Making Your Own Photo Etch Parts. What Software?

General Discussion General Modeling Discussion
1

I have been researching how to make your own photo etch parts which by the way has changed since I remember some 17 yrs. ago. My question to any one here doing this is, what CAD program do you use and how do you like it, pros. cons. alternatives. I have seen various programs , some cheap some not. With so many programs and price ranges out there it would be nice to know what works well for the money.

Thanks

2

any inexpensive CAD program will work as will any illustration proogram that is vector-based, that is not a photoshop type program. you need layers for making any indents like the sunken part in the middle of a kitchen cabinet. i use VISIO which is inexpensive and not promoted as a technical drawing program but i have been doing detailed technical drawings in it for 12 years below is a railing sample and a cross-section to show what the program is capable of.

3

waynec

That rail drawing is the type of delicate work I would be looking to do. Although less than say Auto CAD its still more than I would like to spend. Depending on edition , prices range from $150 up to $600. I did come accross a 2001 edition for $19 , open box ( any good? ). Any opinion about Turbo CAD, VIA CAD, Coral CAD . In the end if Visio is the way to go I will def. consider it.

Thanks for your input .

4

hi rx

the color drawing was for folks who may be aware of VISIO but not think it’s powerful enough. i know you were more interested in the railing drawing.

VISIO 2013 is on amazon for $300 but you can get earlier versions cheaper. i still use 2003 for my work.

VISIO allows you to easily draw lines and give them thicknesses to 3 decimal points which is what you need. you can also get very specific on placement. it supports all the export files.

it is much easier to learn than a CAD program and gives you more options for colors (though not to the extent of the pricier ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR). there are tons of books out there to learn it too.

i have not used any of the less expensive CAD programs so can’t comment on them.

another consideration is open source free drawing software just to get an idea about different types of drawing programs.

5

I’m going to look into Visio some more .

Again thanks for your input.

6

First, a disclaimer: I’ve never used Visio and I’ve never made photoetched parts. Now, that said, I would think you do need a vector based CAD program to do it well. I like, and use, TurboCad and if you do some searching you can find older versions (still capable of what you want - you only need 2D) inexpensively or for free. Lines down to .002 (printerl imit??). If you’ve never used CAD though, be aware of the steep learning curve (at least for me).

7

I’ve never done PE from CAD software, but I have a fair amount of experience with AutoCAD, and ditto the advice on the learning curve for any CAD program. As a suggestion, you can download Google Sketch-up for free to see if drawing your parts is worth the time it takes to acquire the skills. There’s a lot of user support for Sketch-up as well, and a lot of people find that it’s adequate for their needs. If you find you like the process, you’ll be better able to judge how much more it’s worth to get a more sophisticated drawing program.

8

Thanks guys ,

Here’s the article that gives the process I want to emulate.

www.starshipmodeler.com/…/fh_pe.htm

Bick,

I think your right 2D should suffice for what I want to do.

mrmike,

I will check out Google Sketch

Thanks

9

not starting a flame war here but VISIO, like ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR and CORELDRAW, is vector based. i just drew a line .001" wide and .866" long. i have used all of these plus ACAD and 3DS MAX and i think VISIO is the cheapest and easiest to learn.

10

that looks like a neat site to investigate.

11

Here you go.

www.starshipmodeler.com/…/fh_pe.htm

12

I taught myself VISIO at lunchtime at work. It is a great program. I call it AUTOCAD for idiots. It is almost like Microsoft Word but for drawing. I highly recommend it.

13

I bought the Micro Mark kit awhile ago. Only used it to do stuff for two models in the three years I have had it. It is an awful lot of work! However, for those projects, for one I used Autosketch, a cheaper 2D CAD program by AutoCAD for those of us not drawing professionally. For the other I used a photo editing program. Most of these can create art as well as edit. Just not as precise a control of dimensions. I made each part as a seperate file, to control size, then pasted them all on one drawing for making the fret image.

14

thanks for the site… if you get VISO don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions. like most programs i don’t know everything about it but, as you can see from my drawings, i do a lot of technical drawing so the drawing part is quite familiar.

15

Very nice drawing! I personally use AutoCAD and CorelDraw. Actually I use ProgeCAD which is a AutoCAD emulator.

16

ProgeCAD is free for personal use. But like AutoCAD, there is a somewhat steep learning curve.