IntelliCAD 6.6 - your questions answered

What is IntelliCAD?

IntelliCAD® is a full-featured, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software application, commonly used as a low-cost replacement for the considerably more expensive AutoCAD®. It is (like AutoCAD) a general purpose CAD tool which can be used to produce a variety of drawings, from basic non-technical drawings, to architectural plans, to civil and mechanical engineering designs and even 3D models ready for sophisticated rendering by other software.

Major benefit

For the cost of a single AutoCAD license, more than 10 IntelliCAD workstations can be deployed.

Supply

We hold stocks of IntelliCAD Pro in Adelaide, South Australia, ready for immediate delivery.

Please visit the home page of this site (http://www.icad.net) and download a trial version of the product .

The IntelliCAD 6 interface

The figure below shows the IntelliCAD 6 interface. It is subtly different from that in early releases of IntelliCAD. The most noticeable feature is the presence of an AutoCAD like Entity Properties toolbar which is shown in the figure below. The current version is IntelliCAD 6.6 and again the interface has been improved.

The IntelliCAD 6 interface in Paper Space showing a drawing produced in AutoCAD 2000 and brought into the IntelliCAD environment.

Other features

  • You can assign Print Style Tables and specify both color-based settings and allow pen widths, linetypes, and line weight to be specified regardless of color.

  • The print style tables (.ctb and .stb files) are stored with the drawing file and can be shared across multiple drawing files.

  • Navigation in both Model Space and Paper Space has been improved.

  • There is a new Xref manager.

  • Reusing commands has been improved. It is now possible to right-click and copy, cut, and paste commands in the Command box.

  • The entity snap Intersection has a new Extended option, which snaps to the logical location where two entities would intersect if they were of infinite length.

 History of release versions of IntelliCAD

Previous versions of IntelliCAD include:

  • IntelliCAD 98, (1998)

  • IntelliCAD 2000, (2000)

  • IntelliCAD 2002, (2002)

  • IntelliCAD 4. (2003)

  • IntelliCAD 5 (November, 2004)

  • IntelliCAD 6 (June, 2005)

  • IntelliCAD 6.3 (May 2007)

  • IntelliCAD 6.4 (October 2007)

  • IntelliCAD 6.4.23 (December 2008)

  • IntelliCAD 6.5 (February, 2009)

  • IntelliCAD 6.6 (May 2009)

File format - DWG

IntelliCAD reads and writes its files in AutoCAD drawing format without the need for conversion. IntelliCAD 6 reads and writes to whatever AutoCAD DWG file format you determine. Updates (patches) to the program will enable it to read and write the format used by the current version of AutoCAD. Please remember thought that IntelliCAD's ability to read and write AutoCAD DWG files will always be slightly behind the corresponding AutoCAD version. Autodesk changes the DWG file format with each new release of its product.

Before committing to purchase of IntelliCAD, we recommend users test their stock of drawings, using a trial version of IntelliCAD Pro, before ordering a copy from us.

Save to earlier versions of AutoCAD

Unlike AutoCAD itself, you can use IntelliCAD to write a copy of your drawing file back as far back as Release 12 of AutoCAD in DWG format and as far as Release 2.6 in DXF format!

In many ways, IntelliCAD is more AutoCAD compatible than AutoCAD itself!

Learning IntelliCAD

Learning to use IntelliCAD is a straightforward process, since it is a 'clone' of AutoCAD - the widely used, industry-standard CAD software. If you have AutoCAD skills, these can be used seamlessly in the IntelliCAD environment. However, we offer a comprehensive suite of low cost training programs, either in-house or by an innovative distance learning program.

If you would like to learn more about setting up a comprehensive  training program for IntelliCAD use, click here.

Try IntelliCAD

Visit our downloads page (http://icad.net.au/drupal/node/13) for details on obtaining a trial version of IntelliCAD. This trial version will allow you to test the suitability of IntelliCAD for your purposes.

For details on installing and configuring IntelliCAD once you have a copy of IntelliCAD, click here.

IntelliCAD is programmable

Because IntelliCAD supports a number of programming languages, it can be used to automate many tedious drafting steps. We find that using the AutoLISP programming language increases IntelliCAD's productivity.

