Getting started

What's new

• Version 0.11 Release notes : Check what's new in the 0.11 release of FreeCAD
• Version 0.12 Release notes : Check what's new in the 0.12 release of FreeCAD
• Version 0.13 Release notes : Check what's new in the 0.13 release of FreeCAD

Foreword

FreeCAD is a 3D CAD/CAE parametric modeling application. It is primarily made for mechanical design, but also serves all other uses where you need to model 3D objects with precision and control over modeling history.

FreeCAD is still in the early stages of development, so, although it already offers you a large (and growing) list of features, much is still missing, specially comparing it to commercial solutions, and you might not find it developed enough yet for use in production environment. Still, there is a fast-growing community of enthusiastic users, and you can already find many examples of quality projects developed with FreeCAD.

Like all open-source projects, the FreeCAD project is not a one-way work delivered to you by its developers. It depends much on its community to grow, gain features, and stabilize (get bugs fixed). So don't forget this when starting to use FreeCAD, if you like it, you can directly influence and help the project!

And if after testing you have feedback, ideas or opinions, please share it with us on the FreeCAD discussion forum!

Installing

First of all (if not done already) download and install FreeCAD. See the Download page for information about current versions and updates. There are install packages ready for Windows (.msi), Ubuntu & Debian (.deb) openSUSE (.rpm) and Mac OSX. As FreeCAD is open-source, if you are adventurous, but want to have a look at the brand-new features being developed right now, you can also grab the source code and compile FreeCAD yourself.

Exploring FreeCAD

1. The 3D view, showing the contents of your document
2. The tree view, which shows the hierarchy and construction history of all the objects in your document
3. The properties editor, which allows you to view and modify properties of the selected object(s)
4. The output window, which is where FreeCAD prints messages, warnings and errors
5. The python console, where all the commands executed by FreeCAD are printed, and where you can enter python code
6. The workbench selector, where you select the active workbench

The main concept behind the FreeCAD interface is that it is separated into workbenches. A workbench is a collection of tools suited for a specific task, such as working with meshes, or drawing 2D objects, or constrained sketches. You can switch the current workbench with the workbench selector (6). You can customize the tools included in each workbench, add tools from other workbenches or even self-created tools, that we call macros. There is also a generic workbench which gathers the most commonly used tools from other workbenches, called the conplete workbench.

When you start FreeCAD for the first time, you are presented with the start center:

The Start Center allows you to quickly jump to one of the most common workbenches, open one of the recent files, or see the latest news from the FreeCAD world. You can change the default workbench in the preferences.

Navigating in the 3D space

FreeCAD has four different navigation modes available, that change the way you use your mouse to interact with the objects in the 3D view and the view itself. One of them is specifically made for touchpads, where the middle mouse button is not used. The following table describes the default mode, called CAD Navigation (You can quickly change the current navigation mode by right-clicking on an empty area of the 3D view):

{{{Select_name}}}	{{{Pan_name}}}	{{{Zoom_name}}}	{{{Rotate_view_name}}}	{{{Rotate_view_alt_name}}}
{{{Select_text}}}	{{{Pan_text}}}	{{{Zoom_text}}}	{{{Rotate_view_text}}}	{{{Rotate_view_alt_text}}}
	{{{Ctrl}}}+	{{{Ctrl}}}+{{{Shift}}}+	{{{Shift}}}+
	{{{Pan_mode_text}}}	{{{Zoom_mode_text}}}	{{{Rotate_view_mode_text}}}

You also have several view presets (top view, front view, etc) available in the View menu and on the View toolbar, and by numeric shortcuts (1, 2, etc...)

2D Drafting

This template is now obsolete and is directly include in the original page Draft_Module

All adding or modification must be done in the original page Draft_Module

2018/05/28

Drawing objects

These are tools for creating objects.

• Line: Draws a line segment between 2 points
• Wire: Draws a line made of multiple line segments (polyline)
• Circle: Draws a circle from center and radius
• Arc: Draws an arc segment from center, radius, start angle and end angle
• Ellipse: Draws an ellipse from two corner points
• Polygon: Draws a regular polygon from a center and a radius
• Rectangle: Draws a rectangle from 2 opposite points
• Text: Draws a multi-line text annotation
• Dimension: Draws a dimension annotation
• BSpline: Draws a B-Spline from a series of points
• Point: Inserts a point object
• ShapeString: The ShapeString tool inserts a compound shape representing a text string at a given point in the current document
• Facebinder: Creates a new object from selected faces on existing objects
• Bezier Curve: Draws a Bezier curve from a series of points
• Label: Places a label with an arrow pointing to a selected element introduced in version 0.17

Modifying objects

These are tools for modifying existing objects. They work on selected objects, but if no object is selected, you will be invited to select one.

