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IntelliCAD 2000 for Free

Editor's Note: Feb 2002 -Since this article was published, the free version of IntelliCAD has been withdrawn. A low-cost version is available -  IntelliCAD Standard Edition. See Resource Center below.

Geoff Harrod

IntelliCAD made a considerable impression when initially released by the Visio Corporation. IntelliCAD 98 was designed to be completely interchangeable with AutoCAD R14. Now IntelliCAD 2000 is available for free if you know where to look and are satisfied with what it has to deliver.

In fact IntelliCAD was never a 100% compatible system. It lacked the 3D solid-modeling facilities and TrueType fonts of AutoCAD R14, but they were just about the only bits missing. It did provide full surface-based 3D, rendering, raster image overlay and, most significantly, the ability to use LISP programs. I think the main market support for IntelliCAD came from the large number of people who could not afford the high price of AutoCAD R14 but who wanted LISP, which Autodesk have steadfastly refused to put into their low priced version, AutoCAD LT.

The initial release of IntelliCAD 98 had several defects and missing features but over five updates in quick succession, delivered free to original buyers, all problems were fixed and most of the wanted features added. One item that was never added was the ability to use TrueType text fonts. Visio announced that the 98e patch would be the last update and the next release would be IntelliCAD 2000.

But before that happened, Visio surprised everyone by hiving off IntelliCAD to a form of ‘Open Source’ distribution scheme rather like Linux uses. Suddenly the continued availability of IntelliCAD as a buyable product seemed in doubt. It seemed likely it would be mainly distributed as a CAD ’engine’ for incorporation within other companies’ specialised CAD products. Then soon after came a second surprise – the sale of the Visio company and its Visio products to Microsoft.

The default screen layout is very wasteful of space especially on 800x600 screens which are very likely to be used by cost-conscious users or on portables. But you can change it a lot and the next view shows my own scheme for 800x600.

IntelliCAD was handed over to a new body called the IntelliCAD Technical Consortium (ITC). The ITC provides its members with access to the IntelliCAD 2000 source code. Commercial (fee-paying) members also have the right to market commercial builds of IntelliCAD 2000. One of those members is the Australian company Struc Plus Pty Ltd. Its md Peter Coburn also sits on the ITC board. A full list of commercial members is available on the ITC website. Anyone can become a member of the ITC and compile their own build of IntelliCAD 2000. A smarter option, especially for those without the necessary programming knowledge and compiler software is to get hold of a ready-to-run version of IntelliCAD 2000. CADopia provides a basic version of IntelliCAD 2000 on the Web as a free download. So now the new version of IntelliCAD is indeed available, and at no direct cost.

To download the software you must register on the CADopia website. You will then be able to access the download which is a 13Mb EXE setup file. The full 457-page user manual is supplied as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file and is another 13Mb download.

The 13Mb self-extracting/installing distribution file installs IntelliCAD 2000 over 29Mb of disk space. This is a basic version of IntelliCAD that does not include raster file support, shading and rendering, and only includes a limited selection of fonts. VBA is also not included. The excluded functionality is provided by third party modules who, not surprisingly, don't allow their software components to be given away free. 

So what do you get for free? Lots. This new version does disappoint me in some respects, but there is no denying that it offers powerful CAD capability at a price you can’t refuse. The disappointments for me stem from my expectations of its marketing alignment with AutoCAD 2000, considering the product’s name, and the fact that the previous version, IntelliCAD 98, was a pretty faithful copy of AutoCAD R14, the version prior to AutoCAD 2000.

But IntelliCAD 2000 falls a long way short of replicating AutoCAD. In fact, it is really a slightly enhanced version of IntelliCAD 98 with the ability to handle AutoCAD 2000 DWG files.

Autodesk made a lot of big changes and added a lot of new features from R14 to 2000 (and LT 2000). Almost none of those are in IntelliCAD 2000. There is no auto-snap, object tracking, multiple PaperSpaces (now called Layouts in AC2000), Lineweights, Design Center, or the vastly changed and rather complex but versatile new plotting systems. IntelliCAD 98 did have enhanced interfaces for several AutoCAD functions, such as the pop-up ‘object property sheets’, and significantly, AutoCAD now does those things similarly in 2000.

The default toolbars use the very effective flyout system extensively, which I think is better than AutoCAD's default system.

I found an unexpected behaviour in the file compatibility. If you open a DWG file created in R14 or earlier or in IntelliCAD 98, IntelliCAD 2000 behaves the same as 98 – it lets you SaveAs any version of DWG file back to AutoCAD 2.5, which is better than AutoCAD does. But if you open a DWG file of AutoCAD 2000 format, you cannot save it as any earlier version, not even earlier DXF versions.

When opening DWG files created in AutoCAD 2000 and using new features, such as the sample files provided with AutoCAD 2000, IntelliCAD 2000 seems to handle features it does not support by ignoring them but preserving them in the file so that they still work if later opened in AutoCAD. But this would most likely give rise to problems if exchanging work with others.

Lineweights are ignored in the display, and cannot be accessed in the plot setup, which remains identical to 98’s. The Layout defined as the first ‘tab’ in AutoCAD becomes IntelliCAD’s PaperSpace, and any additional Layouts are ignored. It cannot handle AutoCAD’s new non-rectangular Layout viewports, and surprisingly, still cannot handle R14 or 2000 clipped x-refs. IntelliCAD 2000 has added support for Windows TrueType fonts in its text. IntelliCAD 98 had a much better 3D view control than AutoCAD R14’s frustrating and awkward DView. That is still the same, but is not as convenient as the new 3Dorbit control in AutoCAD 2000.

IntelliCAD's 3D View setting system is much better than AutoCAD R14's Dview, but has not been changed from IntelliCAD 98 and is not as good as AutoCAD 2000's new 3Dorbit system. 

Although the free version of IntelliCAD 2000 does not have the 3D rendering engine that was in 98 but does provide simple flat color shading – no Gouraud or Phong shading. Oddly, there is no mention of Shade in the help or the menus, but if you type SHADE it works!

I found there were several ‘buglets’ – program misbehaviours that made operation awkward but didn’t actually upset the results. For example, turning Toolbars on and off didn’t work properly. No doubt there will be a bug-fix patch to clean up those minor rough edges.

This free download version will be a wonderful opportunity for impecunious students, schools and others to get their hands legally on a really good, powerful 2D/3D CAD system. Despite the deficiencies I mentioned compared to AutoCAD 2000, it is a very capable system that would serve many users very well for serious work, and do all they want.

In its own right IntelliCAD 2000 is an excellent CAD product, but it is definitely not an AutoCAD 2000 equivalent. It is really a further incremental refinement on IntelliCAD 98e. While IntelliCAD 98 made some inroads on AutoCAD sales in design offices that wanted more ‘seats’ to supplement their AutoCAD R14 licences, I don’t see how IntelliCAD 2000 could be reliably used in parallel with copies of AutoCAD 2000. There are too many differences, despite the DWG file compatibility.

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