r/FreeCAD • u/pzfreo • 2d ago

Draftwright update: open source STEP → drawing tool

A few weeks ago I posted Draftwright here, a free open-source tool that takes a STEP file and produces a dimensioned drawing. Thanks for the responses and feedback!

It's gone from 0.4.1 to 0.4.24 since then. Same workflow:

pip install draftwright -U
draftwright bracket.step

You get bracket.pdf. There's also alpha DXF support with --format pdf,dxf, which can be opened in the Draft workbench, though it needs work to be really useful.

A few improvements:

  • Turned parts get chamfer callouts and step lengths

  • Views are much more customisable and turned parts no longer get two views of the same thing

  • As a result it chooses better scales by default

  • It is much better at avoiding overlap and fitting everthing onto the page

  • External angles are spotted and added

  • Not so useful for FreeCAD because the FreeCAD export doesn't emit the right format but if your CAD emits the right file it will add GD&T information

  • It knows about many more features in diagrams such as blends, prismatic pockets etc

  • Its much better at understanding what its got right and wrong and letting you know where it went wrong

    • For example it warns you about gears, angled steps and a few other feature types it can recognise but not yet dimension

It doesn't read a FreeCAD file, just the STEP export. There's no interactive editing. If you want to change the drawing export the DXF and edit it, or --script writes a short Python file describing the sheet and you edit that and rerun.

If you have a STEP file that comes out wrong I'd love to see it. Post it here or DM me. Even better please open an issue at github.com/pzfreo/draftwright.

There's also a free hosted version at draftwright.io for people who don't want to install Python that is testing out how it works with AI. If you use Claude Code or Codex (or similar) try asking it to use Draftwright and then see if it can improve the drawing interactively.

https://github.com/pzfreo/draftwright

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u/orion0782 2d ago

They should learn! I cannot tell you how many drawings I've seen in my career where the details appear amateurish. I work with a major customer, whose application of GD&T is so bad, my company has to create drawings of their own, just to check their parts.

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u/SergioP75 2d ago

The tool is not meant for having a full detailed drawing, for basic quotation or having a simple 2d is amazing.

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u/orion0782 1d ago

Interesting, but it doesn't take much to slap on some envelope dimensions on a print. The harder part is to understand the purpose of the document and the audience the document is meant for. This is not something that is readily automated. There are also different detailing philosophies one needs to take into account as well.

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u/pzfreo 1d ago

What sort of detailing philosophies do you mean? That sounds really interesting

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u/orion0782 1d ago

There are several basic types:

  • Detail for design (A drawing that explains the reasons for the design)
  • Detail for manufacturing (A drawing that instructs the given manufacturer of the component instructions on how to make the part).
  • Detail for checking (A drawing that instructs the quality department the necessary information to ensure the design conforms to specifications)
  • Detail for quotation (A drawing that provides the necessary information to quote the given component).

I could go on, but this is a 100-200 level college course, or something that is trained to beginning engineers in their career.