Also unexpected for users of AutoCAD and its clones: pressing the spacebar puts TurboCAD into select mode. Instead, use the Finish option to finish commands: you can press Ctrl+Enter, or else right-click and then select Finish. In this way, it operates as a kind of Undo command.
Another for instance: after I draw a circle, and then select it, I can easily turn it in an arc using grips.Ĭareful with the Cancel command, however: it ends a command, as you expect, but then erases what you drew, as you might not expect. For instance, construction lines work the way I would expect them to work in a mature CAD package: TurboCAD draws the semi- and infinite lines on their own locked layer with a light blue color and dot-dash linetype. I’ve already mentioned Polyline, and then there’s others for drawing parallel lines, tangent ones, and bisected ones. Whereas AutoCAD has a single Line command whose resulting entities are modified by subsequent editing commands, TurboCAD has 14. Alternatively, have AutoConstrain turned on, so that entities connect, provided your next pick point is close enough. You overcome this by using the Polyline command, which draws connected lines until you finish the command. Another twist is that Line draws single segments. In TurboCAD, the default command is Line, instead of Select as in AutoCAD. In general, you will find that TurboCAD has a richer set of drafting commands than does AutoCAD, and more ways of working with entities. The icons change modes, such as the viewing angle or the working plane, while the context menu provides command options.įigure 4: A right-click produces this comprehensive toolbar and context menu.
Right-clicking the mouse in the drawing area at any time presents an impressive display of icons and a small context menu. Others are different, such as the Style Manager, a one-stop shop for editing text, table, multileader, and other styles – instead of AutoCAD’s approach of a different dialog box for each style. Some are the ones you might expect to see, such as placing blocks and editing materials. On the right edge of the screen are a few of the palettes that make up TurboCAD’s collection. Like the status bar, it allows you to lock values by clicking the tiny padlock icons. You override values by entering numbers or clicking icons for options use the spin boxes to increment and decrement values. It reports the current values and options for the drawing command underway. Notice the small boxes above the X, Y, and Z in figure 2: click them to lock the coordinates.įigure 3: The Inspector Bar reports entity values and lets you overrule them.Īssociated with the status bar is the Inspector Bar. Instead, TurboCAD communicates with you with prompts on the status bar, which also shows useful information like X,Y,Z coordinates. Sensibly, there is no ribbon.įigure 2: The status bar reports prompts, coordinates, and other status information. After all, the quickest way to peruse what a new CAD package has to offer is by paging through its menu bar. Otherwise, the UI is the way I like it: toolbars, menu bars, palettes, scroll bars, and a status bar. (To get away from it, right-click a toolbar, choose the Options tab, click Styles and Themes, and then select TurboCAD Classic or another theme.)įigure 1: The default user interface for TurboCAD Pro 19 New to TurboCAD Pro 19 is the black user interface, which does nothing for me. In addition, there is a Mac version, but it is a different program. In this review, I’ll comment on how TurboCAD Pro differs from AutoCAD, as many readers are already familiar with it.įor those who would rather run a CAD package that more closely mimics the AutoCAD way of doing things but don’t want to pay $4,000 – or $1300 for the rather limited AutoCAD LT – IMSI/Design also offers TurboCAD LTE Pro. Early on, AutoCAD emerged as the standard, and during the last two decades a half-dozen or more CAD packages paid homage by mimicking the leader as much as possible.
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Now it’s 2012 and desktop CAD software hasn’t changed fundamentally: a drawing area surrounded by UI elements controlled by a keyboard and/or mouse. Indeed, the name comes from the TurboPascal programming language. TurboCAD sprang out of the cauldron of the mid-1980s excitement that was developing all kinds of computer-aided design packages for the then-new personal computer. Behind these promotions was the idea that once IMSI could get people to try it, they’d like it, and then pay for the upgrades and add-ons. TurboCAD is probably second only to AutoCAD in name recognition in our industry, but not necessarily as favorable a one due to the image it has attained from IMSI’s decades-long marketing blitzes.
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