Everyone loves to get something for free, but if that something doesn't do what it's supposed to... it's still overpriced. On the other hand, if it's free and it's just what you're looking for, it's like finding money in the street. If you're looking for basic CAD software packages and do not need highly technical functionality, you likely will find all you need, and maybe more, in one of these four quality packages that you can download for free.
- Mac Drawing Software
- Free Drawing Apps For Macbook
- Free Drawing Tool Downloads
- Drawing App For Mac
- Free Drawing Program For Mac
Drawing tool free download - Grid Drawing Tool, Grid Drawing Tool for Artists, IlluminArty - Drawing Tool, and many more programs. Best Video Software for the Mac How To Run MacOS High Sierra. This Mac drawing software holds all the aces when it comes to versatility. Sketch can be used to create professional artwork, draw and design websites and so much more. Sketch is a vector-based application with several features such as a toolbar, canvas, editable shapes and so much more.
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AutoCAD Student Version
What We Like
- Part of the Autodesk family of modeling applications.
- AutoCAD is an industry standard.
What We Don't Like
- Watermarking on the free software editions.
- Full-featured and more complex than other programs, not newcomer-friendly.
AutoCAD, the heavy hitter of the CAD industry, offers a free, fully functional version for download to students and faculty. The only limitation on the software is a watermark on any plots you generate, designating that the file was created with a non-professional version.
Not only does Autodesk offer its base AutoCAD package free, but it also offers free licenses for almost its entire suite of AEC vertical packages, such as Civil 3DAutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD Electrical.
If you're looking to learn CAD or just do some personal design work, this is absolutely the way to go.
Mac Drawing Software
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Trimble SketchUp
What We Like
- Clear features grid comparing paid-versus-free features.
- Options for home hobbyists to industry professionals.
What We Don't Like
- Pricing model isn't great.
- Free feature is web-only with many important features hobbled.
SketchUp was originally developed by Google and was one of the greatest free CAD packages ever put on the market. In 2012, Google sold the product to Trimble. Trimble has enhanced it and developed it further and now offers a slew of related products. Its free version SketchUp Make has plenty of power, but if you need additional functionality, you can buy SketchUp Pro — and pay a hefty price tag.
The interface makes it easy to master the basics. Even if you've never done any CAD work or 3D modeling before, you can pull together some really nice presentations in minutes.
Of course, if you're looking to put out detailed designs with accurate sizing and tolerances, you'll need to spend some time learning the ins and outs of the program. The SketchUp website offers a really impressive array of video and self-paced training options to help you along the way.
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FreeCAD
What We Like
- Well-supported open source platform.
- Ideal for engineering.
- Well-optimized for 3D work.
What We Don't Like
- Clunky to work with.
- 2D features aren't great.
FreeCAD is a serious Open Source offering that supports parametric 3D modeling, which means you can modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. The target market is mostly mechanical engineers and product design, but it's got a lot of functionality and power that anyone would find attractive.
Like many open-source products, it has a loyal base of developers and can compete with some of the commercial heavy hitters because of its ability to create real 3D solids, support for meshes, 2D drafting and lots of other features. Further, it's customizable and is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Ubuntu, and Fedora.
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LibreCAD
What We Like
- Free and open-source.
- Excels at 2D work.
What We Don't Like
- Not as strong for 3D work.
- The website focuses on stuff that matters to app developers, not to CAD users.
Free Drawing Apps For Macbook
Another Open Source offering, LibreCAD is a high-quality, 2D-CAD modeling platform. LibreCAD grew out of QCAD, and, like FreeCAD, has a large, loyal following of designers and customers.
It includes lots of powerful features that include snap-to-grid for drawing, layers, and measurements. Its user interface and concepts are similar to AutoCAD, so if you have experience with that tool, this should be easy to master.
AutoCAD is the most used computer program for people who need to create 2D and 3D drawings and diagrams, especially in industries such as architecture, interior design and engineering. Being that it is the industry standard, it is also quite an expensive program to buy. If you are looking to get into AutoCAD and this type of design work, but you are not yet certain if it is for you, there are some free AutoCAD alternatives out there that you can try which work similarly.
Also, if you need some 2D and 3D design work done and don’t have the money to spring for AutoCAD, here are some great, completely free AutoCAD alternatives to check out.
1. QCAD
This is an application that will allow you to draft two dimensions objects. It’s a great tool for all types of technical drawings, works for Windows, Mac OS X and many Linux and Unix Systems, and of course, it is completely free. QCad is very convenient for beginners due to its easy to use interface. It offers over 40 construction and 20 modification tools as well as entity selection tools and 35 CAD fonts.
2. Creo Elements
One of the more popular choices for 3D work. It allows shifting from 2D to 3D. It is a very fast and flexible alternative to AutoCAD with many options included that AutoCAD is known for having. With Creo Elements you can create and edit your designs in real time.
3. NanoCAD
NanoCAD is claimed to be a reliable free drafting software which supports AutoCAD 2013/14 DWG files and all AutoCAD versions starting from version 11. Some of its features are enhanced 3d orbit, multiple search and auto-correct options, lineweight settings dialog and much more.
4. PadCAD
This is a free CAD mobile application that serves for small projects to medium size projects. It is convenient even for users with less experience. The only sidekick is the fact that you need to pay in order to save or export the file, but it is an one-time payment that doesn’t expire. Similar mobile app that works as a CAD editor and viewer is CAD Pockets that also works on ios and has both free and paid version.
5. OpenSCAD
Free Drawing Tool Downloads
This is a free architecture software for making solid 3d cad objects. It is more a 3d compiler than an interactive modeller. OpenSCAD gives their users two different modelling techniques: extrusion of 2d outlines and solid geometry.
6. BRL-CAD
A cross-platform and open source solid modeling system that has a bunch of different features to offer, including interactive geometry editing, image and signal-processing tools and large libraries for making tons of different types of geometric representations.
7. gCAD3D
This free software offers many features, including an integrated 3D-OpenGL viewer, a program interpreter for geometry and NC commands in 3D, an integrated NC processor and can be used with Windows and Linux. The website is a little sparse and confusing, but the freeware is not.
8. Archimedes
A 3D modeling application that allows you to create complex compound 3D shapes. It is touted for being one of the most functional free AutoCAD alternatives out there, when it comes to 3D modeling. Main features are Boolean and MeshGroup. Boolean feature serves for cutting and intersecting shapes, whereas MeshGroup is a module for grouping elements.
9. PythonCAD
Drawing App For Mac
One for the Linux users, this is a CAD package that was written in the Python programming language, hence the name. One of the best open-source CAD packages for Linux, and it’s also quite simple to use if you have any kind of prior experience with two and three dimensional modeling.
10. LibreCAD
Free Drawing Program For Mac
This one is free and it can be used on Linux, Windows and Mac. It is available in more than 20 languages. This free CAD software has a free support and everyone is welcome to contribute its advancement with his development skills. This tool is perfect for designing cad drawings, it writes DXF files but other types of files can be exported as well.