Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users Readers and editors share software tools and tips that are worth their weight in gold, but don’t cost a penny.

“Free is a very good price!”

ong-time residents of Portland, Oregon, know and love this catchy slogan from the low-budget television commercials of LTom Peterson. A home furnishings dealer who became such an icon that Gus Van Sant cast him in movies, Peterson lured custom- ers to his stores with every kind of freebie imaginable, from hot dogs and haircuts to wrapping paper and area rugs. Nearly every American community has had its own version of Tom Peterson at one time or another, that noisy local retailer who tapped the marketing power of “Free!” Fast-forward to the Internet age, and freebies are more prevalent than ever: free Wi-Fi, e-mail accounts, apps, games, you name it — the options are end- less. And nowhere are the freebies better than in the CAD world, where no-cost tips and tools are plentiful — and more often than From the editors of not, surprisingly practical. But finding great freebies in the vast online world can be a chal- lenge. To help you get to the gems that will make your job easier, we have compiled a list of indispensable freebies recommended by Cadalyst readers and contributors. Editor’s note: This guide was originally published in 2010, Editors have not tested each tool extensively; we encourage you then updated in 2014 and 2017. to evaluate the options according to your own needs. Nor can we For the current edition, editors guarantee that any particular site or download is virus-free, so validated and updated informa- please use caution. tion from the 2017 edition and Be sure to review licensing agreements before downloading to added new tools recommended ensure that you can comply with the terms of use. Some sites by Cadalyst readers in early 2018. require that users provide contact or other personal information in Do you have your own exchange for free tools; others suggest a small donation. fabulous freebie to share Now, let’s get to the free stuff! with fellow CAD users? Submit it to General-Purpose Tools [email protected] to be considered for publication in a CAD might be your primary software, but CAD managers and future edition! users alike call on a variety of general-purpose software to get their jobs done, including tools to make PDFs, convert units, orga- nize and rename files, and create videos and screen captures. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 3

The following free tools are among the best, according to our readers and contributors. PDF Tools A popular freebie that’s been around for more than a decade is CutePDF Writer. Use it with virtually any Windows application to create quality PDFs; Michael Gilroy reported that it works well with AutoCAD and with Microsoft Word. Marga Io said, “I could not survive a CAD workday without this tool. It saves paper too!” Icecream PDF Converter is one of Adam Clark’s favorite free tools: “Files can be dragged into the box and then converted with a sin- gle click. This makes it quick and easy to send and save large files.” “PDF995 is my favorite freebie,” reported Sharla Livingston. “It is the easiest PDF creator I’ve used.” The free version displays a

Free (and Almost Free) Tools for Your Mobile Device

Tucked into your pocket or bag, these tools can Archisketch (pictured below) enables users to go anywhere. To search for the titles below, sketch, draw to scale, and visualize ideas in 3D. visit iTunes or the App Store on your device for A full version with unlimited shapes, drawings, iOS apps, and the Google Play store for and projects is available for $9.99. (iOS) Android. Many CAD titles you’re familiar with from your desktop — such as AutoCAD, Onshape, eDrawings, ARES, CorelCAD, and GstarCAD — have associated mobile apps offering varying levels of functionality, and most are free. There is also an ever-expanding market of free and low-cost apps that can help you with specific CAD or related tasks; here are just a few. Autodesk SketchBook painting and drawing software is free; you can upgrade to Pro tools and more layers with in-app purchases. (iOS and Android) CAD Assistant is an offline viewer and con- verter for 3D CAD and mesh models. Saves CAD models as BREP, IGES, or STEP files. (iOS and Android) John Hebrank favors the ConvertPad unit converter: “This is an extremely easy-to-use and useful converter for everyday work-related Evernote lets users make notes and lists with calculations.” (Android) text, sketches, photos, and more; share them; Create vector drawings using solid or dashed and sync them across devices. Cadalyst contrib- lines in iPocket Draw Lite. The free version is uting editor Melanie Perry uses it in her facili- limited to 12 objects per drawing; the full ver- ties management work when she has to leave sion costs $11.99. (iOS) the office for meetings or site visits. (iOS and Android) Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 4

