CDT CDT Department Department

Gra

phic

G

raphic

C

om

munic

ati

on

Com

mu

nic

ati

on

Advantages & DisadvantagesOf Cad

Computer Knowledge You will need to know about a

number of things to do with computers: Advantages & disadvantages of CAD

(Computer Aided Drawing) and CAG (Computer Aided Graphics).

Input & Output devices and their uses. Some commands and techniques of

using 2D & 3D CAD packages.

Advantages of CAD Reduced storage space required. Previously, paper drawings would

have required whole rooms to store the drawings for a building.

Now this information can be stored on a single disk.

Advantages of CAD Corrections can be made easily. Before, whole drawings may have

had to be reproduced on paper if a mistake has been made.

Now a single line is deleted and redrawn in the correct place.

Advantages of CAD Repetitive parts of the drawing can

be saved and imported as part of a “drawing library”.

Paper drawings require objects to be redrawn each time manually which is time consuming.

Being able to call the parts in from a library saves the user time.

Advantages of CAD It takes less time to produce

drawings using CAD systems than traditional manual drawing methods.

Advantages of CAD Drawings offices often produce

their drawings using a standard layout so that people can immediately identify the drawings as belonging to that particular company.

Templates can be set up on a computer to make this easier.

Advantages of CAD No matter what size of drawing is

being produced CAD systems van be used to produce them accurately.

Grid Snap, Zoom and Attach commands are 3 examples of methods of producing accurate drawings easily.

Advantages of CAD CAD systems can be linked with

CAM machines to produce objects straight from the drawings.

This is referred to as CAD/CAM CAM stands for Computer Aided

Manufacture. This is a cheaper and quicker

method of producing the final product.

Advantages of CAD Because 3D CAD designs are so realistic

and can be made to look like the actual material they will be made from, clients can see exactly what is being made so a physical model is not required, reducing costs and the time it takes to design a new product.

Advantages of CAD Designers can use powerful CAD computer

packages to make virtual reality simulations of the layout of their buildings.

This means that the client can have a “look around” the building before it is built and changes can be made at this early stage.

This results in a faster design of the building and a higher quality end product.

It is also cheaper to make any changes at this stage rather than while the building is being constructed.

Advantages of CAD On an ever greater scale, the Internet

can be used to share plans and designs with anyone in the world that also has an Internet connection.

This means that specialised work can take place between different countries quickly and cheaply.

Disadvantages of CAD Initial costs of buying a computer

system are high. As computer systems can be used to

produce quicker CAD drawings less people need to be employed.

CAD/CAM systems also means less people need to be employed.

It takes a long time to make CAD drawings of the existing drawings a company already has.