Has Anyone Tried MAC DRAFT?

Legacy Intaglio
1

. SUMMARY: There’s a British program named MACDRAFT which has been around since 1984.

Several reviewers have reported MacDraft being similar to MacDraw and ClarisDraw.

I used an early version MYSELF “on the job” back in the early 1990’s when we were running MacDraw on MacPlus’s with 3-1/2" floppy disks – and MacDraft could open MacDraw files, and I recall that it operated similarly.

The program today appears to be oriented toward making architectural-type drawings, but can do other scale drawings.
:
:
=== KEY INFO: ===

  • BIG SUR: The MacDraft web page says the latest Version 7 “Includes full Support for MacOS 11 (Big Sur).”

  • TRIAL VERSIONS: Both versions have “TRIAL VERSIONS” that you can try free for 14 days.

2. HISTORY:

Per MacDraft - Wikipedia

“MacDraft is a 2-D computer-aided design (CAD) program for Mac OS X, which can be used to create drafts, illustrations and architectural plans. Unlike pixel-based drawing programs like MacPaint, MacDraft is object-based.”

“MacDraft was first released in 1984 by Innovative Data design.[1] A later version was called Dreams, but this nomenclature did not last long. The MacDraft program was later acquired by Microspot, an English software company, and its latest version is called MacDraft Professional.”

3. LINKS:

You can search Youtube for “macdraft macintosh drawing program” for more videos from other people.

There’s a video of an EARLY Version 1.2b MacDraft program at Apple Macintosh - MacDraft v1.2 by Innovative Data design - YouTube , and you probably can see the similarity to MacDraw.

4. TWO VERSIONS OF MACDRAFT:

The “Professional” version is $399, MacDraft Professional | Powerful 2D CAD, drafting, technical illustration and more for Mac | Microspot Ltd. .

The “Personal Edition” is $99, MacDraft Personal Edition | Powerful 2D CAD, drafting, technical illustration and more for Mac | Microspot Ltd. .

Both versions appear to do scale drawings and dimensioning.

  • The Professional version claims to work with SVG files.
  • The Personal Edition does NOT list SVG capability, and reportedly has other limitations.

So an Intaglio user might probably want the Professional version ??, in order to open SVG files.
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R-E-V-I-E-W-S

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  • Following below, are EXCERPTS from several REVIEWS.

  • I got these by Googling “macdraft drawing program”.

  • I picked excerpts in some cases, that mentioned MacDraw or ClarisDraw.

  • Note some of these reviews are a bit dated.

  • Note in Paragraphs 5, 6, & 8 down below; the reviewers compare it to MACDRAW and Claris Cadd (I think they mean CLARISDRAW ??) – which agrees with my long-ago experience.

5. MACUPDATE.COM

Guest
Mar 4 2005

  • “I just had a try to the Draft-Demo. I am very happy, because this app is very easy to use, similar to my beloved Classic Claris-CAD…)”
6. AMAZON REVIEW - PERSONAL EDITION:

R. Rollman

5.0 out of 5 stars Best drawing program for Mac.
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2006
Verified Purchase

  • “I had given up looking for a replacement for Claris Cadd after it was discontinued in the early 90’s. MacDraft PE is as good or better than Claris Cadd. I think it is a must have for any Mac user.”
7. AMAZON REVIEW - PROFESSIONAL EDITION:

carl weirich

5.0 out of 5 stars Still used everyday, after 28 years!
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2011

  • “I’ve worked with this program since it first came out with Apple’s Lisa in 1983 and the Mac in 1984. While Apple dropped it from their original software line-up, it hung around with other companies until it was picked up by Microspot in the UK. Even though I only needed basic drawing and drafting tools, it always preformed well for me. Every day I do line drawings for my work and it saves me tons of time and money.”
8. MAC USER REVIEW:  (on Microspot website)

MacDraft 6.1 Review | MacUser Magazine | Microspot Ltd. (2014)

  • "What hasn’t changed is the way it looks and works. If you’re old enough to remember MacDraw, you’ll be right at home with the bitmapped tool icons, simple rulers and rudimentary palettes. If you’re accustomed to the likes of Adobe CC, the lack of polish could feel a bit tedious. "
9. CAPTERRA.COM
  • “Vorteile: I have been using MacDraft for at least 20 years. Over that time, it has become a mature, useful tool for me. Although I have used Autocad before, I find MacDraft so much easier to use and ‘Mac-like’.”

