DraftSight vs. PTC Mathcad

We put it through its paces with our drawings and it works fine. We do a lot of wiring diagrams and industrial control panel layout drawings, so we use a lot of its 2D capabilities. I would not use it in a multi-user environment where you have multiple designers working on one project at a time. This software makes no provisions for allowing multiple users to work at the same time on the same drawing and has no native version control. And because of their poor software control, DraftSight many times put out versions that are "crashy", which would make a lot of people very unproductive very quickly. I would look at other products for larger projects like that.

Incentivized

It is great for any manual calculation. You can lay it out as you would on paper, but the math is calculated instantly, similar to how it is in excel. It is superior to either method for most engineering calculations. Being able to copy-and-paste is very helpful for considering multiple scenarios. In some situations where you need to do the same calculation on an array of numbers, Excel is still faster.

Incentivized

• You can easily bring in a dwg format drawing into the programme and it will display the information just as well as AutoCAD.
• The programme supports shortcut features or one-click buttons for the most commonly used operations.
• Script files can be used which is a bonus.

Incentivized

• Conversion of measurement units (Imperial and Metric)
• Easy to use for writing detailed engineering worksheets
• Formulas can be written in the expanded form which facilitates verification
• Spell Checker feature is life saver.

Incentivized

• Draftsight could run better on lower performace machines, even on high performance machines there can be some lag now and again.
• There used to be a more basic subscription version which was perfect for our needs, now lowest subscription is more expensive. Bringing back the standard version would be great.
• Including hash pattern files would be very useful.

Incentivized

• Some of the math and text formatting aspects are a little cumbersome.
• Converting from older Matchcad versions to the newer Mathcad Prime platform could be made easier. It should be a direct import function.

Incentivized

It has given us, a small startup, the ability to compete effectively with far larger competitors by evening the playing field at a low cost.

Incentivized

Easy if you know how to use CAD software. But is not very difficult to learn using DraftSight if this is your first CAD software. As soon as you get in to it the work flow will save you a lot of time and its simple interface is very nice.

Incentivized

Higher-order math, despite symbolics, become tedious and variable nomenclature isn't as forgiving as other programs. Due to it's sheet-like nature, the greater the complexity the more bothersome the screen usage becomes. But it's a trade-off between a sketchpad-like interface or lines and lines of code. Pick your poison but MathCad was our choice.

Incentivized

Other than a bug created by a VAR tech support that didn't get resolved until I installed the next version, DraftSight has worked fine.

In general it's very quick to load drawings...now it depends a lot on the file we're opening or working on.

Incentivized

Technical support seems to be overseas with broken English and difficulty to read English. I asked for a trial license to try the fix but it was declined. Ask pratiksha.dahotre and gayatri.keskar for details. In summary, they released a broken version, I helped to fix by providing feedback and error logs. They claimed it is fixed but I can't test it.

Based on some knowledge of AutoCad, using Draftsight took a short time before I felt comfortable using it.

Incentivized

Take time to get used to where commands are and how the interface can be customized to suit your needs and work style. The keyboard commands are very helpful and can make work more efficient if time is taken to learn them.

Incentivized

While SketchUp is free, DraftSights cost is minimal and its abilities are much greater. It is so much easier to layout and modifies a system design. Since DraftSight is compatible with all versions of CAD, it makes it easy to collaborate with customers on their specific system design. We spend less time and see greater sales on our projects.

MathCAD is easier to learn and faster to start with. It has more user-friendly interface and conventional style toolbox and GUI. It is really good for the beginners and those who are afraid of complex math.

Incentivized

As a startup, we really appreciate scalable software or tools, and because we use it for diverse types of projects, flexibility is key.

Incentivized

• I have been able to save countless hours by making drawing corrections myself. Previously, I would have had to wait hours or days to get drawings back from our customers.
• In the past year I would say that DraftSight has saved roughly 200 hours. That time would have been spent waiting for our customers to make corrections and then send them back to us.

Incentivized

• Speeds up calculations (especially when corrections need to be made near the beginning).
• Ability to re-use old calculations as a template can save significant time.
• You can use consistent formatting for all calculations, allowing for more organized, clear calculations.

Incentivized