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Cut corners at high speeds! Draw in any scale, edit and dimension artwork with a mouse click, and numerically control objects or points. Click and drag with CADtools 6 to make design work easy and elegant right inside Adobe Illustrator. CADtools 6 pairs perfectly with Illustrator CS4 which has increased its technical appeal with improved Smart Guides, alignment control, and multiple artboards. Go the distance with CADtools 6—fueling designers for 11 years. New features in CADtools 6:
• CS4 compatibility
• Scale calculator in the CADdocument panel - use a selected object's dimensions to create a custom or 'best fit' scale and resize artwork
• Proportion tool - resize an object to another object's dimensions
• Measure distance tool - automatically determine distance by clicking and dragging between any two points Summary of all major features:
• Draw Illustrator art in any scale
• Create a best fit scale and resize art to fit page with the scale calculator
• Click-drag dimensions with your own style
• Fully editable dimensions as text or numeric measurement
• Snap to handy 2D or isometric grids
• Numerically control objects with CADtracker
• Create customized labels with text, numbers, alphabet or object geometry
• Easy isometric tools for creating shapes, cubes and cylinders
• Project or dimension flat art in isometric view
• Precision editing with fillet, chamfer, trim and extend tools
• Measure distance between any two points
• Resize an object to another object's proportions with the proportion tool
• Divide or cut paths into equal parts
• Save or load CADtools settings as Presets
• Scaled offset tool and more Here's how it works:
Easy install
CADtools is a plug-in that installs 62 drawing, editing, labeling and dimensioning tools inside the Illustrator toolbox. The tools are organized into 6 groups:
• 2D Drawing
• 2D Editing
• 2D Dimensioning
• Labeling
• Isometric Drawing
• Isometric Dimensioning 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Offset curves, even in scale
Drag curves with on-screen information for easy offset in the current scale. Create offsets numerically by clicking once on the path. Create walls with control
The CADwalls panel for adjusting wall width and measurement orientation makes 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 new 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. 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. Similarly, the CADtracker Move panel helps you move objects in scale. You can also duplicate and repeat objects in scale to easily create grids of objects. 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. 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. 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. |
