MacDraft Pro for Mac

Ive been using MacDraft Pro for a long time now and thought it was only right to credit it with a review. Im currently using version 6.0.5 and I must say I'm always very impressed with the power and ease-of-use that MacDraft offers. Where it performs brilliantly is within its main selling point, 2D design. I use it for architectural drafting and general illustration and I find that the dimension tools, layers palette and bezier tool make my job so much easier. The added library feature is also an excellent as it allows me to store stock designs such as windows, doors and stairs in a window within the program that I can drag and drop in to or out of at any time, meaning I never have to go through the monotony of redrawing parts for different designs. Also the option to export to DWG/DXF/PDF has saved me a lot of bother within my area of work. Partnering this with microspot's other softwares 'Interiors Pro' & 'DWG Viewer' is something else i'd strongly recommend. All this at a very decent price is why id recommend it to anybody of any skill level looking for a very good 2D CAD Drafting product.

I've purchased the PE version recently and I'm totally disappointed. TurboCAD provides better value for your money so if you are looking for an easy to use and yet cheap CAD solution for your Mac you better consider TurboCAD. For half the price of MacDraft PE you get more than the Pro version. As I said I've purchased MacDraft 5.6 and one day later requested a refund but they declined it. another disappointment. I know I was stupid not doing a deeper analysis before the purchase but I needed a tool urgently and I made the wrong decision. So what the 60-70$ TurboCAD designer does for you? A very convenient drawing environment (I felt it better than MacDraft actually), DXF/DWG export (not sure about import), no stupid paper size limitation. AND for the proce of the MacDraft PE the TurboCAD Deluxe 4 provides you with 3d modelling capabilities the same convenient way as in 2d. So think it twice where you spend your money!

I've been using MacDraft for 16 years, both professionally and personally, and have always appreciated the way it behaves like a Mac program should, both intuitively and with look and feel like every other program specifically made for Mac. These kinds of programs are hard to come by nowadays when a lot of programs come over from Windows that have the klunky interfaces typical of Windows-based programs. I have used MacDraft for architectural drawings, flow charts, data flow and state diagrams, object-oriented software analysis, business operations analysis, and, most recently, reconstructing a map of European Russia for computer gaming purposes. If I could change anything it would probably be the palettes so that I could display them horizontally or vertically as my needs demand, similarly to the tool-bars of other programs. I've used AutoCAD and TurboCAD but I've found that MacDraft serves most all my needs quickly and efficiently with no show-stoppers.

Yes a Cad like package that would benefit from having a few more illustration tools (gradients?) and even to be able to open some legacy files like claris Cad or Claris Draw, in the way that EazyDraw has gone

I just had a try to the Draft-Demo. I am very happy, because this app is very easy to use, similar to my beloved Classic Claris-CAD. But: Did they forget Localizations, e.g. german? That would be funny, even small developers offer them. So: I´m just waiting (and hoping...)