Drafting Software Recommendation | Hacker News Reader

Drafting Software Recommendation

16 pointsmorpheos13716 comments

I am looking for simple, logical, programmatically powerful drafting software to draw floor plans. Ideally it would be online or open source. I don't have a windows computer at this time, so unless I want to get one I need to use something that is capable of running on older unix / linux or online.

I tried Canva to reproduce a pen and ink sketch I made but so far I have a found it lacking. It is slow to use and illogical. Point and click and drag sucks relative to being able to enter the parameters that define a geometric object in a simple command line interface (if such an interface exists).

For example in Cnva when you draw lines by hand they do not automatically snap to 90 degree corners. You have to fight with the mouse to make a 90 degree corner. How many buildings have 78 or 89 degree corners between interior walls as planned! It would be just as well to use a MS paint like program at this point.

I would like a program that has a scale. That you can draw straight perpendicular lines in. There would be two primary classes of line. Horizontal and vertical. Imagine that. Each line would have a label like AA. If line AA was near to line BB you would have the the option to make a corner. There would be stock symbols for windows, doors, electrical and plumbing fixtures. Positions of everything would be in feet or meters (selectable according to an origin) or relative to other elements. The origin would be at the lower left corner of the canvas. The output would be SVG or convertible to PDF.

For example under the programmatic description of a line it could look like AA:(0,0,24,v) for a line that starts at the origin, is vertical, and extends 24 feet from the origin.

Then if you wanted to draw another line relative to AA you could have BB:(r,d[AA],24,h). The 'r' parameter signals to the program that the position of line BB is relative to the distal end of line AA, it extends 24 feet, and is horizontal. If I wanted BB to start at the origin I could write BB:(r,p[AA],24,h), i.e. starting from the proximal end or AA. Proximal is defined as lower, left most end of an element, while distal is the upper, right most end. Alternatively the command BB:(0,0,24,h) draws the same line.

Do you want BRL-CAD?

https://brlcad.org/

(what you describe sounds a bit like my limited understanding of its UI)

As noted, the usual suspects are LibreCAD, FreeCAD, or if you want to go completely programmatic, OpenSCAD. For the latter, if you already know Python, you might want to consider (Open)PythonSCAD:

https://pythonscad.org/

If you want a graphical front-end using nodes and wires (to reduce syntax errors) there is:

https://github.com/derkork/openscad-graph-editor

You might want to consider a traditional vector drawing program such as Inkscape or Cenon.

Early on in Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing and Tablet PC efforts there were some very cool programs exactly suited to this sort of thing such as Saltire Sketchright:

https://www.nonvi.com/sm/sr.html

I'd love to see the features from Sketchright in a tool such as:

https://rnote.flxzt.net/

or Inkscape.

> For the latter, if you already know Python, you might want to consider (Open)PythonSCAD

If you know python then build123d(/cadquery) are also options:

https://github.com/gumyr/build123d

For floor plans, there is Bonsai as a Blender addon. It is usable and does a lot of what you want (and tons more), if needed you can also script it with Python or create its native IFC format through Python libraries:

https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/bonsai/

FreeCAD can also do 2D sketches and you can snap to angles, enter target lengths and skript it in Python. But even though it is older than Bonsai, it is harder to use (imho) and less stable (save often).

And if it is strictly about relatively simple floorplans, try sweethome3d. Slowish because it's java, and cannot do a whole lot, but enough for quick sketches.

I had most success with DeltaCAD. Unfortunately it's only for windows and now also discontinued.

I also like CadZinho (https://github.com/zecruel/CadZinho) but it's missing some features (chamfers and fillets) and it's not that easy to draw precisely sized lines in it.

FWIW, CadZinho (and a bunch of other programs) are listed at:

https://old.reddit.com/r/shapeoko/wiki/cad

(which badly needs to be cleaned up and re-formatted)

You should really look at build123d -- it is a full CAD package including 3D but it also treats 1D and 2D as first class citizens.

Your idea about drawing lines is already supported in build123d:

  m1 = Line((0,0),(0,24))      # vertical line
  m2 = Line(m1@1,m1@1+(24,0))  # horizontal line starting at the end of m1

Further you could use logic based on some ruleset to place stock symbols on these "construction lines". It is also very easy to create custom objects that would conform to your exact syntax above.

Bricscad (www.bricsys.com) is a professional (paid) cad package that has most of what you're looking for. They're old-school perpetual license folks and they have a fully featured demo so you can try out the various scripting/programmatic options for a bit. No relation except as a user, but if you're willing to pay it's probably your easiest path forward.

Try LibreCAD, FreeCAD, or OpenSCAD - I've had success doing what I understand you're doing, with all 3

If it's for 2D I like librecad.. I can't get my mind wrapped around freecad.. If it's 3D, you can get surprisingly far with just sweet home 3D, or even blender (you can do accurate enough things with blender if you decide what a square is, and snap to grid)

Note for Blender there is:

https://www.cadsketcher.com/

That said, if you want 3D CAD, the simplest option is probably:

https://dune3d.org/

Sounds like you want SketchUp... apart from the online, open source, non-windows etc. aspects.

You can get a lot of mileage out of FreeCAD’s BIM and Draft workbenches. @FCBLounge on YouTube has a good set of videos for getting started there. If the Draft workbenches is not powerful enough, LibreCAD likely has what you need.

For my home use, I use Home Designer by Chief Architect. Commercial, but clicked with me. I bought the most costly version after using the least costly for a few months, all with perpetual license.

I don't think this exists. For some reason (copying the original successful product?) CAD is a cesspool of horrible UX and baffling missing features. And terrible documentation.

Any powerful drafting software is designed for professionals and has a significant learning curve. If it is robust and feature rich, it probably costs money as well. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for both in time and money.

Drafting by hand is the simplest thing that might work; is compatible with Linux, Mac, and Windows and you can start work today. Good luck.

As someone who uses such software for a living, i concur. Hand drawings work just fine. Not to mention, any fabricator worth their salt will have no problem interpreting it.

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