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Software Resources for Students

F= Free Software
General Resources:
  • Autodesk Student Community - offers free 13-month trial downloads of most popular Autodesk software, including: AutoCAD, 3D Max and Revit Architecture. [Register Here]
  • OSALT - a website listing free, open source alternatives to many popular software packages
  • OpenOffice - A free alternative to Microsoft Office with the same suite of features and programs
Geographic Information Systems:
3D CAD:
  • Google Sketchup [F]
  • 3Ds Max - part of the AutoDesk Design Institute.  This software is licensed by the department and currently installed on lab computers.
  • Rhino - A suite of 3D rendering and animation tools
  • Blender [F] free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems
2D CAD:
  • AutoCAD - part of the AutoDesk Design Institute.  This software is licensed by the department and currently installed on lab computers.
  • Vector Works - another 2D modeling tool

Building Information Modeling:
  • ArchiCAD [F] - This software is licensed by the department and currently installed on lab computers. It
  • Revit - part of the AutoDesk Design Institute.  This software is licensed by the department and currently installed on lab computers.

2D Editing:
  • GIMP [F] - similar to adobe photoshop [download here]. NOTE: Users familiar with the commands and menus from Adobe Photoshop may find Gimpshop useful - it installs on top of GIMP and gives it menus and naming conventions closer to Adobe Photoshop [download GIMPshop here]
  • Inkscape [F] - similar to Adobe Illustrator (Vector graphics drawing) [download here]

PDF Creation (Print-To-PDF Drivers)

PDF Editing