2014

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Signs © iStockphoto.com/Russell Tate 2 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst 2014 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 General-Purpose Tools love this catchy slogan from the low-budget tele- CAD might be your primary software, but CAD managers vision commercials of Tom Peterson. A home fur- and users alike call on a variety of general-purpose soft- nishings dealer who became such an icon that Gus ware to get their jobs done, including tools to make PDFs, LVan Sant cast him in movies, Peterson lured customers to convert units, and create videos and screen captures. The his stores with every kind of freebie imaginable, from hot following free tools are among the best, according to our dogs and haircuts to wrapping paper and area rugs. readers. Nearly every American community has had its own version of Tom Peterson at one time or another, that noisy PDF Converters local retailer who tapped the marketing power of “Free!” Chris Harris recommends PDFCreator. “It offers encryp- Fast-forward to the Internet age, and freebies are more tion for security, the ability to digitally sign documents, prevalent than ever: free Wi-Fi, free e-mail accounts, free stamping, [and much more]. My favorite feature though, screensavers, free games, you name it — the options are is the ability to create JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and other endless. And nowhere are the freebies better than in the formats from a program or an existing PDF. Plus, all these CAD world, where no-cost tips and tools are plentiful — settings can be saved into profiles for easy switching.” and more often than not, surprisingly practical. “PDF995 is my favorite freebie,” reported Sharla But finding great freebies in the vast online world can Livingston. “It is the easiest PDF creator I’ve used.” The be a challenge. To help you get to the real gems that will free version displays a sponsor page in your web browser make your job easier, we asked Cadalyst readers to tell each time you run the software; upgrade for $9.95. us about the freebies they can’t live without. Those who A popular freebie that’s been around for years is submitted a favorite freebie that was selected for publica- CutePDF Writer. Use it with virtually any Windows tion were awarded a prize from the Cadalyst Store. application to create quality PDFs. Reader Marga Io said, We share each of these tools based on the recom- “I could not survive a CAD workday without this tool. It mendations we received from Cadalyst readers and con- saves paper too!” tributors. Editors have not tested each tool extensively; PDFescape is a free PDF reader, editor, form filler, we encourage you to evaluate options according to your and form designer that you use online, sidestepping any own needs. Be sure to review licensing agreements before software installation. Viranjith Tilakaratne said, “The free, downloading to ensure that you can comply with the nonregistered version is a very powerful tool, similar to terms of use. Some sites require that users provide con- Adobe Acrobat Pro.” tact or other personal information in exchange for free Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the tools; others suggest a small donation. professional version of a freebie or check out products Now, let’s get to the free stuff! from companies including Adobe, Bluebeam,

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Figure 1. Using Convert, select the tab of the category you want, select the input and output units, and enter the input value. Convert shows you the conversion result in the output Figure 2. ReNamer makes life easier when you have to rename box as you type. an entire batch of files.

