Draw in any scale, edit and dimension artwork with a mouse click, and numerically control objects or points. Click and drag with 67 tools to make design work easy and elegant. CADtools 7 taps the precision power of Adobe Illustrator - a design trade secret for 13 years!
Here's how it works:
1. Easy install - CADtools is a plug-in that installs 67 drawing, editing, labeling and dimensioning tools inside the Illustrator toolbox. The tools are organized into 8 groups:
- 2D Drawing
- 2D Dimensioning
- Isometric Drawing
- Isometric Dimensioning
- CAD Walls
- 2D Editing
- Labeling
- Construction
All of the tools show red dots which indicate the number and placement of mouse-clicks to edit or create an object, label or dimension. Easy!
Nine CADtools panels are accessible from the Window > CADtools menu. You can move these panels into the Illustrator icon dock for easy access. Online registration, software updates, and tutorials are also easy to access from the Window > CADtools menu.
2. Set up the document - Use the CADdocument panel to define general document settings such as scale and numeric input. Choose to create and use a dimension layer to separate dimensions from other artwork layers. For flexibility, choose Create live dimensions to create dimensions that automatically update with changes in your artwork. Select from a wide range of engineering or architectural scales, or create your own with the CADdocument popup menu.
3. Set up the grids and rulers - Use the CADguides panel to define grid and ruler settings. Choose flat or isometric grid lines and define their colors and snapping tolerance. CADrulers also snap with CADtools drawing tools. New Full screen cursors help highlight and snap to points while drawing CADtools lines or objects.
4. Draw with precision in 2D - Import CAD artwork or create your own vector objects in scale within Illustrator. You can click-drag objects freely or create them numerically in scale. CADtools rectangles, circles, arcs, lines and walls are all you need to build a detailed drawing with accuracy. Use grids and rulers, snapping features, numeric input, and the CADtracker panel to confirm your artwork. You can numerically adjust size, location, and rotation of objects with CADtracker, as described below.
5. Offset paths and objects, even in scale - Drag to offset paths and objects with visual feedback and distance information. Create offsets numerically by clicking once on the path.
6. Create walls with doors and windows - The CADwalls panel adjusts wall width and orientation to make it so easy! Walls are created like lines and can snap to the nearest unit increment if alt/option is held while dragging. When walls are adjusted with the Move Wall tool, they slide with on-screen measurements. Add doors and windows with the new Door and Window Insertion tools with visual feedback, width and style settings.
7. Construct tables and title blocks - The new Construction tool group helps you make instant tables and title blocks. Click or click-drag the desired area and customize the size and text values.
8. Set up styles for dimensions and labels - The CADstyle and CADtext panels help you choose your own style of dimension, including font, arrow style, color, etc. Set the text placement and dimension line spacing and appearance. Choose Free sliding text to move the dimension text placement while dragging. Create your own unique dimension style with these settings. And you can easily change them later, because live dimensions update automatically with style changes.
9. Get smart with CADshortcuts - Easily control CADtools settings (except scale) and apply CADtools dimensions automatically. The CADshortcuts panel includes global interface control to quickly set all units and precision from one location. Use Presets to save CADtools settings for loading into other documents or sharing with other users in the office to maintain consistency.
10. Dimension with precision in 2D - The dimensioning tools are smooth and sophisticated. CADtools dimensions can be automatically linked to artwork so you can move objects around easily and their dimensions will follow. The range of tools accommodate any type of line or curve, including Bezier curves! You can even dimension empty space - without referencing artwork.
11. Labels for anything - CADtools Label tools save hours of time by creating instant shape labels that angle, arc, or even squiggle to mark the spot. Adjust the border spacing and border shape with ease. For special labeling jobs, use the Format menu to choose automatic incrementing by alphabet or numbers. Revision bubbles and section lines add finishing touches to design documents.
12. Edit objects with divide, trim, extend, fillet and chamfer tools - Several precision editing tools help you modify, remove, extend or unite artwork as typically needed for CAD projects. The Path Divider tool cuts and marks paths in defined lengths or increments. The trim tool is remarkably useful, allowing dragging over paths for instant removal of excess segments. One special tool called Measure Scale works like a legend on a map - you drag a distance on the document and then define its represented distance to create a custom scale.
13. Control it all through CADtracker - One of the most compact, powerful features of CADtools is the CADtracker panel. The first panel of CADtracker is like the Info panel in Illustrator in scale, with added calculations of length, perimeter and area. These calculations are very useful for figuring out square footage and supplies such as flooring, trim materials, landscape coverage, etc. The CADtracker Transform panel helps you numerically resize objects with scaled values. Area transform helps you resize objects to a specified area. The Move panel helps you move objects in scale. You can also duplicate and repeat objects in scale to easily create grids of objects.
14. Isometric drawing - You can draw isometric artwork easily with CADisometric drawing tools. The default drawing face is the front/left side. Drag with command or control key to create right/side faces. Drag with alt or option key to create top/bottom faces. Helpful cursor hints will appear for snapping and aligning faces together. Use the 2D CAD Line tool with the Shift+alt/option keys to create isometric lines. Lines, faces, cubes, and cylinders can also be created numerically by clicking once on the document.
15. Isometric projection - You can project any flat artwork (including text or placed images) to top, front, or side planes with the CADisometric panel. You can also change your isometric view angles in the CADisometric panel and the artwork will follow. To edit the artwork with precision, flatten it, make adjustments, then reproject. Dimensions project in isometric view as well.
16. Isometric dimensioning - CADtools isometric dimensioning tools work just like the 2D dimensioning tools. They can also be pulled out perpendicular to the object for enhanced readability and dimensionality. Like other dimensions, isometric dimensions are linked to their objects if 'Create live dimensions' is checked in the CADdocument panel.
