California-based IMSI Design, the makers of the well-regarded TurboCAD product line, have announced the new DesignCAD 2020, regarded as the top best-selling CAD software solid in retail today. DesignCAD 2020 is a family of products, consisting of its entry-level easy but versatile DesignCAD 2D 2020 and its top version DesignCAD 3D Max 2020 that comes in both a perpetual license and a subscription version.
DesignCAD 2020—New
A big new feature in DesignCAD 3D Max 2020 is the ability to import and export the SketchUp 2020 file format, for CAD integration with the world’s most popular 3D modeling software.
Other new features focus on 3D printing, the use of a PDF as a tracking layer in DesignCAD, expanded file support, including compatibility with AutoCAD 2020 import and export.
IMSI Design’s DesignCAD 2020 includes many new features including SketchUp 2020 import and export along with PDF underlay, Adobe Illustrator and AutoCAD 2020 support.
“The DesignCAD 2020 release continues our commitment to offering outstanding 2D drafting, 3D printing and manufacturing, and interoperability with the most popular CAD and graphics software,” stated Bob Mayer, President of IMSI Design. “These enhancements solidify DesignCAD’s position as the leading consumer line of CAD products,” added Mayer.
More Details
The Print Check tool can now repair anomalies found in models to be used for 3D printing. The repair feature corrections common 3D mesh issues such as non-manifold edges, duplicated and collapsed facets, open edges, shells, “normal” orientation, and more.
The new Best Fit Circle and Line tools will help users to draw a circle which is best fitted through three (3) or more points, or a line through two (2) or more points. Points can now be extracted from a specified location or a specific object. The Line Distance Tool now allows the user to easily determine the distance between any two lines.
Along with the SketchUp and AutoCAD support updates, DesignCAD 2020 can import Adobe Illustrator (AI) files.
DesignCAD 2020 is strictly for the Windows operating system. IMSI Design’s TurboCAD product line supports both Mac and Windows. To learn more about DesignCAD 2020 product line or other IMSI Design CAD programs go here.
Architosh Analysis and Commentary
The DesignCAD product line is touted by IMSI Design as a perfect entry-level or novice level CAD system. Most users learning computer-aided design (CAD) start off learning 2D CAD. These days, many students in high schools around the globe also begin learning 3D modeling on user-friendly tools like Trimble’s SketchUp. This makes the DesignCAD and SketchUp nice compliments for the beginning CAD and 3D modeling user—especially given the support for both import and export of SketchUp models in DesignCAD. If a parent has a teenager who wants to be an architect, landscape architect, or some kind of product designer when they grow up, this combination of software forms good pair at an accessible price point as well.
DesignCAD was acquired by IMSI Design in 2003 and is not a watered-down version of TurboCAD with a different brand name. While folks can compare similar-priced products on the TurboCAD family side, some core differences between DesignCAD and TurboCAD include the latter having generally more robust and complete tools and a broader support of CAD and graphics file formats for enhanced interoperability with other CAD systems. DesignCAD does, of course, have a great base set of support for other systems. Most importantly is AutoCAD itself, SketchUp, Adobe Illustrator, and so on. DesignCAD does not support Xrefs and Blocks like TurboCAD products, nor does it have third party plugin apps to enhance it.
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