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Late breaking news
IntelliCAD 6 has now been released - in May, 2005
however, there
have been a number of patches to release 6, the latest being 6.3.70
(May, 2007). IntelliCAD runs under the Vista (and earlier) Windows
operating systems. We hold
stocks of IntelliCAD in Adelaide ready for immediate delivery.
 Please
note that we do not offer
download of the product and will only ship copies with a manual. Our version of IntelliCAD comes courtesy of SIACAD Pte
Ltd, a member of the IntelliCAD consortium. We are authorized to
distribute the product only in Australia and New Zealand.
The new release updates compatibility with AutoCAD's DWG
file format and significant improvements have been made to a number of
areas; all of them aimed at maintaining tight compatibility with
AutoCAD, while still enabling IntelliCAD's ease of use.
The IntelliCAD 6 interface
The figure below shows the IntelliCAD 6 interface. It is
subtly different from that in IntelliCAD 5. The most noticeable feature is
the presence of an AutoCAD like Entity Properties toolbar which is shown
in the figure below.
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The IntelliCAD 6 interface in Paper Space
showing a drawing produced in AutoCAD 2000 and brought into the
IntelliCAD environment. |
Other features
You can now 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.
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There is a new Xref manager.
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Reusing commands has been improved. It
is now possible to right-click and copy, cut, and paste commands in the
Command box.
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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.
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. A quick look at
IntelliCAD
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If
you would like to see IntelliCAD in action, click
here to play a short movie
. The movie has sound commentary, so your computer needs
external speakers. The movie is 0.4Mb in size and should not take very long
to download. |
History of release versions of IntelliCAD
Previous versions of IntelliCAD include:
IntelliCAD 98,
IntelliCAD 2000,
IntelliCAD 2002,
IntelliCAD 4. IntelliCAD 5 (November, 2004) IntelliCAD 6 (June, 2005)
File format -
DWG IntelliCAD reads and writes its files
in AutoCAD drawing format without the need for conversion. IntelliCAD 6
reads and writes AutoCAD 2004 DWG file format, but updates of the
program will enable it to read and write the format used by the current
version of AutoCAD May 2007 - AutoCAD 2007 compatibility is now
operational). Please remember 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, ostensibly to improve the program. We recommend users
test their stock of drawings, using a trial version of IntelliCAD,
before ordering.
Save to earlier versions 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!
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. We offer a comprehensive suite of
training programs,
either in-house or by distance learning.
If you would like to learn more about setting up a
comprehensive training program for IntelliCAD, click
here. Try IntelliCAD
Visit our downloads
page 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 the training version, 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.
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 routines do need some minor programming
adjustments. This of course 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
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Commands (instructions) used to create
drawings are very similar to those used in the AutoCAD environment.
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The AutoCAD command line is supported.
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IntelliCAD creates (and reads)
and saves files in AutoCAD's .DWG format.
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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.
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AutoCAD
menu and script files are
supported.
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Multiple paper space layouts are
supported.
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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.
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IntelliCAD runs AutoLISP applications
with little need for conversion along with DCL, and
the ADS system.
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Raster image display is supported.
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AutoCAD blocks and XREFs
are supported.
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AutoCAD 3D surface commands are
supported.
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True type fonts are allowed.
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Single line and paragraph text are
available.
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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.
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IntelliCAD allows multiple drawings to
be opened in a single
session. Entities can be copied (cut and pasted) accurately between
drawings.
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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. We have detailed our
experiences as we convert from the AutoCAD environment to the IntelliCAD
environment.
Try out IntelliCAD
Click here to
visit our principal's downloads page where you can obtain a trial version of
IntelliCAD.
This trial
version of IntelliCAD is fully functional, but does not contain the bonus tools
component which is only available when you purchase the product.
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The IntelliCAD bonus tools
set. Only available with the SIACAD version of IntelliCAD. |
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