Recommendation for a CAD software for simple projects.

[illusive]

Hi there,
I was thinking about learning some basic skills in some CAD software for some years now to help me with the design of mostly project boxes, panels and simple stuff like that in order to get everything to fit right. What can you recommend for a beginner? Solidworks and Fusion 360 seem like a popular choices. What is your favorite software for similar needs?

[magtux]

You can try Fusion 360. Biggest selling point is that its free and they'll even give you hobbyist license. Solidworks goes anywhere between $9k-15k I hear so I don't know if that is worth it. There are also others like Alibre where you can get a personal license for $199. Try each one and make your pick.

[cdev]

Blender,
LibreCAD
OpenSCAD  are all free and seem worth learning

[Someone]

Blender,
LibreCAD
OpenSCAD  are all free and seem worth learning

I wouldn't recommend any of those for mechanical layout/design (yes I've used them, some more than others).

Hi there,
I was thinking about learning some basic skills in some CAD software for some years now to help me with the design of mostly project boxes, panels and simple stuff like that in order to get everything to fit right. What can you recommend for a beginner? Solidworks and Fusion 360 seem like a popular choices. What is your favorite software for similar needs?

FreeCad is a good free alternative to Solidworks (parametric modelling) but its not quite up to speed with assemblies yet, but for checking fit of PCBs to enclosures its more than acceptable.

[ElektroQuark]

"CAD" is too generic. 2D? 3D? Mechanical?

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

When it comes to mechanical cad, I have used AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, and Solid Edge.

I'm a big fan of inventor, and would pretty much chose it over any of the ones in the list. Since from what I have seen Fusion3D is somewhat similar, I would suggest looking at that. I've never liked working with SolidWorks, but I'm not sure how much of that is just because I was trained on Inventor/AutoCAD and my mental designflow matches that software better because of that.

When it comes to PCB CAD: Depends on what I'm doing. My general-purpose software is Altium. I don't like KiCad, it feels somewhat like a toy to me, but it is still a very powerfull and good hobby (and perhaps even small professional design) toolbox.
When I get to fancier RF stuff, I switch over to ADS/Momentum and HFSS, but at that point you are in the "if you have to ask you can't afford it" range of tools.

[oldnewb]

I'm a fan of SolveSpace (http://solvespace.com/).  It's Free and open source, and runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows.  It's no replacement for beasts like FreeCAD, but it is a whole lot easier to learn.  The only limitation I've run into so far is its apparent inability to create helical structures (e.g., screw threads).