A note on AutoLISP compatibility

It is important to point out that while many AutoLISP routines developed and tested in (say) AutoCAD Release 13, will run in IntelliCAD without conversion, many do need some minor programming adjustments. This of course also applies to the movement LISP routines from (say) Release 13 to later versions of AutoCAD.

We offer an AutoLISP programming and conversion service (not a free service!).

IntelliCAD features

  • Commands (instructions) used to create drawings are very similar to those used in the AutoCAD environment.

  • The AutoCAD command line is supported.

  • IntelliCAD creates (and reads) and saves files in AutoCAD's  .DWG format.

  • Users transferring from AutoCAD need spend very little time learning to use IntelliCAD, because the command environment is so familiar. Their store of CAD drawings can be opened directly in IntelliCAD.

  • AutoCAD menu and script files are supported.

  • Multiple paper space layouts are supported.

  • In our opinion, the IntelliCAD user interface is more intuitive than AutoCAD's, and the layout and toolbar icons makes it very straightforward for beginners to use.

  • IntelliCAD runs AutoLISP applications with little need for conversion along with DCL, and the ADS system.

  • Raster image display is supported.

  • AutoCAD blocks and XREFs are supported.

  • AutoCAD 3D surface commands are supported.

  • True type fonts are allowed.

  • Single line and paragraph text are available.

  • An innovative Drawing Explorer has been developed which enables efficient management of text and dimension styles, layer control, blocks (a graphical preview is available) and external references.

  • IntelliCAD allows multiple drawings to be opened in a single session. Entities can be copied (cut and pasted) accurately between drawings.

  • Those new to CAD will find a rich set of resources available to help them learn CAD - books on AutoCAD, local technical college courses etc. which can be directly applied to learning to use IntelliCAD.

If you would like to view a more detailed specification of IntelliCAD, click here. In that paper, we have detailed our experiences as we convert from the AutoCAD environment to the IntelliCAD environment.

Our pitch and some repetition

To view our marketing letter on IntelliCAD and ordering details, click here . We hold stocks of IntelliCAD in Adelaide, ready for immediate delivery.

Comment

The ability to work on and exchange standard AutoCAD files and run programs written in the AutoLISP  programming language, plus command compatibility with AutoCAD puts IntelliCAD in the league of the 'full' AutoCAD.

Purchase IntelliCAD

IntelliCAD (standard) with the features outlined above can be purchased from Design Cad for $A425.00 ex stock Adelaide, South Australia and can normally be delivered the next working day.

Price comparison

(E&OE)

By way of comparison, pricing for the AutoCAD range (in Australia as at February 2002) is given below (E&OE). Current pricing is similar. Please check with an authorized Autodesk distributor.

AutoCAD LT (not programmable in AutoLISP or VBA, no effective image attachment and manipulation)

Aust $2,000

AutoCAD 2002 (for general drawing)

 Aust $7249

AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop 6

 Aust $8239

Autodesk Architectural desktop

 Aust $8349

Autodesk Map 5 (GIS)

 Aust $8239

Autodesk Land Development Desktop (GIS)

 Aust $9119

Support

We offer support and training for IntelliCAD users who purchase the product from us.

Contact us for a special offer when you bundle a training course with IntelliCAD.

System Requirements for IntelliCAD

Microsoft Windows /2000/XP/Vista/7 or Windows NT 4.0
Pentium MMX 200 or greater; 64MB memory or higher; CD ROM Drive (for installation only).

The IntelliCAD Consortium

The source code (master information) for IntelliCAD is held by a not-for-profit organization (ITC). Many companies across the world license the use of the IntelliCAD source code held by the consortium and add their own special 'bits' to it. This may take the form of additional toolbars or block libraries and explains the many different 'flavours' of IntelliCAD which are available.

Versions of IntelliCAD

There are two versions of IntelliCAD - Standard (sometimes called SE) and Professional sometimes called (PE). The main difference is in the ability of the Professional version to run Visual Basic for Applications modules inside IntelliCAD.

The standard version supports the SHADE &  HIDE commands, and the RENDER command and FULLRENDER commands. For more information on 3D visualization using IntelliCAD (and AutoCAD), click here.

Please note that we sell only the 'Pro' version of IntelliCAD which does all that most users require.

A demonstration - 2D rendering

Click here to play a movie which shows Illustrator being used to render a drawing which has been imported from IntelliCAD.

A sample - 3D rendering

Drawing constructed using IntelliCAD and imported to SketchUp for rendering.