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.

RibbonSoft released QCAD 3.4

A new version of QCAD has been released a few days ago. This new version contains some new features, like a new view mode and support for custom properties. Any Linux users that are interested in trying this CAD application, can download QCAD here. QCAD 3.4 will work just fine in any modern Linux distro.

Updated DraftSight V1R4 is available for download

The new release of DraftSight is now available for download.

DraftSight V1R4 comes with the already known features but with nothing new and exciting, for Linux users at least.

As usual 32bit .deb and .rpm installers are available for Linux users.

You can download DraftSight for Linux for absolutely free here.

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.