DraftSight no longer free

I think Russell is seeing format mangling due to QCAD and Draftsight not conforming identically to AutoCAD's DXF format. DXF is owned by AutoCAD, they change it periodically, and it exists in multiple versions.

It's worth checking which versions of DXF QCAD and Draftsight support, and exporting drawings in a version they both support. Alternatively, it's usually safer to export from a low version to higher, and risky to export from high to low.

Fonts are similarly variable and there is no guarantee that a font used by one package will be available to another. When importing the receiving package will usually substitute a font it does have (a guess), so the data isn't lost, even though it may look wrong.

Draftsight may be hoping transferring to another package will be so painful that most users will cough up for a Draftsight license instead. Fusion360 might pull the same trick at some point in the future. Not necessarily because they're evil: offering a free version has one set of commercial advantages, making people pay has another. As managers and results change over time it would be a poor organisation that failed to manage their product; nothing in this world is solid.

Dave

I've imported a dwg from Draftsight into QCAD, it has over 50 layers, the only issue I've spotted is that the dimscale is too big, but hide all layers apart from dim and follow this link

change dimension settings

I'm warming to it, as others have said it does let you do command line, and for the most used actions it won't take long to learn the commands.

Blimey, I thought using more than 20 layers in a drawing made me an extremist! I'm guessing yours is a big Assembly Drawing, or is there another reason for using a large number of layers?

Dave

It's got every part of a 5"g loco, but I will agree I went a bit overboard

Duncan Webster you have a PM

Am I missing something or am I just "special" but my version of Draftsight is still fine even after having to re-download it about 2/3 months ago after a big PC crash ( total reload of everthing). No problems at all and no messagesasking for money.

I had an email from DraftSight saying they will stop free usage after the end of December 2019. I re-registered about 4 months ago.

Regards

Gray,

I would up an old laptop with DS 2012 on it yesterday to get some old files off and try them on another program. It wasn't connected tot eh internet but had a message 'your 30 day trial is over" that I had forgotten it did. An old version of Progecad 2009 seemed to fire up without nags but I seem to remember it wasn't as good as DS and the current version is 30 day only.

For anyone having problems with translating .dwg files to .dfx there is a very useful utility called "ODA File Converter". It is a free download for Linux, Mac, or Windows.

**LINK**

https://www.opendesign.com/guestfiles/oda_file_converter

It will translate your .dwg or .dxf files to any .dwg form at from Autocad R12 to 2018 and to 21 different versions of .dfx.

Russell

Look out for an email entitled "A New Era for DraftSight: Important Product Updates" which carries the bad news. The bit that this thread is about is in (their) italics.

Brian

We are also investing in other technologies including an upcoming cloud-based version of DraftSight and much more. Therefore, we want to make you aware that DraftSight 2019 for Windows^® is offered in paid versions only, and all free versions of DraftSight (2018 or earlier) will cease to run after 12/31/2019.

Thanks for the link Russell.
After checking the FreeCAD forum which only mentioned how it couldn't bee done I found the tutorials mentioned an add-in at the very bottom of the page. I have noticed my drawing was done in 2011 and I haven't used DS since so my usage and hence value from a paid package would be rather low.
I had a quick go at doing the 3D examples for Alibre in FreeCAD and it seemed to go ok though I imagine it isn't as good at assembling parts.

Hi

I have used DraftSight for about 4 years on clock and workshop related bits.

Currently trying Solid Edge 2d 2019. It imports DraftSight drawings and old AutoCad drawings very well.

The installation of Solid Edge is not complete - all the "Learn Tab" items won't connect to the web.

Re-installing many times does not fix the problem.

On the Solid Edge Forum there was only one other user with the same fault - and no solution.

Is there a Solid Edge 2d 2019 user out there who could help? Does your system connect to the web when you press F1 ?

Many Thanks

Derek

I am quite new to CAD programs but had to use one to get my aluminium parts cut at fractory. As they do it all online, they want proper drawings and I started learning/using DS as well. I am now between 2 options - either switch to LibreCAD or Fusion.

