CAD Design

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer technology by architects, engineers, and others for design and drawing. Before CAD, design and drafting were done using pencil and paper. Benefits of using CAD design software include more precise drawing, ease for the designer to share plans with clients and third parties (such as general contractors and engineers), and secure archiving of past projects.

AutoCAD is the industry-standard software used by most civil engineers and construction firms. Other commonly used software packages from Autodesk include Revit, Civil 3D and Fusion 360 (US site).

AutoCAD can be used for drafting and design projects that involve creation, editing, viewing or printing various types of geometric 2D and 3D entities. This includes projects like floor plans, construction layouts, building details, manufacturing drawings and layouts. Learn more.

AutoCAD is a desktop software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting used for creating blueprints and other engineering plans. AutoCAD is used in architectural drafting, civil drafting, mechanical drafting, electrical drafting, electronics, aeronautical drafting, and more.

AutoCAD Mobile (US site) is a mobile drawing and drafting application that allows users to view, edit and share AutoCAD drawings via mobile devices. It can be used by general contractors and project managers with little to no experience with CAD across a wide range of industries, including architecture, engineering and construction, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and more.

AutoCAD’s native .DWG format and .DXF file format are used in CAD design, but there are differences between the two vector image file types. The principal difference is that DWG (which stands for DraWinG) files previously only worked with Autodesk’s AutoCAD, while .DXF (meaning drawing exchange/interchange format) was developed to allow other CAD programs to open and use information from the drawing file. There are now several free programs that can open DWG files.

Some CAD programs can’t import .DWG files, but they can import .DXF. If you’re a CAD user who doesn’t use AutoCAD, the ability to open and use the .DXF file in other CAD programs is an advantage over the DWG.

Possible limitations of DXF in comparison to DWG are:

• DWG files retain all drawing layers, colors, lines weights and x-references, while DXF files retain lines, dimension and text only.
• While DXF is ACSII text, DWG is a binary file. This means that DXF is typically much larger in size than DWG.

There are many benefits to using DWG files, including:

• CAD industry standard
• Smaller file sizes
• DWG files are scalable, retaining their quality at any scale
• Ability to convert images from JPG, PNG or TIFF to DWG—or convert from PDF to DWG
• Project collaboration is easier for engineers, architects and graphic designers

While some programs may take time to learn, once mastered , CAD software can greatly enhance productivity and time to completion.

Advantages of CAD:

• Saves time by helping users quickly create better, more efficient designs.
• With web and mobile capabilities, it is possible to simply open the program and start drawing.
• It allows users to make changes and modify drawings more easily.
• Manual design errors are significantly reduced, and quickly fixed.
• Significantly decreases design effort because the software automates most tasks.
• Reduces duplication of labor, allowing users to copy the different parts of code and design which can then be reused multiple times.
• Improves accuracy by giving users the tools to measure designs with a high level of precision.