LibreCAD is a

computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

(CAD)

application Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

for 2D design. It is

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

, and available for

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

, and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...

operating systems. Most of the interface and handle concepts are analogous to

AutoCAD AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...

, making it easier to use for users with experience in this type of commercial CAD application.

History

Around 2010, the QCAD Community Edition v2.0.5.0 was

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

ed to start the development of what is now known as LibreCAD. Originally, the GUI was based on Qt3 libraries. Currently, the

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

of LibreCAD is based on

Qt5 Qt (pronounced "cute") is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems wi ...

libraries, so it can run on several platforms in the same way.

Features

LibreCAD is available in over 30 languages. It uses the AutoCAD DXF file format internally for import and save files, as well as allowing export to many other file formats.

File formats

As of version 2.2.0, LibreCAD is capable of reading and writing the following

file format A file format is a standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary or free. Some file format ...

s: Open File or Import Block * CAD : DXF, DWG, JWW * CAD font : LFF, CXF Import Image * Vector image : SVG, SVGZ * Bitmap image : BMP, CUR, GIF, ICNS,

ICO is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ued ...

, JPEG, JPG, PBM, PGM, PNG, PPM, TGA, TIF, TIFF, WBMP, WEBP, XBM, XPM Save File * CAD : DXF (2007), DXF (2004), DXF (2000), DXF (R14), DXF (R12) * CAD font : LFF, CXF Export *

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

* Vector image : SVG, CAM (Plain SVG) * Bitmap image : BMP, CUR, ICNS, ICO, JPG, PBM, PGM, PNG, PPM, TIF, WBMP, WEBP, XBM, XPM

GPLv3 vs GPLv2 controversy

The

GNU LibreDWG GNU LibreDWG is a software library programmed in C to manage DWG computer files, native proprietary format of computer-aided design software AutoCAD. It aims to be a free software replacement for the OpenDWG libraries. The project is managed ...

library is released under

GPLv3 The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...

, so it cannot be used by GPLv2-licensed LibreCAD (and FreeCAD) because their licenses are incompatible. A request also went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2, which was rejected. This controversy has been resolved by writing a new GPLv2-licensed library called ''libdxfrw'', with more complete DWG support.

References

External links