Switched from AutoCAD to DraftSight after 5 years and I'm not looking back

My old boss swore by AutoCAD but after I started using DraftSight for a residential project last month the file sizes dropped by half and it just felt less clunky. Anyone else find a cheaper alternative that actually works better?

4 comments

4 Comments

angela_morgan20d ago

Omg same here, it's like when you switch from brand name meds to generic and they work even better for half the price.

troyknight19d ago

Are you sure the shortcut thing is that big of a deal though? I switched from AutoCAD to DraftSight a few years back and honestly I just remapped maybe 3 or 4 keys and called it a day. The rest of the stuff I just learned as I went since muscle memory kicks in pretty quick after a week or two. And the file size thing, I mean how big are we talking here? Most of my clients are fine with a standard zip folder of DWGs and nobody's complained about storage yet. Might just be me being old school but I don't see the need to keep both programs around for a whole month unless you're running some super complex project.

the_holly19d ago

Remapped maybe 3 or 4 keys" - yeah but that's exactly my point, some of us have like 50+ shortcuts ingrained for years.

wendy_henderson2120d ago

Have you tried messing with the workspace settings in DraftSight to match your old AutoCAD shortcuts... I did that and it made the switch way smoother. The file size difference is a big deal though, especially when you're emailing drawings back and forth with clients who don't have tons of storage. I ended up keeping both programs for about a month just in case but after that I never opened AutoCAD again.