ActCAD supports many file formats directly and through import and export options as shown in above image. All dwg & dxf files from R2 to latest 2018 version are supported.
ActCAD is easy to learn and use. ActCAD incorporates a user interface, commands, icons and shortcuts similar to that used by the most popular (but much more expensive) CAD programs. The HELP feature will assist you in learning ActCAD commands. The TIP OF THE DAY provides helpful information when ">ActCAD starts.
In ActCAD you can create and edit tables very easily. There is a provision to import an external CSV to table and to export CAD table data to an external CSV file.
ActCAD has a very powerful Print & Plot dialog with all popular options. It has all features like .ctb, .stb, page size, resolutions, pc3 file saving etc. while printing.
In ActCAD, you can open any existing vector PDF file directly and edit the entities just like a normal CAD drawing. All you have to do is to select the PDF file and click OK. ActCAD will convert the file to DXF at same location of original pdf and with same name.
ActCAD uses ACIS 3D Kernel from 3D Spatial. The 3D data is fully compatible with dwg and dxf data without any loss.
ActCAD Drawings Converter works outside ActCAD to convert a bunch of dwg/dxf/dgn files from one format to another. This converter support all file versions from R2 to 2018. This conversion process is much faster compared to above tool and offers many additional functions.
While working on design projects, you may have to convert some engineering units frequently. ActCAD has a ready tool inside add-on menu for easy unit conversions for all common engineering units.
At ActCAD we release maintenance patches regularly to keep the technology up-to-date in your computer. All you have to do is click on Check for Updates command to automatically download most latest version. All you have to do is click on Check for Updates command in ActCAD.
ActCAD comes with about 15 International languages viz., English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Turkish etc. You can change your preferred language in Tools > Options > Display tab > change language.
ActCAD supports both Classic Menu Style interface as well as modern Ribbon style interface. The tabs are organized in a systematic manner for each command group. It is easy to find the commands on ribbons with mouse clicks rather than length drop down menus. Command prompt will work as usual with all shortcuts and aliases.
ActCAD explorer is advanced tool to explore layers, blocks, line-types, dimension styles, text styles and many more at one place. You can copy the styles from one drawing to another simply by dragging and dropping them. Inserting new items, deletion, editing etc. are all possible in this dialog.
XREF Manger is very useful to manage external references used in a drawing. You can attach or detach references to drawing using this dialog. XREFs are powerful means to link drawings without adding up the size. Also they maintain associativity between linked drawings. You can view the XREFs either as normal list or ladder structure.
PDF underlay tool allows you to insert PDF files into current drawing. There is a provision to select a page to be inserted into drawing. Scale of inserted PDF can be changed as needed in all x, y and z directions. Rotation is also possible.
DGN files can be wither opened directly in ActCAD or inserted as underlays. All the options are similar to PDF underlay and associativity will be maintained with original DGN file.
DWF is a Design Web Format file used to easily communicate drawings with others. They are light weight and easy to share with others without having complete drawing information. If you need to take any reference from DWF files, you can attach them to any drawing using DWF underlay.
ActCAD supports standard dwg text styles. You can edit existing text styles and create any number of new styles. You can browse all available text styles in ActCAD Explorer. Easy to apply text styles to all drawing annotations including dimensions with one edit. Copy styles from one drawing to another simply by dragging & dropping in ActCAD explorer.
ActCAD supports customization using AUTO-LISP, DCL, .NET (VB/C#/VC++), IRX, TX, SDS and COM automation. A separate developer tool kit is available for download on request. Complete Developer Help is included in ActCAD for your reference and Customization.
ActCAD has ARCTEXT command to create and edit curved text in your drawing. You can apply many text and alignment styles in this dialog. You can double click on existing ARCTEXT and change its parent arc apart from editing other parameters.
From ActCAD you can export both 2D & 3D PDF files from active drawing. It has options like Layer support, orientation, resolution, embedding fonts and many more. The 3D PDF file can be viewed in free Adobe Acrobat Reader with many 3D options.
ActCAD has all new customize dialog in 2018 in which you can load your custom menus, aliases, cui files, tool bars etc. These settings will remain in ActCAD as long as you reset your profile.
ActCAD has all new breakline command with block support option. You can easily create breaklines in your drawing with standard breakline symbol or any custom block symbol.
ActCAD has all new array dialog with all familiar options for rectangular and circular patterns. This dialog support both 2D & 3d arrays. Array orientation option also available for circular patterns.
ActCAD support many fields in drawing such as author, file name, date, project etc. The new Field dialog is very useful to manage your drawing fields at one place.
ActCAD has about 562 RGB colors defined it in to apply to your drawing entities like text, lines, hatch, solids etc. This will increase the compatibility with drawings created in other software. More RGB values are useful for attractive presentation drawings.
ActCAD has thousands of commands, functions and system variable in-built in it. Remembering all these commands and variables is very difficult. The autocomplete options is very useful for standard users to show the commands and variables starting the letters typed in command.
ActCAD has powerful 3d point cloud import options for .pcb and .isd files. You can select Point Cloud Underlay option in Insert menu/ribbon and select desired file to import. There is a provision to select insertion point and rotation angle.
All versions of ActCAD has both 64bit and 32bit installers. 64bit versions are capable of utilizing multiple cores and multiple threads of your CPU. Operations will be faster by 30% in 64bit software especially in large drawings.
Annotative objects are useful to get different sizes of entities like text, hatch, dimensions , tolerances, blocks etc. in multiple viewports. You can define many annotative scales for these objects and call one of them in layout/viewport. This will ensure correct display of scales in viewports.