DoubleCAD XT, free commercial use 2D detailing app.

princedragoncok · 7 Feb 2009, 03:08

Wow, I'm a third year student and was about to finally and unwillingly get to grips with autodesk autocad 08 - this appears to be the perfect alternative however + it's free. On first impressions I must say that the documentation provided looks fantastic and I might just be able to become a 2d drafting master sooner than I thought. The interface, though similar to autocad, is also much more user friendly and far more clutter-free. The startup styles are also a nice addition. I am carrying out a measured drawing of a difficult palladian style building at the moment and intend to wholly use Doublecad for the project now. Thank you wmanning!

Gaieus · 7 Feb 2009, 09:41

@wmanning said:

Gaieus, PeterCharles, good activation codes are in your inboxes. Thanks for jumping on this, and sorry again about the bumpy start.

Thanks William, as I wrote in the PM, it works just fine now!

2kemon · 7 Feb 2009, 10:10

This is exactly what I've been looking for for sooooo long! Thank you for this great release. The only thing I'm missing is perpendicular snapping. But that must be because I haven't found out how to activate it yet, right???

MALAISE · 7 Feb 2009, 10:47

Hi wmanning

Like Gaius and PeterCharles, I've encounter some difficulties during the activation.I downloaded the program as far as the thread was published.
Thanks you for help (to get a working activation code)

MALAISE

broomstick · 7 Feb 2009, 13:37

Dear wmanning,
I am a long time user of Autocad and ArchiCAD, and I decided to give doublecad a go. Imagine my wonder when I saw all the tools from autocad, paired with the edit functions of archiCAD!!

Yesterday I was like... OMG OMG OMG this is too good to be true.

This program is truly something, and I am going to use it a lot for my 2D drafting.

A piece of advice would be to localize it in Italian... you would have an enourmous return on investment for an Italian version: you just can't imagine how much a free (or even a pro) tool like this is needed in a lot of design firms!

Nice Job, really!

remus · 7 Feb 2009, 14:04

Theres a glowing review if i've ever heard one.

wmanning · 7 Feb 2009, 18:12

@2kemen, have you tried the perpendicular line tool? You don't even need a snap. I don't have the product in front of me now, but if you go ask on the forums.doublecad.com I'm sure somebody there could help you with specifics.

@Broomstick: grazie! Vorrei fare una versione italiano. I believe we probably will have localized versions, but it may not be for 2-3 quarters. Really glad to hear you're liking it.

The app is still far from perfect, so when you find things, let us know what we need to work on!

William

dazza · 7 Feb 2009, 19:58

Hi William, firstly I just want to say....
I am so stoked that there is finally a real free alternative to the "Autocrash" monopoly. I use autocad at work and have, until now, not found a viable alternative to use at home. I do however have 1 issue that I have come across.
A 6mb floor plan (.dwg) that I opened on DoubleCAD runs a fair bit slower on my machine at home compared to my machine at work. The specs are virtually identical btw. The problem is that panning and zooming is very "choppy" and not smooth as it is on ACAD. Is there any way that I can rectify this? Is it a opengl issue or/and is there and opengl display setting to tweak etc?

FYI the machine specs are basically as follows:
Intel Dual Core 3ghz
2GB Ram
Nvidia Geforce 7600 256mb ram
WinXP 32bit

Thanks for any help you can offer.

wmanning · 7 Feb 2009, 21:36

Dazza, glad you're stoked! It's nice to get the positive feedback after almost a year in the labs...

Your problem is a bit of a mystery to me. If both machines are similar specs, my guesses would be that one has had different updates, a different configuration, or is competing with a different set of open applications. You might want to check for a video driver update.

I'll ask some of the guys at work that know the app better than me... Mauritz, our CTO sometimes visits SCF, he might have a good suggestion.

dazza · 7 Feb 2009, 21:57

Thanks, I really appreciate it.
I have been using DCAD all evening (Sat evening and working - ) and the only problem I have come across so far is the frustration of panning as mentioned.
I have checked and my drivers are all up to date and I've only had DCAD open. I also want to clarify, both machines have the mentioned problems panning when I run DCAD!?!

