ZWCAD software, as a highly reliable and powerful CAD tool, meets the needs of 2D/3D design & drafting industry, including architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), mechanics, electronics...and anyone who creates CAD drawings.

Find out what's new in ZWCAD 2008i.

Basic Features

1. Compatibility

DWG Support

ZWCAD’s native file format is DWG, so it can open, edit, and save any existing DWG file generated by DWG Versions from 2.5 to 2007, without conversions or data loss. Therefore, ZWCAD is compatible with a wide range AutoCAD®-generated content.

Command and Alias
The command and alias procedures of ZWCAD are also compatible to AutoCAD®.

Friendly User Interface
The arrangement of menu, toolbars, drawing area, command line and properties palette, and the arrangement of dialog boxes, is similar to AutoCAD®, letting AutoCAD® -trained users able to work immediately with ZWCAD.

Resource Files
All the resource files from mainstream CAD platforms can be used in ZWCAD, such as Windows TTF or SHX fonts, linetypes (.lin), hatch patterns (.pat), slides (.sld) and unit files (.unt).

Creating and Modifying 3D Models
Use ZWCAD to create simple 3D models of your designs. You modify 3D shapes through commands such as Union, Subtract, Intersect and so on.

Programming with ZWCAD
LISP, VBA, SDS and DRX provide interfaces for customizing and extending ZWCAD. LISP is a programming language designed for extending and customizing ZWCAD functionality. Microsoft VBA is an object-oriented programming environment designed to provide rich development capabilities similar to those of Visual Basic 6 (VB). The main difference between VBA and VB is that VBA runs in the same process space as ZWCAD, providing a faster programming environment. SDS is an acronym for Solutions Development System, a C/C++ language interface compatible with ADS® (AutoCAD® Development System) and interfaces found in other CAD systems.

2. Features

Export
You can export your current drawing to bmp, wmf, emf, svg, dwf, eps, pdf and sat formats with the Export command.

Audit and Recover
By using Recover or Audit, you can recover some or all of the data in a damaged drawing file. When a drawing was saved improperly, such as during a program crash, you can use Recover to protect your work.

Layer Properties Manager
Layer management is used to freeze or thaw, lock or unlock, and modify various properties of layers. Any current layer state can be archived in States Manager for reuse in other projects.

Linetype Manager
Linetype Manager allows you to add a new linetype from existing linetype file (.lin). You can also change the name and description of a linetype and specify Global scale factor or Current object scale factor to achieve the proper size. It is easy to separate different linetypes by Linetype Filters, which contains a comprehensive list of linetypes.

Lineweight Settings
ZWCAD supports different lineweights, allowing you to display them by different scale factors. You can also set a default lineweight for every new drawing.

Text
There are multi-line text and single-line text capabilities in ZWCAD for annotation of drawings, with options for text style, font and metrics. You can create as many text objects as you need with these text styles. ZWCAD is also able to create texts fit to any arc with the “Arctext” command.

Drawing
The majority of drawing commands in ZWCAD are compatible to those in AutoCAD®. Those already familiar with AutoCAD® commands and features can draw in ZWCAD without much re-learning.

Editing
ZWCAD contains a full set of editing tools to modify both ZWCAD- and AutoCAD®-generated documents. Standard functions include: copy, move, array, mirror, offset, trim, and so on.

Dimensioning
While editing objects in ZWCAD, you may make a dimension-by-dimension command series. With ZWCAD, you can easily manage different dimension styles within your project.

Xref Manager
Attach external references to your current drawing with Xref Manager. Link the referenced drawing to the current drawing; if you make any changes to referenced drawings, the current drawing will be updated automatically when re-loaded.

Block and Attribute
Create blocks and save them into your current drawing or as an external file. You can also create blocks with attributes which can be extracted to an external file if necessary.

Raster Image Manager
ZWCAD lists all the image files associated with a drawing, along with details such as pixel width, color depth, resolution, and the file path. Raster Image Manager allows you to attach new image files and detach, locate, reload, and unload attached images within your drawing.

View Ports
View ports are areas that display different views of your model. As you work in the Model tab, you can split the drawing area into one or more adjacent rectangular views known as View Ports. ZWCAD is able to save your view ports configuration for use in future drawings.

Real-Time Zoom and Pan
Instantly switch to different detailed views of a drawing.

Unlimited Undo/Redo
ZWCAD history allows you to "Undo" and "Redo" actions unlimitedly. When there are frequently changes, it is often more convenient to backstep instead of deleting and redrawing.

Plotting
You can print your drawings easily by selecting your settings in the plot dialog box. ZWCAD supports CBT plot style and page setup, allowing you to set your default plotter type, paper size, plot area, plot scale and so on.

Advanced Features

Publish
Publish provides an easy way to create either a hard copy set of drawings or an electronic drawing set via DWF. With the Publish function, you can assemble a collection of drawings, specify their plot information through page setup, and the drawings will print in sequence automatically. You can greatly increase your efficiency with this function, eliminating the need to open and print each document separately.

Auto Track
Auto Track consists of Polar Tracking and Object Snap Tracking, which help you to snap difficult points more easily. When you turn on Polar Tracking and Object Snap Tracking, temporary alignment paths attach lines at precise positions and angles.

Plot Style Support
Change the color and lineweight of objects universally through a batch process. With CTB Plot Styles in ZWCAD, you can adjust lineweights and colors all at once before printing.

Multi-Language Support in Mtext Editor
Multiple languages like Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese etc. are allowed to be inputted and displayed at the same time. It is convenient for cooperation of international users. You can enter and edit texts with your preferred languages and send it to your international co-worker while he can use his preferred languages to communicate with you.

WMF Support
WMF (Windows Metafile Format) files are frequently used as a raster image to express object’s character. In ZWCAD, you can insert a WMF file into a drawing file with the Wmfin command.

Reference and Attribute Modifying
Modify external references and redefine block definitions by using in-place reference editing. You can edit attributes of blocks by using the Attedit command.

Quick Select
Using Quick Select function in ZWCAD, you can filter selection sets by property (such as color) or by object type. You can quickly define a selection set based on the filtering criteria you specify.

MLine & MLedit
Multi-line is an easy way to create an object composed of multiple parallel lines. You can define your own multi-line style and save for later use. You can edit these defaults with the mledit tools.

Wipeout
Now, you can create a wipeout to masks underlying objects with the current background color. It is a polygonal area that is bounded by the wipeout frame, which you