CAD Software for Mac

For my work, over the last ten years, in drafting and design for Video Engineering/Installation projects, sadly, Windows had the best alternatives and I was forced to use it. However, Vectorworks has developed a good rep for the lighting industry (Spotlight) and the architectural industry in CAD 2D, 3D drafting/production. There are all sorts of offshoots in the engineering-specific areas as well. I like their approach.

I don't know how you are with using remade libraries of device information, but to that end, building up your own libraries of design elements) is quote labor intensive, if you go it alone (have to do it all yourself). Many good apps provide a lot of pre-made libraries which are time savers in a business model. Check their quality carefully. Some use SQL Libraries translating objects to object with data inside a database(s) to manage your program elements by cut & paste or drag & drop.

The difficulty with the product on Windows platforms is that they don't translate well to Mac especially if you try to use them in a virtual environment (Parallels, in my case). I had major problems with the package I invested in (WireCAD) and it still gives me heartburn thinking about it. If you plan to specify Mac for all your work, you'll want to investigate the alternatives for CAD very closely to get a good fit before you're stuck owning it, not after. While support is nice, a bad CAD package cannot be made to smell any sweeter by support.

Almost all the suppliers have tryout versions. Get input from people that use them, too. Also, define what you're looking for in terms of the kinds of production you'll need, the kinds of libraries they'll provide, expansion of libraries going forward, cost initial and ongoing, the output they provide (large format media printers, etc). You will be surprised at the results of direct questions about these areas. Many of the most popular products are locked out of direct support for modeling, printing, multi-language support and display.

So in general, the old rules apply- caveat emptor. And be especially aware of the oft-used phrase, "It'll be so much better in the next version."

"There are exceptions to every rule." 😎

I worked for a consulting engineering firm for a short time. We used pencils. 😉

Autodesk does allow for a free DL of AutoCad for Mac but I don't know what the restrictions are

if you need to model, sculpt, weight paint, visually mix, create physics based models, etc. nothing beats Blender for free, nothing even comes close and there are no restrictions on what you can do with the product or its code.

blender.org

Good place to look for software:

http://www.macupdate.com/

And for free alternatives to some popular software packages:

http://alternativeto.net/

(If you see an ad there for something called MacKeeper, ignore it and on no account install it - it is malware.)

And there is of course also the App Store!

FWIW, AutoCAD is the standard for the industry and if you want to be taken seriously as a CAD designer it's what you should use.

CADintosh is 2D only but is inexpensive

LibreCAD is free.

I agree with dialabrain in that you need to have good software to be taken

seriously in business. Generally speaking, AutoCAD compatibility is usually

highly desired. Another alternative to AutoCAD is VIACAD which comes in sevral

price brackets.

Keep in mind that when beginning a business based on software, the cost of

software is a cost of doing business and as such needs to be budgeted for

maintenance and upgrades for the software to remain competitive.

As far as portability, 15" Macbook Pro would be the way to go to be at all useful

with CAD. MacBooks and Macbook Airs will simply not have the horsepower to

be truly productive with any CAD. Yes, they would work but would be slow.

Customers don't like to wait!

AutoCad is NOT the only software to use with a Mac!

Just like there are alternatives to very expensive Adobe graphics products.

Don't buy into to be a pro CAD user, you HAVE TO HAVE/NEED AUTOCAD!

Not true!

Don't buy into that mentality!

There's

Vectorworks Another high end CAD package for the Mac. Comparable to AutoCad in price

High Design CAD (2D) only, but a good AutoCad replacement, though. I use an older version of this.

Its developers, recently, saw a need to completely restructure their pricing model and it's a LOT more expensive for their new 2.0 version

for initial purchase and updates, now. The devolpers either want their CAD software to be taken more seriously or they are just plain

greedy, now! Still cheaper when you compare pricing to AutoCad.

Microspot MacDraft is, also, a very good 2D CAD application.

Google Sketchup

Do your own search for CAD apps for Mac/OS X.

Good Luck!

Michael, no one said AutoCAD was the only software to use with a Mac.

Personally I stated it's the industry standard just s Photoshop is. That doesn't mean you can't use something else. However, try applying for a job at a design firm and telling them you don't know how to use AutoCAD but you do know MacDraft. You might get away with Vectorworks.

Well,

Before my health deteriorated, I worked for a lot of different engineering firms with different disciplines and all of them were using different CAD and specialty engineering softwares and none of them were AutoCad with the exception of one job I had as Senior Designer where I used both AutoCad and MacDraft alongside Adobe Creative Suite 4.

I preferred Mac Draft because at the time, no AutoCad existed for Mac OS X, and I generally hated working with PCs, and Micrsoft Windows computers and we used a "Lite" version of AutoCad 2006 at that time that I tried to avoid using, if I didn't need to.