sponsor page in your web browser each time you run the software; upgrade for $9.95 to eliminate ads. Chris Harris recommended PDFCreator. “It offers encryption for security, the ability to digitally sign documents, stamping, [and much more]. My favorite feature though, is the ability to create JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and other formats from a program or an existing PDF. Plus, all these settings can be saved into profiles for easy switching.” Upgrades to the ad-free Plus version start at $10.30. Vernon Swigert uses PDFedit for converting PDF files to raster images, and for combining PDFs. Several readers recommended PDFescape, a free PDF reader, editor, form filler, and form designer that you use online, sidestepping any software installation. Viranjith Tilakaratne said, “The free, nonreg- istered version is a very powerful tool, similar to Adobe Acrobat Pro.” Doug Fett uses it primarily to crop and realign skewed PDFs received from customers. “It performs those operations easily, yielding documents that are much easier to work with.”

»» With the free version of PDFescape, users can fill and save PDF forms, create basic PDF forms, and review and annotate PDF documents — all online. Publishing forms for others to fill out requires an upgrade to a paid tier.

Tom Pollard recommended PDF-XChange Viewer for viewing, modifying, and annotating PDF files, and PDFsam for splitting and merging PDFs. Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional version of a freebie or check out products from companies includ- ing Adobe, Bluebeam, CADzation, and QuadriSpace.

Unit Converters Sherry Roberts is one of many readers who like the Convert appli- cation, which is available for Windows, Linux, and UNIX: “It is so a very useful and easy to use.” According to Colin MacWilliam, another fan, ”[Convert] opens up in a small window that does not take up a lot of desktop space, and it is somewhat customizable as you can add your own units to it in case you work in a field with some uncommon values.” Eric Lawson commented, “I use this pro- gram daily — well worth a donation.” Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 5

Chris Micallef recommended ESBUnitConv. “It can be installed as “In my daily a Windows utility or as a stand-alone program for removable USB drives.” For $19, the Pro version offers more features. workflow I have Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional version of a freebie or check out products from companies includ- found it a great ing GEOMATE and PTC.

time-saver to File and Text Utilities ArsClip is a favorite of Kelly Lasse, who said, “In my daily workflow have a more I have found it a great time-saver to have a more robust clipboard manager than the default Windows function. ARSclip provides robust clipboard a great way to keep information that is often reused (or even temporarily reused) immediately available for quick access through manager than either keyboard hotkeys or mouse button assignments.” the default Bulk Rename Utility is an easy-to-use file renaming program for Windows that offers many options and enables users to change Windows multiple file names at once, Drew Kertis reported. The free version is intended for personal use only; there is a paid version available function.” for commercial use. Kelly Lasse also recommended another kind of clipboard tool: Path Copy Copy, an add-on for Windows Explorer that adds con- textual menu items on all files and folders, allowing the user to copy the path(s) in various formats. “Need to let a colleague know where a file is located on the network? Simply right-click on the file and go to the Path Copy flyout menu — voila, there’s a com- prehensive list of options allowing the desired info to be copied to the clipboard. Quick and easy.”

»» Path Copy Copy makes it simpler to communicate the location of a particular file on the network. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 6

