DraftSight is no longer free

Remember when I wrote that article about DraftSight, and I was excited because it was an AutoCAD clone, but it was free? And remember when I wrote some follow-up articles uncovering all of DraftSight's hidden 3D design features, even though Dassault Systèmes told the world that it was just 2D drafting software? Well, DraftSight has grown up.

DraftSight 2018 is the last free version of DraftSight. Starting with DraftSight 2019, all future versions will cost money. Not only that, but all pre-2019 versions of DraftSight will stop working, or "cease to run", as the announcement says, after December 31, 2018.

Click here for the official announcement. (In case that link stops working, here's what it looked like in October 2018.)

Dassault Systèmes are, of course, perfectly justified in charging money for DS. DS is professional-quality software, that's for sure. It was written by hired engineers in a for-profit company, and they deserve to make a profit on it. Not only that, but DS 2019 now officially includes a full complement of 3D design tools; it's billed as "a 2D drafting and 3D design experience."

And, considering the prices of comparable software, DS 2019 may still be a bargain, compared to the competition:

• $100/yr for the Standard version, 2D only, for hobbyists, students and teachers.
• $200/yr for the Professional version, still 2D only.
• $500/yr for the Premium version, which includes the 3D tools.

Are there free alternatives? Well, sure, all of the AutoCAD clones that existed before DraftSight are still there. But the state of the art has progressed since DraftSight was first released in 2011. Now, designers are doing 3D CAD and then converting their creations into data files for 3D printing, CNC milling, and other automated manufacturing processes. But there's still a need for the 2D drawings, and so the higher-quality 3D CAD packages (the ones that cost money) can also generate the 2D drawings from the 3D models.

Next, I'm going to tell you about the new CAD solution that I'm going to use.

DraftSight and scripting

Generally, AutoCAD scripts (and hence DraftSight scripts, by association) have a bad reputation as a slow and clumsy alternative to LISP.  Okay, fine.  That's generally the case with any script language vs. a compiled or bytecode alternative.  The price is right; I'll live with it.

If you want to learn how to write DS scripts, the best place to learn is learn from the materials available for ACAD.  Search the Web for "Autocad script" or "Autocad script tutorial".  Almost all of what is written for ACAD applies to DS.

Remember that a lot of the commands that invoke a dialog box (like "LAYER") have a command-line-only, alternative version that begins with a hyphen or dash (like "-LAYER"), for use in scripts.  (Also for use by command-line geeks who don't like dialog boxes.  And Linux heads!  And Cygwin junkies!)

Since I haven't had a lot of practice with ACAD scripts myself, I expect to be doing a lot of fumbling around for the next little while.  One of my first tasks will be to find out how to pass arguments to a script, and how to have a script open a custom pop-up window, to prompt the user for a needed value.

Apparently, there's also a tiny macro language, called Diesel, with which ACAD users can modify the Status line and do other little tweaks.  It's been reported that Diesel macros work inside DS also.  One thing at a time, my friends.  I'm working on scripting this week.  But if you know something about Diesel, give it a shot and let me know what you find out.

By the way, the official AutoCAD user forums contain a few discussions about DraftSight.  

Some users were wondering about the legality of DS, considering that it's so close to ACAD in functionality and features.  A little research into the Open Design Alliance and the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium would answer their questions - besides, I don't think that Dassault Systèmes would have put all that horsepower behind DraftSight if they didn't have all their ducks in a row, legally speaking.

Other users were dismissing DS as the latest in a long train of ACAD clones, none of which have been as good as real ACAD.  Well, they're absolutely right, without dispute.  It is the latest, and it isn't quite as good as the real thing.  There's no question that AutoCAD deserves its place at the top of the heap.  If we could afford it, we would all use it, without a doubt.  But we can't, and so we look for compatible, lower priced alternatives, which will do most of what ACAD can do and all of what we need to get done.

I don't think that Autodesk or their customers have anything to fear from DS.  The ACAD installed base will continue to grow, contributing nicely to ACAD's bottom line, and although we all look forward to the DS installed base growing even faster, it will never overtake or replace ACAD.  I don't think that Dassault Systèmes intends it to do so, either.