OH, a quick question, is it possible to import ACAD plotstyle .ctb files directly into DCAD? I know I could always set up my own styles from scratch again but was just hoping that there would be an import to bypass that.

I'll just add that the more I "play" around with DCAD the more cool little features I'm coming across that really rock.

wmanning · 8 Feb 2009, 16:13

Dazza, that isn't a good a Saturday night at all! But I can relate. Regarding the panning I'm still waiting to hear from colleagues. Regarding plot styles, I think we're somewhat weak there, but here I have to confess my ignorance. I'm not the expert on this product that my colleagues are. I'll pass ono your question, or try forums.doublecad.com.

@ Malaise and PeterCharles, I apologize for delays. I thought I'd sent you codes but hadn't seen the message in my sent box. I saw you're up and running Peter, so Malaise, if you still didn't get anything email me at wmanning @ imsidesign.com

-- William

tomasz · 8 Feb 2009, 19:39

William,

Thank you for the software. I appreciate a genuine approach to an user since an installation started. It is quite unusual that program informs that will create temp files or that allows users to specify different folders locations. It can look complicated for a simple user, but this 'transparency' it was a good sign for me.

The interface looks clean and I have loaded a big SU model, to see if it will kill the DoubleCad XT Free. It didn't!

I am also happy that you are really interested what our feedback is. I think this kind of approach is what we enjoyed when '@Last' was owning the SketchUp.

Keep up good work! Will do some more tests - have to find really heavy model

Tomasz

Dave R · 9 Feb 2009, 00:59

William, thank you for this, I think. I signed up for the download 45 minutes or so ago. Hopefully the expected e-mail will come soon.

Regards,

Dave

wmanning · 9 Feb 2009, 02:10

Dave if you can't find the email in your spam filter than it's been intercepted somewhere along the way... The email is automated, so should be sent in "nanoseconds" -- then again it is a Windows server... Let me know if you can't find it and I'll try to get it pushed to you again (or you could try again with a different email).

-- William

Dave R · 9 Feb 2009, 02:28

Thanks. That's where it went. Downloading now.

Cheers,

Dave

mauritzbotha · 9 Feb 2009, 19:17

@unknownuser said:

Thanks, I really appreciate it.
I have been using DCAD all evening (Sat evening and working - ) and the only problem I have come across so far is the frustration of panning as mentioned.
I have checked and my drivers are all up to date and I've only had DCAD open. I also want to clarify, both machines have the mentioned problems panning when I run DCAD!?!

OH, a quick question, is it possible to import ACAD plotstyle .ctb files directly into DCAD? I know I could always set up my own styles from scratch again but was just hoping that there would be an import to bypass that.

I'll just add that the more I "play" around with DCAD the more cool little features I'm coming across that really rock.

Hi Dazza

We are addressing the panning issue to improve the general performance. We have seen similar issues on other similarly equipped machines where the one works fine, the other is slower.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

As far as .ctb support - this is not one of our strengths, we do support importing of stb styles.

BTW, check out our South African representative's web site http://www.doublecad.co.za

Mauritz

dazza · 10 Feb 2009, 05:31

Hey Mauritz, good to see you around again!
Thanks for looking into the problems and for giving me the heads up for the SA based site.
Please keep us informed about any improvements you guys come up with re the panning and .ctb as well as other major issues which arise.
Cheers for now

MALAISE · 12 Feb 2009, 06:47

Hi Wmanning

I don't know if you received my post, but thank you, all work fine now

MALAISE

utiler · 31 Mar 2009, 06:46

That would be right; I leave this place for a few weeks and you give me this!!!!! I need to keep an eye on this Freeware forum.....
I have struggled with another full BIM program for nearly 3 years and it seems all it takes is for DoubleCAD XT to come along to satisfy my workflow....

Having a play now. If all is good, I will look seriously at the PRO version....

Thanks in advance, William

pilou · 31 Mar 2009, 07:51

Someone can say if the export dxf from DoubleCadXT after an import of an Skp file stay a 3D file?
And what is the best DXF format?