The above is from the 1st review. Note there are EIGHT PAGES of reviews on this site.

10. APP STORE REVIEWS:

There is only 1 review in the App Store for the Personal Edition, and the user gave it a 1-star rating, mainly because he was upset that it did not include templates.

However, as Intaglio user, I’m used to making my own templates – as Intaglio never included any templates that I’m aware of.

There are no App Store reviews for the Professional version.

Intaglio mailing list
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Update your subscriptions at:

2

Hi James. Hope this comes through as I can’t seem to reply on the Softpress discourse.

Yes, I’ve tried/used Macdraft. I used to own a copy too, but Microspot tend to charge on every update
(Probably why they are still going and Purgatory aren’t!). Macdraft is the nearest I’ve come to Intaglio
in a graphics application, and it could in many ways replace Intaglio altogether. But it is also expensive.
The basic version isn’t great. Better to use the full version if you can afford it.

What makes MD better than Intaglio is that for me, it accepted DWG files.

At the moment though I don’t use MD, preferring a combination of QCad and Inkscape.
I of course still have Intaglio working because I’m still on Mojave with an older i7 Mac.
But I think it’s simply a case of modifying some files via the terminal to get it working again.

Hope that helps.

On 18 Aug 2021, at 05:54, James R. Ingram <email@hidden> wrote:

. SUMMARY: There's a British program named MACDRAFT which has been around since 1984.

Several reviewers have reported MacDraft being similar to MacDraw and ClarisDraw.

I used an early version MYSELF "on the job" back in the early 1990's when we were running MacDraw on MacPlus's with 3-1/2" floppy disks -- and MacDraft could open MacDraw files, and I recall that it operated similarly.

The program today appears to be oriented toward making architectural-type drawings, but can do other scale drawings.
:
:
=== KEY INFO: ===

* BIG SUR: The MacDraft web page says the latest Version 7 "Includes full Support for MacOS 11 (Big Sur)."

* TRIAL VERSIONS: Both versions have "TRIAL VERSIONS" that you can try free for 14 days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. HISTORY:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Per MacDraft - Wikipedia

"MacDraft is a 2-D computer-aided design (CAD) program for Mac OS X, which can be used to create drafts, illustrations and architectural plans. Unlike pixel-based drawing programs like MacPaint, MacDraft is object-based."

"MacDraft was first released in 1984 by Innovative Data design.[1] A later version was called Dreams, but this nomenclature did not last long. The MacDraft program was later acquired by Microspot, an English software company, and its latest version is called MacDraft Professional."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. LINKS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Website: https://microspot.com

* Forum: Microspot Forum | Discuss, comment, post and chat | Microspot Ltd.

* Facebook page: Microspot Ltd | Aylesford

* Microspots's MacDraft Youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDdWMIYsgR-w0ib1o6yFEEcGYkDIKnFHW .

You can search Youtube for "macdraft macintosh drawing program" for more videos from other people.

There's a video of an EARLY Version 1.2b MacDraft program at https://youtu.be/TUI2oFGsXqU , and you probably can see the similarity to MacDraw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. TWO VERSIONS OF MACDRAFT:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "Professional" version is $399, MacDraft Professional | Powerful 2D CAD, drafting, technical illustration and more for Mac | Microspot Ltd. .

The "Personal Edition" is $99, MacDraft Personal Edition | Powerful 2D CAD, drafting, technical illustration and more for Mac | Microspot Ltd. .

Both versions appear to do scale drawings and dimensioning.

* The Professional version claims to work with SVG files.
* The Personal Edition does NOT list SVG capability, and reportedly has other limitations.

