I was a newbie...
I use it strictly for my own benefit. I have an offsite design engineer that does the bulk of the design work, then he sends it to me and …
Starting at $249 per year
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What is DraftSight?
DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG…
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Airsystem Concepts, Inc. (Environmental Services, 1-10 employees)
Pricing
DraftSight Professional
$249
On Premise
per year
DraftSight Premium (3D)
$549
On Premise
per year
DraftSight Enterprise
Contact sales team
On Premise
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.draftsight.com/BuyProfession…
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
DraftSight Demo Video
YouTube
DraftSight Demo (Engelsk)
YouTube
3DEXPERIENCE DraftSight Demo
YouTube
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is DraftSight?
DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG file with greater ease, speed, and efficiency. Its familiar user interface helps to facilitate a quick transition from other CAD applications.
DraftSight Offerings:
DraftSight Offerings:
- DraftSight Professional: the advanced 2D CAD drafting solution with time-saving functionalities and an API to help bring designs to life quickly and easily. Ideal for companies, individuals and designers.
- DraftSight Premium (3D): a robust 2D drafting and 3D design experience with full 3D capabilities and constraints features to help meet any drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting and 3D printing needs. Created for individuals, designers, companies, manufacturers and makers.
- DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus: a comprehensive 2D drafting and 3D design solution created to meet various drafting, modeling, prototyping, manufacturing, laser cutting, and 3D printing requirements. Designed for large organizations with many users or multiple sites.
DraftSight Screenshots
DraftSight Video
DraftSight: A Better 2D Drafting and 3D Design Experience
DraftSight Integrations
- GEOVIA Surpac
- SOLIDWORKS PDM
- SOLIDWORKS Electrical
- 3DEXPERIENCE Platform
DraftSight Competitors
DraftSight Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| Mobile Application | No |
| Supported Languages | English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese-Brazilian, Turkish, Russian |
Frequently Asked Questions
Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 8.7.
The most common users of DraftSight are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
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- Pros
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- Recommendations
DraftSight is a versatile and user-friendly 2D CAD tool that is highly valued by organizations across industries. Users find it to be a cost-effective solution for a wide range of design and drafting needs. It is particularly suitable for creating and exchanging files with other companies and professionals, making it an ideal choice for collaboration in the furniture industry. Design teams appreciate DraftSight's simplicity and power, as it allows them to collaborate on the creation of new products, improving speed and focus. The software has also been instrumental in various charity projects, such as designing and rebuilding a temple. Engineering departments rely on DraftSight for electrical and mechanical design, taking advantage of its performance and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, DraftSight is widely used as a replacement for AutoCAD in the transition to SolidWorks, enabling quick and easy modification of existing drawings. The software caters to a diverse range of applications, from generating geometry for CAM files to performing geometric layouts for inspection or small construction projects. It is also favored by users for build floor plan layouts, partnering with molding companies, verifying client or vendor drawings, and even creating aircraft floorplans. Users appreciate DraftSight's simplicity, power, and ability to open and edit designs of all kinds while serving as a cost-effective alternative to more expensive software options. Whether it is designing tooling or creating shop floor drawings, DraftSight proves to be reliable for daily tasks and future designs. Furthermore, drafting departments benefit from DraftSight's compatibility with common 2D file formats and its ability to handle technical aspects effectively when preparing 2D CAD drawings for customers provided by vendors. The software is also recommended for architectural projects with no issues, the design and development of engineering projects, the creation of system block diagrams and schematic development, manufacturing drawings, custom drawings conversion from Gerber data into DXF format, mechanical design layouts, die-making models, CNC programming models as well as creating and reviewing basic 2D drawings within the organization. DraftSight is highly valued for its simplicity, affordability, and compatibility with different file types, making it a perfect fit for microbusinesses and individual users. Users appreciate its efficiency in creating professional-grade detailed drawings while reducing installation problems. Moreover, DraftSight's API is utilized for extracting details from drawings and creating BOMs. Cabinet design and construction benefit from using DraftSight, leading to improved manufacturing accuracy and reduced installation issues. The software is relied upon as primary 2D CAD software for creating and
Cost-effectiveness: Many users have praised DraftSight for being an economical option compared to similar CAD software, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses. Some reviewers have mentioned that the affordability of DraftSight played a significant role in their decision to choose it over other options.
