Design and draft with 2D CAD for the Mac

VersaCAD for Macintosh 2001 is a full-production 2D design and drafting package for Macintosh computers. The handsome façade illustrates the detail possible with VersaCAD Macintosh. The software also makes short work of curves, arches, and construction details. The software helps us design and build houses and public buildings as handcrafted timber-frame structures. We use it to produce everything from elevations, floor plans, and details on how to cut the smallest pieces. Designs are also labeled with manufacturing instructions for export by DXF or IGES. The marketing department uses outputs from the software to illustrate any stage of our designs for use in sales brochures, Web pages, and advertising. The $700/seat software is considered low cost in the computer-aided design and drafting market. But for the price, it provides high value with solid drafting features. Its 1.3-Mbyte size makes it fast, especially on a G4 computer system. And it runs on older Macintosh computers as well, although somewhat slower. The software makes it easy for users to take complex shapes, pull data points off, and transfer them for production to construction materials. This can still be done by hand, but using the software assist simplifies and speeds the processes. The CAD program is intuitive. Although not a computer person by nature, I was able to install it and be productive in a few hours, and without reading the manual or taking formal instruction. The feature I use most, called Program, generates 2D drawings. It lets me pull details and information from archived files and assemble them into new designs. Our homes are custom designed but with classic elements common to all. For example, several arches are used in most building, so we built a library of arches. Over the years, we have built feature libraries for labels, joinery, and common frame components.