Go to www.cadstd.com. Download the free trial version. It's kinda simple
and straightforward, a simple drafting program. But it will make drawings
(with dimensions). If you like it, the full-featured version is only $25.

Here's the thing. If you can make a drawing with a T-square and a pencil,
you can learn every feature in this program in about an hour (except for the
3D). The program won't make you an expert, but it will enable you to
produce nice, accurate, to-scale drawings in less time that you could do it
with a T-square. If you want more, you're probably going to have to pay for
more.

BruceT



"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

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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