I realize this page is way out of date, but in case anyone else lands here and reads the comments below, please remember this page is way out of date. I have been using QCAD as a direct replacement for ACAD LT for the last 4 years. It is quite good. The only issue I have ever encountered is that it doesn't like large drawing files. Basically, stick to 2D and you're fine. Electrical drawings, layouts, schedules, BOM, etc....

And newer QT3

The interface is still something out of the 90s and drawing is unpredictable and abysmal at best.

The manual is badly out of date in that the program doesn't function as the manual states is ought to.

The supported commercial version is at 2.2 while the "community" version is still at 2.0.

Forget it, is the best thing.

There is still a free version for Linux available at ribbonsoft.com. It works great and is easy to use if you take 5 minutes to look into the manual (be shure to download it, it's an extra file). Even if you need the same program an a win machine, you can get it for the equivalence of an avarage evening dinner. Just give it a try!

QCad not free anymore? Oh well..

As I see it, there are only two ways to create successful CAD-Software. Either to come up with a new, intuitive interface that people love right away - or try to mimic as close as possible the current "standard", i.e. AutoCAD, to ease transition, so people will not have to learn tediously another "language" that is no better. The AutoCAD interface still shows how this application has grown from text-based CAD, and than has consecutively been fixed up. It takes years to really get to know it, and I still wonder about some tools that basically do similar things but expect a different way to enter the command.

Some new software, such as SketchUp, has shown how intuitive 3D Architecture Modelling can be, and everybody who fooled around with it for half an hour loves it, and is fit to create a complex drawing.

I tested QCad half a year ago (1.5.4), looking for a CAD application for my Linux system that was free, stable, could handle dxf-files and was easy to use.

I was pleasantly surprised by the simple clean look, the good translation (German), the professionality. The interface actually reminded me somewhat of ArchiCAD, not AutoCAD.

As I had to find out, many things neither work the way one is used to from AutoCAD nor are they really intuitive.

This "drawing on paper" right from the beginning annoyed me quite a bit, I appreciate a lot the "model"-approach where you draw something in virtual space (even 2D) and only when it comes to printing you decide what you want, where you want it and how to scale it to fit your momentary needs. I like WYSIWYG for word processing, but a vector drawing is not done from left to right, top to bottom.

I imported a dxf-file, and except for some sort of polylines it rendered well. But I couldn't figure out how to mark elements. No simple mouse frame, the way even window managers work today. The menus are very logical and very complex. There is no handy help text that tells you in a status bar what action is expected next. And so on.

You are right, I could dig into the hand book, and work my way into the program. But, like most users, I am lazy, and as long as I neither have to nor have fun doing so I probably won't bother.

I think it is difficult for any application, adequate and grown as it might be, to reach today a large audience and make people convert with an approach that is not intuitively understood.

Don't get me wrong, this might be a great program and I do honestly appreciate the programmers' work. Maybe my version is to old, too, and some things have changed already. It's just that I probably won't ever know...

I totally agree. This is one of the
last major desktop needs to remain
unfulfilled by Linux and KDE.

Try a copy of "Deltacad" on a winblows
box and see a very handy little program which does quick drawings to scale, offers layers, and reads .dxf files. That is what we need.
Something easy to grab and easy to
learn... but we need FREE!

I hate having to keep an ms box around
just for one little program.

If it was done right, plugins might offer the possibilities of circuit board layouts, and other extensions.

Does anyone have any basic knowledge of
CAD structures and video libraries?

We are very far from intuitivity with such a software. AutoCAD is not an exemple of simplicity to do things in a more complicated way than something can be done really easily with softwares like ArchiCAD or PowerCADD. We are very far of simplicity yet with QCAD.

Some months ago my brother was learning AutoCAD during his education. Since we had neither Windows nor AutoCAD at home, I (luckily) found this nice app. And I was really surprised about the quality!!

Since they only used very basic stuff there wasn't any difference for him in using QCad at home and AutoCAD at school.

Thanks for this great app!