Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
AutoCAD , the industriousness - standard Computer Aided Design ( CAD ) software from Autodesk , is back on the Mac after an 18 - year foramen . This is full news program for many Mac fans in the architecture , engineering science , and design professing who have been unwilling to give up their MacBook Pros and iMacs for the sake of a single software program , despite its condition as a very crucial part of their work flow . With the new Mac variation of AutoCAD for freeform 2D and 3D design and drafting , Mac user no longer ask to utilise Boot Camp or Parallels ( ) — or stick out a PC on the same desk with their Mac .
Mac from the ground up
AutoCAD 2011 for the Mac is not a port from Windows . Rather , Autodesk has programmed this version for the Mac from the undercoat up with a conscious exploit to take advantage of the Mac OS disco biscuit interface .
Instead of offer the medal - based port of the Windows version , Autodesk has has chosen to place more AutoCAD functions in the pulldown bill of fare . Floating prick palette also include most of the same tools as the menus , while the interface will look intimate to exploiter of other Mac CAD applications . Autodesk has also taken reward of multi - touch trackpad gestures ( and offers similar moves on Apple ’s Magic Mouse ( ) For model , two - finger swipes scroll up or down , pinch can surge in or out , and a shift plus two - finger swipe can rotate around a 3D mannequin . Cover Flow navigation lets you easily flip through your designs . squeamish .
The Toolsets button lets you switch between three unlike puppet palette modes : draftsmanship , Annotation , and Modeling . The View Cube is my favorite interface constituent . It makes the viewing your 3D manikin from dissimilar angles easy and intuitive .
The Toolsets button lets you switch between three different tool palette modes: Drafting, Annotation, and Modeling. The View Cube is my favorite interface element. It makes the viewing your 3D model from different angles easy and intuitive.
While AutoCAD is a complex and powerful app , the system requirements are higher than much of the competition on the Mac ( such as Vectorworks ( ) , TurboCAD ( ) , and Ashlar - Vellum ) , starting with a minimum of 3 GB of RAM and higher filmdom resolution ( 1280 x 800 pixels ) . The syllabus make with only with more late Mac hardware such as Mac Pro ( former 2009 ) , MacBook Pro ( mid-2009 ) , and iMac ( former 2008 ) . To be fair , you ’d want to use a high solving monitor with a CAD computer program anyway , give the quantity and stage of graphic detail you ’re typically work with . But , you are less probable to be disappointed with AutoCAD ’s performance if you buy your Mac in the last span of years .
When you first launch AutoCAD 2011 , you will be presented with the drawing sheet or Modelspace , the windowpane where you will build your drawing or model . The menus are all-inclusive , and the tool and information pallet are format to the unexpended and rightfield of the canvas .
One of the first things you will notice is that the nonpayment ground in AutoCAD is black or slate - colour with the lines and objects you draw in lily-white ( or lustrous colors ) . This dissent from most Mac CAD or graphic design coating , which typically have a white scope with black and color drawing elements on top . you may change the background color in the preferences and , in fact , much of the interface can be alter to accommodate your own tastes , including which creature show up in the palettes and where the palettes are located on screenland .
The extensive Materials Browser lets you assign textures to objects in your model for rendering.
One port constituent Autodesk convey over from the Windows version is the ViewCube , a very utile graphic navigation element for control 3D views . It allow you to go around your drawing and good example , or jump to standard 3D views and orientations with a single click . The ViewCube rotate as you press it , giving you a visual representation of your drawing at various Angle . move around a 3D model can be disorienting , and the ViewCube does a skilful line of work of allow you know whether you are look from above , below , or at some devious slant .
Another uniquely AutoCAD interface element is the Command Line window . This has been an AutoCAD pillar for decades . At first it look like some DOS operating system throwback , but it is actually a very utilitarian window because it expose — in textbook format — everything that is going on while you ’re drawing , line - by - line , bidding - by - command . Interestingly , it can operate both ways : you could embark text control into the window and control your drawing from the command line while maximizing the use of the keyboard and minimise use of the shiner and menus . While overall that method of operation is not very Mac - like , if you have been using the Windows version of AutoCAD for a longsighted time , this feature film will be welcome .
From the Mac linear perspective , though , my large complaint about the port is that the mental process of lottery objects often includes more click than necessary , and can postulate the use of the keyboard .
A view of AutoCAD drafting tools and a white drawing background.
The all-inclusive Materials browser app have you ascribe textures to objects in your manikin for rendering .
