Drawing and Design tools

[KD702]

I was wondering if anyone would suggest an "App" for Mac that is a basic/easy drawing tool. It seem that some of them require a 40 hr class to run. I remember having a "Basic" drawing program on my first computer.....The TANDY.....Anyone remember the Tandy computers???

Not looking for 3D program.

KD

 

[lilgription]

I love Google Sketchup , but it is 3d

 

[dstock]

I'd like something simple too, despite being technical, I seem to be a sketchup dummy!

 

[Haf-E]

Apache Open Office has a typical drawing program - and its free - good for quick diagrams etc.

www.openoffice.org

 

[Cyberman]

Excel, or similar makes a good 'graph paper'.

 

[Titanpat57]

check out some vids on youtube for sketchup...it is really intuitive, and not bad to learn at all

 

[Martyn]

For 2D drawings and drafts I use MacDraft Pro.

 

[Gatordoc]

Have a look at Draftsight. It's available for Windows, so could run in a virtual machine, or you could try the Mac OSX beta. It's published by the same company that now owns Solidworks and is essentially a stripped down AutoCAD clone. Very good piece of kit, considering the price (FREE!).

 

[HAFICON]

I'd like something simple too, despite being technical, I seem to be a sketchup dummy!

I was to but I watched several YouTube videos on Sketchup and learned alot. Once you understand it it is an easy and great program.

 

[dstock]

Thanks guys for all the info, I'll give Youtube a shot and see if I can't pull my head out of my....!

 

[javajaws]

IMO, you say you aren't looking for a 3D program...but what you are really saying is you don't want something that's complex or hard to use.

Try sketchup and start small: make a 2x2 square, then "push" the face and turn it into a tube, now select everything and make it a component. Hey look, you just make a piece of metal tubing! Now make a copy of it (and make it "unique" to make it a "different" copy). Rotate it. Do that a few more times and wam bam you have a frame.

Its about breaking a problem down into small chunks. Take baby steps and incrementally add to your model. Don't know how to do something? Google it and I almost guarantee you the answer is there for you.

Take advantage of layers and hide/show to reduce the visual complexity and allow you to concentrate on "the next thing".

Have fun!

 

[Grebby]

For sketchup tutorials i recomend watching "SketchUp tutorials by Matthias Wandel" on youtube. These helped me a lot

 

[JamesW]

Another draft sight recommendation from me,play with it a little bit and you'll get the knack of it. I've used the windows version of it for work, but I have a mac with the beta,not quite the same,but good enough. Your email will be swamped by mail shots from them though

 

[jungblud]

Sketchup is awesome for most quick sketches 2d or 3d.

However If I'm doing something requiring a more detailed and watertight model, 2d or 3d, I'll reach for Autodesk Fusion 360. Free and while granted not as easy to get started it really remains easy even with the stuff Sketchup falls short on.