General > General Technical Chat
Simple technical illustration software/tools?
forrestc:
I'm struggling to find the right tool - I'm guessing it probably doesn't exist all in one tool but it doesn't hurt to ask.
I need to draw some semi-technical drawings on a fairly regular basis. These are the types of drawings you'd see in a user manual or online as part of a guide on how to do something. Quite often, they're wiring diagrams or other diagrams showing how to do something slightly mechanical, etc. Most are for teaching and/or assembly instruction type purposes.
I've tried a lot of tools, and had started describing what I liked about each, but instead maybe I should just put what I'd like into a list, so here goes:
* Ability to paste clipart or other images
* Text tool optimized for adding text to images. For example, being able to place a contrasting 'outline' in order to make the text stand out from the image
* Various easy to use 'callout' tools. I.E. arrows and balloons. I'm not talking about clipart of these elements - actually being able to draw a callout of a few styles is needed
* Line tool which is optimized for connecting two points on two objects. i.e. I want to draw a line between two connector pins and have it look like a wire instead of a square line with poorly-connected corners. It's amazing how many tools let you draw lines, but don't make it easy to "connect" two objects with a line, or worse, think a bezier curve is the solution for anything curvy.
* Useful coloring options for lines - for example, I need to be able to represent wires that are 'white with green stripes'. I don't care if it's alternating white/green dashes with a black outline, or if they're angled or something else, but I do need to be able to represent them
* Visually good looking results from above. Don't want horrible text rendering, want my callouts to be visually nice as well. This means that the software probably is a bit 'graphically opinionated'. I can live with someone else's design choices here as long as the result is usableI'm sure I've left some things off, but I think this gives at least the gist of what I'm looking for - a simple way to markup or draw images which are of the type that you need to draw to explain some technical concept to someone else in electricity/electronics, but without resorting to full-blown CAD software or doing a schematic (that a lot of people can't read anyways).
Some things I've tried: Snagit editor hits most of the points here, but their line tool is atrocious. Smartdraw has a good line tool (except alternating color options), but is pretty dismal everywhere else. Visio is just a PITA licensing wise and it isn't really what I'm looking for. I've tried various CAD packages, but that's CAD and either you spend a lot of time doing 3D or you end up with a mechanical drawing which isn't the goal here. Photoshop and similar tools are too feature rich (but they're great if you want to do it all by hand). I could go on, but I won't.
So, anyone have a quick drawing tool they like which allows them to produce good looking drawings without a lot of work?
Alex Eisenhut:
I would say Libre Office Draw but it's a huge install and slow and lumbering, but does get you a drawing package that I think might do the job
NiHaoMike:
Have you tried Dia or Inkscape?
CatalinaWOW:
PowerPoint was what I used before I retired. In corporate environments licensing isn't an issue. It checks most of your boxes, but is weak on the connecting line feature. I have little experience with LibreOffice Draw but it should come close. Recent releases of LibreOffice are not as slow and clunky as earlier versions.
Both these programs are relatively easily accessible by the recipients of your material, a big advantage over the more specialized stuff out there.
jonpaul:
We used old JASC Paintshop Pro 7
free ... decades old.
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro-7-0
Jon
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version