6 Reasons You Should Be Using CAD Over Manual Drafting

CAD stands for Computer-aided Design, and using cad software is far easier and less time-consuming than creating drafts manually. But there are many other benefits to choosing CAD over manual drafting. Let’s take a look at six of them in a bit more detail.

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1. Accessibility And Storage

Unlike manual drafts, you won’t need to file your CAD draft away in a folder and keep it in a cabinet to make sure it’s safe. With CAD drafting, all you need to do to store the draft is save it on a computer server or in the cloud so that you can access it any time you want.

As an added bonus, you can pick up where you left off on your CAD draft – all you need is a stable internet connection. With manual drafting, the chances of losing or damaging an important draft are much higher.

2. 3D Illustrations And Virtual Representation

For engineers, architects, and contractors, 3D illustrations are an excellent way to create an accurate representation of a structure.

Manually creating 3D representations, while possible, takes much more time than creating them digitally, and the results will never be as clean as a 3D structure designed with CAD software. 3D structures created with CAD appear more realistic and allow viewers to experience and visualize them more completely.

With CAD, architecture 3D modeling, 3D animation walkthroughs, and other visualizations are easier to create.

3. Easy Revisions

Manually drafting structures on paper requires a lot of precision, and work will need to be manually erased when errors occur or when the client asks for changes.  Erasing and re-drawing structures with precise measurements can be both frustrating and time-consuming, which can lead to more errors.

In contrast, drafting with CAD’s advanced editing tools makes it much easier to make multiple modifications and changes with just a few clicks of the mouse.

4. Environmentally Friendly

The world is becoming more conscious about our impact on the environment, and with the growing climate crisis, reducing our carbon footprint any way we can has never been more important.

It is necessary for manual drafts to be created on paper, but drafts created on CAD are created digitally, which means they can be stored, used, reviewed, and distributed electronically – there is no need for paper.

5. Easy Reproduction

Drafters used to take hours or even days to reproduce drawings because they had to start them right from the beginning. With CAD, drafts can be copied instantly, and you can make as many copies as you want.

CAD software is also exceptionally good at mirroring and rotating drafts, which means that it’s easier to reproduce elements of other drawings. A drafter using CAD software can copy elements between open drawings with the copy-paste feature.

6. Simulate Mechanisms Accurately

3D CAD algorithms can be used to accurately simulate mechanisms like moving parts, so you can check that these elements are functional before creating a prototype structure. On the other hand, manual drafts can’t simulate mechanisms.

If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.

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