Category: general computing

Do you know that there are free yet powerful 2D Computer Aided Drafting software around? Yes, there are. One of the most powerful is Free2Design.

Free2Design is a 2D Computer Aided Design or CAD program that can rival the commercial 2D CAD programs. In fact, it is so intuitive that I think it is superior to many commercial and paid 2D CAD applications. This powerful program can export to the industrial file formats dxf and dwg, thus making it highly usable within a professional environment.

As a former user of AutoCAD, I must say I am very impressed with Free2Design. It has a very nice graphic interface. It seems that a lot of thinkings had gone into making the application as easy to use as possible. The program has intuitive snap modes such as snap-to-midpoint, endpoint etc. All the tools and commands that are required of a fully functional CAD program are there. These include the usual set of tools for drawing, dimensioning and editing. Also, the full range of functions such as layers, transformations and snap modes that are designed to ease the drafting process are there in the program.

If you are in the professions such as architecture, engineering and design, you may like to give this excellent piece of software a look. It is free anyway, but you are required to register in order to use it.

As of this writing, the program is available only on Windows XP and Vista. You can get the program here. This program is a 90 mb download, but it is worth the effort.

Well, that all for the essay. I am sure that there are other free 2D CAD programs around too. I will add them to this website if I do come across any good ones. In the meantime, have fun and hope you find this article useful.