# Any online (free) CAD programs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291 "2010-01-24T23:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/1 "2010-01-24T23:37:42Z")
I’m thinking about building a cabinet for my TV and components. Are there any good websites that have any sort of free CAD or blueprinting programs to use? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/2 "2010-01-24T23:45:05Z")
Google’s SketchUp is good. I’ve used it a lot, and there are tons of on-line resources for it. ---
**Author:** ![Spezza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Spezza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spezza)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/3 "2010-01-25T13:22:03Z")
DeltaCad is free for demo. We use it for diagrams of customizations at the furniture store I work at. Although it can be pretty technical, it can also be used simply for sketching something up. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/4 "2010-01-25T13:44:33Z")
Huh. I was pretty excited about Google’s offering, because I love Google. But I quickly found something out - I am not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I have NO idea what I’m doing! 🙂 I’ll check out DeltaCad and see if there’s a moron mode. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/5 "2010-01-25T14:34:10Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > But I quickly found something out - I am not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I have NO idea what I’m doing! Trust me, if you can master MS Excel, you have more than enough brainpower for CAD. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/6 "2010-01-25T14:42:47Z")
Ikea has a free CAD program for designing rooms using their cabinets. It’s easy to use, and works will (Windows only). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/7 "2010-01-25T14:54:35Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > Trust me, if you can master MS Excel, you have more than enough brainpower for CAD. I’ll give it another shot. I’m REALLY good at excel. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/8 "2010-01-25T14:59:30Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I’ll give it another shot. I’m REALLY good at excel. Try hunting the web for some tutorials that show you different features _visually_. For example, here’s some from youtube: [http://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=sketchup+tutorial&search\_type=&aq=0&oq=sketchup](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sketchup+tutorial&search_type=&aq=0&oq=sketchup) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/9 "2010-01-25T22:25:02Z")
[Draft IT](http://www.cadlogic.com/products/draftit/) is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/10 "2010-01-25T23:34:03Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Huh. I was pretty excited about Google’s offering, because I love Google. But I quickly found something out - I am not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I have NO idea what I’m doing! 🙂 I’ll check out DeltaCad and see if there’s a moron mode. It’s pretty intuitive, but there are zillions of short tutorials on YouTube if you need some help. Basically a video, on-line, SketchUp for Dummies. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-online-free-cad-programs/526291/11 "2010-01-26T23:18:48Z")
After trying many free CAD programs for 7+ years, Sketch-Up is the 2nd easiest to use if you’re self taught. The only one I’ve found that is easier is [BlockCAD](http://web.telia.com/~u16122508/proglego.htm), which is basically on-line Lego (but cool).