CKRename performs batch file-renaming operations, such as sequentially renaming files, changing file extensions, changing case, and performing string substitutions. Guy Dow said, “AutoCAD, Adobe, FinePrint, and all the other PDF drivers I’ve looked at always attach the DWG layout name or Model(1) (or something similar) to the PDF file name. With CKRename, I can strip out all of the extraneous words in the file names that I don’t want.” Can’t find a file? Ken Goldstein told us about Everything. “This util- ity does one thing very, very well, which is to find files and folders by name as quickly as you can type.” Unlike the standard Windows search, this freeware tool initially displays every file and folder on your computer. Donations are welcomed. Cadalyst contributing editor Paul Aubin recommended ReNamer for batch file renaming. Select your files or folders, add and con- figure rules for the changes, preview your changes, then execute. “Love this product,” said Aubin. The free Lite version is not licensed for commercial use; the Pro version starts at $17.95. Tom Pollard likes the Total Commander file manager, because it has “two windows for side-by-side functions to allow for easy copy, edit, viewing, compare, synchronization, pack/unpack (ZIP, 7ZIP, ARJ, LZH), FTP client, modify attributes, multi-rename.”

»» With the side-by-side windows in Total Commander, users can simultaneously see thumbnails on the left and a quickview of a selected file on the right.

Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional version of a freebie or check out products from companies includ- ing Cadac Group and Trix Systems.

Imaging Tools “I recommend Greenshot for capturing images,” said contributing editor Melanie Perry. “Previously, my favorite was Gadwin PrintScreen, which is still fantastic and saves screen snippets to a directory, but, Greenshot has also some simple but effective markup tools built into it, which help us with developing our user guides.” Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 7

If you have trouble opening large TIFF files, SID files, or other “Paint.NET georeferenced image files, Mike Morison suggests the free version of GeoViewer. “It is easy to load your images into it, have is a powerful it combine them using the georeferenced files, and then you can export the combined image at an acceptable resolution that fits graphics editor your needs.” Inkscape is a free vector graphics editing program for Windows, with many of Mac OS X, and Linux. William Mack uses it to translate PDF, EPS, the features of and DXF files. Rick Crawford, Tom Pollard, and Lori Dankovic are among the Photoshop.” many fans of IrfanView image editing software. “I put together training manuals,” said Dankovic, “and this software allows me to quickly capture the screen image, crop the image as necessary, recopy the image, and paste into a document — all in a mat- ter of seconds.” Noncommercial use is free; commercial users are requested to register for $12. Timothy J. Harlow recommended screenshot tool Lightscreen Portable. “I use it for capturing portions of aerial photos, screen- shots of web pages, and capturing parts of help files in AutoCAD to later be compiled in my own custom help file.” For image and photo editing that’s a little more robust than MS Paint, you can try Paint.NET. Drew Kertis called Paint.NET a “pow- erful graphics editor with many of the features of Photoshop.” The application is free, but a donation is suggested. A paid ver- sion available through the Windows Store for $8.99 adds features including automatic background updates.

»» This partial view of the Paint.NET interface shows tool type, font, and gradient options, among others. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 8

Michael Gilroy recommended TinyTake: “Great for clipping screen shots where you can download the image or text. I use it to cap- ture parts of maps from Google or others. Much cleaner than using the other apps’ Save Screen function.” TinyTake can also record video of your computer screen, and is available for Windows and Mac. Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional version of a freebie or check out products from companies includ- ing Adobe, American Systems, Etecad, and Hyperionics. TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio is a popular choice for creating screen recordings, and the company’s Snagit is a popular screen capture program. CAD Freebies Do you wish you could change AutoCAD just a little to make it better suited to your needs? You can — and probably without opening your wallet. Tools for AutoCAD Twice a month, Cadalyst publishes a new AutoCAD video tip by Lynn Allen. These quick and easy methods for maximizing AutoCAD productivity are collected in the Cadalyst Video Gallery. Sign up for the free Cadalyst Video Picks newsletter, and you’ll receive the new releases as soon as they come out — plus more great CAD videos! BatchInDatabase (pictured below) is “great for executing func- tions and commands like freezing/thawing/turning on and off layers, eliminating DGN linetypes, adding, moving, or removing Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 9