DraftSight 3D: How to

This is more of a quick reference guide than a tutorial.  If you follow the instructions given here, you'll be able to experiment with 3D in DraftSight and discover new stuff.  When you discover something that might be useful here, please send me a comment.  I won't post it as a comment, but if it's useful I will add it to the main text of this article - I'll add your name or ID at the bottom of the article.

What can you do with a DraftSight 3D CAD model?
Unfortunately, right now you can't do much besides play with it inside DraftSight.  Somebody please enlighten me.
When you save it as a DWG file, it saves all the 3D data.  You can confirm that by exiting and restarting DraftSight, and then reloading the DWG file.
But the 3D doesn't import into Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express.
I don't know about MilkShape or UVMapper yet.
The free version of DraftSight doesn't let you export the file in a different format.
???

What is the CCR?
You'll see the initials "CCR" in a lot of the DraftSight documentation.  CCR stands for Cartesian coordinate reference.  It's the little X-Y widget in the lower left corner of the Model view when you first start up DraftSight.  There's actually a Z axis on it as well as the X and Y axes, but you won't see it until you start "rolling the view."  The CCR will help you maintain your orientation when you're viewing objects in 3D.

How to view in 3D
Viewing things in 3D is easy.  You can even view a 2D drawing in 3D!  That's kind of funky and not really useful, but it's fun to do once or twice.
1. From the main menu, select View --> Constrained Orbit.
  - OR -
  From the command line, type ROLLVIEW and press Enter.
  The mouse cursor changes to a circle thingy.
2. Hover the mouse over an object in your drawing.  Hold down the left mouse button.  The mouse cursor changes to two 3D circle thingies.
3. With the left mouse button still down, move the mouse.  You'll get the hang of it.
4. To return the mouse function to normal, press Esc, press Enter, or right-click the mouse.  This doesn't return the 3D view to normal.

How to return the 3D view to normal
Here's the really quick way:  At the command line, type -V O T. That's short for -Views, Orthographic, Top.  The dash is important:  without the dash, you get the dialog box.

(UPDATE, 9 Feb 2012: Here's an even quicker way, pointed out by an alert reader: type PLAN and press Enter. It worked in AutoCAD, and it works in DS too.)

Here's the conventional way:
1. Either type V (short for VIEWS) and press Enter, or select View --> Named Views from the main menu.
2. In the dialog box, select View Type --> Defaults.  Select Top view, and click OK.

By "normal" I mean:
- You get a 2D view, showing the XY plane.  The CCR shows X and Y axes only.
- A Zoom Fit is automatically executed, so everything shows in the drawing area.
- This doesn't put the CCR at (0,0,0), but it does put it in the lower left corner of the drawing area.

How to create wireframe shapes
1. From the command line, type 3D and press Enter.
2. You can select from 9 different shapes:
Box - specify Length (+X or RIGHT), Width(+Y or UP), Height (+Z or into screen), and rotation about Z-axis (this is rotation in the 2D plane, with 0 being +X and numbers increasing towards +Y.  You can also make a cube and a square box using the C shortcut after Length or Width.
Cone
Dish
Dome
Mesh - specify four corners of a rubber sheet, and how many segments you want between the corners.  M and N are difficult concepts to explain, but they'll make sense when you see them.
Pyramid
Sphere
Torus
Wedge

How to extrude 3D shapes from a 2D cross section
1. Create the 2D shape.  It doesn't have to be on the Z=0 plane, but it all has to have the same Z value (that is, parallel to the Z=0 plane.
2. From the command line, type EXTRUDE and press Enter.
3. Click the 2D shape.
4. Either enter a numeric number (positive or negative) for the extrusion height in the Z direction,
  - OR -
  If you are viewing the shape obliquely (from ROLLVIEW or something), you can just move the mouse to the extrusion height you want, and left-click to set it.

How to rotate and stretch 3D shapes in 3 dimensions
???

