Free Software Tools

What is i-drop*?
Autodesk i-drop® technology allows users of i-drop aware Autodesk products to drag and drop  DWG files directly from our webstite into their design application.  If you are not sure if you have the i-drop indicator, or, if you would like to download the free i-drop plug-in, please click the icon, right.:

How does it work?
After completing the download and installation of the i-drop plug-in, you will see the i-drop indicator, left, whenever you preview an image in GIF view().   To invoke the i-drop drag-and-drop capability, left-click on the GIF image of the drawing, and hold, then drag that file from our web page into your opened Autodesk product.  Release the left mouse button to download the content into your design application.

Compatibility
i-drop will work on most, current Microsoft Windows platforms with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or higher.  To download the latest version of Explorer, click here.  i-drop is not Netscape compatible.  Netscape users are welcome to do a standard download of our zipped DWG files by selecting "Download" () from the GIF view.

The i-drop capability functions with the following design applications:  Newer versions of the applications below also support i-drop.

3D Studio MAX 4
Architectural Desktop 2000i
AutoCAD* 2000i
AutoCAD LT 2000i
AutoCAD Mechanical 2000i
Autodesk VIZ 4
Inventor 4
Mechanical Desktop 5

Where do I download AutoCAD DWF Viewer? Autodesk® DWF Viewer is a small  application that you can use to preview, print and distribute files in DWF™ (Design Web Format™) without AutoCAD® software and is available available for download free of charge from www.Autodesk.com.
I am a Macintosh user.  Which browser should I use to best view CADdetails.com? For Mac users, CADdetails.com is best viewed with Mozilla's Firefox web browser.  Firefox 1.0 is available for download free of charge from www.mozilla.org. Now available in 25 languages, for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
Where do I download WinZip? To reduce download times, all AutoCAD drawings on CADdetails.com are saved as Zip files.  WinZip is a straightforward, fast, and easy-to-use zipping and unzipping utility available for download free of charge from www.winzip.com.
Where do I download Adobe Acrobat Reader With Adobe Acrobat Reader you can view and print Adobe PDF product brochures and spec-sheets across a broad range of hardware and operating systems.  Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for download free of charge from www.adobe.com.
I am a Macintosh user.  Can I still open zip files? Yes.  Mac users can download the free utility StuffIt Expander.  Stuffit Expander easily  unzips zip files created by WinZip® and other zip utilities.  Expander works seamlessly with both Internet Explorer and Netscape.  Stuffit Expander is available for download free of charge from www.stuffit.com.