Autodesk releases AutoCAD 2017. Even after 34 years, the software is still improving.
Autodesk has announced the release of AutoCAD 2017. Since its initial release in 1982 AutoCAD has been one of the most widely used CAD products, fulfilling the needs of engineers, civil drafters, architects, and more.
In its latest update, AutoCAD 2017 has addressed various user functionality requests and delivered a number of features that improve everything from workflows to graphics processing.
The first major improvement added to AutoCAD 2017 is its enhanced ability to handle PDFs. Using 2017’s new “Import PDF” feature, users will be able to import geometries, TrueType text, and raster images from a PDF directly into AutoCAD as editable objects. In the past, this type of PDF import was awkward, and often required costly work-arounds. Now, users can more reliably import PDF data, eliminating the need to redraw geometry.
On the modeling side, AutoCAD 2017 features an improvement to centerlines. Now, thanks to a feature called “smart centerlines,” whenever a user moves associated objects all connected centerlines will move as well, making drawing centerlines much less tedious.
When it comes to the backend that supports AutoCAD 2017, Autodesk’s engineers have made a number of additional improvements. Most notably, 2017 will come packaged with the Autodesk Desktop App for managing software updates, no doubt the new normal in their subscription-only future. With this companion app users can receive the most up-to-date security patches for previous versions of AutoCAD and any future updates without disrupting their workflow.
In addition to the Desktop App, Autodesk has focused on improving the stability of its 3D graphics while continuing to improve the performance of its 2D graphics tools.
For a full list of features in AutoCAD 2017, visit this page.