Number 307 - December 2008
Linux Software - QCad
by Alex Morrison, Durham Ontario,
from November 2008 Durham Computer Club Newsletter


   QCad is an application for 2D computer aided drafting. QCad enables users to create technical Drawings such as plans for buildings, interiors, mechanical parts or schematics and diagrams.

   It uses DXF as its standard fileformat. While other CAD packages are often complicated to use, QCad tries to be different.

   There are two different versions available. QCad Professional (version 2.1.3.2) is commercial software costing US$35.00 for a single user license. There is a 10-minute demonstration of the Professional version available.

   There is also a community edition, which is available under a freely distributable license. It is a slightly older version, and does not contain all of the functionality included in the commercial release.

   

   
A sample QCad drawing in dxf format


   Features include:    
  • Layer and Block Support
    •    
  • 24 line widths, 19 line styles, undo/redo
    •    
  • Multi-document interface
    •    
  • Construction and modifications of points, lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines, polylines, texts, dimensions, hatches, fills, raster images
    •    
  • Various powerful entity selection tools
    •    
  • Support for DXF R12 and DXF 200x, BMP, JPEG, PNG
    •    
  • Part library (over 4500 CAD parts including mechanical, electrical, and processing symbols all in DXF format)
    •    
  • ECMA Scripting interface (not available in Community edition)
    •    
  • User interface translations to a large number of languages including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Welsh


    • Where to Find QCad
       Install the free version from your Linux Package manager

       Visit www.ribbonsoft.com/ or www.qcad.org for the Professional version or one of the free community versions for Linux.

       Windows users have the option to purchase or use the free 10-minute trial version. No free version for Windows!

    QCad 2.0.5.0
       Price: Free for Linux
       Size 4.2 MB
       License GNU GP
       Developers: Andrew Mustun, Knute Linhaard, Juha Nieminen, Petri Damste'n, Hanzy von Morgus
       Website: www.qcad.org

    System Requirements:
       Qt 3.3.4
       C++ compiler
       GNU Tools

    Support Sites:
       QCad Tutorial
       http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article132.shtml
       QCad Forum
       http://www.ribbonsoft.com/forum/
      Number 307 - December 2008