×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Sketching software question

Sketching software question

Sketching software question

(OP)
Greetings,
I am looking for a program that I can use for quick 2D sketching much like the sketching mode of all commercial 3D CAD software (constraints,parametric design,mirror etc etc) and export them to JPGs or BMPs.
Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

RE: Sketching software question

You might try Sketchup - free trial copy at Google.  I think it is more of a 3D program but surely could be used in 2D.

Or buy an older version of TurboCad - practically free on e-bay.  VERY easy to learn and use.  Version 11.1 is great and can export any drawing to almost any known format.

RE: Sketching software question

There was a program like that, maybe ten years ago.  I forget the name.  It had parametrics and constraints... and most users found it a pita to use as a result.  It was pretty high priced for what it did.  I think it either vanished or morphed into something else.


 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Sketching software question

(OP)
Thank you both.Actually I came across a program called SolidEdge from UGS today that is 100% what I was looking for plus its freeware :)

RE: Sketching software question

SolidEdge is freeware?  News to me.

RE: Sketching software question

(OP)
sorry,I should have mentioned this.The program is called "SolidEdge 2D drafting" and THAT is freeware.The actual program is not free.

RE: Sketching software question

No, I don't think it was SmartSketch; I think it had a Compu-zoomy name.  It _sounded_ like a great idea.  One of my friends bought it, used it for a while, and came to not like it particularly.

I tried it a little, and the thing that was annoying about it was that the constraints were instantly active, and couldn't be ignored even temporarily.

That may not clearly describe what was so aggravating about it; perhaps an analogy will do.  There was at roughly the same time a 'syntax- directed editor' for some computer language... which also sounded like a good idea.  I.e., it wouildn't let you produce a line of code that wasn't conformant with the language's syntax.

The problem was that, once you entered a line of code, and before you pressed 'enter', you'd get a warning that it was wrong.  Fine and dandy.  So you would then attempt to edit the line in place in order to correct the syntax.  Okay, _but_ the editor wouldn't let you produce a line with bad syntax, even while you were attempting to correct the syntax of the line you just entered.

Back to sketching... I can contrast that with the sketch feature in Solidworks, which allows you to sketch something pretty much freehand, with approximate dimensions... and then go ahead and build a 3D feature from the sketch without bothering to tie down the actual dimensions of the sketch, say by dimensioning it, or by saying 'fix' or 'accept' or whatever.  I.e. the SW sketcher doesn't get in the way of the flow of ideas..  whereas with that ancient aggravating product, whose name I will recall when it no longer matters, you spent all your time dancing with the constraint engine instead of thinking about what you were actually trying to represent.

 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Sketching software question

You could try Voloview. You will need a base blank drawing in .dwg or .dwf format but it works well as a sketch tool and it's free. You can also export to .dxf.

Autodesk have retired Voloview but I find its successor, Design Review, not worth what it costs; and its free too.

RE: Sketching software question

How about a free parametric 3d program http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/inventor_lt/
Autodesk Inventor Lt (free for 1 year), then they typically release a new version which is probably going to be free again.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources