Tag: free 2D CAD

So there IS such a thing as a good value

May 30, 2012 by Darren DraftSight Premium Pack 0

You know how many of us wish that the price of bread, milk and cars were the same as they were 30 years ago? That’s just not the case with computer storage (as with most consumer electronics).

Check out this vintage print ad from the early 1980s and how it compares to a random flash drive purchase on Amazon:

Of course, we’re also witnessing historic savings in 2D CAD. Whether you opt for the free version for individual users, or the Premium Pack for companies or educational institutions, DraftSight can have an amazing impact on your bottom line!

See what you can save with the DraftSight ROI Calculator.
The Scale of the Universe from a teenager’s perspective

May 26, 2012 by Darren Education 0

If there isn’t already a bidding war for the talents of 14-year-old twins Michael and Cary Huang (at right), there will be.

The California high school students have created a mesmerizing flash animation called “Scale of the Universe” that allows you to compare the sizes of the tiniest things and largest things imaginable by dragging a slidebar at the bottom of the screen.

Our eyeballs don’t work this way. We have a limited scope of view, occasionally enhanced with binoculars, telescope or microscope, but there’s still no real sense of scale. Slowly trekking through the Huang brothers‘ animation is like starring in your own science fiction movie where you can control your size with a blink of the eye.

What are the smallest and largest units of measurement that you’ve used in a recent CAD drawing? DraftSight, the professional-grade free 2D CAD program from Dassault Systèmes, allows numerous options for scaling your drawings: Read More
DraftSight can’t give you courage, but here’s what it can promise…

May 15, 2012 by Darren Architecture, Construction, Spotlight on the DraftSight Community 0

As evidenced above, a splendid profile photo from his Facebook page, Hans Haveel Van Laethem is a sports pilot with an appetite for daring stunts.

He has yet to draw anything in DraftSight while dangling in the clouds, but loves to spring our free 2D CAD program into action whenever he’s grounded.

Hans works as a site manager for a residential construction company in Belgium that builds new houses and apartments and specializes in renovating old ones so they look brand new.

He’s the liaison between the architect and the construction crew, making sure that everything dreamed out on paper is feasible within the budget.

Hans' DraftSight sketch of pre-fabricated concrete beams for his construction crew.

Hans says he especially appreciates DraftSight’s portability.

“DraftSight is so easy to use and allows me to draw a fast sketch of how I see things, print them out and hand them over to my builders on the site,” he says. “It’s perfect for taking details from architectural or technical drawings and transforming them into understandable drawings.”

(How do YOU use DraftSight? Drop us a line at draftsight.news@gmail.com)
Spaghetti Suspension: Barilla applauds engineer’s pasta bridges

May 11, 2012 by Darren Education 0

You remember the fun story about DraftSight enthusiast Richard Williams, a.k.a. “Corporal Willy,” and his pasta bridge project in the Nevada schools?

Well, the Barilla pasta company was so tickled by this engineer’s passion for education that they just sent him a complimentary case of Barilla Fettuccine!

Corporal Willy made the above photo with Photoshop to celebrate his continued leverage of noodles to teach kids about the world of civil engineering. There aren’t THAT many boxes in a case.

If your life depended on getting across this pasta bridge, wouldn't YOU prefer Fettuccine over Angel Hair or plain Spaghetti?

The Corporal, a retired U.S. Marine and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) electrician, is a dedicated volunteer in the Las Vegas public schools – a system that has been devastated by a series of massive budget cuts. He’s been an enthusiastic advocate of teachers adopting DraftSight, our free professional-grade 2D CAD tool, to get kids excited about design.

“The doorbell rang while I was in the shower and my wife received a gift from the Barilla company,” says Williams. “Can you imagine what I can build with this much Fettuccine?”

Barilla naturally gets plenty of inquiries about recipes and coupons, but it isn’t often that they hear about such an innovative application of their products.

“Ciao Richard,” the company wrote. “We were inspired by your passion and creative efforts to overcome the budget challenge in your teaching community so that you could continue to teach students about engineering. Encouraging kids to be creative and solve problems is a value that will live with them for a lifetime.

