Due to a switch around on the website I am keeping this page purely for the comments to help other people.
Please feel free to add more here, or on the homepage.
Paul The CAD
Looking to buy TurboCAD, Google SketchUp, or other CAD Software or CAD plugins? - Visit my Online Shop for guaranteed BEST UK prices - And ... everything you buy from me comes with free telephone support!
Looking for Help? - Call me on 01962 835081, or email ptracey@processflows.co.uk
September 7, 2009 at 11:32 am
Gerard,
All you’ll need is a Deluxe version. The latest is £80, but I still have a few of v15, which will do the job fine at £40, give me a call.
Paul
01962 835 081 (1)
September 22, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Paul,
Many moons ago I purchased Turbocad V8 but thanks to contributions from other people I never had to get to grips with it – this has now changed!
Do you have a 2D training package which would get me going asap?
Somebody is advertising one on ebay but they do not say which version it is for.
Regards – John.
September 25, 2009 at 10:35 am
John,
I’d think that the ones on e-bay are old versions, I have some excellent ones that can be previewed at http://paulthecad.co.uk/turbocad-v16/. If you can give me a call I can knock something off the official price and explain how they work.
paul
01962 835 081 (1)
November 16, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Hi Paul,
I’m an out of work Product Designer currently trying to find affordable CAD software to take on some freelance work. I am used to working with 3D modelling in ProEngineer and SolidWorks, but now these are totally out of my budget as a freelancer so TurboCAD seems on paper like the option to go for. However having downloaded and run the trial version (v16 pro) I am struggling to really get anywhere on it. Does the program actually do (feature-based) solid modelling like ProE or SolidWorks? I will mostly be designing injection moulded plastic components with accurate dimensions, curved surfaces and draft angles etc. Could you advise me wheteher you think TurboCAD will actually get me anywhere with this. So far it certainly doesn’t seem to work as expected…
Thanks.
Matt
November 18, 2009 at 8:24 am
Paul
I want to be able to convert a 2D 3-view scale drawing (say a type of car or aircraft) into a 3D scale drawing from which I can then see and construct the true profile of the body. What do I need?
Kevin
November 23, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Kevin,
Kevin
TurboCAD Professional Mechanical will be fine for the job. Before I give advice I think it best that I know something about your experience with CAD if any so that I can best help.
Give me a call
Paul
01962 835 081 (1)
November 24, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Matt,
I sell quite a lot of TurboCAD to users familiar with Solidworks for exactly the reasons you mentioned – the price.
TurboCAD like Solidworks is a 3D modelling package, jumping from one package to another is always going to be a bit of a pain, but I find that for many Solidworks users TurboCAD does everything they need, especially in the area that you are working. TurboCAD will produce all the shapes you have mentioned. I’d suggest that you take a look at Don Cheke’s website http://www.texturalcreations.ca. Here you will find lots of examples of product design shapes as well as many others.
I still have a few professional v15 versions left, which on our site is still £800, but I can let go at £300, including two training books and over 400 training videos.
Paul
November 27, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Can anybody help my “designed” symbols have been changed to “PNG” and now l cant load them. Anybody help, thanks. Tim
November 29, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Dear Paul,
I’m an archaeologist starting my own consultancy.
How well will TurboCad handle some of the tasks I have been doing in AutoCad Map 2007? ie importing BMPs such as historic OS maps and photographs. Exporting to GIS packages such as ArcGIS shape (.shp) files. Terrain modelling from imported spot heights. Also does TurboCad have an equivalent of AutoLisp whereby I could write small programmes to import CSV files etc.
Thanks
Bob
November 30, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Bob,
Firstly, I’d like to mention that we supply TurboCAD to number of archaeologists as well as the Archaeological Department at Leicester University.
You can insert .bmp files or photographs using the insert file or insert option option, but you can not open a .bmp file directly. Re-sizing is simple. You can save as .bmp.
