Pretty much done with IntelliCAD

*Can't edit blocks in-place

Intellicad has made great strides in the last few years. I think they will have it all together in the next 2 or 3 years (but then I have been saying that for the last 5 or 6 years!!).
I actually believe that Carlson saved them when AutoDesk acted the a$$. I believe they were headed to the scrap heap until Carlson saw a potential there. Now it is up to them to meet that potential. They have a golden opportunity that I really hope they capitalize on.
Until that time, the embedded version is the way to go, and I think this is mainly true for the "power users". I know a lot of users that do not do images or big surfaces, but stick to more basic plats, etc. and they say they have no problems with Intellicad.
Basic CAD may indeed work fine on Intellicad, but if you are going to use all the tools on larger projects you will probably do better with the embedded version.

I think they are on the right tack, but I had the same experience. I gave it an honest try, but couldn't deal with the bugs any longer, which seemed to increase with big coordinate drawings. I haven't called support once since going to the embedded version.

I switched from Carlson 2012 on AutoCAD Civil3D to Carlson 2013 on IntelliCAD when I started my own business and I haven't looked back. I do mostly smaller jobs with it, but I have crunched some fairly large LIDAR surfaces with it too. It crashes a bit more often than AutoCAD, but if you get in the habit of saving frequently, I can live with that. You can't beat it for the money.

Yeah its close and offers a lot of options that are lost in the embedded version. Coming from LDD the feel was very close to what I was used too, but the bugs got to me. I work in SPC coordinates a lot, which caused ghost images when moving objects, hatching to go nuts, and the display of text to go haywire. None of which would clear up whith a regen and always resulted in closing the program and restarting, which didn't always clear up the problems. I was talking with support a lot and keeping up with all the latest updates, but was finaly told Intellicad couldnt handle large coordinates at this point. These weren't large complex drawings, it was just the fact that they were being drawn in large coordinates and Intellicad was struggling with computations.

the Icad 7.2 version with carlson 2014 is a lot more stable than the older versions.
I've been waiting for them to "get there" for several years also.
They're almost there.

Is It Not Possible To Move Carlson To A New IntelliCAD Ver?

Or is too embedded?

Paul in PA

Is It Not Possible To Move Carlson To A New IntelliCAD Ver?

> Or is too embedded?
It's embedded. It's certainly possible to buy Intellicad seperately, and I suppose it may be possible to install Carlson on top of that, just as you would install it on an un-embedded AutoCAD product, but what would be the point?

Carlson is the world leader in IntelliCAD development. The version of IntelliCAD that is embedded in Carlson is the current best version there is.

Perhaps you could install an older version of Carlson onto a new, improved Intellicad. But I doubt you save much money that way over just renewing your Carlson.

About 20-30% of my jobs are on State Plane and have not had a problem with it. I worked with IntelliCAD 6 for a couple of weeks and I found it to be a huge step backwards from the AutoCAD that I was accustomed to. But when IntelliCAD 7 (now 7.2) came out I was good with it.

I am currently running it on a Dell Precision T1600 workstation, Intel Core i3 @ 3.3 GHz, 64bit Windows 7 Pro, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro 400 Graphics.

Has anyone tried this?
Looks cool just looking at it.
http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/download-draftsight/#xtor=EREC-509- [V1R4blast]-20131008

As a representative of Carlson Software and since I also serve as the current Chairman of the Board of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium (ITC), I'd like to weigh in with some of my insights.

First off, I have dispatched this thread and the list of concerns it contains directly to the ITC Development Director and his team along with the lead members of the Carlson Product Development team. I, Carlson Software and the ITC take product stability concerns very seriously and it is apparent (at least in this case) we haven't fully delivered on that goal. This being said, I continue to offer my services as a direct portal to these two development teams I represent.

Secondly, when stability issues cause a Carlson/IntelliCAD crash, I strongly urge users to complete the Crash Report form that typically follows any type of problem. This information is continually monitored by the ITC and its partner member (Carlson in this case) and acted upon.