How to create primitives
These are all in the Draw-->Mesh submenu.
2D Solid - Also the SOLID command.
This creates a shape with faces, not just a wireframe.
If you're using the mouse, you specify 3 corners of a triangle, or 4 corners of a quadrilateral - but if your specifying a quadrilateral, don't go in a circular motion.  You have to go in a zigzag.  If you go in a circular motion, you get the dreaded butterfly effect.  After you specify 3 corners and press enter, it draws a triangle.  After you specify 4 corners, it draws a quad.  The last 2 points now become the 1st and 2nd points of the next side, and you can specify new 3rd and 4th points.  In this way, you can create a long polygon of quads all stitched together.
3D Face - Also the FACE command.
I'm not clear on the difference between this and 2D Solid.  They both seem to do the same thing for me.
3D Mesh - also the MESH command. 
I explained this earlier.
Revolved - also the REVOLVEDMESH command.< This creates a solid of rotation.  Draw a 2D shape you want to use as your revolved surface, and draw a straight line (or pick a straight feature, like the edge of a box) to use as the axis of rotation.  The elements don't have to be on the Z=0 plane, or any other plane; nor do they have to be coplanar.  Unfortunately, I don't know the Setup option to give you more than 6 segments in the rotated solid.<
Tabulated - also the TABULATEDMESH command.
This is like EXTRUDE, only its direction and distance of extrusion is not dependent on the Z axis. 
1. Create a 2D shape on a horizontal (Z = constant) plane. 
2. Draw a line the direction (3D) and distance you want to go. 
3. Execute the command from the menu or the command line.
4. "entity for path curve" is the 2D shape you want to extrude.
5. "Entity for direction vector" is the line defining distance and direction.
Edge - also the EDGEMESH command.
This command takes four "open" entities (line, arc, polyline, spline, etc.) and draws a rubber-sheet mesh between them all.  Their ends have to be touching, to make 4 vertices.
Ruled - also the RULEDMESH command.
This command takes two entities and joins them to make a solid with the two entities as faces.
1. If one entity is a point and the other a closed element (rectangle, circle, polygon) then you end up with a cone or a prism.
2. If one entity is a point and the other an open element (line, spline, curve), you end up with a fan.
3. If both are open elements, you end up with the rubber sheet mesh.
4. If both are closed elements, you end up with a cool 3D adapter thingy like the vent hood above the grill at a Mongolian Barbecue restaurant.

How to create 2D shapes with some thickness to them, and on a different plane
The ZPLANE command lets you add thickness to your 2D objects.  It also lets you draw on a different Z plane than the default Z=0 plane.
1. From the command line, type ZPLANE and press Enter.
2. Type the value for the new Z plane, then press Enter.
3. Type the thickness for the objects you're about to draw, then press Enter.

How to join primitives to make 3D objects
???

How to join 3D shapes and objects to make more complicated objects
???

How to color faces, and how to hide unseen surfaces
The Hatch/Fill function can be used to select and color faces.  I suggest just using the "fill" capability.  Unfortunately, selecting the face to color doesn't work reliably for me.  I guess I haven't discovered the trick yet.
1.  Click on the Hatch/Fill icon in the menu on the left side of the drawing area
- OR -
Select Draw --> Hatch/Fill from the main menu
- OR -
On the command line, type HATCH and press Enter.
2. In the dialog box that comes up:  in the Type box, select Fill.  In the Colors box, select a color.  You can also change the Style and Orientation.  Don't hit OK yet - it's probably greyed out anyway.
3. In the Boundary settings box, click Specify Points.  The Hatch dialog temporarily disappears, so you can choose a face to color.  Click on any area inside the face, then press Esc or Enter. (WARNING:  THIS DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK!)
3a. While the Hatch dialog is temporarily absent, you can also turn or manipulate the 3D object to find the face you want to color, by selecting View-->Constrained Orbit from the main menu.  When you have finished manipulating the 3D object, press Enter or Esc to return to the view that lets you select a face.
4. After you have selected a face and returned to the Hatch dialog, click OK.

If you know of a more reliable way to select the face to color, please comment on this article. I won't post your comment, but I will edit the article and put your name or ID in the acknowledgements.

How to change the lighting so the 3D item is easier to see
???

Acknowledgements
Thanks to these people who have helped to expand my knowledge of DraftSight's 3D capability, and to make this guide more complete:
Anonymous, for telling me about PLAN.

