Help finding a CAD sharing program

[etrud011B]

Hello,

My company is looking for software that can share CAD drawings between coworkers.
It should be possible to open the drawing, inspect it and alter it if necessary. The drawing should be accessible from a single location for those operations.

Is there software that any of you know of that can be implemented? I am working with solidworks right now, but I am not sure if solidworks PDM is the right tool for my needs (or within our budget).

Thanks

 

[ctopher]

There are lots of tools to do it.
I'm on SolidWorks with PDM. It works fine as you describe.
You can talk to your VAR to try what they have, or have a demo.

Chris, CSWP
SolidWorks
ctophers home

 

[drawoh]

etrud011B,

PDF will share drawings read-only. You can mark up PDF.

You mention editing. SolidWorks as noted above. CREO. AutoDesk Inventor. SolidEdge?

You don't want anyone other than a qualified mechanical designer touching your CAD models.

--
JHG

 

[MintJulep]

For viewing and interrogation Dassault offers free tools.

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/edrawings/e2_register.htm

If you already have SOLIDWORKS, why do you need something else to modify files?

 

[etrud011B]

Thank you for the replies and feedback.

Solidworks PDM would satisfy our needs but I am interested in alternative software that might be cheaper (we do not have a dedicated server for PDM and cloud based PDM is too pricy imo).
I am thinking of a software that can host our cad files and official drawings in one location, similar to a library. If someone wants to view a drawing they would be able to easily locate it. There could be an option to download the drawing.
CAD files would be locked from editing by non-engineers. File editing and revisions would only be done by specific individuals.

Essentially, we are looking for a method to create a drawing library with real-time editing.

If such a software or application exists other than PDM then please let me know.

Thanks again

 

[geesaman.d]

That sounds like PDM exactly.

Getting your data into a PDM system is a big task. Getting your data out of a PDM system and into another one is a much larger task. I suggest you buckle down and use a PDM system that will meet your needs for many years to come. Most PDM systems will support you importing data, but will fight you at exporting your native data.

I know I'm a weirdo but I've come to like black-white TIF files for distribution outside of engineering. Or a PDF file made from an image file like TIF. Much less convenient to edit. I don't like letting non-engineers have access to the native CAD files, nor do I like having multiple software packages opening / viewing the CAD files. In fact we just had a situation where AutoCAD would not show all of the notes and text on some drawings!! These were drawings made in AutoCAD and viewed in AutoCAD. I want my released drawings in a format that is dead solid reliable. CAD formats and even direct-to-PDF occasionally fail and so I always print to TIF first.

 

[3DDave]

I like TIF - I can edit that easily with any raster editor like Photoshop or GIMP. I redid the drawing package for an entire military tank hauling trailer.

If you want a repository, then there are a number of Wiki products that are terrific for that. They typically support user permissions to prevent unwanted changes and most always keep versioning so that, unless users are allowed to delete revisions, everyone with access can see who did what and when they did it. I like them because the default is view-only, unlike documents stored as Word where the default view is "edit."

They are especially good as they make it trivial to link all the design information to the relevant items for the project including standards and specifications. Unlike most PDM systems those links don't require an existing record, allowing someone to outline a significant portion of a project before any detail work is done and making it easy to see what has been done and what hasn't been done.

If the choice was no more access to a spreadsheet and no more access to a Wiki, I would give up the spreadsheet. I can write my own software to add numbers if required.