blocks, etc. ‘behind the scenes,’” according to Patrick Kreusch. “The program opens the database of the DWG file and performs the functions requested without opening the file. Extremely fast for making global changes that require every drawing to be opened/ modified/saved.” The free version is fully functional, but limited to three files at a time. Mark Swadling recommended CadTools, a 3D and surface utility for AutoCAD (and ZWCAD). CadTools was developed for civil engineers using AutoCAD; it contains more than 50 commands, mostly in real 3D, to support their work. Benzigar Peter is also a fan, calling Cad- Tools “an excellent utility tool bar” for a variety of text, line, layer, hatch, surface, and other functions. Brian Stark loves the Drawing Purge utility for AutoCAD: “It has the ability to batch-clean multiple files at a time and gets rid of all traces of DGN data.” “Not only do we use DWGgateway,” wrote Alan Harmon, “but I suggest it for all our consultants when the common problem of not having the compatible CAD edition occurs. We haven’t upgraded our CAD systems since 2005, but when someone sends me a CAD file from any year after that, I just open it up with DWGgateway and save it with my older version.” DWGgateway is available through a few different sources. Vladislav Bronin recommended the iDwgTab tool. This freebie lets you organize open files in the order you wish, create a list of favor- ite drawings, run batch file commands, and more. Increment provides a dialog box controlling tools to increment numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric, hexadecimal, or Roman numeral values contained in texts, mtexts, or block attributes. “I use it to address initiating and indicating devices for fire alarm drawings,” reported Chip Schefer. “Easy to use, with many adjust- ments available, and [I can] click to replace or update existing entries.” MDITabs from Autodesk — a tool that lets you see and quickly navigate open AutoCAD drawings in a series of tabs along the top of the drawing window — is a favorite of Rodney Lee. The tool became part of the core AutoCAD product with the 2014 version, with the new name of File Tabs; users of older versions can down- load it via Shaan Hurley’s Between the Lines blog.

»» The iDwgTab utility, pictured here running over AutoCAD, simplifies switching between DWG drawings. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 10

Find Your Own Fabulous Freebies

Numerous online sources offer free software branching support structures for 3D printing, tools for just about every CAD-related task and 3D patterns and lattices. imaginable. If your CAD workflow needs Nesting Utility is a tech preview for Inventor improvement, chances are there’s a free tool Professional users. The integrated nesting tool to help. You can try a general Internet search; automates the arrangement of flat parts on flat steer clear of sites you don’t trust, and keep raw material in preparation for 2.5-axis cutting an open mind about where useful tools might operations. be found. “An excellent place to find freebies and resources such as libraries, trees, people, Project Scandium for Autodesk Moldflow presentations, and design of a high standard is Insight is a free technology preview, but it re- Pinterest,” noted architect Michael Douglas. quires Autodesk Moldflow Synergy and Insight (solvers) 2018 serial numbers and product keys You might save time by heading to some of the for the installation, and it will use Moldflow popular stockpiles of freeware; a few of those 2018 licenses. are listed here, along with a sampling of the freebies they offer. Watch Brothersoft out for deceptive “Start The Brothersoft site is Download” or “Down- a collection of freeware load Now” buttons on and shareware tools download sites that are and games for Windows, actually part of ads, and Mac, mobile devices, and have nothing to do with more. The site claims the tool you’re trying to that software has been download. downloaded, installed, and scanned for adware, Autodesk Labs spyware, and viruses The software from before being published in Autodesk Labs is still in the Brothersoft database, development, but it’s although this is not a guarantee. serious technology that won’t cost you a cent. And by providing feedback, you may help the Visit brothersoft.com and type a title from this developers create a better final product. Read list of CAD-related freebies for Windows in the Scott Sheppard’s “It’s Alive in the Lab” blog for Search field, or try entering general terms such project updates and more information. as “CAD viewer” or “2D design” to browse. To access active technology previews, you 3D Architecture by LiveCAD. “Design, display, must register for an account for the Autodesk present, and realize all your building projects,” Feedback Community. Once you’ve logged in, according to the site. Create 2D plans with look for the list of “Open Opportunities” on quotations, grid, or 2D/3D simultaneous views. the home page of the Autodesk Feedback Com- Quickly apply textures and materials to all ele- munity. Note that this list comprises beta tests ments of your project. as well as technology previews, and be sure to AutoCAD Version Explorer. A stand-alone pro- review the terms of use; most installations are gram that provides a Windows Explorer–like only functional for a limited time. Free tech- interface to quickly view AutoCAD previews nology previews available at the time of this and version information. Output selected files writing include: or an entire directory to HTML format. Meshmixer is described as “a sort of ‘Swiss HYCAD is a small, general-purpose CAD pro- Army Knife’ for 3D meshes.” The beta software gram that can export files in a variety of for- includes such features as drag-and-drop mesh mats including BMP, JPG, PNG, DXF, DWG, and mixing, 3D sculpting and surface stamping, PDF, and can be used for some file conversions. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 11