Thirdly, the Carlson development team continually monitors the health of the ITC builds and also takes an active role in the "ITC Release Committee." Based on client reported issues that might be associated with a particular build of Carlson and the IntelliCAD engine used with that build, interim spot builds of Carlson can be made available for clients that need them. This is usually offered at the discretion of the Carlson Technical Support/programming team.

Having said all this, the bottom line is that what works for one person or organization may not work for another; it is all about productivity. For some people, IntelliCAD is sufficient for the kinds of projects they produce. For others, AutoCAD or the Embedded AutoCAD OEM engine platform might be more desirable. At this point, it is ultimately up to the client to evaluate which solution will work best for his/her needs and budget.

Although IntelliCAD has had its critics over the years (I've been following it since it's initial IntelliCAD '98 release), I find it to be an acceptable alternative to AutoCAD. One of the unique aspects of being an ITC member is that it gives Carlson direct access to ITC source code which allows Carlson to contribute the fixes we need back to the ITC to make a better product for all. This said, I know there is still plenty of room for improvement in the IntelliCAD application.

For those who are monitoring the progress of IntelliCAD, there are several intriguing additions/improvements to IntelliCAD that are on the horizon. Although I'm not in a position to divulge them at this time, rest assured that a focus on stability and quality will continue to be at the forefront of the ITC Development team as additional product improvements are developed.

As always, please feel free to relay any additional feedback to me (lnelsonATcarlsonswDOTcom) or directly to the Carlson Technical Support Staff.

I am going to go with Carlson as soon as I can get the funding.
I have heard nothing but good about it. As a matter of fact, I
hear if you had Carlson you could do this... Have only heard
good stuff about it. Never heard anything bad about either
version/engine.

That is a move that you will never regret.
Ladd's response above is so indicative of the way Carlson operates. Work with AutoDesk and you are treated as a serf or a vassal. Work with Carlson and you are treated, at the VERY least, as a first born son.
Try the Intellicad version and see how it works for you.It may be a perfect fit. If not, the people at Carlson will do everything to make it right all the way up to letting you step up to the AutoCad version. Your budget is the only limitation.

:good:
This is a big reason I'm sticking with Carlson/Intellicad.

I've been working with IntelliCAD off and on for the last year. Trying to get used to it and see if we can eventually drop the AutoCAD and just still with Carlson with ICAD. We haven't switched over, but maybe sooner or later we will.

I have found some similar issues as stated above. I've seen the ghosting of lines and other issues, but I know some of my frustrations are do to using ACAD commands that ICAD doesn't recognize. It is the way I work. Instead of hitting the little buttons, I've learned shortcuts (or quick keys) to get the functions running. So the learning curve is really on me. I also remember going from softdesk to LDD was a learning curve, then to C3D. But I for sure now that Carlson will do everything in their power to help, where ACAD is like calling Microsoft to get answers. Not even a chance!

Remember ICad is pretty customizable. Build yourself some custom toolbars, and you can assign those quick commands that you use to the correct procedure.

Took me a couple of years in order to feel that the Carlson/Intellicad combination was more productive than my old Autocad Ver14 with Softdesk (I could of road that version into the sunset). After a few years I am a die-hard Carlson fan. I understand the next version of Intellicad will be 64bit. For me, the 64bit can't happen soon enough.

I think one the most important things with Carlson software is their Tech Support, it's just good. And the annual support fee is fairly reasonable. They have been very responsive to any problems or questions I have ever had.

"annual support fee"?????? FREE is more than fairly reasonable. 😀

> For those who are monitoring the progress of IntelliCAD, there are several intriguing additions/improvements to IntelliCAD that are on the horizon.

Any idea whether AutoLISP processing speed might be one of them? I tried to substitute CMS IntelliCAD v7.2 for AutoCAD, but found the AutoLISP processing to be so slow that it was unusable for some of the applications I use daily. (Parsing polylines being the most onerous; walking through the vertices is painfully slow.) I'm getting dangerously close to eating my hat and renewing my AutoCAD subscription.