• Move: Moves object(s) from one location to another
• Rotate: Rotates object(s) from a start angle to an end angle
• Offset: Moves segments of an object about a certain distance
• Trim/Extend (Trimex): Trims or extends an object
• Upgrade: Joins objects into a higher-level object
• Downgrade: Explodes objects into lower-level objects
• Scale: Scales selected object(s) around a base point
• Drawing: Writes selected objects to a Drawing sheet
• Edit: Edits a selected object
• Wire to BSpline: Converts a wire to a BSpline and vice-versa
• Add point: Adds a point to a wire or BSpline
• Delete point: Deletes a point from a wire or BSpline
• Shape 2D View: Creates a 2D object which is a flattened 2D view of another 3D object
• Draft to Sketch: Converts a Draft object to Sketch and vice-versa
• Array: Creates a polar or rectangular array from selected objects
• Path Array: Creates an array of objects by placing the copies along a path
• Clone: Clones the selected objects
• Mirror: Mirrors the selected objects
• Stretch: Stretches the selected objects introduced in version 0.17

Utility tools

Additional tools available via right-click context menu, depending on the selected objects.

• Set working plane: Sets a working plane from a standard view or a selected face
• Finish line: Ends the drawing of the current wire or bspline, without closing it
• Close line: Ends the drawing of the current wire or bspline, and closes it
• Undo line: Undoes the last segment of a line
• Toggle construction mode: Toggles the Draft construction mode on/off
• Toggle continue mode: Toggles the Draft continue mode on/off
• Apply style: Applies the current style and color to selected objects
• Toggle display mode: Switches the display mode of selected objects between "flat lines" and "wireframe"
• Add to group: Quickly adds selected objects to an existing group
• Select group contents: Selects the contents of a selected group
• Toggle snap: Toggles object snapping on/off
• Toggle grid: Toggles the grid on/off
• Show snap bar: Shows/hides the snapping toolbar
• Heal: Heals problematic Draft objects found in very old files
• Flip Dimension: Flips the orientation of the text of a dimension
• VisGroup: Creates a VisGroup in the current document
• Slope: Changes the slope of selected Lines or Wires introduced in version 0.17
• AutoGroup: Automatically place new objects in a given group introduced in version 0.17
• Set Working Plane Proxy: Add a proxy object in the document to store a Working Plane position introduced in version 0.17
• Add to Construction group: Add selected objects to the Construction group introduced in version 0.17

Preferences

• Preferences...: Preferences disposable in Draft Tools.

Exporting to 2D Drawings

This template is now obsolete and is directly include in the original page Drawing Module

All adding or modification must be done in the original page Drawing Module

2018/05/28

These are tools for creating, configuring and exporting 2D drawing sheets

• Open scalable vector graphic: Opens a drawing sheet previously saved as an SVG file
• New A3 landscape drawing: Creates a new drawing sheet from FreeCAD's default A3 template
• Insert a view: Inserts a view of the selected object in the active drawing sheet
• Annotation: Adds an annotation to the current drawing sheet
• Clip: Adds a clip group to the current drawing sheet
• Open Browser: Opens a preview of the current sheet in the browser
• Ortho Views: Automatically creates orthographic views of an object on the current drawing sheet
• Symbol: Adds the contents of a SVG file as a symbol on the current drawing sheet
• Draft View: Inserts a special Draft view of the selected object in the current drawing sheet
• Spreadsheet View: Inserts a view of a selected spreadsheet in the current drawing sheet
• Save sheet: Saves the current sheet as a SVG file
• Project Shape: Creates a projection of the selected object (Source) in the 3D view.

Exporting to external renderers

This page will be deleted by an administrator!

Reason for deletion: No pages link to this template so it can be deleted. The tools have been integrated into the main document Raytracing Workbench.

Scripting

And finally, one of the most powerful features of FreeCAD is the scripting environment. From the integrated python console (or from any other external Python script), you can gain access to almost any part of FreeCAD, create or modify geometry, modify the representation of those objects in the 3D scene or access and modify the FreeCAD interface. Python scripting can also be used in macros, which provide an easy method to create custom commands.

Previous: Install on Mac

Next: Mouse Model

Index

Available translations of this page: Template:Se