Stability and performance: Users consistently mention that DraftSight is stable and reliable, with no crashes or technical issues. Several reviewers have specifically highlighted the software's stability, noting that they have not experienced any crashes while using it. This aspect has greatly contributed to the positive sentiment surrounding DraftSight.
Compatibility with AutoCAD: The ability of DraftSight to open both old and new DWG/DXF files has been highly appreciated by users. Many AutoCAD users feel that this feature makes the transition to DraftSight seamless and efficient. Additionally, several reviewers praise the inclusion of commonly used AutoCAD commands in DraftSight, which further enhances its compatibility with industry-standard drawing file types.
Confusing User Interface: A significant number of users have expressed frustration with DraftSight's user interface, finding it confusing and experiencing difficulties while completing tasks. They feel that the layout and organization of features could be improved to enhance usability.
Crude Text Search and Replace Function: Users have criticized the text search and replace function in DraftSight, describing it as crude and barely functional. Many users find it difficult to perform accurate searches or efficiently replace text within their documents.
Issues with Software Updates: Several users have voiced their dissatisfaction with DraftSight's update control. They claim that although updates address certain problems, new issues are introduced in later versions. This inconsistency affects user experience and undermines confidence in the software's stability.
Users have made several recommendations for DraftSight based on their experiences. The most common recommendations include shopping around for options in 2D CAD software. Users suggest exploring different options available in the market before deciding on DraftSight. This recommendation highlights the importance of evaluating different tools to find the best fit for specific needs or preferences.
Another recommendation is to utilize the free trial of DraftSight. Users recommend taking advantage of the free trial offered by DraftSight. This allows potential users to test the software's capabilities and determine if it meets their requirements before making a purchase.
Users also recommend using DraftSight for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists. Several users have recommended DraftSight as an ideal choice for individuals or organizations with limited budgets or less complex drafting needs. This cost-effective solution is often suggested for beginners, students, small businesses, and hobbyists who want to perform 2D CAD tasks without investing heavily in high-end software.
These recommendations highlight the flexibility and affordability of DraftSight as an alternative to AutoCAD. Users also emphasize the importance of checking hardware requirements and testing all functionality before implementing the software. Additionally, tutorials are suggested as a time-saving resource when working with DraftSight, particularly for editing legacy DWG files. Overall, these recommendations present DraftSight as a lightweight and low-cost option comparable to other drafting software available in the market.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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March 18, 2020
Great Product! User-Friendly! Cost Effective!
I am the sole person within our office capable of using drafting software. I use DraftSight in our office primarily to execute shop drawings and such for submittal purposes. I had prior experience with AutoCAD, so learning this software initially was very simple. This software keeps us from having to outsource and pay considerable costs for shop drawings.
- Has very similar functionality to AutoCAD.
- Very user-friendly.
- Snapping features are a little touchy, even when using more specific SNAP commands.
December 31, 2019
Affordable user-friendly drawing needs solution
I use DraftSight for the beginnings of the start of creative engineering ideas, brainstorming pieces, making templates for model workup and the cutout and assembly of paper, cardboard, balusa mockups that will provide and prove in 3D, concept dimensions and visual true size aids to team members from other contributors and other interested members to touch and hold visualize.
- Easy to learn.
- Accurate.
- Remember last printer settings/selections for repeating printing.
- Quick access to modifying/adding default starting documents settings, like right click to disable showing.
June 21, 2019
DraftSight rocks!
I and my employees use DraftSight. It is able to save .dwg files in several AutoCAD versions, which if you are an older AutoCAD user, you cannot save to more current versions or have modern AutoCAD files read by older AutoCAD programs. It allows a very reasonable cost for very effective software, without AutoDesk getting all in my business.
