Any NanoCAD 5 user here?

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I lost access to AutoCAD 17 recently and have been looking for a (free) alternative. I only work in 2D and Nanocad as far as I can see is a convincing lookalike so have been trying it for a few days mostly with great success.

The free Nanocad is actually their version 5 whereas the latest version is 24, so the support (and conversations on their forum) is mostly related to newer issues of the program.

As it stands I can open and edit all my Acad drawings, where I am struggling is getting any print output on to paper, although I have not tried yet I expect I might have some difficulties creating DXF files for laser cutting.

I know there are some threads on this forum which I have read but I wondered whether there are any happy Nanocad users here?

Ian P

 

 

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

I use it.

Got it as a replacement for Draftsight when that ceased to be free & the charges imposed were out of budget. Prefered it to QCad and the fork of QCad whose name escapes me ATM.

Very similar to use to Draftsight which, in turn, was very similar to Autocad LT which I used to use at work, so no great learning curve. There are differences (no preset linetypes IIRC – they have to be loaded individually), but they can be worked out using the Help function.

2 issues – firstly it can’t do tangents between 2 circles & secondly it is Russian. Whether either of these is important to you could be the clincher. Otherwise, as a basic 2D CAD program it has worked for me the limited number of times I have had the need to use it.

Nigel B.

[Chris KaminskiParticipant @chriskaminski64716]

QCAD is far better option (yes I have tried NANA in the past )

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>If you’re used to Autocad et al then NanoCad is very similar, Qcad is quite different. My version of NanoCad keeps asking me to update, not tried it yet. The lack of tangents to 2 circles is annoying, but can be worked around</p>

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

QCAD is far better option (yes I have tried NANA in the past )

Depends what you mean by “better”.

For an easy transition from Autocad (via Draftsight), then I thought Nanocad was “better” after I tried all the open source 2D CAD alternatives I could find when Draftsight went subscription. The biggest draw was that Nanocad opened legacy Draftsight drawings more reliably and accurately than QCad (or the other forked version that I still can’t recall the name of) managed. Easy also to set up the Nanocad interface to look and function almost identically to Draftsight / Autocad + a lot of the keyboard short-cuts are the same as well. Minimal friction to change over.

Undoubtably QCad works as a 2D package but, from my experience doing what the OP wants to do, Nanocad was “better” for me.

I can’t recall having any particular problems printing from Nanocad and I did save some drawings as .dxf files to send to a steel supplier to have profiles laser cut for work (used Nanocad at works as welll as at home) without problems.

Not used it for a while, as I am trying to get to grips with FreeCad for 3D modelling. I notice in the latest FreeCad 1.0 release there is now a prominent “2D” tab which I have yet to investigate. After struggling to “Sketch” a more complex profile in FreeCad to produce a Dickson QCTP holder for a Dremel multitool, I ended up drawing it (easily and quickly) in Nanocad and importing the 2D file into FreeCad to be extruded & tweaked to make the 3D model.

Nigel B.

 

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Though I’m a big fan, QCAD’s probably not best for Ian P because he’s already familiar with AutoCAD, which has its own way of doing things!

Years ago when I had to draw computer room layouts, I upgraded to AutoCAD and found it counter-intuitive, complicated, and stacked with features I didn’t need.  Hard to learn, partly because it was very different from the software I was already using.  “Over the Top” for what I needed, so I dumped it.

For most 2D work, not involving spiral staircases and the like, QCAD is simpler and more straightforward, hence easier than AutoCAD for beginners to learn.  I highly recommend QCAD to beginners looking for a 2D technical drawing tool that basically automates traditional 2D drawing methods.

IanP isn’t a beginner!  Though I’d bet the farm QCAD does all he needs, Ian would have to learn how to drive it, and that’s likely to cause unlearning problems.   His brain, thoroughly accustomed to AutoCAD, will try and drive QCAD as if it were AutoCAD, causing horrible problems.   Unfortunately learning QCAD requires Ian to unlearn AutoCAD, and unlearning is often seriously difficult, especially for us old chaps!   How difficult depends on the individual; some cope easily, others fail spectacularly.

In Ian’s place I’d be looking for AutoCAD or a clone simply to avoid having to learn anything new.  Nothing wrong with AutoCAD if you already understand it.

Dave

 

 

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I have no difficulty either creating dxf or printing from NanoCad

[mgnbuk]

On mgnbuk Said:

Depends what you mean by “better”.

 

It does indeed.

QCAD is continously updated and very well supported.

Nano (at least free version) is old, not very well supported, bugs are not addressed.

If similarity to AutoCAD and easy transfer is your primary concern than I agree, maybe? Nano is better choice.

 

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Thanks to all for some really interesting and varied replies.

Dave (SOD) summed up my situation exactly, if I could justify paying for Autocad I would, but even LT is nearly £500 per year. Moving to another package (I’m going to try QCAD) will involve a long learning process so I thought NanoCAD would be then answer once my printing was sorted (it is now) and that as it would be a seamless transition.

NanoCAD is 98% almost like Acad 17 that I was using but the 2% odd missing features and buggy bits are a concern although one cannot complain as its free.

Just had a quick look at the QCAD website and see there are several versions, any suggestions as to which one I should download?

IanP

[Chris KaminskiParticipant @chriskaminski64716]

what OS and hardware are you using?

QCAD Community Edition
If you are looking for the free open source QCAD Community Edition, you can download the trial version for your platform (see above) and then remove the QCAD Professional add-on running in trial mode (click Remove in the Trial widget and follow on screen instructions).

 

 

[Chris Kaminski]

On Chris Kaminski Said:

what OS and hardware are you using?