There are Terrain tool, a Terrain Modifier tool and an Import Terrain tool. I have played around with the Terrain tools, which are easy enough to work out, although I have not imported Terrains from other packages, so can not give you a definite answer here, although I’m sure you would find expert advice on the IMSI forum and am confident that this is possible.
I am not familiar with AutoLisp, although I know several people who import or write their own code to adapt TurboCAD to suit their needs, some have created complete new tools.
In short I’m confident that the general answer to your question is yes, it will accommodate all your needs, but will do it slightly differently from AutoCAD.
Paul
November 30, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Tim,
Give me a call on 01962 835 081(1), I need to go through the process you are using.
Paul
December 4, 2009 at 9:20 am
I am interested in TurboCAD Furniture Maker v8and would like to know how good this package is.Any comments on how user fiendly it is will also be appreciated
December 4, 2009 at 9:45 am
Ronald,
I think that the Furniture Maker that I have in stock is v7. There is a review copy of v8 in the post from the US, which I only requested this week, so I expect it to be here by Christmas, but who knows when. When I get it I’ll be sending it off to a colleague for him to put it through its paces.
V7 was a bit clunky, which is why I haven’t rushed to stock v8. I don’t like representing anything that’s not right. If you’d like a free copy of v7, just give me a call and I’ll put one in the post to you.
My main reservation with the package is that it’s too complicated for the small kitchen fitting firm. Because it takes so long to set, it is not really effective use of time if you’re only doing one off kitchens. Fine if you’re knocking them out a dozen at a time, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
Paul
December 7, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Hi Paul,
I would like to get hold of free 2d TurboCAD designer 15 for some practice purpose this week, where can I look to download the trial version?
Regards,
Tony
December 9, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Paul,
Am interested in Turbocad v16 pro for home use. Can 3D files be exported in .stl format for direct use in Rapid Prototyping machines.
thanks
DFN
December 14, 2009 at 12:09 pm
DFN,
Pro both opens and saves in 29 different file formats including STL. Many of the formats it saves in also have variations within the format. In STL if you simply press the save button it saves in default Binary, but you also have the option of saving in STL Colour Binary and ASCII.
As you can see at the top of this page, Pro, via me is half price this month.
Paul
December 23, 2009 at 11:51 am
hi Paul great site and plenty of information . i have just brought turbo cad 15 deluxe drawing in 2d is OK aim trying to draw a rifle scope in 3d and add new parts and see them moving separately Ive been drawing on paper for years as comments reflect above its time to move on to better things (i found your site ) regards Andy.
December 23, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Andy,
Thanks for your comments, it’s always good to hear that it’s of some use.
The latest training books would explain to you very clearly how to draw in 3D and Session Eight of the 3D book is an exercise very similar to a rifle scope. It is in the book and on CD as an audio video. The only snag is that as the tutorial goes on it uses tools that are only found in the Professional version and that is true of most of the tutorials.
The upgrade path costs a few hundred pounds, but I have a few Professional Platinum v15s, disk only, that I can flog for £100 each. The training books are £35 via the official site, but £25 via me.
Last day in the office 23rd Dec, back 4th Jan.
Paul
01962 835 081 (1)
January 11, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Hello Paul
I am intrested in using TurboCAD for company use but the computers are 64 Bit and it seems there isn’t any TurboCAD products to run this can it be adjusted or anyway around this please advise.
Thanks
Marc
January 11, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Hello Paul
I am intrested in using TurboCAD for company use but the computers are 64 Bit and it seems there isn’t any TurboCAD products to run this can it be adjusted or anyway around this please advise.
Thanks
Marc
January 13, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Marc
There shouldn’t be any adjustments needed. Everything I’ve heard and seen so far has been good in relation to TurboCAD and Windows 7 and 64 bit. I did have one customer who couldn’t find some sample files within TurboCAD who had a 64 bit system. My technician found them, they had jus been put somewhere else for reasons unknown, but that is the only snag that I’ve come across and that was just one customer.
Our main technician says that there is no reason why a 64bit machine should act any differently than a 32 bit and there should only be advantages in speed and capability.
