up with lines that are a degree or two of from straight even though I'm using the grid snapping.