- Very dependable, stable
- Patterns work very well
- Many ways to copy and move, very quickly
- Improvements in software over time
- I do not think all of the functionality is covered in the Help menu
- The terms used in the Help menu and options menu are overwhelming, some hyperlinked explanation would be helpful
- The options menu is very difficult, finding a control of a particular aspect of the program is looking for a needle in a haystack, I have worked with this for ten years and still don't know the logic and hierarchy.
- The text editors have been changed over the years and I still don't like the setup. Currently, when I edit, it blows up so I cannot see the entire stream of text.
This review site asks me to list my work information, but I did not use DraftSight for work. I used it personally to design the new home my wife and I were building. I had never used CAD software before, but the user interface (as far as I can tell) is designed to be identical (or close to it) to AutoCAD, so there were tons of resources on the web to help me learn. DraftSight is only for 2D work, but it is exactly the right tool for what we needed, and at an affordable price (unlike AutoCAD). It allowed me to share .dwg and .pdf with my general contractor and the lumberyard. It allowed us to build a house without needing to hire an architect. It's good software...I highly recommend it.
- Drafting.
- Architectural design.
- Planning.
- The documentation could be improved.
August 02, 2019
Amazing easy CAD both for the novice and pro
I use DraftSight to create component and assembly drawings for new products. I am currently the only user but will soon be adding a couple more engineering staff. The best thing about DraftSight is that it reduces initial company start up costs. Not all startups can afford to pay top dollar for full capability CAD software.
- 2 D drafting is amazing because it is simple to use
- The graphics are as good as full CAD software with less complications
- The program starts and runs faster that traditional CAD software
- Resolution on large drawings is just acceptable
- Inserting external images is a little vague
Hello! First off, I love the product. After nearly 30 years of CAD work, I feel it is the most complete package for the price. It has every function I have ever needed, and there was zero learning curve. I produced drawings the day I installed it.
Currently, we are using 3 copies. All 3 are the Pro version. We operate from multiple locations and utilize a cloud base server for ease of access. I am able to produce drawings in Omaha, Nebraska, and our Fabrication guys are able to access the drawings in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition, our Techs have access to the drawings when on site with a customer anywhere in the world. I've even convinced many customers and vendors to install the software to make communication with the drawings much easier.
Currently, we are using 3 copies. All 3 are the Pro version. We operate from multiple locations and utilize a cloud base server for ease of access. I am able to produce drawings in Omaha, Nebraska, and our Fabrication guys are able to access the drawings in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition, our Techs have access to the drawings when on site with a customer anywhere in the world. I've even convinced many customers and vendors to install the software to make communication with the drawings much easier.
- An excellent, complete package 2D software, with 3D viewing capabilities.
- The extra tools included in the Pro Version make it well worth the cost!
- It's extremely easy to understand and utilize right away. Experienced CAD users will have no issues producing accurate drawings immediately.
- 100% compatible with industry standard drawing file types. We've had no issues at all with interpreting drawings produced by other well-known software platforms.
- I haven't found any shortcomings, to be honest. The BOM auto-generation function works well, but cannot be customized, so I don't use it.
- I have had some issues when inserting a PDF file or image into a drawing that shows on the print preview, but doesn't actually print on paper.
- When inserting a PDF file into a drawing, if you zoom in, you can't zoom in on the PDF image itself...it remains the same size at all times.
June 21, 2019
DraftSight Converts Files for Cad Cam
Creating and converting 2D into symbols for Solidworks Electrical and cad files for precreation of 3D Models. I use it extensively for creating cad files for cad Cam also. I Use it for cad /cam training and part creation for Mentoring Students for the First.org Robotics team.
- Simple to use
- Easy basic tools
- Converting Fonts to Vectors
- Good integration into SolidWorks
- Being free makes it easy to obtain and install, when it becomes a paid for product, it will be difficult to obtain
- CNC Gcode generation does not work well
- More file formats for import and export
June 26, 2019
DraftSight Professional: Great Product
DraftSight is being used for cabinet design and construction. It is being used by two people in the company. DraftSight allows me to design, draw and accurately dimension home cabinets so that the manufacturing team can build the cabinets offsite and help reduce installation problems.