So an Intaglio user might probably want the Professional version ??, in order to open SVG files.
:
:
############################################
## R-E-V-I-E-W-S
############################################

* Following below, are EXCERPTS from several REVIEWS.
* I got these by Googling "macdraft drawing program".
* I picked excerpts in some cases, that mentioned MacDraw or ClarisDraw.
* Note some of these reviews are a bit dated.

* Note in Paragraphs 5, 6, & 8 down below; the reviewers compare it to MACDRAW and Claris Cadd (I think they mean CLARISDRAW ??) -- which agrees with my long-ago experience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. MACUPDATE.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Download MacDraft Pro | MacUpdate

Guest
Mar 4 2005

* "I just had a try to the Draft-Demo. I am very happy, because this app is very easy to use, similar to my beloved Classic Claris-CAD....)"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. AMAZON REVIEW - PERSONAL EDITION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazon.com

R. Rollman

5.0 out of 5 stars Best drawing program for Mac.
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2006
Verified Purchase

* "I had given up looking for a replacement for Claris Cadd after it was discontinued in the early 90's. MacDraft PE is as good or better than Claris Cadd. I think it is a must have for any Mac user."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. AMAZON REVIEW - PROFESSIONAL EDITION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazon.com

carl weirich

5.0 out of 5 stars Still used everyday, after 28 years!
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2011

* "I've worked with this program since it first came out with Apple's Lisa in 1983 and the Mac in 1984. While Apple dropped it from their original software line-up, it hung around with other companies until it was picked up by Microspot in the UK. Even though I only needed basic drawing and drafting tools, it always preformed well for me. Every day I do line drawings for my work and it saves me tons of time and money."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. MAC USER REVIEW: (on Microspot website)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MacDraft 6.1 Review | MacUser Magazine | Microspot Ltd. (2014)

* "What hasn't changed is the way it looks and works. If you're old enough to remember MacDraw, you'll be right at home with the bitmapped tool icons, simple rulers and rudimentary palettes. If you're accustomed to the likes of Adobe CC, the lack of polish could feel a bit tedious. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. CAPTERRA.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.capterra.com.de/reviews/156430/macdraft-professional-6-2

* "Vorteile: I have been using MacDraft for at least 20 years. Over that time, it has become a mature, useful tool for me. Although I have used Autocad before, I find MacDraft so much easier to use and 'Mac-like'."

The above is from the 1st review. Note there are EIGHT PAGES of reviews on this site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. APP STORE REVIEWS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is only 1 review in the App Store for the Personal Edition, and the user gave it a 1-star rating, mainly because he was upset that it did not include templates.

However, as Intaglio user, I'm used to making my own templates -- as Intaglio never included any templates that I'm aware of.

There are no App Store reviews for the Professional version.

http://MacIntaglio.com
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Information for existing FreewayTalk / Groups.io users - Site Feedback - Softpress Talk

_______________________________________________
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Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

3

TO: Tom Fenn

1. THANKS for posting your note about MacDraft.

It's very interesting to hear feedback, from a recent MacDraft user.

#2. QCAD:

The QCAD you mentioned, I am not familiar with it.

The website is I believe, at QCAD - QCAD: 2D CAD .

Their USER FORUM is at QCAD.org Forum - Index page

From browsing their web page, it appears this is a free trail version:
"These packages contain QCAD, bundled with a free trial of QCAD Professional. The trial runs 15min at a time and can then be restarted."

It appears the full version is about $39 US dollars ??

<<<<>>>>

#3. FYI: QCAD NOT ON MY LIST:

Note QCAD is NOT on the list of Mac vector drawing programs on the MacIntaglio.com web page.

REASON: I searched for "best Macintosh vector drawing program".

If you search instead for "best Macintosh CAD program", you seem to get a DIFFERENT list of programs.

For example, the article 14 Top CAD Software Packages for Mac | Scan2CAD discusses QCAD (Para. 11).

