Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Easy CAD

[Jim <abyssalobsession@gmail.com>]

Investing in AutoCAD is not a cheap endeavor, but then again neither is building a sub.  I recommend it just based on how easy it is to operate, with an intuitive GUI that will not take you long to learn with a few tutorials and videos.  The quality of work, along with the ability to send CAD files to most shops to fabricate those difficult to make at home parts will more than pay for itself in the long run.  I've toyed with a few free CAD programs, but they ranged everywhere in difficulty from having to know Python, to having to construct all objects from pre-rendered shapes.  And most of them required you to manually input text commands, coordinates, and dimensions.

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 9:20 PM, Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org> wrote:

Hi psubbers,

Can anyone recommend some CAD software that is intuitive, easy-to-learn, and won't take me lots of time to ramp up on?  I'm looking for something that can do renderings so I can play with making some drawings of various things.  Also, is it possible to import an existing photo and then modify it?  I have zero experience with using CAD and I'm not looking for bridge-building functionality.  Just something that can give me a good conceptual renderings.

Free software would be great and I have Windows, FreeBSD, and Linux platforms available to me.

Jon




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