DraftSight and 3D - it's all in there

Yesterday, I wrote that DraftSight's 3D capability was limited to primitives:  triangles, rectangles, and polygons.  Boy, was I wrong.

UPDATE:  I just wrote a really quick "how to" guide for DraftSight and 3D.  Click here.

For the 3D-disinclined, let me use three real-world objects to help you understand 3D CAD.

First, imagine a wire birdcage, the kind your grandmother uses for her parakeet or canary.  A birdcage is made of a bunch of wires, crossing and intertwining.  They define a region of space - the inside of the bird cage.  CAD programs define a solid object by imagining the surface of it as a bird cage - a bunch of wires crossing each other or connecting with each other.  CAD programs just store all the wire crossings, or vertices (singular vertex, plural vertices), and the wires, or edges, that go from one vertex to another.  You've probably heard of wireframe models or drawings.

Second, imagine a fishnet - a giant fishnet, being dragged through the ocean.  The water and the caught fish pull that net into a certain shape, and that shape can be manipulated by the boat, the current, and the fish (hello, Nemo!).  Another word for "net" is "mesh."  CAD programs also use the terms net and mesh to describe the wireframe drawings.

Finally, think of a Tiffany lamp.  A Tiffany lamp is like a three-dimensional stained glass window.  The lamp maker makes the wire frame first, and then fastens the glass pieces into the frame.  In 3D CAD, the glass pieces are called faces.

3D CAD is a little more complicated than Tiffanly lamps, though, because each face has an "in" side and an "out" side.  Designers have to make sure they get all faces facing (sorry) the right way.

Snooping around, and with a hint from the Internet, I found a couple of tantalizing command-line commands in DraftSight:  EXTRUDE and 3D.  They're definitely worth exploring.  Moreover, the main menu, under Draw --> Mesh, gives an entire list of 3D capabilities.

Conclusion:  Yes. DraftSight has it all in there - vertices, edges, faces, wireframes, meshes, nets - a 2D program with built-in 3D capability.  Now we just have to figure out how to use it all.

DraftSight: Scripting and 3D

No, this isn't about how to use scripting to do 3D CAD, although at the end of this article, I point you to the DraftSight help files for some hints on how to do just that.

In my first review of DraftSight, I mentioned that the free version of DS doesn't support LISP macros.  Well, it still doesn't.  I'm not complaining; that was a sound business decision.  Buying the SDK also buys you LISP macro support, and the SDK is not prohibitively expensive.

But if you're willing to get by without the speed of LISP, you can create and run scripts in DraftSight.

For example, suppose you want to draw a circle centered at (5,5) with radius 10.  (I borrowed this example from another online DraftSight help file.)  One way to do this is to type on the command line:

CIRCLE 5,5 10

Another way is to type on the command line:

CIRCLE
5,5
10

(Note the spaces in the first command entry, and the new lines in the second command entry.  The commands are identical in their execution.)

You can use Notepad, Vim, or your favorite text editor to create a script file to do the work for you.  Simply copy and paste either of the above commands into the editor, and save it as "circle55.scr" . (SCR for "script file".)

Now, at the command line, type the command LOADSCRIPT and press Enter.  A "Select File" dialog pops up.  Select your "circle55.scr" file, click Open, and watch the magic.

You can use a script file to automate a sequence of drawing commands that you perform regularly.  Here's an easy way to create that script file:

1. Perform the command steps that you want to store.
2. Type CommandHistory to open the separate command history window.
3. Right-click and select Copy History.
4. Open an editor program such as Microsoft® Notepad.
5. Paste the command steps into the editor program.
6. Save the file as an .scr file.

 (I stole that text from DraftSight's own help file, under Customizing-->Running Scripts-->Running a Script File.)

Now, one of my hobbies and passions is 3D graphics.  I thought DraftSight was just a 2D CAD program, but I kept seeing hints in the documentation to a Z-axis pointer on the Cartesian Coordinate Reference (CCR), that widget that shows up in the lower left of the drawing window.  In addition, the cursor location given in the Status bar is always a 3D coordinate.  It just so happens that DraftSight's help pages include two tantalizing sections, labeled "3D Viewing and Presentation" and "Creating and Modifying 3D Entities."