MeshMagic. Import STL files created with CAD DWG drawing. Users can specify the target and drafting software into this 3D modeling publishing folder and optional FTP/iProject program, then rotate and rescale the existing upload. meshes. With MeshMagic, users can select en- BUDWEISER benchmark (pictured below). tire objects, surfaces, triangles, lines, or points, This benchmark drawing tests the DWG format and can transform 2D outlines into 3D objects. compatibility of non-Autodesk applications. Mini CAD Viewer. Compact CAD viewer is designed to be easy to use for those without CAD experience. It supports DWG and DXF formats.

Download.com This site hosted by CNET holds a myriad of freebies (and non-freebies) for every application under the sun, for Windows, Mac, and mobile platforms. Here are a few favorites for CAD- related use. Head to download.cnet. com and enter the name of your desired category or tool of choice in the Search field. A9CAD. This general-purpose 2D CAD program supports DWG/DXF drawing formats. DivBreak. Combines the Break and Divide/ Measure commands; it breaks polylines into CadStd Lite. This is a general-purpose CAD or segments of a given number or length. drafting program for creating mechanical de- signs, house plans, blueprints, schematics, and GeoRefImg. Automatically repositions georef- charts. erenced raster images according to their World files, and creates World files. DoubleCAD XT. IMSI/Design’s DoubleCAD XT is a compact CAD utility for Google SketchUp that Lay2Dwg. Exports layers (entities) to individual can double as a DWG viewer for those with drawings. older AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT versions. There srxTEXT. Find and replace drawing text in are no restrictions or limitations on it for com- AutoCAD using a Command-line function with mercial use. many options. Use as a batch command, in PCB123. Design and order custom-printed circuit scripts, or to perform advanced replacements boards. A start-up wizard offers several choices with regular expressions or replacements of for your board, including number of layers, use word pairs defined in an Excel table. of plane layers, solder mask, and silkscreen. Next, PCB123 presents a CAD design window. iCadTec.com The tool includes an extensive library of parts, iCadTec.com, a CAD drafting services business, devices, and layouts, and can import net lists often receives questions about CAD drawing from CAD vendors. programs, blocks, LISP routines, and more. To assist those looking for CAD information, the CAD Studio company’s website features a list of free CAD CAD Studio is an Autodesk Platinum Partner. resources, including many for AutoCAD users. The company’s website holds a bounty of free Available resources include landscape design tips and tools for Autodesk products. Tools software, viewers, blocks and hatch AutoCAD users may appreciate include: patterns, and more. AutoDWF. Automatically saves/publishes a 2D or 3D DWF copy of a drawing on every save of the Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 12

Chad Stanko recommended the Trimble Link add-on for AutoCAD Civil 3D. “It allows me to upload my alignment, profile, and corridor designs directly into the survey controller or create a file of my design that I can e-mail to the surveyor for upload into the controller, helping to eliminate the chance for error of some- one recreating what was designed.” Randy Valimont recommended an official tool: “It’s been around forever and it’s included with all versions of AutoCAD. But my favorite tool for sending drawings and making sure the poor guy on the other end receives all of the files necessary to continue where you left off is eTransmit. It goes out and gathers all the files, tools, and references used to create your drawing.“