With our INTAGLIO program, we apparently had a lot of BOTH capabilities of drawing and CAD programs.

x

x
x
On 23 Aug 2021, 8:46 am, Tom Fenn wrote:

Hi James. Hope this comes through as I can't seem to reply on the Softpress discourse.

Yes, I've tried/used Macdraft. I used to own a copy too, but Microspot tend to charge on every update
(Probably why they are still going and Purgatory aren't!). Macdraft is the nearest I've come to Intaglio
in a graphics application, and it could in many ways replace Intaglio altogether. But it is also expensive.
The basic version isn't great. Better to use the full version if you can afford it.

What makes MD better than Intaglio is that for me, it accepted DWG files.

At the moment though I don't use MD, preferring a combination of QCad and Inkscape.
I of course still have Intaglio working because I'm still on Mojave with an older i7 Mac.
But I think it's simply a case of modifying some files via the terminal to get it working again.

Hope that helps.

_______________________________________________
Intaglio mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

4

Intaglio isn’t a CAD application. I tried using it as one, but it just wasn’t good at that function. But QCad (which has more in common with AutoCAD) does export SVG which can then be opened up in Intaglio. QCad is also multiplatform and can also be made portable which is extremely handy. But don’t expect anything from QCad to look anything like Intaglio. Two very different programs.

Sent from my iPhone

On 23 Aug 2021, at 21:17, James R. Ingram <email@hidden> wrote:

TO: Tom Fenn

1. THANKS for posting your note about MacDraft.

It's very interesting to hear feedback, from a recent MacDraft user.

#2. QCAD:

The QCAD you mentioned, I am not familiar with it.

The website is I believe, at QCAD - QCAD: 2D CAD .

Their USER FORUM is at QCAD.org Forum - Index page

From browsing their web page, it appears this is a free trail version:
"These packages contain QCAD, bundled with a free trial of QCAD Professional. The trial runs 15min at a time and can then be restarted."

It appears the full version is about $39 US dollars ??

<<<<>>>>

#3. FYI: QCAD NOT ON MY LIST:

Note QCAD is NOT on the list of Mac vector drawing programs on the MacIntaglio.com web page.

REASON: I searched for "best Macintosh vector drawing program".

If you search instead for "best Macintosh CAD program", you seem to get a DIFFERENT list of programs.

For example, the article 14 Top CAD Software Packages for Mac | Scan2CAD discusses QCAD (Para. 11).

With our INTAGLIO program, we apparently had a lot of BOTH capabilities of drawing and CAD programs.

x

x
x
On 23 Aug 2021, 8:46 am, Tom Fenn wrote:

Hi James. Hope this comes through as I can't seem to reply on the Softpress discourse.

Yes, I've tried/used Macdraft. I used to own a copy too, but Microspot tend to charge on every update
(Probably why they are still going and Purgatory aren't!). Macdraft is the nearest I've come to Intaglio
in a graphics application, and it could in many ways replace Intaglio altogether. But it is also expensive.
The basic version isn't great. Better to use the full version if you can afford it.

What makes MD better than Intaglio is that for me, it accepted DWG files.

At the moment though I don't use MD, preferring a combination of QCad and Inkscape.
I of course still have Intaglio working because I'm still on Mojave with an older i7 Mac.
But I think it's simply a case of modifying some files via the terminal to get it working again.

Hope that helps.

_______________________________________________
Intaglio mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
Information for existing FreewayTalk / Groups.io users - Site Feedback - Softpress Talk

_______________________________________________
Intaglio mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
https://freewaytalk.softpress.com/person/options

5

Hi James. I had used MacDraft Pro for a number of years in the past. I haven’t used it for some time now. I used it for creating architectural drawings, and yes, it did import autocar files (DWG, DXF). It was quite basic and a bit crude, but, very simple to use.

I upgraded to ArchiCAD SOLO a few years ago; it is a much more professional CAD software (2D, elevations, 3D solid modelling and BIM), but a steeper learning curve and much more expensive. If you wanted a cheap 2D CAD app, then MacDraft is okay, or try TurboCAD. Regards.