Due to my last job demands, I was searching for an alternative to AutoCAD that could do the same job. Between many different choices I had, one caught my eye. It was the ProgeCAD that I have written about before.
As we were part of iCare, a help desk program from ProgeCAD, we could receive (and still do) 24/7 help for one year. In addition to these for one year we could have all the updates for the program. So far so good. But for my surprise, last month we also received the latest version of the software, the ProgeCAD 2020.
I can say that I was amazed by the newest version. If you compare the 2019 and the 2020 version, you will find hardly any differences but the update lays underneath. What I have found so far is:
- The 2020 version is way way way smoother than the previous one.
- There are no interruption and crashes of the software (not that many that it gets annoying).
- It is way faster. If it detects a slow process it even asks the user if they want the program to try and make the process faster.
Here is a video for all the updates of the newest version:
On the contrary there is one thing that is a bit worse than the previous version and this is HATCH. It might crash the program or freeze it for some minutes. I cannot understand why it has so much complex processes for simple hatching. It is recommended before hatching, saving the drawing first.
Things that haven’t change and I would prefer to be updated are:
- selection tool. It doesn’t offer the fence selection or any other type but only re rectangular.
- The PDF to DWG for vector pdf drawings. This hasn’t changed either and it is still an external function more than an internal “in the drawing” one. It converts the whole pdf to dwg than selected. In addition, imported PDFs in the drawing are still treated as pictures and not as vectors and there is no way to snap on them. AutoCAD is way better on handling the vector PDFs.
- Sometimes the keyboard seems that it is not responding and shortcuts not to work. I found out that by pressing the ALT button twice it resolves this problem.
As a conclusion I can say that this is the best version for ProgeCAD so far and it really worth every pound spending for this software. Beware of the crashes that may happen sometimes but now they are way less than the previous version. If you manage to work with a CAD software as a tool and not as your basic job (like Quantity Surveyors etc.) it is totally recommended and at these prices tags it is unbeatable. Although, I wouldn’t recommend it if drafting is your main job as it may crash more often than AutoCAD and you may lose work that cost you hours of drafting.