2D CAD

While 2D CAD such as Autodesk® AutoCAD® is rapidly being superseded by 3D CAD such as SOLIDWORKS® or Inventor® for the majority of engineering and design tasks, it still has a key role to play in certain areas and is widely used in several industries.

Notably, large project layouts benefit greatly from being designed in 2D. Key benefits include the speed at which changes can be made during project proposals and the small file sizes allow the data to be transferred easily between project stakeholders.

Manufacturing processes such as laser and waterjet cutting are still predominantly programmed off 2D CAD data. If the product was designed in 3D, being able to quickly and accurately generate this 2D manufacturing data is essential for an efficient work flow.