Buying via us does give you free technical support, if any help is needed, and if you buy via me I’ll even give you my mobile phone number, so I’m not going to do that if I thought there were problems on the horizon.
Paul
01962 835 081
January 16, 2010 at 3:19 am
I just bought a low-end version of IMSI’s TurboCAD 10. Now all I need to do is find an instruction set. Any help?
January 18, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Bill,
Just give me a call, 01962 835 081 (1). I have excellent training books which include training videos. The web price is £35 each, but I can do them for £30 or £50 for the pair.
Paul
April 5, 2010 at 10:45 pm
I have a old turbocad v1.8 (not 1.6 as said before) in floppy disk. 20 years ago was very useful. I am retired and not willing to get into the new versions. For the sketches I need to do, would still be perfect.
Would there be possible, be any chance, to get it in CD, to run in windows vista or XP?
Also the problem of the printer. It was parallel. Is there any chance to convert to USB?
Any help would be very much appreciated
.
April 6, 2010 at 11:09 am
AF Vila Boa,
Don’t know about putting it on a disk. However if you give me a mailing address, I’ll send you a more up to date copy. No charge.
Paul
01962 835 081 (1)
April 22, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Is anyone successfully running TurboCAD v3 on Windows 7?
For me and my Dad TurboCAD v3 crashes when choosing File,Open, Save, Save As, Insert File, Insert Picture, Insert Object.
I’ve tried right click on TurboCAD 3 run as administrator and tried right click properties, compatibility mode, Windows 95 etc.
The learning edition V4 works ok, but my Dad really likes using TurboCAD version 3.
April 26, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Lorraine
I think that you’re going to have problems with Windows 7 here that you probably will not be able to get around. At first I heard only good things about it, but I’m now finding that it’s throwing up problems with some of the tools. I have spoken IMSI about this but and they are working through the SDK files to sort them out, however this will take time. I’d suggest that you post the problem on the IMSI forum and see if anyone has a solution that works for you. You can find it at http://www.imsidesign, then follow links to TurboCAD Products and Support.
Paula
May 26, 2010 at 8:34 am
Hello Paul
Is there a way of creating editable 3D text in TurboCad v16 pro? While 2d text can be extruded into 3D this is no longer editable making changes laborious.
Alternatively, can a material property be assigned to text rather than just a simple colour?
Thanks
May 28, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Konrad,
If you explode text, then you can do a great deal more with it – stretch it, give it hight. I think you have to explode it twice to give it 3D qualities. Once you have exploded twice, you can use the ‘Surface from Profile’ tool to enable you to impose a material.
So
1 Select Text
2 Explode twice
3 While selected, double click on Surface from Profile.
4 Impose material.
Paul
June 4, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Thanks Paul
I was aware of the double explode trick, but the text is no longer editable e.g. ‘DOG’ cannot be changed to ‘CAT’ simply by retyping the text. The ‘DOG’ 3D solids must be deleted, ‘CAT’ text created and then double exploded and the material properties reapplied.
I guess it can’t be done. Maybe a feature request?
Konrad
June 7, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Konrad,
I’ll mention it to Bob at IMSI next time we talk, although I rather think that he’ll say that you can’t have it both ways.
Paul
July 2, 2010 at 1:04 pm
can soemone please help me i have just bought turbo cad 16 professional and i would liek to use it to design cars and then put them into 3 d could you please help me
thanks
murray
July 7, 2010 at 11:14 am
Murray,
Firstly you need to draw in 3D from the start, not 2D then convert. We have a really good 3D raining book that you can buy at a discount via this site, (discount code on home page).
There are lots of free training videos on you tube – you need to understand Workplanes.
Look at http://www.textualcreations.ca to see what can be achieved.
16 pro is fine for the job. I’d suggest you buy the training book, do a few exercises and call me when you get stuck.