LISP Where there’s AutoCAD, there are free AutoLISP routines to make life easier. But what is AutoLISP, and how do you use it? Bill Fane’s classic tutorial, “Learning to LISP,” and Lynn Allen’s set of begin- ning LISP video tutorials (parts 1, 2, and 3) will get you started. Cadalyst’s own CAD Tips archive is one of the most extensive sources of free LISP code (plus some VBA code, hatch patterns, and general tips for AutoCAD and other software). It is home to thousands of tips that are searchable by keyword, author name, file name, and more. Browse tips by category, find the most- downloaded or highest-rated tips, or use the advanced search options. Among the most frequently downloaded routines on the CAD Tips site is AIA Standard Layers by Mike Stachulak. This utility aids archi- tects who create drawing layers according to the 1997 AIA CAD Layer Guidelines. Also popular is Create Custom Linetype by Ron Perez, an AutoLISP routine that automates the steps needed to make a custom line- type with embedded characters. Don Bentz lists Layer Creator by Timothy Spangler as one of his favorites. “I like it because different layer groupings can be quickly and easily created, and these can then be imported into drawings.” Jeff Plourde said he can’t do without Steel Shapes of All Types and Sizes (AKA Al’s Steel Mill) by Al Rogers, which draws steel shapes in 2D and 3D. Jennifer Grande said, “I’ve been using Multiple Offsets by Joon Hong since it was first printed in Cadalyst magazine. It allows you to change the offset distance midstream, without exiting and restarting the command. Zero-Radius Fillet by Paul Herman is perfect for squaring up corners or just making lines meet without changing your stored fillet radius. Scott Cunningham’s Lock Layers makes it easy to isolate layers without freezing them like Layiso does (so you can still see them). The second routine in this tip is even more useful, because you can use it even if you locked layers manually. Finally, Offset Line by Will DeLoach lets you draw the center line first and offset it to either side at once with the option to keep or delete the center line — very handy.” Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 13

You’ll also find free AutoLISP code, including the following favor- ites, in many places beyond the Cadalyst CAD Tips archive: The humorously named Steal from Drawing, by Lee Mac Program- ming, is Tom Beauford’s favorite LISP routine. “It allows you to import many times more items than Design Center, including Blocks, Layers, Linetypes, Dimension Styles, Text Styles, Table Styles, MLeader Styles, MLine Styles, Layouts, Page Setups, User Coordi- nate Systems, Named Groups, Views, Layer States, Scales, Materials, Named Viewports, Drawing Properties, and Custom Properties.” Sunny Alexander recommended another tool from Lee Mac: Incremental Numbering Suite. “I place hundreds of labels on tele- communications as-built drawings, and sometimes must re-label them. This tool has literally saved me hours/days of time per job, not having to place text one at a time the old-fashioned way.” Another fan of Lee Mac, Eddie Owen, likes the Change Block Base Point LISP routine: “This program allows the user to change the

Free, Effective Tools for CAD Managers

The free version of CCleaner is available for lar form, including a directory structure. The Mac or Windows. Drew Kertis called it an “easy- graphics are good for seeing the big picture, to-use maintenance tool for removing leftover and the table is good to drill down in to the files and registry entries.” details. It really helps to find out where all of your disk space has gone.” Lic-Report enables users to determine who is occupying purchased Autodesk network Robert Green, Cadalyst’s CAD management licenses. The application prepares reports expert, shared a couple of his favorite freebies: about enabled licenses, issued or reserved • Record and share images and short videos licenses, licenses in use, which user is using for training and more using Jing. what product license, etc. The free version is limited to a maximum of three instances of • Clean house using Smart Defrag, which servers, products, users, or Vault users. Green calls “a great free disk defrag utility.” Patrick Chabot likes Screenpresso, a lightweight screen grab and image editing tool for And CAD managers, don’t forget the Cadalyst Windows and iOS that captures screenshots and Benchmark Test for testing the performance of HD videos for training documents, collabora- computers running AutoCAD. tive design work, and other uses. “It’s very convenient to add leaders, numbered bullets to a screen cap- ture for documentation, or when e-mailing someone a drawing and you want to clarify points on it.” The free version can be used com- mercially; purchasing a Pro license will remove branding and provide access to additional features. WinDirStat (pictured at right) is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool recommended by Phillip Reeves: “It displays this infor- mation graphically and in tabu- Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 14

