"John" wrote in message
.. .
There has been many posts about cad software in the past. However, many so
callled freeware are crippled commercial demo. Since it takes some effort
to learn a 3D cad software, I don't want to spend a lot of time to
evaluate a demo only to discover the feature I need is crippled.
Therefore, your advice is needed.

I'm looking for a free (or the least expensive) cad program that
-allows exact dimensions to be entered (e.g. a piece of wood that is
3.5-inch by 1.5 inch by 8 feet)
-can output the design with all dimensions labeled, like an archetectural
drawing
-can view, rotate in 3D with simple surface (e.g. wood grain)
-can save/print the design

If you have had drafting training and are familiar with AutoCAD, IntelliCAD
is very inexpensive by comparison at about 1/8 the the cost and operates
almost exactly like AutoCAD.
CAD is still IMHO aimed at a target market and is not the type software that
a computer company would load on to every computer that they sell. The more
you know about drafting to start with the easier any CAD program will be to
learn. If you cannot spell, a word process will have a bigger learning
curve. If you cannot count, a financial program will have a steeper
learning curve. If you cannot draw with a pencil exactly what you want a
CAD program to do, well, you know the drill.






I checked out google's sketchup. It is easy enough to sketch, and I can
even enter dimensions of object. But that part doesn't seem very well
developed. I could not figure out how to enter the rotation angle of
objects. Plus I don't think it can produce an output with dimensions
labeled. But then, I've only spent 30 minutes playing with it.

What exactly are the differences between a modeling software and a CAD
software?


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