Reviews

• Value: "For value, Vdraft is difficult to beat."

  CADALYST, November 2000

• A First: "Vdraft is the first CAD system on the market with support for AutoCAD 2000 drawings. Vdraft works directly with AutoCAD 2000 as well as older drawings and DXF files with no translation, maintaining 100% of the drawing information."

  Architectural CADD News, April 9, 1999 (full review)

• Best AutoCAD Drawing Compatibility: "Of the non-Autodesk CAD packages [FelixCAD, IntelliCAD, TurboCAD, and Vdraft], Vdraft did the best job of displaying the DWG file."

  	AutoCAD LT 98	FelixCAD 4.0	IntelliCAD 98b	TurboCAD 5.1	Vdraft 2.0
  DWG Objects Displayed	1	5	3	4	2
  Displayed Correctly	1	5	3	4	2

  1 = best
  5 = worst
  A lower score means greater compatibility with AutoCAD Release 14
  

  Ralph Grabowski, Cadence, January 1999

• Ease of Use: "Vdraft is easy to use and affordable." "The system is easily learned whether you are an AutoCAD user or not."

  "You can publish drawings to the Web via Vdraft's Internet and intranet tools." "You can also copy and paste from Web-published drawings right into Vdraft." "Because Vdraft is MAPI compliant, you can send a drawing from Vdraft to another user as an email attachment."

  Dale Evans, Cadence, September 1998 (full review)

• A better way: "A better way to draw and swap files between different CAD systems is with a new program called Vdraft. It solves the drawing file compatibility problem and several others by storing drawings in the .DWG format, just as AutoCAD does. And if you know AutoCAD, you already know a lot about Vdraft."

  "I loaded 15 [drawings] on a Pentium 90 with little change in performance. Five more drawings produced no appreciable performance hit. This is a big plus over CAD systems which require launching separate sessions for every drawing to be edited."

  edited by Paul Dvorak, Machine Design, February 5, 1998 (full review)

• 100% accuracy for AutoCAD drawings: "...none can read DWG files with 100 percent accuracy...with the exception of AutoCAD LT and Vdraft where DWG is the native file format."

  "Because Vdraft (like AutoCAD LT) uses DWG as its native file format, translation does not occur. This means the AutoCAD file you see in Vdraft is a 100 percent accurate representation..."

  Vdraft was rated as the fastest CAD system at loading an AutoCAD drawing for editing. It was twice as fast as the next closest (AutoCAD R14) and 136 times as fast as Visio.

  CAD Package Time (min.:sec.) AutoCAD R14 0:27 AutoCAD LT 97 0:27 AutoCAD LT 95 0:51 DesignCAD 1:28 DynaCADD 0:39 Imagineer (view only) 0:25 Imagineer (editable) 4:53 MicroStation 0:36 TurboCAD 0:35 Vdraft 0:12 Visio (view only) 1:40 Visio (editable) 27:11

  Ralph Grabowski, CADENCE, December 1997

• Intuitive to use: "Vdraft shows what AutoCAD could be if it were redesigned."

  "Vdraft ($495 list), from long-time AutoCAD third-party developer SoftSource, is the only non-Autodesk package here that offers 100 percent AutoCAD .DWG file compatibility, thanks to its use of .DWG as its native format. The program then does AutoCAD one better by allowing users to open multiple drawings and by providing an extrememly intuitive interface that behaves much like AutoCAD (but is easier to use)."

  "...Vdraft deserves some serious consideration."

  David S. Cohn, PC Magazine, December 2, 1997
  For those of you who have read the review, here are responses by John Lynch and Scott Taylor. These appeared as letters to the editor in the February 24, 1998 issue.

• Use for additional CAD seats: "Vdraft's ability to read and write native AutoCAD files makes it an ideal choice for the large firm that needs additional CAD seats to supplement their existing major CAD system, or for small firms that don't want to make the large investment on one of the major CAD systems. Version 1.5 is a solid CAD program, providing the essential components needed in a production environment."

  Robert M. Pasley, PE, POB, November 1997

• Great program for AutoCAD users: "I couldn't help thinking as I worked with this program that if Autodesk had been able to bring it out and call it 'AutoCAD Release 13' they would have had a lot more friends! This is simply a great program that belongs on the hard disk of any AutoCAD user."

  David Byrnes, CAD Systems, November 1997 (first review of Vdraft v1.5)

• Refreshing: "Virtual Drafter, or Vdraft as it is usually called, is refreshingly simple, versatile and affordable."

  "Vdraft takes a new approach in working with AutoCAD drawings, but still lets you work much like you do in AutoCAD."

  Dale E. Evans, commissioned by CADENCE (full review)

• Many firsts for versatile package: "By far, Vdraft's most compelling feature is the ability to open multiple drawing files, each in its own window within Vdraft's main window. This also allows one to print or plot drawings in rapid succession, a feature I found very useful, as I may have as many as 30 or more drawings to print on any given job."

  "Vdraft is a versatile drafting package which has accomplished many firsts with its ability to work with drawing files created with AutoCAD. I would recommend Vdraft to AutoCAD users and non-users alike, if you need the ability to quickly edit drawings files, whether you have AutoCAD or not, Vdraft will make a useful addition to anyone's arsenal of software."