- DraftSight is very intuitive. It is easy to figure out how to use a command.
- There are many shortcuts in DraftSight Professional which help to speed up the drawing process.
- DraftSight toolbars, menus, commands are very easy to use and understand. This helps reduce frustration when using a new product and quickly get up to speed.
- DraftSight continues to update its product with upgrades that really help the end user and their support is great.
- I don't have any real negative features. I'm disappointed with the cost of DraftSight 2019 3D version. I've been a DraftSight Professional user for a couple of years now and I really like the product. I'd like to explore the 3D version but the cost is high.
July 08, 2019
The best way for my organization.
This software is used across the whole organization only as a viewer except in my department in which it is used by design for mechanical and electrical drawings. The only problem is people are afraid to use it because it is a new method in front of AutoCAD.
- Fast
- Friendly
- Little memory
- Versatility in any version of CAD drawings
- Easy to use an learn
- It is excellent
- I have no found room for improvement.
October 12, 2021
An economical alternative to AutoCAD
I use DraftSight to design equipment that is used by the company that I consult with. These are mechanical parts and assemblies. I like the DraftSight product but the company that sells the product just passes the buck and does not help the customer.
- DraftSight is easy to use if you are familiar with AutoCAD but a lot less expensive.
- If you are using DraftSight professional the hardware catalog and other drawings are easy to insert in the drawing you are working on.
- Drawings are easy to create with dimensions in standard form.
- An easier startup menu for setting up drawing defaults would be nice.
- The product takes a long time to load with no indication that it is loading just a blank screen.
- Product support is almost no existent. Took about 3 weeks to resolve a s/n issue.
April 28, 2020
DraftSight: Precise and easy to use
DraftSight is being used to create our scope of work. I can exactly indicate where our product needs to be installed on a scaled PDF. DraftSight works great and fulfills our needs.
- Easy to use
- Add a lookup when you are looking for a feature
July 06, 2021
Overall 8/10
Both my coworker and I use DraftSight as a design tool to size our customers' PV solar systems. It helps create plan sets and electrical drawings to prepare for permitting and interconnection.
- Easy to use
- Clear designs
- Whenever I save a file, a folder named "good" is created. I can't figure out how to stop that
March 29, 2020
Cost effective and essential
We use Draftsight to view/edit drawings and create sketches from scratch. It is used a lot when we convert our SOLIDWORKS drawings to DXF in order to program our VNC machines. It is a great product at a great price. I would highly recommend this to anyone.
- Ability to view/edit DXF and DWG
- Ability to trace images
- Very similar to AutoCad
- Little hard to get used to commands.
- Customer support is a little hard to get a hold of.
- 3D drafting is a bit hard to get used to.
May 28, 2021
LOVE MY DRAFTSIGHT
DraftSight is being used to create DXF models for die-making and programming our CNC machines.
- Ease of use.
- Features and Functions.
- Compatibility across multiple CAD programs.
- Offer more "hot keys."
- 3D rendering.
- More dimensioning customization.
June 01, 2020
DraftSight Review
I use DraftSight to review construction plans, illustrate ideas to specifiers and contractors, design projects, and explain products and key components to customers. It allows me to provide quality illustrations and maintain the precision of details needed to perform work instructions in both technical and site-specific details.
- Measurements of vehicle access points on job sites
- Product detail illustrations and specifics
- Allows me to design sites needed for the facilities security requirements
- I would like an add-on, like PDF to .DWG, to be created by DraftSight/Dasault and not a 3rd party.
August 03, 2020
Full-featured, easy to use & learn for someone who is not an experienced designer or engineer
I am responsible for our facilities, and we are constantly changing and moving people and departments around. I needed a tool to help us primarily with floor plans and layout of equipment and cubicle spaces. DraftSight is very simple and easy to use but has lots of flexibility.
- I can take an existing CAD file from an architect or whomever and provide a redesign of a small or large space very easily.
- Very easy to save to a PDF doc that can be printed and shared with various department heads or management for feedback or approval
- I really like the ease of use in designing a space, saving that design, and then easily making several different optional designs.
