best way to draw up plans and distribute them?

[hulkster]

i didnt know what forum to put this in, so mods, sorry if its in the wrong one.  anyway, ive made my measurements on the showcase cab and am ready to distribute them...only problem is, i dont know the best way to do it.  i dont have photoshop or anything like that...all i have is paint.  i was going to take the pictures of each piece and then draw the measurements on them, but it looks like crap.  so i need help.  i want them to be easy to decipher....what do most people do?

[SirPoonga]

Well, the best thing to do is use some cas program.  There are other alternatives that have been discussed ont hese forums.

The best way to distribute, over the net, is put the documents in a pdf file.  Or if you happen to use autocad post the autocad file.  I think there is a free viewer for autocad files on autocad's website, not sure though.

[hulkster]

okay, so this autocad thing is a program which i can draw my dimensions and stuff?

[ras2a]

http://www.bravaviewer.com/freeautocad.htm

or possibly:

http://www.infograph.com/products/dwgviewer/

Autodesk did do their own software (Volo View Express) for viewing and markup purposes but this has been discontinued methinks

Craig

[ras2a]

okay, so this autocad thing is a program which i can draw my dimensions and stuff?

it certainly is.  It's a drafting tool.  But it's pretty expensive unless you know a friend who will let you 'use' thier copy...

Craig

[mahuti]

You can use Adobe Illustrator. You can download the trial, which is usable for 30 days.

There is also a tutorial on how to use it here

It will probably suit your purposes very well. You can easily draw strait lines & boxes with it, and put type (ie. measurements) on it easily as well.

You can then save out to a variety of formats.

[SirPoonga]

In the other thread I linked to qcad and freecad (from sourceforge).

[ras2a]

Thanks for the link mahuti.  Superb tutorial by frostillicus

[hulkster]

eh.....maybe im just lazy but i dont really want to learn a program im only going to use for like 15 minutes.  i may just end up doing it in paint or something, unless somebody wants to draw this for me.  i already have the pictures you can go by, and the measurements so it would just be me telling what section is what.  just a thought.

[DrewKaree]

Hulkster, i already PM'd you, dunno which you'll read first.  I'm willing and able to do this for you.