Plan Program

whackflyer

Master member
Hey guys, I’ve started getting interested in doing some of my own design work and making printable plans now that I know more about the hobby and build techniques etc. I’m looking for a free, easy to use 2d cad program for designing my own plans that can be saved as a PDF and printed. I know there’s probably other threads out there, if you know of one you can post a link if you want. I need something really easy to use as I’m gonna be designing relatively simple planes and just want something to learn on and get started.

Vaughn
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
A lot of people use Inkscape, I use sketchup, it’s not nearly as powerful as adobe or similar, but for simple stuff it works. I tried Inkscape but got frustrated at it and went back to sketchup.
 

whackflyer

Master member
What were your complaints about Inkscape? I need some pros and cons thrown out there so I can choose the best program😎
 

clolsonus

Well-known member
I tried freecad drafting/drawing mode and got frustrated with it. For whatever reason my brain had an easier time with inkscape. I have used the python interface to freecad to write little scripts that constructed 3d objects, but 2d drawing in freecad was over my paygrade apparently. :) I managed to import my inkscape wing plan into corel draw and laser cut both a left and right so that was exciting. Now I need to work on the fuselage which will be a trickier shape I think.
 
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Paracodespoder

Elite member
What were your complaints about Inkscape? I need some pros and cons thrown out there so I can choose the best program😎
I didn’t mess with it much but I had trouble getting curves right, also I couldn’t figure out how to measure a line while drawing the line.
One thing that I did like about Inkscape over sketchup, you can import 3-views off the internet, with sketchup you can’t, at least with the free version (I don’t have the latest version because it’s not free, I don’t know if you can or can’t import files off the internet into it).
My advice to all is this, try all the drawing programs you can and use what works best for you.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I may be showing my age here but I still use Open Office which has a drawing program that is great at doing 2D drawings and exporting to PDF.

Cost nothing! Simple Interface and the ability to use co-ordinates, and vectors. So simple to me anyway!

I have Freecad, Inkscape, and a few others but the Open Office is the quickest as well as also being my freehand scratch pad for testing looks and ideas!

Just what I do!

have fun!
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
Hey guys, I’ve started getting interested in doing some of my own design work and making printable plans now that I know more about the hobby and build techniques etc. I’m looking for a free, easy to use 2d cad program for designing my own plans that can be saved as a PDF and printed. I know there’s probably other threads out there, if you know of one you can post a link if you want. I need something really easy to use as I’m gonna be designing relatively simple planes and just want something to learn on and get started.

Vaughn

I use Inkscape, its hard to get into but watch some tutorials, such as Nerdnic's design courses and keep the FAQ open and it shouldn't be much trouble.
 

whackflyer

Master member
Thanks for the in depth replies guys, that what I'm looking for. I downloaded Inkscape and will be doing some research and stuff about how to run it. Looking forward to being able to make my own plans!
 

MarioGdV

Active member
I use AutoCad, which is free if you're a student. But you can use the students version without being an actual student. They don't ask you any sort of information. I just had to write the name of my School, but I guess you can select a random School and it will work. I recommend AutoCad, it's quite famous so there are a lot of tutorials in YouTube, but you don't really need to watch them, it's really intuitive. It took me a few days to get used to it. I've never used Inkscape though, but people say it's good as well. Good luck!
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
I didn’t mess with it much but I had trouble getting curves right, also I couldn’t figure out how to measure a line while drawing the line.
One thing that I did like about Inkscape over sketchup, you can import 3-views off the internet, with sketchup you can’t, at least with the free version (I don’t have the latest version because it’s not free, I don’t know if you can or can’t import files off the internet into it).
My advice to all is this, try all the drawing programs you can and use what works best for you.

Although I can't speak for the latest free Sketchup version, older free versions (which you can still download) have no problems importing graphics such as three views.
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
Although I can't speak for the latest free Sketchup version, older free versions (which you can still download) have no problems importing graphics such as three views.
Hmm, I might have to check, I haven’t tried to for quite some time and I have gotten better at using it. I’ll check back in sometime within a few days and say wether or not the version I have will.
 

whackflyer

Master member
I tried Inkscape and just got frustrated with it, so I got a free trial of Fusion 360. I've designed a FT Arrow like wing with a KF step airfoil. I cannot figure out how to convert a DXF to PDF without getting the size all messed up. I used some of the online converters but they all make it way too small. What do you guys do?

Edit: I used Inkscape to open the .DXF and converted it to a .PDF, problem solved!
 
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