Cadzation, Informative Graphics, Go Pro. For more features at a Can’t find a file? Ken Goldstein told and Quadrispace. price, trade up to the professional us about Everything. “This utility does version of a freebie or check out prod- one thing very, very well, which is to Unit Converters ucts from companies including Invent find files and folders by name as quickly Chris Micallef recommends ESBUnit- Better and PTC Mathcad. as you can type.” Unlike the standard Conv. “It can be installed as a Windows Windows search, this freeware tool utility or as a stand-alone program for File and Text Utilities initially displays every file and folder on removable USB drives.” For $19, the Pro Cadalyst contributing editors Paul Aubin your computer. Donations are appreci- version offers more features. and Melanie Perry use ReNamer for ated for commercial use. “I use a nifty application called Con- batch file renaming (figure 2). Select Go Pro. For more features at a vert (figure 1) that I keep on my desktop your files or folders, add and configure price, trade up to the professional and use every day,” wrote survey tech- rules for the changes, preview your version of a freebie or check out prod- nician Paul D. Werbicky, the first of a changes, then execute. “Love this prod- ucts from companies including Cadac, few readers to suggest the tool. Convert uct,” said Aubin. It is free, but dona- M-Files, and Trix Systems. is configurable to your preferences, and tions are accepted. you can create your own conversions CKRename also performs batch Imaging Tools by using a Custom tab. It runs on Win- file-renaming operations, such as Lori Dankovic likes IrfanView. “I put dows, , and . sequentially renaming files, changing together training manuals, and this Cadalyst contributing editor Scott file extensions, changing case, and per- software allows me to quickly capture forming string substitutions. Guy Dow the screen image, crop the image as said, “AutoCAD, Adobe, FinePrint, and necessary, recopy the image, and paste all the other PDF drivers I’ve looked at into a document — all in a matter of always attach the DWG layout name or seconds.” It is free for noncommercial Model(1) (or something similar) to the use, and $12 for commercial use. PDF file name. With CKRename, I can “Gadwin PrintScreen is my favor- strip out all of the extraneous words in ite application for capturing screen the file names that I don’t want.” (Avail- images,” said contributing editor Mel- able from multiple sources; search for anie Perry. The freeware utility lets you “CKRename” using any online search capture just the portion of a screen that engine.) you specify — very helpful for users Melanie Perry also likes Ditto, a who have multimonitor setups. clipboard manager. “I can copy many For photo editing that’s a little more MacKenzie goes to CompliCad, a pieces of information at once, then robust than MS Paint, Perry uses Paint. source of CAD and building informa- paste them at my leisure. No flipping NET. “It supports multiple file types, tion modeling (BIM) tools, which he back and forth between programs or layers, and special effects and does calls his “favorite web site for CAD unit files. You can even do a quick-and- pretty much everything I need an image conversion.” easy search through the contents of editor to do. It does not handle huge past clips.”

