Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Easy Architectural plans app
- Thread starter zoran
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I´m not sure what exactly your demands are.
Try Sweet Home 3D.
Then there is FreeCAD. It´s not an especially easy to learn tool, but a real CAD app.
Sometimes the tools you already know, might be easier to use for one-time planning. I´m thinking of Affinity Designer, Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.
Try Sweet Home 3D.
Then there is FreeCAD. It´s not an especially easy to learn tool, but a real CAD app.
Sometimes the tools you already know, might be easier to use for one-time planning. I´m thinking of Affinity Designer, Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.
Yes, I tried Sweet Home 3D and FreeCAD a couple of times.
I don´t use them very often, as I didn´t have any real project to make use of them, yet.
For FreeCAD take a look at the Arch Workbench and the Arch tutorial to get a jump start.
Sweet Home 3D should be quite self-explaining.
I don´t use them very often, as I didn´t have any real project to make use of them, yet.
For FreeCAD take a look at the Arch Workbench and the Arch tutorial to get a jump start.
Sweet Home 3D should be quite self-explaining.
Today, after installing the latest FreeCAD version, I had crashes on startup.
Just some macOS versions seem to be affected.
The bug is discussed here with suggestions of alternate installers:
github.com
For now, I keep using my old FreeCAD version 0.19-24291, which is working fine for me, until I´ll find more time to do the upgrade. Did FreeCAD start up without crashing on your macOS?
Just some macOS versions seem to be affected.
The bug is discussed here with suggestions of alternate installers:
[Problem] FreeCAD doesn't start on MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 · Issue #10090 · FreeCAD/FreeCAD
Is there an existing issue for this? I have searched the existing issues Full version info Can't get to that point Subproject(s) affected? None Problem description Checked #9465 and maybe it's rela...
github.com
Not sure if this would work for you, as I don’t believe it allows you to import CAD files.
It does, however, do a good job of creating floor plans.
Live Home 3D
Excuse me if I’m making users to wonder with my request, i’m just curious to see the floor plans that those suggested apps can produce… I assure you that there’s nothing nothing suspicious regarding my request, I’m just curious. 🙂
Two of the suggested Apps above are completely free, Sweet Home 3D and FreeCAD. Just grab them, install them and play around and see if they suite your needs.
#buttongerald . I don’t want to see how they work, obviously I would do as you say if I wanted to see their usability.
I want to see how a floor plan they create looks.
A part of a floor plan, a screenshot, is enough if someone wants to share 🙂
I want to see how a floor plan they create looks.
A part of a floor plan, a screenshot, is enough if someone wants to share 🙂
What are you doing? Do you need to make real plans that will go to the city building department to be approved for a permit? Or maybe you just want to draw a kind of sketch for your own use or to show to a contractor who will draw the real plans. Do you need the software to just draw 2D plans or do you want a 3d render, complete with furniture and flooring? Do you think you might use this software for other kinds of design other than architecture?
All real CAD apps have a steep learning curve. But they are also very much general purpose. You could use it for architecture or for mechanical design for industrial robots. Most of the best of these apps run on Windows. But on a Mac, there are three free 3D CAD aps that are quite good. (1) FreeCAD www.freecad.org and (2) Onshape https://www.onshape.com/en/. (3) Autodesk's Fusion360 is free for personal use. https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal-form-v2
All are versatile enough that you could design parts for car or room additions to a house.
There is also a class if apps inteded for use by home owners to plan and help visualize hoome contruction projects. These are all very spaecialize and will do only that one thing. None are free and as I see it one is as good as another.
Halfway between these is "Sketchup" https://www.sketchup.com/try-sketchup#for-personal
It is relatively easy to learn compared to "real CAD" and you can do some visualization with it. There is a free version and a paid version.
I want to make real plans but not for aprooval from the city building dpt. I just want something for the contractor to have as a guide so he can begin to build. 2D plans are enough for me, im not really interested for 3D visuals. I guess it would be a plus if the app had graphic element templates like beds, couches, bathtubs, sinks in order to be used.
Last edited:
Have you considered Shapr3D? You can create up to 2 designs for free (which if you export you can repeatedly overwrite) Its a lot like AutoCAD and Fusion 360 in that it can be used for both technical drawing and 3D work. If you'r eonly drawing plans you won't find an easier app. Works across Windows, MacOS and iPad. The iPad app works just as well on an 8th/9th Gen model as it does on a Pro.
It also allows for the importing of mesh files. I use Scaniverse as part of my job and its brilliant at LiDAR room scans. You can either dimension the scan in scaniverse or export it as a .obj file and then import it into Shapr3D to trace over to create plans. Scaniverse is *completely free* with no ads, IAP or scan limitations. It requires an iPhone or iPad with LiDAR.
I'm a little late to this thread. I'm a longtime architect using Mac CAD but have been retired for 17 years now so I no longe need CAD other than as a hobby. I got started with the Mac in 1984 because of WYSIWYG the first time in drawing and CAD. I once tried them all and my first was PowerDraw, now PowerCadd by Engineered Software, engsw.com because not only see what you draw as printed but it was extremely easy to use and capable as drawing on a drafting table by hand. They have a demo on their website.
For my hobby efforts now and when I do want to personally convey my creations, for 3D I use SketchUp 3D. It is capable to draw in 2D as well and think the easiest 3D to use.
For just strictly 2D I have been using Microspot MacDraft Pro, microspot.com which is another WYSIWYG Cad program. It is not as sophisticated as PowerCADD, but is simpler because of that. They too have a demo to try. Not a house plan but similar is my drawing for a camper van RV in MacDraft Pro. This is a working drawing with dimensions and with the same drawing by turning layers on and off, a graphic illustration.
For my hobby efforts now and when I do want to personally convey my creations, for 3D I use SketchUp 3D. It is capable to draw in 2D as well and think the easiest 3D to use.
For just strictly 2D I have been using Microspot MacDraft Pro, microspot.com which is another WYSIWYG Cad program. It is not as sophisticated as PowerCADD, but is simpler because of that. They too have a demo to try. Not a house plan but similar is my drawing for a camper van RV in MacDraft Pro. This is a working drawing with dimensions and with the same drawing by turning layers on and off, a graphic illustration.