It's B-a-a-a-ack: AutoSketch

What with the likes of the mysterious A/CAD, the competent Bricscad, and the $0 progCAD nibbling at its underbelly -- and with AutoCAD LT selling like hotcakes on a cold November night -- Autodesk has resurrected AutoSketch for $190 on its 21th anniversary -- again as Autodesk's lowest-end (but not cheapest) CAD program.

(AutoSketch has a splendid history, being programmed by the legendary John Walker and a couple of co-workers in the late 80s in just a couple of months, apparently to prove that Autodesk could still whip up software fast. I think it was priced at $79 back then.)

AutoSketch was the first Autodesk program to feature dialog boxes and dropdown menus, which were later added to AutoCAD in Release 9. But 'Sketch had all kinds of limitations, such as just 10 numbered layers and its own file format. Autodesk updated it a few times over the years, but then let LT take over the "low-cost" mantle, which, at $1,200, is really expensive, compared with other office software.

And now 'Sketch's back. I am surprised that Autodesk is selling AutoSketch 10, what with the free version of Inventor (LT) being far more capable. What you get for your $190  is "elementary" 2D drafting with "basic" CAD tools, saving in DWG 2004-8 formats (not 2009), reading back to DWG v2.5, and working with the unpopular Vista operating system. Customization seems to be limited to editing toolbars.

Downloadable from the Autodesk Web site at www.autodesk.com/autosketch .

Comments

[Deelip Menezes]

Ralph: "saving in DWG 2004-8 formats (not 2009)"

AutoCAD 2007, 2008 and 2009 use the same DWG format. Did you mean 2004-6?

[Len]

The original Autosketch was designed in house as you described. However Autodesk bought Drafix, stripped the macros out of it and renamed it as Autosketch 6.

Drafix/Autosketch was a great program that we used for many years. But with the the macros removed, DWG files that were not 100% readable in AutoCAD and little real support or upgrades from Autodesk, we ended up moving on to the reasonably priced and capable Bricscad.

Why has Autodesk waited so long to update their low end 2D program? Will people that have moved on to other programs return to Autosketch? I know we won't.

[Devon T. Sowell]

Autosketch, heh...

I still have my disc from 1997. I used it in college. My 'final' was ink on velum. I created all the views and text in Autosketch and then traced over it for an A. I told my instructor... his reply? I can't hear you! :-)

Devon