AutoCAD 2004

   
AutoCAD AutoCAD® software is a customizable 2D and 3D design and drafting environment and toolset. Architects, engineers, drafters, and design-related professionals use it to create, view, manage, plot and output, share, and reuse accurate, information-rich drawings.

It automates your design tasks, and it provides digital tools that let you focus on the design rather than on the software itself. You use CAD to accurately model, analyze, and express physical systems on a computer in a usable way (to manufacture something, for example) while promoting productivity—doing more, better, in less time—and facilitating workgroup collaboration.

Why You Should Buy AutoCAD

AutoCAD offers several distinct competitive advantages for your design business:

It's the foundation for other design products tailored to the very specific needs of certain segments of the design industry, including architecture, land development, mechanical design and manufacturing, and GIS and mapping.

Success breeds success: When you're on AutoCAD, you're becoming part of a global community of design professionals and can access the billions of drawings they've created with this product.

Success breeds success: When it's hiring time, you can recruit from millions of trained users.

Success breeds success: When you want to get hired, you can sell your services to tens of thousands of businesses—or start your own.

It runs on Windows-based PCs and is optimized for the Internet.

You can tailor it for industry-specific or task-specific applications or for a special way of working, either by customizing it yourself or by using one of thousands of commercially available add-on products.

It provides high-end functionality at a mid-level price.

Overview

Create design data faster and share it more easily than ever before.
AutoCAD® 2004 software is the 2D drafting and detailing and 3D design tool used by more designers worldwide than any other CAD software. It provides native DWG compatibility, plus you can personalize or program the software or add a third-party application to meet your specific design requirements. And now AutoCAD integrates new and enhanced productivity tools, presentation graphics, CAD standards, and more for faster, easier data creation and sharing.

Create with Speed
From opening and sending files to editing annotations and creating presentation drawings, speed is everything when it comes to everyday tasks. New and enhanced tools that accelerate the work process include

  • Express Tools, including layer management and dimensioning, which reduce the number of steps required to perform a task
  • Tool palettes, which can be customized to include only the content you need on a daily basis
  • The optimized DWG file format for shorter file open, save, and transmission times
  • True color catalogs and presentation graphics for creating high-quality presentation drawings without exporting files

Share with Ease
Many perspectives. One goal. AutoCAD software makes the exchange of design data among project team members safer and more efficient, helping the team come together to achieve a common goal. New and improved data exchange features include

  • The enhanced multisheet DWF, (Design Web Format) file format for securely transmitting drawings over the Internet for team members who need to view and plot, but not edit, drawings. The DWF format is lightweight and yields the same visual fidelity as a native DWG file.
  • Digital signatures for validating the origin, authenticity, and unaltered state of your drawings.
  • Password protection for determining who can open your drawings.
  • AutoCAD® DesignCenter, and DesignCenter Online for sharing predrawn content with team members.
  • The CAD Standards Manager for ensuring that the entire team works from and conforms to the same standards.

Manage with Efficiency
Efficiently track and manage software licenses with new software inventory tools that include

  • The Autodesk Product Manager, which tracks the version, serial, and PC numbers of multiple software licenses from a single location
  • The FLEXlm® Network License Manager (NLM), which enables designers to conveniently borrow a software license from the network server for working on the road and automatically renews the license after the specified borrowing period has elapsed

 

 

Features

1. File Open and File Save

Save time accessing drawings, whether they are stored locally or on a network drive. Open drawings 30 percent faster and save drawings 66 percent faster than in AutoCAD® 2002 when AutoCAD® 2004 DWG data is located on a network drive.

2. Tabs and Indents

Multiline text (mtext) editing now includes tabs and indents. You can easily create paragraphs with text indented relative to the bounding box of the text element.

3. External Reference Notification

Multiple users can work on the same drawing set with the confidence that they are using the most current drawings. You receive real-time notification and an icon alert in the status bar when an external reference has been changed or saved to the current drawing.

4. Multisheet DWF

You can publish all drawings from a drawing set to a single DWF file using the new DWF, (Design Web Format) file format. Minimize the number of files transmitted and avoid confusion regarding file order for viewing and printing. Multipage files can be easily viewed and printed in order with Autodesk™s free DWF viewer, Autodesk® Express Viewer.

5. Autodesk Express Viewer

Autodesk Express Viewer is a small, fast, free viewer with easy-to-use tools for anyone who needs to view and print to-scale DWF files. Creators and consumers of design information can readily access design drawings for review electronically or in print, without requiring AutoCAD software.

6. True Color

With more than 16 million colors to choose from, you can apply exactly the color you want to your AutoCAD objects. Specify color settings using true colors (24-bit color) with either the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance (HSL) color model or the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) color model.

7. Gradient Fills

With the new Gradient Fill feature, you can create presentation drawings directly in the AutoCAD application without the need for additional software. Specify a fill that uses a smooth transition between two colors or between darker shades and lighter tints of one color.

8. DesignCenter Online

You can access content on a local drive, a network drive, or autodesk.com from a single location with the new tab in the AutoCAD® DesignCenter feature. The tab contains direct links to millions of symbols libraries and manufacturers’ content on autodesk.com, all in i-drop® format.

9. Password Protection

Ensure that drawings cannot be opened or viewed by unauthorized personnel by applying passwords to drawing files.

10. License Borrowing

The Autodesk® Network License Manager (NLM) enables users to borrow a network license for a limited amount of time and return it to the server when they reconnect to the network. NLM users can temporarily work without access to the Network License Manager using the client-installed version of AutoCAD software.

 

System Requirements

  • Intel® Pentium® III or later, with 800 MHz or faster processor, or compatible
  • Microsoft® Windows® XP (Professional, Home Edition, or Tablet PC Edition), Windows 2000, or Windows NT® 4.0 (SP6a or later)
  • 256 MB RAM (recommended)
  • 300 MB free disk space for installation
  • 1024x768 VGA with true color (minimum)
  • Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0
  • CD-ROM drive
  • Mouse, trackball, or compatible pointing device