drawing freeware???
 

Hi all - can anyone recommend some low level CAD drawing software for designing speaker boxes? I've looked at a couple but they seem either too complex and bloatware-ish, or aimed at wannbe interior designers. Recommendations please...

vectorworks.
but it's not free.

If you are not familiar with CAD, ANY CAD program is going to have a steep learning curve. I am happy with TurboCAD, but it's not free either.

Bob

Sketchup is pretty good and fairly easy to learn. Lots of tutorials and ready made models available.
Free too.

I second google sketch-up. I'm having a ball with it.

Just for fun you can also download Inkscape and Gimp and draw cool pictures. Not very usefull for designing cabs, but I like them. They are kinda like a freeware Illustrator and Photoshop.

I used Sketchup to create all my SPQR designs thus far, I can vouch for it's accuracy and ease of use.

Tom

Google sketchup is fairly easy to learn, and free.

ProgeCAD has a free version called ProgeCAD Smart or something like that. It is free and not very crippled, if you want a 2D package. ProgeCAD is a clone of AutoCAD, and shares a near identical user interface.

For a 3D package, Sketchup is the way to go, although you can do wireframe/surface modeling in ProgeCAD.

That would be a good reason to put it at the bottom of the short-list.

Sketch-up is very good for what it does, it is kind of awkward for doing dimensionally accurate drawings. I usually start with a simplified set of the 2D shapes imported in from VectorWorks (a 1st class CAD program, and cheap for what it does, but certainly not free)

dave

For 2D drawings and constructions I use qcad. In my opinion a good program. It is available for Linux and for windows and there is a community edition licensed under the GPL which can be easily compiled under Linux (with a little effort on Windows too). For the Professional edition they charge 24€.

Best regards