Although it is a small token of our gratitude for what you continue to support and accomplish, we hope that this case of Barilla Fettuccine will help some of your students build unbreakable bridges.”

“Wait till you see what comes next,” says Williams. “Bon Appetite!”

We can’t wait, Corporal!

And thanks, Barilla, for supporting this inspiring idea that can be replicated in other schools, too.
What happens when you tie a kite to a boat?

May 10, 2012 by Darren Engineering 0

When SkySails CEO Stephan Wrage was boy in Germany, he loved to fly kites. And as kids’ minds tend to wander into the whimsical world of “What if…,” he wondered what would happen if he tied a giant kite to a real boat. Would the wind be strong enough to tow it?

Wrage, who grew up to study industrial engineering at the Technical University of Dresden, held on to that fantasy.

Based in Hamburg, his SkySails company is now a world pioneer in creating wind propulsion systems for ships. The sails, which they call “kites,” look a bit like parachutes and they tap into the high-energy potential of high-altitude winds.

SkySails reduces fuel costs for cargo ships, consequentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company designs its kites with SolidWorks, the 3D CAD cousin of DraftSight, which also plays a vital role.

SkySails uses DraftSight, a free professional-grade 2D CAD tool from Dassault Systèmes, to import manufacturing drawings of new cargo ships.

DraftSight is used by the company to import manufacturing drawings from various cargo ship companies to check if the wind sail components will fit properly.

Estimated fuel savings are between 10-15 percent.

We recently caught up with some of the brains behind SkySails at SolidWorks World. Take a look for yourself at what could become the future of commerce!
Breaking News: You can now take your 2D CAD designs on the go with your iPad!

May 1, 2012 by Darren DraftSight Tips 0

This just in from our CAD cousins over at SolidWorks…

You’re constantly on the go, and the process of making sure you and your customers can understand and see what’s happening with a project hasn’t always been easy–up until now. In an effort to give you what you need, when/where you need it, we’re happy to announce the availability of eDrawings for iPad, an application that lets you bring your 2D and 3D files to a customer’s site, or to a sales meeting, and share the design concepts quickly and easily.

eDrawings® for iPad allows you to view and review native eDrawings® files, DraftSight® files, SolidWorks® parts, assemblies and drawings files, making it easy for engineers and non-engineers to interpret and understand 2D and 3D design using multi-touch gestures.

You can download eDrawings® for iPad today from the Apple store , and you can learn more about the features and functionality on the SolidWorks website.

How will you use eDrawings® for iPad? What files are you most looking forward to sharing? We welcome your thoughts below!
Skimboarding design and how 2D CAD can give you an adrenaline rush!

April 24, 2012 by Darren Design, Engineering, Hobbies, Tell Us Your Story! 1

Let’s face it, when Mountain Dew does their thrill-seeker commercials featuring skateboarders, motocross riders, water skiers, snowboarders and rock climbers, it is highly unlikely they’ll be showing footage of a CAD user in action.

Unless you are doing your CAD drawings while using a treadmill desk, it’s also unlikely that your heart is pounding very rapidly during the design process.

But of course, what happens when you step away from the computer is up to you.

Toronto’s Paul Sesto and his 13-year-old son Alex have been designing skimboards with DraftSight, the professional-grade free 2D CAD product from Dassault Systèmes.

Skimboarding is like a combination of skateboarding and surfing, but it’s done from the water’s edge so you don’t need large waves to do tricks. The sport started in Southern California in the 1920s by lifeguards who wanted a quicker way to travel across the beaches. Today, it is a global phenomenon, with international competitions in United States, Mexico and Portugal.

The shoreline sport is particularly popular on beaches where it is considered too dangerous to surf — such as Brazil’s popular Boa Viagem beach in the city of Recife, which has historically been plagued by shark attacks. Read More
Will the latest attempt at the ‘Flying Car’ put an end to traffic headaches?

