FreeCAD 1.0.0 – Final for Win, Mac, Linux

FreeCAD is a parametric 3D CAD modeler and drawing tool designed primarily for mechanical engineering and product design. It is a general-purpose, feature-based application suitable for CAD, MCAD, CAx, CAE, and PLM. While its main focus is mechanical engineering and product design, it is versatile enough to support other engineering fields, such as architecture and other specialized disciplines.

It is 100% open-source and highly modular, enabling advanced customization and extension. The software can import various file formats, including DXF, DWG, SVG, STP, STEP, IGS, IGES, and others. You can also start a new document from scratch.

FreeCAD supports 2D objects such as lines, rectangles, arcs, and circles and offers various 3D primitives, including boxes, spheres, cylinders, cones, and tori. These objects can be manipulated in multiple ways, including translation, rotation, mirroring, scaling, and offsetting.

Additionally, FreeCAD offers a variety of mesh tools, a drawing module for exporting projected views of your geometry as 2D SVG documents, and a raytracing module for exporting your work for rendering in POV-Ray.

Python code powers the entire system. Every action performed within the interface generates a corresponding Python command, which can be reviewed. Users can freely enter Python commands for added flexibility or create macros by recording useful Python scripts for later use.

FreeCAD is built on the robust OpenCasCade geometry kernel, which includes an Open Inventor-compliant 3D scene representation model. The Coin3D library and a comprehensive Python API support this model. The interface, powered by the Qt toolkit, ensures consistent functionality across Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

FreeCAD Key Features:

• A whole Open CASCADE Technology-based geometry kernel permitting complicated 3D operations on complicated form varieties. With native support for ideas like brep, NURBS curves, and surfaces. A variety of geometric entities, boolean operations, and fillets, and built-in support of STEP and IGES formats
• A full parametric model. All FreeCAD Software objects are natively parametric. That means their form could be primarily based on properties and even rely upon different objects. All adjustments are recalculated on-demand and recorded by the undo/redo stack.
• A modular architecture that permits plugins (modules) to add performance to the core software.
• Import and export to standard formats. Such as STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, DXF, SVG, STL, DAE, IFC or OFF, NASTRAN, and VRML. In addition to FreeCAD’s native Fcstd file format.
• A sketcher with a constraint solver, enabling the creation of geometry-constrained 2D shapes. The sketcher currently allows the creation of several types of constrained geometry, which can also be used as a base to build other objects within FreeCAD.
• A Robot simulation module that permits learning robotic actions. The robotic module already has a prolonged graphical interface allowing a GUI-only workflow.
• A drawing sheets module that allows you to place 2D views of your 3D models onto a sheet. This module then produces ready-to-export SVG or PDF sheets. While still in development, the module already features powerful Python functionality.
• A Rendering module that may export 3D objects for rendering with exterior renderers. It currently solely supports Pvray and LuxRender; however, it will likely be extended to other renderers sooner or later.
• An Architecture module that permits BIM-like workflow, with IFC compatibility.