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TIFF scans well, but luckily I don’t have are archived in the Cadalyst Video to use those often in my work.” Gallery. Go Pro. For more features at a price, trade up to the professional ver- LISP sion of a freebie or check out products Where there’s AutoCAD, there’s free from companies including Adobe, AutoLISP to make life easier. And if a American Systems, Etecad, and certain routine doesn’t do the trick for Hyperionics. TechSmith’s Camtasia you, undertake an Internet search to Studio is a popular choice for creating find what you need. screen recordings and the company’s What is AutoLISP, and how do you Snagit is a popular screen capture of AutoCAD tutorials, as well as the use it? Bill Fane’s free classic, “Learning program. “Circles and Lines” AutoCAD tuto- to LISP,” leads the way. While you’re rials by Lynn Allen. Both are published learning, hang out on Cadalyst’s Hot CAD Freebies by Cadalyst, just two of many free Tip Harry Discussion Forum for free Do you wish you could change Auto- tutorial series for a number of CAD information and support. CAD just a little to make it better suited software systems, including Cadalyst’s own CAD Tips site is one to your needs? You can, of course Inventor, Civil 3D, and Map 3D; Solid- of the most extensive sources of free — and probably without opening your Works; and more. LISP code (plus some VBA code, hatch wallet. And twice a month, Cadalyst pub- patterns, and general tips for Auto- lishes a new AutoCAD video tip by Lynn CAD and other software). It is home to Tools for AutoCAD Allen. These quick and easy options thousands of tips that are searchable “Not only do we use DWGgateway,” for maximizing AutoCAD productivity by keyword, author name, file name, wrote Alan Harmon, “but I suggest it for all our consultants when the com- mon problem of not having the com- patible CAD edition occurs. We haven’t Free (and Almost Free) Tools for the iPhone upgraded our CAD systems since 2005, These tools go anywhere (itunes.apple.com, or access the App Store from your iPhone). but when someone sends me a CAD file from any year after that, I just open • SketchBook Mobile Express. Cadalyst contributing editor Andrew Roe goes everywhere it up with DWGgateway and save it with the iPhone version of Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro painting and drawing software. SketchBook Mobile Express is free; for $2.99, the full SketchBook Mobile adds options with my older version.” DWGgateway including the ability to save work in progress and to e-mail images. is available through a few different • Evernote. Cadalyst contributing editor sources. Type DWGgateway in your Melanie Perry explained, “Evernote is a browser to search. free application for the iPhone that lets you make MDITabs from Autodesk — a tool notes in text, with photos and voice recordings.” that lets you see and quickly navigate She uses it in her facilities management work open AutoCAD drawings in a series of when she has to leave the office for meetings or tabs along the top of the drawing win- site visits. “Having this application on the phone I’d dow — is a favorite of Rodney Lee. You be carrying anyway makes my life a lot easier.” can find a link to the free download on Following are a few other iPhone apps that are avail- Shaan Hurley’s blog: Go to autodesk. able at little or no cost. blogs.com and enter “MDITabs” in the Search field. • AEC Info. This free app delivers information related to architecture, , and , Vladislav Bronin submitted a couple including news, marketing, law, and green build- freebies he has used with AutoCAD for ing topics. Sources include Architectural Record, the past five years. Cadig AutoTable Builder Online, and Building Green. (previously TableBar) makes working • NaviCAD. View the Google 3D Warehouse from with tables easy and user-friendly, and it your phone for $0.99. lets you save table templates for reuse. • Drawvis Free. Use this free tool to display 2D DXF Evernote for the iPhone takes the And although the iComTools web site technical drawings. place of paper, pen, camera, and is in Korean, its iDwgTab freebie is • iPocket Draw Lite. The free version creates vector voice recorder. available in English. This freebie lets you drawings using solid or dashed lines. Upgrade for organize open files in the order you $4.99 to manage, store, or send drawings by e-mail as DXF or RealCADD files. wish, create a list of favorite drawings, • REVITkeys. This app provides a list of 260 keyboard shortcuts for Architec- run batch file commands, and much ture 2010, arranged in 14 categories, for $0.99. more. • iTracer. This mobile 3D ray tracer builds full 3D scenes and renders images from any given Captain LearnCurve (aka Cadalyst viewpoint. Export the 3D scene, including all models, materials, lights, and camera by contributing editor Bill Fane) recom- e-mail for $2.99. mended his “Learning Curve” series

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and more. Browse a custom linetype Jennifer Grande echoed the senti- tips by category, with embedded ment about Steel Shapes All Types recently posted, characters. and Sizes, saying “This is my all-time most downloaded, Readers sent sev- favorite tool,” and shared a few others or most highly rated eral of their favorites she uses nearly every day. “I’ve been (figure 3). from the CAD Tips using Multiple Offsets by Joon Hong Among the most site. Enter the tip since it was first printed in Cadalyst frequently downloaded freebies on the title in the Search field to locate any of magazine. It allows you to change the site is AIA Standard Layers by Mike these tips. offset distance midstream, without exit- Stachulak. This utility aids architects who Jeff Plourde said he can’t do with- ing and restarting the command. Zero create drawing layers according to the out Al’s Steel Mill, by Al Rogers, which Radius by Paul Herman is perfect 1997 AIA CAD Layer Guidelines. Also draws all types of steel shapes in 2D for squaring up corners or just making popular is Create Custom Linetype and 3D. Search for Steel Shapes All lines meet without changing your stored by Ron Perez, an AutoLISP routine that Types and Sizes. fillet radius. Scott Cunningham’s Lock automates the steps needed to make Layers makes it easy to isolate layers

