Specialized tools enable architects to create building drawings such as floor plans, elevations, and sections.ĪutoCAD architecture has a library of 8000+ architectural components. Features available include walls, windows, and doors. Using this toolset, you can produce and document architectural designs, and also automate drafting tasks. This is the classic AutoCAD interface which allows you to design 2D drafts, produce 3D models, annotate drawings, and share file data AutoCAD ArchitectureĪs the name implies, the Architecture toolset is for the architecture industry. There is also AutoCAD for students, a free limited version to help students learn CAD. This Lite version is less expensive and has less functionality than AutoCAD. There is also an entry-level, lite version of the AutoCAD known as AutoCAD LT. In 2019, however, all these products were brought together as AutoCAD toolsets under a single comprehensive software package. These include AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Plant 3D, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing), and AutoCAD Electrical. In addition to AutoCAD, Autodesk developed several industry-specific AutoCAD products. It now includes features that cater to numerous industries that are related to design and engineering. Initially developed as a 2D drafting program for mechanical engineers, AutoCAD has expanded to become a complete package for most things design and modeling. AutoCAD 2020, the latest version of the software package, was released in 2019, marking the 34th release. It took the application just four years to become the most widely used CAD application a status which it still holds today. Also, the popular and widely accepted DWG file format was developed for AutoCAD. Before this, most individual designers had to rely on the error-prone drafting desk and T-square, as commercially available CAD applications could only run on mainframe and minicomputers. First of all, being one of the first CAD programs to run on PCs, AutoCAD instantly made CAD accessible to a lot of designers. The release of AutoCAD completely revolutionized the CAD industry. In 1982, AutoCAD as we know it was developed by Michael Riddle alongside 15 other co-founders, and released as the flagship product of Autodesk, the company which they founded that same year. However, these were the names that AutoCAD bore in the late 1970s.

The names interact CAD and MicroCAD are virtually unknown in the world of CAD today.

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