position of the block base point for all references of a block defini- tion in a drawing, without moving the blocks around.” Owen also said, “Lee Mac is a custom programmer and a CAD hero to many. His website is a goldmine of CAD resources!” Brian Smith uses Toggle AutoCAD Background Color Quickly by R.K. McSwain. “I do a lot of design reviews via GoToMeeting. Apparently non-AutoCAD users prefer a white background when viewing drawings on a monitor,” Smith noted. Melanie Perry’s list of LISP favorites includes FIXBLOCK.LSP, which redefines all or selected blocks so all entities are on layer 0 (zero), with color BYBLOCK: “Prior to AutoCAD’s introduction of the Set­ Bylayer command in version 2008, I used this free program from Owen Wengerd constantly.” And JTB_TITLEBAR.LSP by Jimmy Berg- mark is fun, allowing you to change AutoCAD’s title bar. Check out DotSoft’s free tools for TXT2MTXT.ZIP, which exports text objects from a drawing to a TXT file (“in my case, a couple of hundred room numbers”) and other LISP routines. And if you need to work on customizing a LISP routine or writing your own, several readers recommended Notepad++ for program- ming use. “Excellent for easily writing LISP routines as well as any other scripts,” said Sebastian Tanley. “It is also good for finding and replacing text strings across a directory,” noted Melanie Perry.

BIM Freebies 1st Pricing offers free toolkits for AutoCAD Architecture, Revit Architecture, and TurboCAD that allow users to select com- CAD managers and users: mercially available windows and doors to insert directly into CAD Looking for more free resources? drawings. Products and comparative pricing information are listed Visit the Cadalyst Library for in a schedule. software and hardware guides, The ARCAT web site is chock full of free resources for BIM users, white papers, tip sheets, and including specifications, a construction product specification more — all free! wizard, more than 15,000 CAD details in DWG and other formats, and more than 7,500 BIM objects and systems. Phil Clark said, “My favorite free Revit add-in is RQuick Select. In my opinion, it is a must-have for any Revit user, and the first one I seek out when a new version is released.” The command enables users to select by element type and properties.

Hardware Customization “One of my biggest time-saving tool tips is for customizing my [Logitech] multi-button mouse,” reported David McKone. “I have assigned the three buttons at my thumb to Ctrl+Save (my current file), Alt+Tab (to my next open file), and Ctrl+Open (a new file) — without using any keyboard strokes or finding them on the tool- bar. The additional two buttons at my index finger will increase or decrease the pointer speed without having to know, or locate, where to look to change those settings. By setting these commands on the mouse, they work in many different software packages including Autodesk, Bentley, and Microsoft Office products.” The SetPoint customization software is a free download from Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 15

Logitech; if you use a different brand of input device, check with the manufacturer for something similar.