April 10, 2012 by Darren Engineering, Manufacturing 0

How sweet would it be to soar ABOVE the traffic during your morning commute instead of kissing the bumper in front of you?

The promise of a flying car has been a staple of science fiction novels and kids’ cartoons, but there will soon be one available for your driveway by the end of the year.

The Terrafugia Transition, which looks like a chubby VW Beetle with wings, can transform from plane to car or vice-versa in less than a minute. The prototype for the “roadable aircraft” just passed all its flight and safety tests with flying colors.

The Flying Car has a $279,000 pricetag and there are about 100 of them on back order.

Bragging Rights: It was designed with SolidWorks, the 3D cousin of DraftSight, our professional-grade free 2D CAD product which you can download for $279,000 less!

What’s it like to get in the cockpit/driver’s seat?

Take a look for yourself:
The British Are Coming! (Or more accurately, our British-based CAD Webinar is coming to you)

April 2, 2012 by Darren DraftSight Tips, Tutorials and Training 0

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!

DraftSight is headquartered at the Dassault Systèmes’ Boston Campus, where we are naturally surrounded by many historical sites — especially related to the American Revolutionary War.

Paul Revere, of course, was an American patriot and silversmith who definitely would have been intrigued by 2D CAD. He’s more famous for his frantic horse ride through the Massachusetts countryside, warning the Minuteman soldiers that the British Redcoats were on their way.

But enough of our corporate headquarters’ proximity to local history — because I fully realize this is a silly metaphorical stretch. Later this week, we’re headed to Great Britain on much friendlier terms.

Due to popular demand, DraftSight training specialist Mark Lyons is bringing back his free “DraftSight Fundamentals” workshop for beginners. Lyons will guide participants through the most important commands to start creating a drawing. The Webinar will cover most of the commands on the Draw and Modify toolbars.

Sign Up for the “DraftSight Fundamentals” Webinar!

Date: Thursday, April 5, 2012

Time: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM BST (British Summer Time)

Sign up now by clicking here. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Of course, it doesn’t matter where YOU are since the Internet is the great equalizer. We’re just happy to mix up the time zones a little bit since DraftSight is now being downloaded from nearly every corner of the Earth!

P.S. And whether you are a beginner or not, check out the free DraftSight Master Series Flipbook, where we’ve bundled a bunch of useful tips, tricks, tutorials and learning resources in one handy place!
Spotlight on Ireland: Monkeying around with MJ SMYTH

March 29, 2012 by Darren Spotlight on the DraftSight Community, Tell Us Your Story! 0

(Editor’s Note: More than two million people — so far — have downloaded DraftSight from nearly every corner of the Earth. To celebrate this wide geographic appeal, we plan on periodically casting the spotlight on businesses and professional CAD users from various countries.)

After 15 years toiling behind the scenes in the lighting and electrical services industry, draftsman MJ Smyth decided to be his own boss by co-founding I.T. Monkey, a computer consulting and CAD training/service firm. But you may be extremely familiar with his prior work.

Smyth drew the electrical and ventilation diagrams for many of the McDonald’s restaurants dotted across the Emerald Isle.

“I never got turn the Golden Arches on,” he laments with a smile.

I.T. Monkey's slogan is "Your Partner in the I.T. Jungle."

“We get asked about our name a lot,” says Smyth. “Well anyone in the CAD world has heard the term ‘CAD Monkey,’ and everyone in the car world has heard the term ‘Grease Monkey,’ so we figured, why not an I.T. Monkey? Plus, it sounds better than ‘Naas IT Services’ or something else boring.”

Smyth’s co-founding Monkey is Liam MacNamee, an Apple engineer and large format print configuration specialist.

Smyth splits his time between general I.T. consulting and CAD services. Recent projects include the fire alarm layouts for the Royal Dublin Society, a historic complex of arenas and exhibition halls known for concerts and championship horse shows; and site drawings for the oil industry in Dublin Harbor and the Irish Rail‘s central oil depot for diesel trains. Read More