Paul
July 30, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Hi Paul,
I’ve used Autocad for many years just as an ‘amateur’ to prepare 2D plant layouts, process schematics etc. I’ve recently started my own business and have bought Turbocad delux 17 to be able to open and work with Autocad drawings as I wanted to avoid the high cost of LT2011. After a lot of playing around I can get most of the toolbars set up the way I want, but some actions are very frustrating….for large layouts the dynamic pan in Autocad was the most usefull control to me and I can’t find an equivalent in Turbocad, and also I can’t find any way of doing an easy print of part of a drawing either to hard copy or PDF.(Autocat print…window… etc..) Can you help ? Time is in short supply these days and I can’t really afford to devote several days to learning a new drafting package
BR
Mike
August 2, 2010 at 10:25 am
Mike,
What you are trying to do is very simple, the easiest way to put you right is if you call me with the screen in front of you and I’ll walk you through the process.
Or give me your number and a time to call.
Paul
01962 835 081 ex 1
September 3, 2010 at 8:29 am
Hello Paul
Does the support for GPU acceleration in the latest turbocad make a significant difference? Is there a list of compatible/recommended gfx cards?
Thanks
Konrad
October 6, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I am a fairly novice CAD user but have spent some time using IMSI’s Floorplan 3D. I volunteered to carry out some ‘as built’ modifications to carriageway drawings (Autocad 2008 compositions) and I thought Turbocad v15 would be suitable. I’ve figured out how to manipulate existing objects to a certain extent but when I save and close the file I can’t open it up again. The dialogue box advises ‘Failed to open…(file name)…illegal format’. I tried a test by simply adding one circle to the drawing, closing it then attempting to open it up again. Even this trivial modification resulted in the same error message. Any idea ht my problem might be?
October 7, 2010 at 8:44 am
Brian,
It sounds like you are trying to open a more modern file with a package that is older. I can’t think of any other reason for this. You could try downloading DoubleCAD, the free version, from http://www.doublecad.co.uk, then saving it as a previous version. There should be no problem wth what you are trying to do.
If you could give me a call, I’ll go through the alternatives for you.
Paul
01962 835 081 ex 1
May 24, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Hi Paul,
it would be great to be listed in your pros section; how would I go about that. I am happy to talk at great legth about why you might like to list me in a further email.
Best regards,
Colin
May 25, 2011 at 8:40 am
Give me a call some time and we an make arrangements.
Paul
01962 835 081
September 21, 2011 at 8:38 am
Hi Paul,
I’m not usually in the habit of thanking resellers and praising products, but I bought Google SketchUp Pro from you just a few weeks ago and THANK YOU!! Genuinely, this has changed my life, saved me hours and my clients £££s!
I’m a freelance architectural designer. Recently I upgraded my system to 64-bit windows 7 and lifted my head up from Architectural Desktop to see what was around for the first time in years. I trialled the free version of SketchUp and went pro within the hour! For concept work, as I’m doing right now, this software, together with Layout is genius. I was up and running within hours. 3D presentations are generated in a fraction of the time it used to take me. It’s not a CAD substitute, but switching in and out of CAD is very easy, basically its a fantastic 3-D add-on.
Should any curious designer read this…Get it!!
Thanks Paul & well done Google!
Belu
October 4, 2011 at 3:06 pm
Thanks Belu
I knew the first time that I saw SketchUp how good it is and considering that it’s been around for ten years, I’m amazed at how comparatively little known it is in the UK. In the US everyone uses it for all the reasons that are obvious to both yourself and me.
I just wish that I had more time to do grand projects with it rather than constantly introducing it to a new audience.
Paul
November 2, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Have turbocad professional v6 but struggled with it then a magazine down load of turbocad12 however hard drive failure, i lost every thing, my intrest is product design could you reccomend a moderately priced turbocad version for home use.
thanks.
November 2, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Eric,
I’d say either TurboCAD Deluxe v18, the latest version, or I have a few TurboCAD Pro v16 left at £250. The pro will give you lots of extra 3D functionality and still be OK with windows 7.
Bit you will need to call me to order, as it’s not on the site.
Paul