Creating a new Design

File > New using Wizard

The drawing setup wizard allows the user to create a drawing or design layout to a particular size and page orientation.

It also creates a standarized unit of measurement format.

Although it allows the user to create a drawing ratio scale, it is generally recommended that all CAD drawings are drawn at full scale.

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Start a new drawing using File > New from Wizard option and select the Custom Drawing option, shown below.

Click Next, then select the millimeters unit format.

Click Next, then select a Landscape layout, similar to the illustration below.

Click Next, then select the Engineering drawing scale of 1:1, shown below.

Click Next, then set the Annotation Settings to your personal preference. In this example, The Text Height has been set to 5 and the dimension settings have been set to ISO, shown below.

Click Finish. Your design editor now contains a workspace of infinite size, shrinking or expanding to accommodate the sketch or model.

Importing Different File Formats

A range of filters is used to import solid or surface designs from other applications including Catia, Rhino 3DM, Solid Works, Solid Edge.

Importing these files uses Advanced MCAD Native Translators.

These designs are imported into the editor, maintaining a similar layer structure and part naming.

For example, an STL file is a stereolithography file which contains the surface geometry of objects.

Surface parts which are imported into the editor can be separated into their constituent parts using the PowerPack Mesh tool Separate all Parts.

Surface Object File Formats

Surface objects file formats such as STL, STEP, Collada, Obj etc can be imported into the editor, maintaining the design integrity of the imported file.

In the example below, this design was imported from an STL file into the editor.

The independence of the mesh parts is maintained and can be edited as a native mesh or surface using the tools in this program.

STL part

Solid Object File Formats

Objects generated as solid geometry created in file formats such as Solid Edge, Solid Works etc can be imported into the editor.

In the example below, an assembly from Solid Works – SLDASM – is imported into the editor, maintaining the structure of the edges, vertices and faces of the parts and the assembled unit.

Sldasm (SolidWorks Assembly) file

2D (Drawing) File Formats

2D drawings such as those created in the AutoCAD DWG file format can be imported into the editor, maintaining their design integrity.

Dwg file format

Import PDF and Adobe Illustrator

Importing PDF and Adobe Illustrator files is now possible using the File : Import tools.

Highlights of the Importing PDF and Adobe Illustrator Tool:

• Support for lines, arcs, circles, splines, and polygons
• Support for text
• Dimensions supported as exploded text, polygons, and lines

PDF

Support for reading any native .PDF file.

Adobe Illustrator

Support for reading native .AI files that are based on PDF. This are AI versions 9 and greater.

Mesh Booleans

The Mesh Boolean tool provides a means to add or remove material from a mesh body. Previous versions only allowed boolean operations on ACIS based solids. Now with the introduction of mesh booleans, you can add/remove material imported from STL, OBJ, 3DS, and SketchUp.

The Mesh Boolean tool provides a means to add or remove material from a mesh body.

Mesh Booleans