For instance , drawing a simple channel is not as leisurely as select the line shaft and then clicking and dragging to create the line . In AutoCAD , to end the process of drawing the demarcation , you have to strike another samara such as Escape or Enter , or the Space Bar after the 2d click . Otherwise , you will keep adding more lines . Then , if you want to pull another line elsewhere , you have to select the note tool again . No doubt , this is something you could get used to , but I ’d rather not have to fall into place so much .
Ubiquitous file format
One of the grounds many architecture business firm use AutoCAD is the popularity of its file data format . The DWG data formatting — native to AutoCAD — is commonly used for collaborative work across a broad range of professions such as consultants , architects , and engineers .
While many CAD political program can import and export DWG single file , these translations sometimes require cleanup . Not having to worry about cleanup or whether your exported DWG file cabinet will open right is real reward of AutoCAD for Mac over other Mac CAD programme . I opened a bit of DWG files received from Windows consultants I work with and AutoCAD for Mac open up most of them seamlessly . However , I did run into a belittled number of drawing that ask components not available for the Mac , such as some ( but not all ) ObjectARX components my civil railroad engineer utilize . Some of these factor , made by third - party vendors , are widely used and customize and extend AutoCAD . I hope that the developer of such factor update them for consumption on the Mac .
Third-party extensions
This wreak up the subject of attention deficit disorder - ons for AutoCAD . One affair that puddle AutoCAD for Windows such a dominant product are all of the third - political party extension available . In the Windows version , there are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - ons and extensions uncommitted for just about any professing or strength , and there are chiliad of tools and scripts that you’re able to add up to AutoCAD that offer even more capableness than are admit in the basic software . Some of the add - ons are already available for the Mac , but today , most are not . For example , I endure into some missing extensions while essay to import AutoCAD files from a polite locomotive engineer I work with . Autodesk enunciate it is working on having more extension available for subsequent releases of the Mac syllabus , and will be making the development of attention deficit disorder - ons possible on the Mac .
One rank feature missing from AutoCAD 2011 is supporting for import and export PDF files . In the current edition , there is no exportation or print - to - PDF feature film from within AutoCAD . Using the print - to - PDF choice in the standard Mac mark dialogue box gives poor results compared to other CAD programs with build - in PDF funding ( include AutoCAD for Windows ) . There is also no way to import a PDF filing cabinet into your drawing , another feature support in the Windows version of AutoCAD , but not on the Mac .
Like PDF , there are dozens of features in the Windows version that are not included in the Mac version . Some of them are of import features such as Plot Style Configuration , Plot to File , or the Reference Manager .
A view of AutoCAD draftsmanship puppet and a livid drawing background .
With this first comeback version of AutoCAD , Autodesk seems to be applying the 80/20 prescript for its Mac users , cater the 80 percent of feature and tool that are used the most . I do n’t have a conceptual problem with that approaching . It seems reasonable for such a vast programme to implement the most of import parts first and then fill in . But AutoCAD 2011 for Mac is $ 3995 — the same monetary value as the more - capable Windows rendering , and that does n’t seem quite fair .
On a positive note , Autodesk has a free iPhone / iPad app available in the iTunes depot that allows you to share and watch AutoCAD filing cabinet in the field . you’re able to even do some light redaction of the file flop on your iPhone or iPad , including draw novel objects , move , rotating , and annotating .
Macworld’s buying advice
Autodesk ’s AutoCAD 2011 for Mac is a very powerful software program and an impressive 1.0 rendering that has been omit from the Mac universe for too long . regrettably , it comes up dead in features and extortionate in cost , both of which detract from my judgment . For a generic 2D and 3D draftsmanship software that does not let in any architectural or other erect grocery store - specific tools such as walls , floor , or roofs , the price is too high — about doubly as much as like alternative parcel available for the Mac . ( Vectorworks Fundamentals with Renderworks , for instance , costs $ 1945 . )
If you are a longtime exploiter of AutoCAD for Windows , you might require to waitress for the next version ( AutoCAD 2012 is due before the end of the twelvemonth ) , which will no doubt fill in some of the missing features and supply a better value . If you are new to AutoCAD , unconcerned about the price , and thirst the native DWG file formatting and peace of mind using AutoCAD provides , then this version will shape fine — and you’re able to look forward to an rise before long .
[ Greg Miller is an architect and an interactional software and Web developer specializing in new culture medium for the computer architecture , engineering , building , and publishing markets . ]