- I am a far cry from being a professional draftsman or designer so this is a tough area to reply to. It does what I need and is fairly easy to figure out different functionality.
August 07, 2020
Regular DraftSight User
We use DraftSight to review and create drawings for our manufacturing and quality department.
It is very user friendly and easy to use.
It is very user friendly and easy to use.
- Very easy to use
- Imports & exports the different drawing files that I need with no issues.
- Yearly cost is affordable.
- For what we use DraftSight for it fulfills all of our needs.
September 08, 2020
DraftSight Review
DraftSight is used individually to prepare engineering drawings and details. This software package provides approximately the same 2D designing/drafting features as AutoCAD, but it is less resource-intensive. Its biggest benefit may be its functionality vs. its cost, as being a low-cost alternative to AutoCAD. Our primary focus is 2D drawings and DraftSight is an exemplary tool for that use.
- Prepare engineering plan drawings; it is relatively easy to use and is a low-cost alternative to AutoCad.
- Develop engineering sketches quickly and efficiently and easy to publish documentation for construction work packages
- Open CAD files from other firms for printing or scanning or use as backgrounds for my DraftSight drawings
- The limitations of the DraftSight product probably have more to do with my own limitations as compared to the software's functionality.
- Being a smaller player in the 2D CAD field, the number of add-ons or other software that may be industry-specific that you might could use with AutoCAD may be limited in DraftSight.
September 18, 2020
Draftsight: The simple choice for a basic user.
I am an individual user of Draftsight and I use it to update casino floor drawings that are imported into our casino marketing software.
- Opens DWG files with ease.
- Many useful tools.
- Easy to navigate the UI.
- Better print styles.
- Certain functions are hard to locate.
- Improved patterning.
September 26, 2020
DraftSight. Great features for a lot less than others.
DraftSight is extremely helpful in our Custom Engineered Products division. It is as easy to use as other CAD programs, but much cheaper. Drawings that are generated on other platforms are compatible and there are many "Save As" options for differing formats. We use DraftSight daily and have never had any issues with crashing or other software-based problems. It is a solid program all the way around.
- Compatible with other platforms.
- Easy to learn and use.
- Cheaper than most other platforms.
- No complaints, very functional software.
October 01, 2020
Easy to use--use the mouse wheel shortcuts!
Our sales engineers use it to design custom HVAC units for customers.
- Efficient
- Easy to learn
- Mouse wheel shortcuts are amazing
- Sometimes has glitches
- Crashes on occasion
May 30, 2020
Solid performance at an attractive pricepoint!
Used as a cost-effective alternative to AutoCAD, across the whole company.
- Similarity of interface to AutoCAD.
- Simplicity of use.
- Does not require a workstation class PC to operate effectively.
- There are some features that are difficult to navigate or find commands in multi-screen environments.
- Difficulty in finding support online for commands that differ from autocad.
- Cannot find a way to force updated dimension schemes to existing dimensions without recreating them.
December 20, 2023
I was a newbie...
I use it strictly for my own benefit. I have an offsite design engineer that does the bulk of the design work, then he sends it to me and I'm allowed to review and tweak as needed. Being around ACAD for 20 years but never actually learning it completely and the ease of this software to learn has been excellent. And the help references are really good.
- Ease of learning
- Easy to navigate
- User friendly
- I'll leave that up to the experts, I like it just like it is.
December 04, 2019
DraftSight as the best choice for 2D technical drawings
I use DraftSight for the 2D drawings of naval engineering.
- Very simple learning and daily use.
- Very similar to AutoCAD. Better in my opinion.
- Quite cheap if compared to similar others. This is not so important for a professional user, but anyway a gain on the comparison.
- I just would like a better import tool for the application of drawing created with other software, Microstation in particular.
December 05, 2019
Well rounded 2D cad
Design parts for my projects.
- Easy interface with minimal menu nesting
- Fast
- Does basic things well
- Subscription levels are not logical at all!
- Lack of basic 2D constraints at basic subscription levels.
- Toolbars are not organized with workflow in mind.