Most folks know that professional grade 2D drafting and design software packages can be a little expensive. Well that recently changed when Dassault Systemes, the same company that developed SolidWorks, now has a full featured 2D CAD software package for free. Their new professional grade 2D CAD software is called DraftSight. For those of you that might be familiar with a certain AutoDesk product, DraftSight 2D CAD software is 100% DWG compatible even up to the most recent version. For seasoned CAD users, the learning curve is very minimal. If you are just getting into doing CAD work, DraftSight has a great tutorial and online community to help you get started. The best way to think of this software is to compare it to what the Oracle Open Office is to Microsoft Office. Nearly identical interface and similar features all for no charge.
DraftSight 2D CAD Software Features
When an electrical engineer friend of mine told me about DraftSight 2D CAD Software, I figured it was too good to be true. Now you have to understand that I am still using AutoCAD 2004 currently and I have had quite a tough time of being able to open drawings that have been created in newer versions. This is thanks to AutoDesk for making the decision to not have backwards compatibility with the new versions. If you ask me, is a ploy to get me to upgrade and as you can see, I have not done so yet – mostly out of spite and the fact that the existing software works just fine for my needs.
This brings me to the second thing and that is the no-cost to the DraftSight. For me to pick up the latest version of AutoCad LT (the light, 2D only version) it would set me back at least a grand. So at the very least my engineering buddy had my attention.
Testing and Use
I went to the DraftSight website and downloaded the software directly from them (a 55.4MB download). Once the download was finished I did the installation procedure which proved to be quick and straightforward. I kept waiting for a bad surprise like a virus or some annoying advertising to all of a sudden take over my screenI (it didn’t, of course). Once the install was complete, it asked me to register the software (this is part of the user agreement for the free version) which thankfully did not ask me for any in-depth personal information.
So now for the big question: Does it work? And the answer is a definite Yes! I have played around with DraftSight 2D CAD software for nearly a month and have to say that is nearly perfect. I say ‘nearly’ perfect because there are only very small differences between it and the AutoDesk equivalent. The big things that matter, like full DWG compatibility, keyboard commands, and the familiarity of the screen layout, make it easy for AutoCAD users to transition into the software. Now if you are into 3D design, this is where you will be disappointed because its 3D use is limited (but you should have caught on to that when you downloaded it because it is marked as a dedicated 2D software package)
Saving & Exporting
When you’re done making a drawing, you can save it in AutoCAD Release 12 DXF or DWG format all the way up to 2011 formats. This means that you have a lots of available options. I figured that for the price (free!) that the program would have felt limiting, but my time using the software proved to be just the opposite. I found that DraftSight is a full blown package that will do pretty much anything you would want or need to do in a 2D design or drafting environment. There is no pop up advertising, no slowing down of my computer when I use it, and no spam emails from them either.
If you do a little searching on YouTube, there are a good number of tutorials available for DraftSight. These can be very helpful in making the transition to DraftSight 2D CAD software from another platform. There is also a very humorous look at the frustrations of working around the limitations of AutoCad verses DraftSight.
What is interesting is that this is not the first time that Dassault Systèmes has gone out of their way to reach out to the AutoCAD community. A number of years ago they released an AutoCAD plug-in program called DWG Gateway that allowed older versions of the software to open new version DWG’s and save to any version. What is funny is that AutoDesk did not offer this service and again this was done free of charge by the kind folks at Solid Works.
Conclusion
Dassault Systèmes DraftSight is for everyone from the hobby user to the professional drafter. Since DraftSight offers true DWG compatibility for all versions of AutoCAD and functions for the most part just like it too, this software is ideal for anyone that works with 2D design and drafting. If you are a business customer and you need more then 5 copies, the software is available for a fee but this also includes extra things like a server based system (verses stand alone), tech support and other services. To make it even better it is compatible with Windows, Mac and even Linux!
For our Value rating we gave DraftSight a 10/10 score because it really is good, if not better then what we thought possible, especially since it comes at no charge. For our Performance rating we gave the software package a 9/10 because it really works quite well, but if you are new to the computer aided drawing world, you are in for a little learning curve.
