There are many CAD products offered for free by respectable companies that specialize in CAD software. Here's a couple of them:
1) DraftSight by Dessault. This company is famous for its SolidWorks parametric 3D CAD software. DraftSight is a classic 2D CAD with very strong features. To download, go here: www.draftsight.com
2) Solid Edge by Siemens. This company makes a 3D parametric CAD product called Solid Edge. Their 2D CAD is offered for free. This is another classic 2D CAD product. To download, go here: http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/solid-edge/free2d/index.shtml
3) While 2D product is a "standard" for plan drawing, modern design has moved one towards 3D parametric CAD. 3D means that you can design your model in 3 dimensions and then "slice" it when printing, giving you very quick 2D printouts. The "Parametric" component means that you don't need to know your dimension up front. You first draw and later specify dimension. This is a very powerful feature as it allows one to easily re-size your model. Imagine you want to increase wingspan of your model. In 2D cad you'd have to make many changes on the page: ribs, top view, etc. With parametric, you just enter new wingspan and everything gets re-sized automatically! Unfortunately, 3D parametric CAD product used to cost thousands of dollars. Attention here should be made on the word "used to"! There is a new company that is offering cloud-based(meaning you have to be connected to the internet to use it) that is free if you agree that your designs will be publicly available. Company name is OnShape. The free product they offer is identical to the professional version. The difference there is privacy of your files. All files you create using the free version are visible to everyone and can be downloaded by everyone. here's the link: https://www.onshape.com/
Personally, I've used DraftSight for years but ever since discovering OnShape, I've been learning the amazing word of 3D parametric design! Thank goodness OnShape has TONNS of tutorials and videos.
If you have a Mac, DraftSight and OnShape work on a Mac just fine
There is another product you can sorta get for free. SolidWorks 3D parametric CAD can be had for free IF you are an EAA member(www.eaa.org).
This is all high grade CAD products that we can use for free today. If you know of any other, I'd love to find out.
1) DraftSight by Dessault. This company is famous for its SolidWorks parametric 3D CAD software. DraftSight is a classic 2D CAD with very strong features. To download, go here: www.draftsight.com
2) Solid Edge by Siemens. This company makes a 3D parametric CAD product called Solid Edge. Their 2D CAD is offered for free. This is another classic 2D CAD product. To download, go here: http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/solid-edge/free2d/index.shtml
3) While 2D product is a "standard" for plan drawing, modern design has moved one towards 3D parametric CAD. 3D means that you can design your model in 3 dimensions and then "slice" it when printing, giving you very quick 2D printouts. The "Parametric" component means that you don't need to know your dimension up front. You first draw and later specify dimension. This is a very powerful feature as it allows one to easily re-size your model. Imagine you want to increase wingspan of your model. In 2D cad you'd have to make many changes on the page: ribs, top view, etc. With parametric, you just enter new wingspan and everything gets re-sized automatically! Unfortunately, 3D parametric CAD product used to cost thousands of dollars. Attention here should be made on the word "used to"! There is a new company that is offering cloud-based(meaning you have to be connected to the internet to use it) that is free if you agree that your designs will be publicly available. Company name is OnShape. The free product they offer is identical to the professional version. The difference there is privacy of your files. All files you create using the free version are visible to everyone and can be downloaded by everyone. here's the link: https://www.onshape.com/
Personally, I've used DraftSight for years but ever since discovering OnShape, I've been learning the amazing word of 3D parametric design! Thank goodness OnShape has TONNS of tutorials and videos.
If you have a Mac, DraftSight and OnShape work on a Mac just fine
There is another product you can sorta get for free. SolidWorks 3D parametric CAD can be had for free IF you are an EAA member(www.eaa.org).
This is all high grade CAD products that we can use for free today. If you know of any other, I'd love to find out.