After I worked through those 2 sections, I can say that yes, DraftSight can draw in 3D.  HOWEVER, the free-as-downloaded version only does 3D primitives:  triangles, rectangles, and polygons of a size that I haven't discovered yet.  Two problems arise from working with primitives:  you often get the "butterfly" shape that the help pages warn you about; and if you create some triangles clockwise and others counterclockwise, their normals point in opposite directions, your solids come out goofy, and the lighting and surface rendering don't work as you expect them to work.

If you want to do complex 3D shapes, you will have to do one of the following things:

1. A lot of typing.
2. Buy the additional 3D capability (if it's available - I haven't hunted that far yet).
3. Buy the SDK and write some 3D macros in LISP.
4. Write script files instead of LISP macros.

Also note that the free version of DraftSight only saves DWG and DXF files, so you may end up doing some beautiful 3D work and have no way to export it to STL or another 3D format.

Conclusion: It's nice to know that some programming - er, scripting - capability is built into the free version.  And, with respect to 3D, it's also nice to know that I had to direct my explorations into something as complicated as 3D modeling before I found any serious limitations in DraftSight - and even those limitations are just temporary bumps in the road.

CORRECTION, NOVEMBER 4:  It's all in there. DraftSight does indeed have high-level 3D capability.  See this post.

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 9:  For more information on using scripts in DraftSight, see this post.

DraftSight: A Painless Upgrade, and a Touch of Class

Dassault Systèmes just published a notice about a DraftSight upgrade, and I performed the upgrade with some trepidation. Often, upgrades of free software are not clean or painless. To my delight, this upgrade was both clean and painless.

I did notice this one nice touch: The DS installer detected some programs I had running that used files it would need to interact with during the upgrade. It listed the programs and invited me to close them before continuing.

Some installers give you the "It is recommended that you close all running programs before you continue" warning, which is appreciated but sometimes a real annoyance. Other installers, really poorly-written ones, simply clobber the overlapping files without warning, irreversibly screwing up your computer. I've never encountered an installer with the philosophy of this DraftSight installer. I like it.

This is a major upgrade, by the way. The version numbering syntax changed with this upgrade. My old version was 11.3.1131. The new version is V1R1.2 (Version 1, Release 1.2).

DraftSight: a good deal for students and teachers

If you're a student or an educator, DraftSight has some special deals for you. These deals give you access to some goodies that the rest of us have to pay for.

Autodesk also offers some great student-and-educator deals on AutoCAD and other software. Over the years, Autodesk has built or acquired an impressive collection of high quality tools.

Either way, you can't go wrong.

DraftSight part 2 - really good CAD software, for free

I'm sure advertisers hate me. I ignore commercials on TV. I skip over ads in magazines and newspapers, except to snort with disgust at the really objectionable ones. I change the radio station when the commercial breaks get too long or too stupid. And I actually close web pages (and they go on my personal blacklist!) when the ad content starts taking over the page.

And I never, ever, click through on an adlink, which is kind of funny since I have AdSense enabled on my blog.

That is, I never clicked through on an adlink until today.

I was searching for electronic parts on the web, when I saw an ad banner that said something like "DraftSense - a 2D AutoCAD alternative for free," or something like that. AutoCAD is one of the big three CAD systems today. In fact, AutoCAD may be the king of the mountain. AutoCAD is a great program, and I've used and enjoyed it in previous lives. It wasn't the first CAD program, nor was it the first CAD program to dominate the market, but it has become the standard against which all other CAD programs are judged, and its DWG and DXF formats have become an industry standard.

And it's expensive. Oh, it's worth every penny, if you can afford it. Prices start at $1,180 for AutoCAD LT 2012, the lightweight version.

About ten years ago, give or take a few, an alliance of developers set out to make a free alternative to AutoCAD. Their efforts spun off several alternative packages, four of which are documented in an article at Desktop Engineering. The latest alternative is a package called DraftSight, sold by Dassault Systèmes through their Solidworks subsidiary. The beta version was released last summer. The official Windows version was released in February 2011. The official OS X and Linux versions were released in March 2011.