64 bit Windows 10, PC is about 7 years old and only 4GB Ram, but it flew with Autocad.

Ian P

 

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

64 bit Windows 10

 

I wasn’t questioning whether it could run it or not,

just trying to answer your question (which is not possible without knowing what you are using…)

arrow point to the one you want (assuming you want a free one)

I am using paid one (price is very reasonable and you own a copy forever)

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

On Chris Kaminski Said:

what OS and hardware are you using?

64 bit Windows 10, PC is about 7 years old and only 4GB Ram, but it flew with Autocad.

Ian P

 

Time to treat yourself to a new computer?   It’s Christmas!   Seriously though, should be OK – QCAD is a low impact 2D package, not a heavy duty video editor or action game.  However, I would recommend upgrading to at least 8Gb, more if slots are available.   It will make the machine noticeably more responsive.

The sheer number of alternatives offered by QCAD has become confusing.    Runs on Windows, MAC and Linux, with options. And offers compile from source and 32-bit for those with truly ancient computers!   Ian wants a 64-bit for Windows Installer, apart from that the trial add-on in each variant is only of interest if you want to try the add-on.   Chris suggests the CAM trial version, no problem, but I’d go for the plain version because I only do CAM (3d-printing) from 3D-CAD.

For what it’s worth, I found it worth paying for the Pro version: whilst the community edition is fully functional, it takes 3 or 4 clicks to trim lines, whereas Pro has a tool that does it in one.  It turns out fast trimming improves productivity in other ways too.   Fast trim barely matters doing simple drawings, but I notice the difference when developing big plans.

That free NanoCAD doesn’t print may be an incentive to buy a licenced version rather than a bug or config problem.   Common for ‘free’ or ‘trial’ packages to have some more-or-less irritating restriction intended to nudge users into coughing up for the full version!   And because these restrictions can be changed at any time by the vendor, knowing by experience that free NanoCAD printed OK 5 years ago does not guarantee free NanoCAD will print today.

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

My NanoCad free printed yesterday.

Autocad, draftsight, turbocad, NanoCad all have similar interface, I just couldn’t get on with Qcad. If you’re starting from scratch I suppose it doesn’t matter, but if you’re switching you might as well have something like what you’re used to

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I have just spent about 10 minutes trying QCAD Pro Trial (its already told me once that the trial has expired) but it restarts fine.

First impressions are very favourable, I opened existing dwg and dxf, did some editing and saved and printed fine. I’m not used to the esc key not backing out of a command but I suppose that is one of the habit things that I will get used to.

I turned the grid off and it remembers that but I cannot see how to turn off the rulers, is that in the paid version? I would also like to configure toolbars, say remove some buttons).

Not enough time free today to investigate but I think I will probably purchase.

(I did get Nanocad to print and would consider buying but I really cannot justify it the cost atm)

Ian P

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

That free NanoCAD doesn’t print

?

MIne does.

And I don’t believe that you can “buy” Nanocad – IIRC it is a subscription model like Draftsight with similar out of reach (for me) pricing.

NIgel B.

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

I turned the grid off and it remembers that but I cannot see how to turn off the rulers, is that in the paid version?

Ian P

 

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

I’m not used to the esc key not backing out of a command but I suppose that is one of the habit things that I will get used to.

ESC works OK here…

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

I have just spent about 10 minutes trying QCAD Pro Trial (its already told me once that the trial has expired) but it restarts fine.

That’s normal: the trial version runs for 10 minutes then you have to restart it.  From memory of when I tested Pro years ago, nothing is lost, and it can be restarted forever, it’s just a time-waster.

…

I turned the grid off and it remembers that but I cannot see how to turn off the rulers, is that in the paid version? I would also like to configure toolbars, say remove some buttons).

Chris has answered the ruler question, I’m not sure about removing buttons.  Never wanted to do that, but my version is 4 years out of date and the latest may be more cluttered.   Congratulations: altering toolbars is quite advanced!  Be careful what you wish for though, Solid Edge allows toolbars to be changed rather too easily, and it’s a pig to put them right after an accidental key-combination or mouse-click removed or hid something!  Not had that problem with QCAD.

One thing to be aware of: some of QCADs Application Preferences only take effect after a restart.  May look as if they didn’t work, when they’re just not active yet.

… I think I will probably purchase.

Me too.  QCAD has moved on since my subscription expired.   Nothing wildly exciting, but it now supports several additional CAD and image formats, and many smaller enhancements.

(I did get Nanocad to print

Hurrah, config issue rather than deliberately crippled then!

Dave

 

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Thanks Chris for the pointer to the ruler setting, I had only run ACAD for a few minutes so was bit hasty in even mentioning it. Anyway I have now given up on NanoCAD and paid for QCAD Pro which I am sure it will be more than adequate for my usage, actually I’ve now spent half an hour using it and find it easier to adapt to than I feared.

Dave, I’ve investigated a new computer a few times in the last 3 or 4 years but never bitten the bullet, well actually I did get a refurbished Dell earlier this year (was about £150) and it knocked the socks off my PC but it took even the pants of my wifes PC so it has replaced her Win 7 setup. I could add memory to my PC, its DDR3 so probably very cheap, but I can feel a refurbished PC coming on!

I see QCAD has two blank toolbars ‘User Toolbar 1 (& 2)’ in the, Application Preferences, General, Tool Settings dialog window but no mention in the online manual as to how they are used. Also not in manual are the ‘Unbind Shortcuts’ and ‘Unbind Commands’ in the same dialogue box. I was hoping I could make a couple of long toolbars with 99% of the buttons I use, maybe I would be better off getting into using keyboard shortcuts.

Onwards and upwards with QCAD for me now.

Ian P

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