I am looking for a software tool to make simple technical drawings. I want to make just simple drawings, like the ones in this blog post or like the one Bluntcut made in this thread.

It doesn't have to be an advanced tool, but it should be able to handle curves and angled lines well. I find myself using Powerpoint and Visio for those tasks, but these tools aren't really up to that.

The most important thing is that the tool should be user-friendly. I'm sure Autocad can do what I want, but that has much too steep a learning curve. It'd be nice, too, if the tool were free.

Any suggestions?

Mark, I use Draftsight. Pretty much the same as Autocad but free. You can check it out here download.cnet.com/DraftSight/3000-18496_4-75445046.html

Mark M.

I've been looking too... more for something online or cross platform.

Clay has mentioned Google Sketchup to me before... I think he does some work in it.

Thanks! I will give them a try.

Razoredge wrote:


I started playing with this... it actually has potential. Works on Windows or Mac.

Best part... free!

Good tip... thanks!!!

I tried Draftsight as well. But I am afraid I was scared by the interface. It obviously has lots of features, but I need only a few...

I'm now trying Adobe Illustrator. Definitely not free . But does seem pretty user-friendly, especially if you know Photoshop. And, apparently, if Gimp is the open-source alternative to Photoshop, Inkscape is the open-source alternative to Illustrator. (Nice site: www.alternativeto.net .)