Find Your Own Fabulous Freebies

Numerous online resources offer tools for just about 3D Architecture by LiveCAD. “Design, display, present, and every CAD-related task imaginable. If your CAD workflow needs realize all your building projects,” according to the site. improvement, chances are there’s a free tool to help. Try a general Create 2D plans with quotations, grid, or 2D/3D simultaneous Internet search (steering clear of sites you don’t trust) or head to views. Quickly apply textures and materials to all elements of some of the great stockpiles of freeware. Here we list a few of your project. those for browsing and a sampling of the freebies they offer. AutoCAD Version Explorer. A stand-alone program that Autodesk Labs provides a Windows Explorer–like interface to quickly view The software from Autodesk Labs is still in development, but AutoCAD previews and version information. Output selected it’s serious technology that won’t cost you a cent. Check it out at files or an entire directory to HTML format. labs.autodesk.com. Be sure to review the terms of use. View. Share native Autodesk Inventor 2d to 3D Tool for Inventor. Create 3D models in Autodesk Inventor software data with non-Inventor users with this freely from 2D data. distributable viewer. Cloud Sync for AutoCAD Architecture/MEP. Manage drawing access on Clone. Use this freeware to create copies of an object. It is LANs and across cloud storage devices. similar to the Array tool in Autodesk 3ds Max, except that Daylighting Analysis for Revit. Conduct daylighting analysis while in it’s parametric. Revit. Envisioneer Express. This architectural design program was DesignScript. Automate your workflow with powerful scripting. created to introduce users to simple creation of floor plans, FABmep Import for Revit MEP. Import FABmep models/projects into 3D models, and interior design concepts. The free tool uses Revit MEP. real-world objects such as walls, doors, windows, and stairs. Inventor Simplification. Simplify your Inventor models for BIM. FrameXpert Frame Designer. Build equipment racks, server racks, custom aluminum enclosures and shelves, and other Project Chronicle for AutoCAD Family / Inventor / Revit. Capture, custom frames from T-slotted aluminum profiles. share, and learn from software workflows. Mini CAD Viewer. Compact CAD viewer is designed to be Project Dalton. Conduct pipe flow simulation and analysis. easy to use for the non-CAD user. It supports DWG and Project Khan for Maya. Optimize your 3D assets for Maya using the DXF formats. Autodesk cloud. ShortCAD Lite (for Windows Mobile). Create and edit 2D Project Memento. Fix huge meshes coming from reality capture data. vector-graphic drawings and templates and save them in Project Miller. Fix and view models before additive manufacturing. ShortDWG or DXF format to export to other vector-graphic Project Octopus for Robot Structural Analysis. Integrate analysis results editors. with Excel. Download.com Project Shapeshifter. Easily make complex 3D printable objects. This site hosted by CNET holds endless freebies (and non- The Innovation Genome Project. Innovate by asking and answering freebies) for every application under the sun, for Windows, Mac, seven questions. and mobile platforms. Here are a few favorites for CAD-related use. Go to www.download.com and enter the name of your Brothersoft desired category or tool of choice in the Search field. An established site that reportedly evaluates every tool it offers, Brothersoft A9CAD. This general-purpose 2D CAD program supports is a collection of freeware and shareware tools and games for Windows, industry-standard DWG/DXF drawing formats. Mac, mobile devices, and more. Here we present a few CAD-related free- bies. Go to www.brothersoft.com and type a title from the list below in CAD.OCX. This ActiveX Control written in Visual Basic 6.0 per- the Search field. forms AutoCAD functions such as drawing lines, circles, arcs, rectangles, 3D spheres, and 3D cones.

