where find online CAD?

[RB]

Anyone know of an online source where I can go to draw up a 3d image of a project I'm thinking of?

[becks]

Hi I did a CAD search a few months ago; there are quite a few sources but almost all of them provide only a short free evaluation period following which you need to pay. If you're happy with that, a good software package is Autocad, although this is expensive as I recall, but very comprehensive, and can be used as a Geographic Information System (GIS). If this is over the top, then a straight no nonsense CAD package that is excellent and well used in industry is Adobe Illustrator - this is the one I opted for. The fact that I use this at work means that I can call upon some expert help, and that helps. If you want a free CAD package with no time restraint, the only one out there I know of is DrawPlus, made by Serif, got to

free software are older versions of their latest which can be found at I'm not sure if the drawing software supports 3D, but it's worth a look. I use their PagePlus and it has great functionality. They have some very good help files and tuition pages, written in layman language, I recommend them. Becks

[peter]

I have also been looking for this starting a few weeks ago.

ProgeCad LT is a free variation of Intellicad, which is an autocad clone. I am just starting to learn to use this, so I have no idea how good the 3D support is. Some features are disabled in the free version, but you can save and there is no expiration time.

FreeCAD is an open source project. I haven't been able to get it to work; apparently I am missing some libraries.

BRL-CAD is another open source. Maybe overkill, and don't know if it does dimensioning (label the length of the pieces).

Google has a sketchup app for free. Easier to use than intellicad but I have difficulty making accurate drawing with it.

doesn't seem to support dimensioning.

If you found something better, please post.

[RB]

Thanks very much for those leads. I'll check 'em out.

[cornytheclown]

Freeserif has some mighty fine looking freeware...almost have to wonder how they can afford to give this away....wonder if they install anything else on your comp....

[Goedjn]

emachineshop.com