Sketching and Modeling Robert Zipprich offers a free demo version of CATcurve, which comprises a catenary curve tool and other tools for developing transmission plan and profile drawings. His website includes other free downloads as well, including one that uses AutoLISP to draw steel shapes. Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express 6.0, a free version of Creo Elements/Direct Modeling 19.0, is a popular 3D CAD offering for Even when designers who have short design cycles and frequent one-off using trusted designs. It creates assemblies with as many as 60 unique parts. Dassault Systèmes DraftSight is a free, stand-alone, professional- sites, there’s a grade 2D CAD product for professional CAD users, students and educators to create, edit, and view DWG files. John Mascarenhas risk of getting calls it “a very elegant and user-friendly 2D drafting program with a free option and a low-cost upgrade to the Professional version viruses or other which includes libraries, cad symbols, solids, and boolean functionality.” malware with John Mascarenhas is also a fan of DesignSpark Mechanical, which he calls “a powerful direct modeling 3D application with unlim- your downloads. ited components in assembly mode. It is based on the SpaceClaim Ensure that engine.” Drew Kertis is one of many readers who use the GrabCAD you have a Community Library, which comprises more than 2.6 million free CAD files. Users must create an account in order to download files, robust, up-to- which range from rotors and gearboxes to robots and sports cars. The McMaster-Carr parts catalog comprises more than 100,000 date security downloadable CAD models of casters, hinges, motors, and more. “I use McMaster-Carr when inserting fasteners into all of my solution before SolidWorks models, and many times the 2D DWGs for detailing,” said Randy Thomas. Another fan of the site, Mike Van Helsland, you start hunting noted that McMaster-Carr provides exact specification in the draw- ings, making it simpler to create a bill of materials/parts list. for freebies! And Jeff LeBlanc commented, “I regularly go to their website to download STL files for any number of common components that I can then just drop into my CAD assemblies.” John Mascarenhas also recommends the free version of nanoCAD: “It’s a capable AutoCAD (LT) clone and it does a good job with 2D drafting.” NanoCAD features an open application programming interface (API) and native DWG compatibility. Paid versions are also available, including options for specific verticals. SketchUp is Trimble’s popular 3D sketching and modeling tool for Windows and Mac. SketchUp Free is not licensed for commercial work; SketchUp Pro costs $695. Gabriel Calos recommended the SKF Bearing Calculator, an online tool for selecting ball, roller, and other types of bearings. Fabulous Freebies for CAD Users — 2018 Edition 16

With its 2D translators and import wizards, Solid Edge 2D Drafting can read data from AutoCAD and other 2D products. “You can use layers, colors, line size, math trigonometry, import DWG and DXF, etc.,” said Per Carlson, who uses this free software for floor plan layouts and electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic schematics. “I like how you can add intelligence to drawings, like making one line always be three times the length of line no. 2, as an example. I use it daily as a light version of a Mathcad program.”

Analysis, Visualization, and Communication Autodesk offers a number of free desktop, mobile, and cloud- based viewers to open files in a variety of formats, including DWG, DWF, IPT, and DXF. The online Autodesk Viewer, for example, supports most 2D and 3D formats including DWG, STEP, RVT, and SOLIDWORKS. Blender is a popular, open-source suite of 3D content creation tools for modeling, shading, animation, rendering, interactive 3D applications, and more, available for all major operating systems. Kelly Lasse commented, “This amazing software suite is an invalu- able visualization tool for many industries who also use CAD, such as architecture, product design, or even mechanical simulation. The tool provides several geometry import formats and then will allow you to create renderings and animations, perform video editing, and even support 3D printing, as it has excellent organic modeling functions such as sculpting.” Chris Pollard holds CAELinux, an open-source set of CAD, CAM, and CAE programs, in high esteem. “It has multiple finite element and CAD programs including a very good CFD [computational fluid dynamics] program.” IronCAD Compose, available for Windows and iPad, is not just a free viewer. All users can read data from any system, interrogate the geometry, add commentary, configure new assemblies, and create real-time renderings and animations. Kelly Lasse likes Lux­Render. The open-source renderer “is designed to achieve physically accurate appearance and realistic lighting for CG [computer-generated] imagery. There are exporters for most of the major DCC [digital-content creation] apps.” Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional version of a freebie or check out products from companies includ- ing AutoDesSys, Autodesk, Foundry, Okino Computer Graphics, and Robert McNeel & Associates.

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