Hello gurus,New member here.  I did a quick keyword search to see if I could find anything on this topic and didn't find anything.  Apologies if this question is well trodden ground.I am doing some in-depth home renovations and have had CAD floorplans (DWG format) made for me.  Despite some repeated attempts I am less than happy with the accuracy of translation of measurements, etc.  The CAD plans need to be used variously by home automation people, interior designer, builders, etc and so they need to be pretty good.I would like to buy some CAD software for my own home use so that I can edit the existing DWGs, and make them better.I am not a computer newbie.  I can program in few languages (Java, C++, VBA) and so am used to using GUIs, IDEs, etc.  I have a technical job involved with computers.  And I also did a few years of technical drawing at school (did very well).  So I am not going to be necessarily scared off by CAD software per se.  I am however only really interested in using it for the narrow purpose of correcting my plans and making various versions of it for the work being done.  And I just need to ensure that when I resave the updated plans (again as DWG) and hand them back to the other designers that they are still perfectly loadable/usable on their (high end) CAD software (dont even know it that would be a concern).Sooooo ... what would you gurus recommend as suitable CAD software for someone like me?  Please assume that money is no object.  But (not surprisingly) if there is both $300 and $3000 software that does all I need then I'll almost certainly be going for the $300 version...Looking forward to hearing your advice.  And thanks in advance.MG.

I would check out Draftsight free. It’s had quite favorable reviews.Note: If you are new to CAD, there will be a bit of a learning curve before you are proficient enough to obtain the results desired.Good luck.

If all we are talking is 2D then I'd recommend you visit the AutoDesk
website and look into renting AutoCAD LT 2016 for a month or two.  At
least if you run into problems you'll be able to find someone to help
answer your questions as there are more AutoCAD users at many of these
forums than there are Draftsight users.

If you need to send your DWG file to other designers, the software that you use will be an issue. I've seen many engineers have compatibility problems when they receive "non-trusted DWG". As John suggested, try to rent AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT. You can purchase it online or preferably through Autodesk reseller. Resellers can provide supports when you have problems.But if you only need minor modification, AutoCAD 360 (www.autocad360.com) might works. It's a cloud app that you can use for free from Autodesk. You can use it on a web browser or phone/tablet. The limitation of free AutoCAD 360 is the storage limited to 3GB for your account.

hello the_falcon and others, for sure you can use Draftsight because the files are : XXXXX.dwg ( readable with AutoCAD ).More than this, the latest release of Draftsight will allow you opening any DWG even if you don't have the last release of it, then you can bring back the file to an older AutoCAD release with a "save as" - choose your release.

Yes, Draftsight is free.Yes, Draftsight reads and writes to the .DWG file format.Yes, when a drawing that is created or edited using Draftsight then opened in Autocad one will see the "non-trusted DWG" message appear.If you aren't sharing the drawing with anyone then this is not a problem.  If you are then you may find at least one person who balks at using the drawing because they may think (meaning... they don't know) the drawing you sent them is corrupted or contains a virus.  If that poses a problem you are better off renting AutoCAD (LT or full version) for the period of time it will take to revise it to your liking and share it with others.It's $45 a month to rent LT or $360 for a year. http://www.autodesk.com/store/autocad-lt
John Connor2016-03-14 14:15:40

Hello guys,Thanks so much for your kind attention.  This was indeed the advice I was looking for.  It is interesting that the views settle pretty solidly on DraftSight and AutoCAD.  The latter is not surprising.  I hadn't heard of the former so thank you.It is quite critical that I can create a DWG format for the various designers and they wont be stressed about anything.  These relationships can be tense enough as it is.  :/  So if there is any doubt then I'll play safe and use AutoCAD.I reckon I'll take the option of renting it first and then (if I like it and I can cope with it) I will buy it.  Wish me luck!Cheers and thanks very much. Chris.