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Have you tried doing it as an extension [0]? Or, maybe even simpler, use an Inkscape scripting extension [1]. I haven't tried that myself yet, just following the repo loosely. But I feel something like "select two points, draw an orthogonally aligned double-arrow based on the two x/y pairs, measure its length and add some text" should be possible.

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[0] https://inkscape.org/develop/extensions/

[1] https://github.com/spakin/SimpInkScr

I thought about it, but should take another look at it, that scripting extension looks like a good way to get in touch with it.

When I had a look at it, I was under the impression, that you can't get immediate enough to the core functions, for an extension to make sense. You are just drawing too many lines to make going through a pop-up every time feasible. You want to specify exact lengths while drawing, not afterwards.

In Vectoworks e.g. line drawing works like this: click on the starting point/node, choose the angle by moving your mouse, enter length (length field is always pre-selected), press enter. Optionally press tab to enter a more precise angle if it's not dividable by 15, but you probably have an alignment point selected already, so you don't need to put the angle or even the length. You do this 100 times in a row. And if you edit a shape, the measurement input is always immediately accessible aswell.

Adding a text and visual measurements is something you do when the drawing is complete and you manually lay them out, because you want to choose which measurements to include and you lay them out in a nice line so other people can easily comprehend what you want to communicate with you drawing. Sometimes you have the same drawing with different measurements, because you are communicating a different aspect of the drawing.

"2d construction drawings are usually enough to reason about your mechanical problems and I wish there was an open source software that would augment the worklflow based on a pencil-and-paper metaphor."

Last year I was looking for something with the same use case in mind. Quick 2D drawings, with modular blocks, and preferably open source. The closest thing I found is qcad [1].

It has a lot to offer, but not everything is intuitive. So for me it was necessary to do a few of the tutorials.

There is also LibreCad [2]. A fork of qcad, which looks more modern (I did not try this one).

Still I did not yet find something that "augment the workflow" of the pencil and paper metaphor for mechanical applications. This would be really cool. Maybe even something compatible with the newest eInk devices.

[1] https://qcad.org/en/ [2] https://librecad.org

Have you tried FreeCAD's Sketcher workbench? I think it fits your requirements. The only thing I'm not sure about are your import/export requirements.

I have tried it, but ages ago. Maybe I'll give it another try.

If I remember correctly, apart from clunky workflow it had too much visual clutter for me, especially when it comes to large drawings. Those visible constraints and anchor points let me loose the overview. I really only need black lines on white background; various thicknesses and hatchings. Using FreeCAD I'm always under the impression, that it's primarily made for smaller but more complex parts and not, say, a larger wood structure with wall details, where you need to take care of both the micro and macro view. I don't need constraints, as the placed lines are already the source of truth; measurements are mainly important while creating the object and for communicating to others while laying out plans, but rarely in between.

Maybe that's just an interface configuration issue though? And I guess the workflow is just something to get used to.

In the end my primary reason for looking for a program that is more drawing-like is to be able to teach people how to draw simple things on paper and then go "here's this program where you can do what you can do on paper, but you can edit it afterwards, align stuff easily and build complexity".

> Maybe that's just an interface configuration issue though?

Maybe. I know there are two types of measurements in FreeCAD Sketches - ones that are actually constraining the design, and ones that you request to be displayed for other purposes. Maybe you could arrange to hide the constraining ones. If that's not already possible, it should be a trivial feature to add.

In Librecad, you can enter line lengths while drawing using their '@' syntax, which indicates relative to the current point.

I'd be very happy with a LibreOffice style replacement for AutoCAD LT. It's not ever likely to happen though.

Not exactly legal, I guess, but Autocad R12 runs nicely in FreeDOS.

Is it not enough to just use 2d draft mode in Solid Edge or another freely available program?