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Alternative to Autocad/Draftsight for 2D?

red beard

Cast Iron
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Grand Rapids, MI USA
I originally learned CAD on Autocad and used Autocad LT for several years before switching to Draftsight. Today I went to start Draftsight and it wouldn't start-program stopped working error. I hadn't updated it in awhile, so I figured that I would install the latest version. Hopefully that would fix my issue.

The install seemed to go fine, but when I went to start it, the splash screen would come up and the program window would come up for a split second and then close.

Apparently this is a common problem. I looked on the draftsight forums and there is about 50 different solutions to this issue. I spent about three hours this morning trying to get it to work, but no luck. This isn't the first issue I've had with Draftsight, so I'm ready to move on.

I'm looking for suggestions, and it doesn't have to be free. I would like something with a similar interface as Autocad.

I downloaded the BricsCAD trial, and that seems pretty nice. The 2D version is $590 for a permanent licence which doesn't seem too bad to me.
 
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librecad there are youtube tutorials on it. once you get used to it its not bad. i use often for simple drawings

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded it, and it looked like it might work for me. Unfortunately, when I tried opening some of my existing dwg files they didn't open properly.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded it, and it looked like it might work for me. Unfortunately, when I tried opening some of my existing dwg files they didn't open properly.

DWG will be the problem with alternatives. Autodesk does what it can to keep competitors out of DWG. There is a commercial endeavour to provide DWG functionality, but you'll only get it in commercial applications. Wikipedia has a list of some of the member companies: Open Design Alliance - Wikipedia

What I find funny is that AutoCAD LT (the last time I used it) pops up a nag box when it opens a "non genuine" (or words to that effect) dwg file. Funny because, when I use a non-Autodesk product, I don't get nagged. But if I actually pay Autodesk, then I have to suffer their sanctimonious behaviour. Gee, thanks Autodesk.

If you only need DXF, there are more free options that work to some degree.
 
DWG will be the problem with alternatives. Autodesk does what it can to keep competitors out of DWG. There is a commercial endeavour to provide DWG functionality, but you'll only get it in commercial applications. Wikipedia has a list of some of the member companies: Open Design Alliance - Wikipedia

What I find funny is that AutoCAD LT (the last time I used it) pops up a nag box when it opens a "non genuine" (or words to that effect) dwg file. Funny because, when I use a non-Autodesk product, I don't get nagged. But if I actually pay Autodesk, then I have to suffer their sanctimonious behaviour. Gee, thanks Autodesk.

If you only need DXF, there are more free options that work to some degree.

I know dwg files can be a problem for some programs. With Draftsight I never really had any issues opening files. It was other glitches and crashes that drove me away.

I hate subscription models. That's why I'm not really interested in going back to Autocad. I don't really want to be sending Autodesk several hundred dollars a year for the rest of my life.

So far, it looks like BricsCAD might be the best option. I hate spending that kind of money to replace free software, but if I'm wasting hours trying to get the free software to work then it's not really free is it?
 
Try CADDIT. It's Australian. It has quite a following as a good alternative to AutoCAD. Their software is called projeCAD
 
Try uninstalling draftsight and then download and install the latest version.

Draftsight is working today. I didn't change anything, so there was probably an issue with their registration servers yesterday which is apparently not an uncommon issue. Another reason to look at alternatives.
 
Red

I did not load Brics 'cos I really did not need to, but ....

From what I've read and seen, it is very much like real AutoCAD, and if you're like me who is very comfortable and happy with how ACAD works ( I know I know, some hate it with a passion..)
then it just might be the ticket.
For just under $600, the plane-jane version should be quite good for 2D work.

Though I have the full Inventor PDSU suite, I still only use ACAD in Vanilla mode, have no need for any bloatware that comes with Mechanical.
 
I don't even know if it is still around but VisualCadd was actually the first Cad package for Windows, beating out Autodesk. I used it for quite a few years as it reads and writes dwg files and absolutely kicks AutoCAD LT ass. The only reason I don't use it anymore is that I needed Acad to get a job so I bought AutoCAD LT and used it until I was proficient. 10 years later still sucks.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. After looking at all of the options, BricsCAD looks like it might be the best fit. I'm going to use it for the 30 day trial and go from there.
 
For a user, finding a software that would fit to the requirements is a must. One can easily get confused for opting the right software among the various software readily available in market.I am using ActCAD for a while now and it has similar user-interface, shortcuts, commands to that of other CAD software.It comes at a reasonable price with lifetime validity.
Copy the link to url to avail the 30 days free trial
https://actcad.com/download-actcad-...a=2xg9y04jtH-LXXOcYglfRDBGq_rj8R6LyeqqWj9AtH8
 








 
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