(Before DS acquired them in 1997, Solidworks had their own AutoCAD alternative, called "DWGEditor" and later renamed "2D Editor". DraftSight can be perceived as a direct competitor to 2D Editor, although Solidworks says that they'll keep selling both packages "for the time being.")

(Dassault Systèmes also has a heavyweight 3D CAD package called CATIA, created in 1977 to make airplanes. You knew the name "Dassault" sounded familiar, didn't you?)

There's a lot to like about DraftSight. First, it's free. Like the air you breathe. (We'll cover the exceptions to that "free" part in a little bit.)

Second, it's available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Version limitations are specified on the downloads page.

Third, it has a very familiar user interface. If you've used AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, or ARES, you should feel right at home when you start it up.

Fourth, it is indeed full-featured. The list of features includes ... well, go have a look. It still has the command line for those who want it. It's infinitely customizable: aliases, menus, keyboard shortcuts, mouse shortcuts, toolbars - it's got it all. It reads and writes files in DWG and DXF formats (all versions from R12 through 2010 - maybe through 2012 by now), and it exports files in PDF format. And it supports add-ons.

Dassault Systèmes created a user community for DraftSight, with access to all sorts of helps, including video tutorials. They also created a 186-page "Getting Started" guide. Ouch.

Reviewers love DraftSight, and so do most users . One reviewer said DraftSight is equivalent to AutoCAD LT, and that he prefers it over Solidworks 2D. (One user said he'd keep using Visio because it's "simpler." Eh.)

DraftSight is small and fast. It's only 47 MB to download, and after installation it only takes 160 MB of disk space. It starts up fast, and it loads drawings fast.

Here are the exceptions to "free":

First of all, only the standalone license is free. That is, if you want to install it on a server and run it on multiple workstations on a network, you'll have to buy a network license. This is all spelled out in the end-user license agreement (EULA), which you really should read before buying or installing any software. The network license also includes telephone support and other goodies, though, so if you're a business it may be worth your while.

Second, there's no LISP capability in the free version. Like AutoCAD, DraftSight lets you write macros and custom programs using a dialect of LISP. In order to use LISP, you'll need to buy the API (application programming interface) package.

Third, all of the add-ons - well, let's say most of the good ones - cost money. That's not a bad thing, just an acknowledgement of reality.

Fourth, "free" is not synonymous with "open source." You can't get the source code. Dassault Systèmes owns it, and they're not letting go of it. That's okay; if you really want to mess with the software, you can buy the API instead.

Why the exceptions shouldn't bother you:

Dassault Systèmes can offer DraftSight for free because they make all their money on these extras. Oh, don't worry; DraftSight is immensely useful and powerful all by itself, without costing you a nickel. Most individual and sole-proprietor users won't need any of that extra stuff. But it's all there if you want it.

So, Zyzmog, do you like it?

I've only played with it a little bit. I'll post updates here as I gain more experience with it. But from what I've seen so far, I like it.

To download DraftSight, click on this link.

UPDATE: As of December 31, 2019, DraftSight is no longer free. Read about it here.

DraftSight - really good CAD software, for free

I'm a bit late to the party on this one. Better late than never, I guess.

If you've been looking for a free or low-cost alternative to AutoCAD, you can stop looking. DraftSight, a new 2D CAD program that natively (that means without breathing hard) reads and writes DWG and DXF files, is now available for free from Dassault Systèmes Solidworks.

It's available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. And it truly is free. With some asterisks.

Here are the important asterisks.

* DraftSight is comparable to AutoCAD LT, the lightweight version of AutoCAD.

* Only the standalone license is free. That means each computer has to have its own copy. If you want to run it from a network server, you'll have to purchase a network license.

* No LISP support in the free version. If you want LISP capability, or support for all your AutoLISP macros, you'll have to purchase the API.

* It's free, but not open source. Eh. I can live with it.

Those are all the asterisks I can think of. DraftSight has gotten great reviews on the Web. I just downloaded it and tried out some rudimentary functions, and I like it so far. If I end up not liking it, I'll edit this entry and tell you what's not to like.

Download it here. Read about it here. I'll tell you more about it in my next entry.