Features Of A Good AutoCAD Alternative

The article talks about how AutoCAD is unaffordable for many users, and enumerates various features a good AutoCAD alternative should possess.

AutoCAD is a powerful software with wonderful features, then where is the need to look for an AutoCAD alternative? Problem is that its high pricing makes it unaffordable for many small and individual users, who need to find a good AutoCAD alternative that can fulfill their requirements. One needs to look carefully into the various features and tools these alternatives possess so that they are not disappointed  once they finalize and buy any particular product. Some of these CAD softwares may have the required powerful tools and intelligent features but may still be quite high priced, while some others may be reasonably priced but may lack the required power and features. The best purchase would be a software that is affordable and still has all the productive, powerful tools and intelligent, useful features that should essentially be incorporated in any top-class CAD product.

AutoCAD was a revolutionary software which changed the face of the design industry and altered the working style of designers and draftsmen forever. It’s design features provide an unprecedented freedom and flexibility to the users to experiment with new forms and ideas without worrying about the feasibility of the end-result. The quality and convenience it offer were unimaginable in the era of hand drafting or even 2D softwares. Any good alternative should have 3D modeling capabilities that match those of the original, and make the working convenient for the user. One such feature is the capability to extract isoline curves through a specified point on a surface of face of a solid to determine the contour lines of any shape.

AutoCAD has several excellent documentation features as well besides having great design features, and naturally any product that claims to be a good alternative should be able to match these features also. It should incorporate an intelligent command line interface that must have features like auto correct, adaptive suggestions, and synonym suggestions etc beside including facilities like mid-string search. Having a facility like file tabs to provide a quick and visual way to create additional open drawings or switch between open drawings is also a necessity.

Merely being a low cost CAD software is not enough when a product wants to be termed as a worthy substitute for an established product like AutoCAD, it has to compare well on the performance side as well. The software needs to offer the same power, freedom and flexibility to the users as the original product and its after-sale service should also be up to the high standards the industry expects from a good AutoCAD alternative.