  Virgil G. Richards, DESIGN DRAFTING News, DESIGN DRAFTING News (full review)

• No translation: "...Vdraft's unique feature is that it does not just have the capability of reading and writing DWG files; it actually uses that format as its own data format. Hence it is the only system other than the actual AutoCAD that does not have to translate the DWG format to and from its own internal representation. This obviously should remove any doubts about interchange compatibility."

  "It is probably more easily learned by a newcomer to CAD than AutoCAD, but is sufficiently similar to allow an established AutoCAD expert to work productively with very little familarisation."

  Geoff Harrod, Muti-CAD, September 1997 (full article)

• Vdraft is a better deal: "SoftSource has worked with Autodesk to produce the DWG translators for Autodesk's AutoSketch and (now no longer available) Generic CADD software. Due to a complicated history of licensing agreements, SoftSource ended up with permission to use the DWG file format for its own competitive CAD package."

  "At about the price of AutoCAD LT for Windows 95, Vdraft is a better deal, especially for those who use AutoCAD for 2-D drafting."

  Ralph Grabowski, Government Best Buys, September 1, 1997

• Perfect AutoCAD DWG: "Vdraft was nearly twice as fast in every category when compared to AutoCAD R13."

  "Users can open AutoCAD files within Vdraft without translating them. I found that this process leads to perfect imports, with layers, colors, hatching, text, and dashed lines all preserved. Even blocks, Xrefs, and 3D objects came over as they were created in AutoCAD. Paperspace and all modelspace ports - sometimes lost in DXF/DWG translations - were also preserved."

  Joe Greco, Computer-Aided Engineering, September 1997

• Features: "The program includes graphics cues for object snap points, block and Xref preview before and during insertion, dynamic feedback, cursor tips and property toolbars."

  Windows Magazine September 1997

• Ease of use: "...Vdraft expands on AutoCAD, offering an interface that behaves much like AutoCAD's, but is easier and more intuitive to use."

  "Vdraft feels comfortable as soon as it starts up."

  David S. Cohn, Desktop Engineering, August 1997 (full article)

• Vdraft speaks English: "Unlike some programs I had no trouble deciphering the icons . . . Even more impressive, this program 'speaks' English. The command to create a block is 'Create Block.' "

  "I appreciated that I really didn't have to learn anything to get right down to work. I think Vdraft will make a lot of people very happy."

  Adena Schutzberg, Viewpoints, August 1997 (The Newsletter of the Greater Boston Autodesk User's Group)

• Product of the Month: "Vdraft. . .the first program produced outside of Autodesk that can create and edit AutoCAD drawings and DXF files in their native format with no translation."

  NASA Tech Briefs July 1997 (full article)

• Cut and paste: "Each drawing opens in its own window, and you can cut, copy, and paste between AutoCAD and Vdraft."

  CADENCE July 1997

• Complete AutoCAD compatibility: "Bill Plummer. . .says no translation ranks number one on his list of favorite features: 'Vdraft creates a completely compatible DWG file. Period, end of discussion, no exceptions!'"

  Computer-Aided Engineering June 1997

• Ease-of-use: "Ordinarily, we are not impressed with third-party products that tout themselves as being equal or superior to the bigger products they are supposed to be supporting, but we have come across a notable exception - Vdraft from SoftSource - an AutoCAD drawing editor."

  "From an ease of use standpoint, many users will probably prefer Vdraft over AutoCAD and its sibling, AutoCAD LT, for editing AutoCAD drawings, owing much to its simplified and streamlined user interface."

  A-E-C Automation, May 1997 Volume 21, Issue 5

• "Vdraft supports direct editing of AutoCAD drawings and DXF files in their native format, without translation, as well as simultaneous loading and editing of multiple drawings..."

  ENT (Windows NT Enterprise Computing), May 7, 1997

• "Vdraft ($495) includes a detailed properties box for each drawing object, context-sensitive pop-up menus with options for dynamically drawing and manipulating objects and DWG/DXF and SVF plug-in formats."

  CADalyst, September 1996

• "[Vdraft] bundles web tools for Netscape Navigator to add plug-ins supporting DXF, DWG and SVF formats embedded into web pages."

  Personal Engineering, September 1996

• "SoftSource based Vdraft on DXE (Drawing eXchange Engine), its AutoCAD read-write API (Applications Programming Interface), used by the world's largest CAD companies."

  "Vdraft's single Properties command is equal to four AutoCAD object property commands (DdModify, DdChProp, ChProp, and Change). Unlike AutoCAD, Vdraft is not burdened by separate tiers of redundant commands for the same action in different contexts - the result of AutoCAD's evolution from character-based UI to GUI."

  Ralph Grabowski, CAD++VRML, February 1996

• "Sausalito [Vdraft] natively displays and edits .DXF files, the industry standard for exchanging information among CAD systems, and it can also work natively with AutoCAD's .DWG file format."

  A/E/C SYSTEMS Computer Solutions, January-February 1994

• "Industry observers and users praised the entry of SoftSource into the CAD market with a package that will compete with Autodesk's product."

  InfoWorld, November 8, 1993

• Find out what users say.

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