A user's perspective on Linux CAD programs.

BricsCAD V14 versus DraftSight V1R5 comparison

For a long time, CAD users were bind to Windows platform, because there was no Linux or Mac alternative CAD software to AutoCAD or other windows CAD programs. In recent years the situation has changed a lot on Linux platform with the rise of DraftSight, BricsCAD and ARES CE.

DraftSight V1R5.1 is out.

An update for DraftSight, the popular free DWG based CAD from Dassault Systemes, is now available. V1R5.1 comes with no major changes and unfortunately doesn't fix the bug with non-English characters.

BricsCAD V14 for Linux is out !!!

Today Bricsys announced the availability of BricsCAD V14 for Linux. This new release has a lot of new features and improvements.

DraftSight V1R5 is out with a lot of changes

DraftSight V1R5 has been released and its Linux version has some significant changes.
Most important of all is the change of the package name and the new locations of files and folders.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!!!

ARES CE gets a new major upgrade but...

Graebert released a new major upgrade for the ARES CE dwg-based CAD program. This new version comes with major changes and as the company claims it also has performance improvements. Unfortunately, the Linux version is garbage. It's impossible to run the software under Linux and in some cases even the installation isn't possible . I spent a lot of time trying different combinations of software and hardware. I tried Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64bit and 13.10 32bit with both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, with or without proprietary drivers, without any success at all. I also tried various workarounds but probably this is a problematic Linux release of ARES CE. It seems that Linux users have to wait for a fixed version in order to run the new release and test its new features under their favorite OS.

How to create layered PDFs with DraftSight

We frequently export our DWGs in PDF format in order to share them or open them with another program. However, these PDFs have the disadvantage to merge the layers of our drawing. Exporting layered PDFs appears to be more useful in sharing because they are kind of editable, with visible structure and also we can further work them out by other programs easier.

Let's see how to create a layered PDF with DraftSight:

In your drawing at DraftSight open File --> Export --> PDF Export.

In the PDF Export dialogue box that appears you are able to choose where to save your PDF, the paper size and the Sheets you want to export: the whole drawing (Model) or a part of it already set in a layout (Layout), or both. Also make sure that 'Use layers in PDF file' under Options is checked.

 

Then open the PDF with Evince (or alternative you can use Adobe Reader) and from the side bar at the left choose Layers. And here they are! You can see them and turn them on and off.

DraftSight V1R3.2 is available for download!

The last few days a new release of DraftSight has been available for download.
V1R3.2 doesn't introduce any new features. It's a quality, bug-fixing release only.
You can download it for free and use it for free after a simple registration.
As usual, only 32bit installers are available for Linux users (both .deb and .rpm).

Lost in Support: VariCAD

VariCAD is a general purpose 2D/3D Mechanical CAD. It already has a native Linux port for many years and it's  very popular between Linux users.

QCAD/CAM adds CAM functionality to QCAD 3 pro

RibbonSoft announced the availability of QCAD/CAM an add-on for QCAD 3 pro that adds CAM functionality on the existing CAD application.
QCAD/CAM allows you to export your drawings to the popular gcode format that can be used to control several types of CNC machines.
QCAD/CAM is available for Linux and you can download a free trial from here.

 CAM Export Configuration Dialog Box

The CAM pull-down menu

Lost in Support: QCAD pro

QCAD pro is a 2D CAD program that has Linux support for years. Its relevance for Linux users is very high since not only it had long been the unique reliable 2D CAD solution but also its GPL Community Edition is the base for LibreCAD.
QCAD pro comes in its latest version 3 with significant new functionality added, such as .dwg support, new script engine, .svg support and more.

Lost in Support: DraftSight

DraftSight, the free 2D dwg-based solution by Dassault Systemes, is an interesting choice for everybody.

DraftSight V1R3.1 is now available !

Dassault released today an updated version for DraftSight. This new V1R3.1 version fixes 2 bugs in fonts:

- The display of .ttf fonts in model and paper space.
- The PDF export of .shx fonts (Capital E letter problem)

As usual 32bit only .deb and .rpm files are available.

If you experience any problems with the download page try the direct links provided in this post.

Direct Links for DraftSight Linux

The DraftSight's download page seems to have problems and the download buttons are not visible.

So if you want to download DraftSight for Linux you can temporarily use these direct links.

DraftSight .deb
DraftSight .rpm

P.S. You can find these links by viewing page's source code.

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year to all !!!

2012 Flash Back

The year that is leaving today was an interesting one in the field of Linux CAD.
Below are listed the top events of 2012 for Linux CAD:

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all

BricsCAD V13 for Linux is now available!

Bricsys has released today the new BricsCAD V13 for Linux.

New version for ARES CE

Graebert released an updated version for ARES CE. This new version comes with various new tools and fixes. A complete changelog is available here.
As usually .deb, .rpm and tar.gz versions are available for testing with or without registration (some features like saving and printing are not available in the unregistered version).
Unfortunately there is no native 64bit Linux version yet.
Also a special offer is valid until January 5th 2013 so you can buy ARES CE at the discounted price of 495€.

How to fix BricsCAD's segfault on Ubuntu 12.10

BricsCAD V12 doesn't work correctly on the new Ubuntu 12.10.
The problem is that BricsCAD V12 doesn't operate well  with the version of libfreetype that is installed by default on Ubuntu 12.10. This problem can be fixed by copying a working version of this library into BricsCAD's LD_PRELOAD path.