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without freezing them like Layiso does that automates steel shape drawing with color BYBLOCK. “Prior to Auto- (so you can still see them). The second (freecadapps.mcadcafe.com; search CAD’s introduction of the Set Bylayer routine in this tip is even more useful for “DDshapes”). command in version 2008, I used this because you can use it even if you Mike Hitt wrote, “John L. Merrick III free program from Owen Wengerd locked layers manually. Finally, Offset of Covington, Louisiana, has the best Line by Will DeLoach lets you draw the free programs I have found. My favorite center line first and offset it to either is the Welded Flange program,” an side at once with the option to keep or AutoLISP dialog box–driven command delete the center line — very handy.” that constructs 2D and 3D piping weld You’ll find a variety of free AutoLISP flanges. (Enter “CADToolChest” in Goo- code beyond the CAD Tips site, includ- gle to locate this site.) ing the following favorites: Contributing editor Melanie Perry Frequent Cadalyst tip contributor Len provided her list of LISP favorites. Nemirovsky says he can’t live without FIXBLOCK.LSP redefines all or selected DDshapes, a routine by Albert Botton blocks so all entities are on layer 0 (zero),

CadStd Lite. This is a general purpose CAD or drafting pro- Ashlar-Vellum Share. A set of utilities that let you accurately open, view, gram for creating professional quality mechanical designs, print, and export Ashlar-Vellumn files. house plans, blueprints, schematics, and charts. eDrawings — AutoCAD Viewer. Use to view, print, and review native DesignWorkshop Lite (PowerPC) 1.8.5 for Mac. Build and AutoCAD DWG and DXF files. Designed for nonCAD users. save your own 3D models of homes, offices, or entire build- ROBOT Millennium Freeware. This freeware alows users to analyze ings. 2D/3D multimaterial frame structures with up to 200 members, FE plates doPDF Free PDF Converter. Create PDFs from within any and shells, section libraries, linear analysis, and more. It has a bi-direc- program — and nothing more. Supports a multitude of lan- tional link to Revit Structure. guages. iCadTec.com DoubleCAD XT. IMSI/Design’s DoubleCAD XT is a compact A CAD drafting services business, iCadTec.com is often asked about free CAD utility that can double as a DWG viewer for those with CAD information such as CAD drawing programs, blocks, LISP routines, older AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT versions. and more. To help out those looking for CAD information they have com- Free DWG Viewer. From Informative Graphics, this tool lets piled countless resources of CAD information right here on its web site. you view and measure AutoCAD DWG, DWF, and DXF draw- Samples include landscape design software, viewers, blocks and hatch ings in a simple interface. patterns, and more. PCB123. Design and order custom-printed circuit boards. A XANADU start-up wizard offers several choices for your board, includ- CAD Studio (a merger of Xanadu and Dagis) is an Autodesk Premier Solu- ing number of layers, use of plane layers, solder mask, and tions Provider, Microsoft Gold Partner, and HP Preferred Gold Partner based silkscreen. Next, PCB123 presents a CAD design window. It in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It offers solutions and services in the includes an extensive library of parts, devices, and layouts, and areas of CAD, GIS, IT infrastructure, and software development. The com- can import net lists from CAD vendors. pany’s web site holds a bounty of free tips and tools for Autodesk prod- ThreeDify Designer. A , 3D dimensioning, and ucts. The following is a sampling of the most popular offerings: view mark-up application and ActiveX plug-in. BUDWEISER benchmark. Benchmark drawing tests the DWG format ZW3D. ZW3D is a CAD software integrated with CAM, which compatibility of non-Autodesk applications. makes design easier for 3D modeling, mold design, and FLay (Force Layer). Customizable reactor tool for AutoCAD ensures that machining. all hatches you draw will go to the layer Hatch, all texts will automati- ZWCAD. ZWCAD is a DWG file format compatible CAD solu- cally go to the layer Annotations, all dimensions to Dims, and so forth. tion for the AEC and MCAD industries. GeoRefImg. Automatically places raster images (maps) according to date from their georeference files (for example, TFW for TIFF files) so you can FreeCAD easily reposition a set of tiled maps in a DWG drawing in This free site from TenLinks comprised 723 CAD freebies in AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture. 19 categories at the time of this writing, including architectural, CAE, EDA (electronic design automation), MCAD, viewers, and DelGRpA. Delete anonymous groups from an AutoCAD drawing. more. Lists can be sorted by top programs, most downloads, GRP. A simple, single-click tool for easy grouping and ungrouping of and what’s new. The following are among the top programs on drawing objects in AutoCAD. the site. : srxTEXT. Find and replace drawing text in AutoCAD using a Com- 20-sim. Model and simulate behavior of dynamic systems, mand-line function with many options. Use as a batch command, in such as electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systesm. Free scripts, or to perform advanced replacements with regular expressions or download, but can’t save models. replacements of word pairs defined in an Excel table.

