CorelCAD 2018 Arrives for Mac and Windows—iOS Version Coming Soon

Canadian software giant, Corel Corporation, a market leader in the graphics software space with its famous CorelDRAW and Painter applications, has announced the availability of CorelCAD 2018 for advanced 2D drawing and 3D modeling workflows.

CorelCAD 2018 is a fully native DWG-based CAD system offering robust compatibility with Autodesk AutoCAD. It is powered by the German CAD engine ARES, delivering industry-leading innovations in the DWG CAD market.

The Power of CorelCAD 2018

Offering direct competition to Autodesk, Bricsys, and Dassault, CorelCAD 2018 provides professionals and students an affordable solution for both 2D and 3D CAD drafting and modeling, with support for 3D printing. It runs natively on both Mac OS X and Windows.

01 – New CorelCAD 2018 shown here with the dark user-interface option on Mac OS X.

“Technical designers choose CorelCAD because it delivers the robust and advanced capabilities they need without the high cost typically associated with professional CAD software,” said Klaus Vossen, Senior Product Manager for Technical Graphics at Corel. “With CorelCAD 2018, we’ve focused on accelerating the CAD workflow with new features that are more natural and intuitive than ever.”

MORE: In Berlin—Klaus Vossen Explains Why CorelCAD May Be Right For Your Company

Offering complete (.dwg) file format support, CorelCAD 2018 ensures compatibility with all major CAD systems.

Top New Features

CorelCAD 2018 offers dozens of new features, but important in this release is enhanced 3D solid modeling editing. Users can now save design time by utilizing enhanced EntityGrips and Properties palette. Also along the lines of 3D modeling is the new Helix tool, which allows users to create 2D spirals and 3D helixes. This new tool makes it simple for architects and designers to create objects like spiral staircases and the manufacturer of springs, screws, and bolts.

Other key new items include:

• New Advanced Tables tools — In tables, you can now add formulas to cells using arithmetic operators and the Sum, Average, and Count functions. Use the new ExportTable command to export tables in a comma separated format (CSV) for import in Microsoft Excel or database applications.
• New MultiLeader tool — You can now draw, edit, and configure callouts with multiple leader lines.
• New Dynamic Custom Coordinate System (CCS) — Significantly speed up and streamline any 3D design workflow with a new dynamic and intuitive method for editing and adding elements to 3D models. 
• New AutoCAD R2018 DWG Support — CorelCAD 2018 can fully read the latest AutoCAD (.dwg) file format.
• New Productivity enhancements — Streamline any workflow with the Copy command to quickly copy selected objects to the active layer instead of the source layer. Use the enhanced Paste command to paste content from the clipboard to the active layer instead of the source layer, or choose the Shift + Arrow keys to move selected entities with a specific increment.
• New Manage Block Attribute Properties and Settings — Use the new Block Attribute Manager to edit the Block Attribute properties and settings in Block (symbol) definitions in an intuitive UI.

Overall this latest version of CorelCAD is faster than previous versions due to a new optimized ARES CAD engine.

02 – The new Helix tool shown its stuff here in CorelCAD 2018, for Windows and Mac.

CorelCAD 2018 will also newly be available via subscription from the Mac App Store. Monthly subscription will be priced at $34.99.USD and an annual subscription are available for the equivalent of $25.USD per month ($300.USD annually).

Pricing and Availability

CorelCAD 2018 is available now in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Brazilian-Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Pricing is $699 USD / $875 CAD / £799.99 / €829.99 for the full version and $199 USD / $249 CAD / £232.99 / €239.99 for the upgrade. UK and Euro prices include VAT. Education and volume licenses are available.

Apple iOS Version Coming

Corel is also soon introducing its first-ever CorelCAD Mobile app for Apple iOS, the leading mobile platform worldwide for professional CAD/3D/AEC industries. (see: Architosh Application Guides) An updated version of CorelCAD Mobile for Android is also coming in a few weeks. CorelCAD Mobile brings power to design and annotation on mobile devices. To learn more visit them here.

Architosh Analysis and Commentary

CorelCAD 2018 for Mac and Windows is powered by the German-based ARES CAD engine, the same exact engine powering Dassault Systemes’ DraftSight CAD platform. Graebert’s ARES CAD engine technologies are powering more company CAD systems than ever before and have several high-level innovations and advanced targets, including a robust cloud-based platform. (see, Architosh, “Alternative to Innovative—Notes From 2017 Annual Graebert Meeting,” 2 Nov 2017).

CorelCAD 2018’s distinguishing aspect is that this powerful DWG-native CAD system imports and exports CorelDRAW (.cdr) and Corel DESIGNER (.des) file formats, offering a dovetail fit for large manufacturers who have based their technical documents and manuals production on CorelDRAW Technical Suite in particular. From product manuals for consumer goods to manufacturer service manuals there are large amounts of CAD-based drawings and technical illustrations that stem from engineers and their CAD files. Sadly, the import and export of the native Corel graphics applications are only for the Windows version of CorelCAD 2018, due to the technical nature of those tools just being on the Windows platform. Still, CorelCAD’s unique connections to its technical drawing suites are a key differentiator that manufactures needing both DWG CAD systems and already using CorelDRAW should carefully consider. 

Corel also has its Lattice3D Studio CAD Corel Edition 2017, a product that also aims to dovetail CAD to technical illustration workflows.