Alibre CAD Software Review

Pro’s and Features:

Alibre Design Expert comes with tons of features that can save time and money. A few of those features are:

1) Fully Parametric Design easily defines relationships and sketch constraints; as an added benefit, the constraints automatically update throughout your entire project.

2) Push/Pull Technology allows you to grab parts in your design and change the size and/or position without modifying your sketches or design features.

3) Drag and Drop Constraint Creation assembles multiple parts into a moving prototype. Allowing you to see your part in action before you spend any money on actual prototypes.

4) Interference Detection is a diagnostic test that checks for design issues by allowing you to see your part move how you designed it to operate as well as automatically create warnings for parts interfering with other parts.

5) Alibre is compatible with almost any other CAD software and files, all without any extra add ons. Unlike other CAD packages that sell you an affordable program, but charge for compatibility options.

a. Import or Translate: Solid Works: 1999 to 2009 (*.sldprt, *.sldasm) , STEP 203/214, IGES, Rhino 3DM, SAT, DWG, DXF, BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF, DIB, RLE, JFIF, EMF, AutoDesk Inventor: v10 to 2009 (*.ipt, *.iam), Pro/E: 2000 to Wildfire 4 (*.prt, *.xpr, *.asm, *.xas), Solid Edge: v10 to v20 (*.par, *.psm, *.asm), Catia: v5 from R10 to R18 (*.CATPart, *.pCATProduct), Parasolid: v18 (*.x_t, *.x_b, *.xmt_txt, *.xmt_bin)

b. Export or Translate: STEP 203/214, IGES, SAT, STL, DWG, DXF, BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF, DIB, RLE, JFIF, EMF, Solid Works: 2004 (*.sldprt, *.aldasm), Parasolid: v18 (*.x_t, *.x_b, *.xmt_txt, *.xmt_bin)

Con’s:

1) The 30 day trial is free, but after your time is up you lose a lot of functionality.

2) Some people have had the program crash their computers, but no virus warnings.

Review:

The Alibre Design demo has helped many designers choose the pro package. There is skepticism as to whether it is fully integratable due to its low cost, however, there have been times that an outsourced designer has convinced his customer’s in house engineers to switch from Solid Works and other CAD software programs because they are able to download the demo for free and see how intuitive Alibre Design is that after a quick price comparison they can purchase more than one Alibre Design and pay less than one license from Alibre’s competitors. In the end both out sourced and in house engineers are switching to Alibre Design pro because of its intuitive design and low cost. Alibre Design can bring countries and governments together under your company’s roof. Alibre is compatible with the Algor Mechanical Events Simulation package. Several companies have found the FEA standards are easier to meet since Alibre Design can import compatible files from Algor. Alibre Design is also hurdling language barriers caused by overseas manufacturers thanks to Alibre Design’s collaborative design features. Alibre basically does everything but manufacture the product for you.