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BIM Freebies 1st Pricing offers free toolkits for some Tools for CAD Managers versions of AutoCAD (standard, Archi- tecture, and Map), Revit Architecture, Robert Green, Cadalyst’s CAD manage- and TurboCAD that allow users to select ment expert, shared several of his favorite commercially available windows and freebies. doors to insert directly into CAD draw- • Disk defrag. Clean house using Smart ings. Products and comparative pricing Defrag 3, “a great free disk defrag information are listed in a schedule. utility.” The ARCAT web site is chock-full of • Video capture. Record and share video free resources for BIM users, including for training and more using Jing. CAD details from 10,500 manufactur- • Anti-malware. Wipe out a computer ers, hundreds of BIM objects developed virus with Green’s recommended anti-malware solution. by ARCAT experts, specifications, and wizards. And CAD managers, don’t forget the Cadalyst Benchmark Test for testing the performance of computers running Sketching, Visualization, AutoCAD. Communication is a popular, open-source suite of 3D content creation tools for the major DCC [digital-content creation] modeling, shading, animation, render- apps.” ing, interactive 3D applications, and SketchUp is Google’s popular and more, available for all major operating free 3D sketching and modeling tool for systems. Windows and Mac. Creo Elements/Direct Modeling FREE 2D Drafting. Express 4.0 is a popular 3D CAD offer- Packed with 2D translators and import Figure 3. On Cadalyst’s CAD Tips site, users ing for designers who have short design wizards, this free software is perfect can search by keyword or browse by category cycles and frequent one-off designs. for reading AutoCAD data with import to find AutoLISP and VBA code, hatch It creates assemblies with up to 60 support for fonts, color schemes, model patterns, and general tips for AutoCAD. unique parts. space, and Color 7. Continue to use of Dassault Systèmes DraftSight is 2D legacy data and share native draw- constantly.” And JTB_TITLEBAR.LSP a free, standalone, professional-grade ings with suppliers for design review or by Jimmy Bergmark is fun, allowing you 2D CAD product for professional CAD manufacturing. to change AutoCAD’s title bar. Check users, students and educators to create, Go Pro. For more features at a out www.dotsoft.com/freestuff. edit, and view DWG files. price, trade up to the professional ver- htm for TXT2MTXT.ZIP, which exports IronCAD Compose is not just a free sion of a freebie or check out products text objects from a drawing to a TXT viewer. All users can read data from any from companies including AutoDesSys, file (“in my case, a couple of hundred system, interrogate the geometry, add Autodesk, Caligari, Luxology, Okino room numbers”) and many other, more commentary, configure new assemblies, Computer Graphics, and Robert exciting LISP routines. Finally, Perry’s and create real-time renderings and McNeel & Associates. blog outlines how Adam Wuellner came animations. Cadalyst is the leading publication covering to the rescue with a routine to replace Kelly Lasse recommended computer-aided design and related software and the Select Similar command that went Lux Render, another open-source ren- hardware technologies for the AEC, civil engineer- missing from AutoCAD Map 3D a few derer. “It is designed to achieve physi- ing, and manufacturing markets. years back. Go to mistressofthedork cally accurate appearance and realistic © 2014 Longitude Media, LLC. Reproduction ness.blogspot.com and search for lighting for CG [computer-generated] in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without “Wuellner.” imagery. There are exporters for most of written permission of the publisher.

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