I've heard a lot of good about Fusion. Saw the Autodesk guys at a fair and had a chat with them about my problem. I know they're biased But they did say that Fusion is fast overtaking their other popular paid solutions. What do you think? Open-source vs free version which may got paid again? I would need to start learning 3D modelling for Fusion, so that's in

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 23/05/2019 17:10:27

Hi Andy,

I (and a fair few others) use QCAD which is LibreCAD's older brother. QCAD also has a free community edition, plus a commercial version (about £30), that adds some worthwhile features. All three of them are competent 2D engineering drawing packages. QCAD is actively maintained. LibreCAD looks stalled at the moment: I couldn't download the latest stable version and the PPA site says it hasn't been updated for 166 weeks. That said, version 2.1.2 in the Ubuntu Repository looks in good shape. QCAD is my go-to tool for drawing single engineering objects, scale plans, templates etc - anything from back of an envelope to proper projection drawings with layers, dimensions, hatching and a version number! Simpler and easier to learn than Autosketch, which has too many unrelated bells and whistles for me.

I also use Fusion 360 which is a much more powerful 3D CAD tool. It comes into it's own for complex objects and especially Assemblies. For example, Fusion lets you model the individual parts of a machine and then model them together with approprate joints such that the machine can be animated. You can see if moving parts are going to collide without making a real one. Fusion can also produce rotatable photo realistic images, do stress analysis, produce 2D drawings, and output CAM instructions.

Although I find Fusion fairly intuitive, 3D CAD can be a steep learning curve, and the package has multiple capabilities. Getting to grips with it is a hefty investment of time and energy and you might have better things to do. MEW is running a course on Alibre at the moment; also very capable and well worth a look, but Alibre will eventually cost money.

Of concern is that Autodesk might change their minds about the free licence currently on offer. Draftsight was free for a long time before users got that nasty message. A pessimist might expect Autodesk to pull the same trick - get you hooked, and then demand money. For that reason I also keep up-to-date with FreeCAD, it's more obviously in development and whilst not in the same league as Fusion & Co functionally, it's genuinely free. An optimist might think Fusion a good bet because Autodesk are implementing a clever long term strategy: they don't intend ever charging hobbyists and students, the plan is to put loads of self-trained Fusion people on the job market, such that employers switch to Fusion to reduce their eye-watering training costs.

To keep life simple, it might make sense to choose the minimum the part-cutter will put up with. If he only needs properly scaled 2D plan drawings, LibreCAD/QCAD is easier to learn than Fusion.

Producing good engineering drawings can be quite hard; there are do's and don'ts. A basic book might help get you started.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 23/05/2019 19:11:21

Alright, thanks for the recap. I already thought so as well - that 2D is probably wiser to stay with unless I really need the 3D one. I'll definitely check out QCAD and choose one of the 2 then.

When it comes to engineering drawings, the same laser cutting site has their own instructions. Lucky for me, they don't want any measurements, only cutting lines. That's why someone like me, without an actual engineering background, can get his stuff produced. But thanks for the tip. If I ever need to turn to traditional manufacturers, I'll know where to turn to.

Crikey, a disappointment for cheapskates everywhere! :D

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Maybe not. I use Onshape rather than Fusion 360, but the free use for non-commercial users is pretty much the same deal. I do not believe that model engineers, that are predominantly older chaps (Not being a sexist here and I realise that one of most accomplished model engineers in Britain is a woman) are the principle targets for these free arrangements. The vendors of these products are trying to win over young people with design aptitude, being well aware that once someone has invested time and effort into learning a program they have an incentive to stick with what they are familiar with. These youthful users may well be in commercial positions later on to specify the software the companies that they are working for will be using.

Hi - Anticipating the worst, I am considering having to conver all my current .dwg Draftsight files into an older version of Autocad e.g. ACAD 2000-2002. Is there a quick (or batch) way of making the conversion of the 50 or so files I have or do I have to go through the individual Save-as routine for each individual file?

I am currently running a 2017 edition of the 'free' Draftsight 2D software package but does anyone know whether it will still be accessible after Dec 31 2019?