Ides of March, St. Patrick's Day, First Day of Spring

We are taking this opportunity to provide some PowerCADD planning “heads up” as PowerCADD v6 is not ready for release yet. Currently, it is at ß84 and counting.

Upgrade Pricing Change
Engineered Software has released new prices for upgrades to PowerCADD v6 and for PowerCADD v6 new purchases.

The price for a new PowerCADD v6 purchases will increase approximately 12.5%.

The upgrade “step structure” and prices have been changed. The upgrade cost for a single version upgrade increment (i.e. PowerCADD 2000 v5 to v6) has been increased from approximately 18% of retail to approximately 40% of retail. The other steps follow.

The “stepped structure” now has one upgrade price for each of these “steps” :
• PowerCADD 2000 v5
• PowerCADD 1.0 through 4.0
• PowerDraw 1.0 through 6.0

Gone are the stepped pricing for each version.

Clearly it becomes apparent that if you have PowerCADD version 4, you can upgrade to PowerCADD 2000 v5 and then from PowerCADD 2000 v5 to v6 for basically the same cost.

We emphatically recommend that you do so - and - quickly, while PowerCADD 2000 v5 is still available. In Canada prices are available by direct using the feedback link at the bottom of this article.

Also, if you are looking to add an additional copy of PowerCADD to your office, you should consider adding PowerCADD 2000 v5 and then upgrading it to v6 at the special “purchased after 7 Jan 2003” upgrade prices for basically the same total cost.

As you will see from the following information, there are other very good reasons for considering having a PowerCADD 2000 v5.012, the last optimized version for OS 9.2.2.

Planning for PowerCADD v6 - What Can You Read/Translate
Moving to OS X is a significant move with respect to planning, capital cost, and production workflow. It is in this light that we felt there are certain things you need to know.

Many of our PowerCADD users, who have archive drawings in PowerDraw and PowerCADD format, will be relieved to know that PowerCADD v6 will be able read their archived drawings as far back as PowerDraw v6.

To assist in your planning, the following provides screen shots of the Open options for each of PowerCADD v6 and for PowerCADD 2000 v5.

PowerCADD v6: PowerCADD 2000 v5:


Note that PowerDraw 6 is the “oldest” archived drawing that PowerCADD v6 can read. Your old archived drawings should be brought forward to at least the versions listed.

Note also that “Read” translation of ClarisCAD, EPSF, MacDraw or postscript as PowerCADD 2000 v5 provides is not available in v6.

Planning what to do with archives is always an important consideration that requires attention and time. Knowing in advance what needs to be done is essential. Having the “tools” to do so is manditory.
March 14, 2003 Issue Page 12 - 12

Planning for PowerCADD v6 - What Can You Write/Translate
In planning your needs for archive maintenance and for exchanging drawings with colleagues who are not using OS X, knowing what the Save As options are, is important.

The following provides screen shots of the Save As options for each of PowerCADD v6 and for PowerCADD 2000 v5.

PowerCADD 2000 v5 (left) PowerCADD v6 (right)

Note PowerCADD v6 will only be able to Save As V6 and PowerCADD 2000 v5, whereas PowerCADD 2000 v5 can Save As P2k v5, PCD 4, PowerDraw 6 and Adobe EPSF.

Managing Color - PowerCADD v6 vs PowerCADD 2000 v5
PowerCADD v6 follows OS X standards and uses the OS X Color Panel with its many color pickers and options. The approach to managing color has changed, and the earlier PowerCADD color model is not available in v6.

Under PowerCADD 2000 v5, you able to:
1) swap color palettes, force a redraw and have the colors in the objects change.
2) hold the option key while choosing the color on a palette that represented the color of an object in your drawing, and be able to edit the color directly. After editing the color and forcing a redraw, all objects that had the unedited color would now have the edited color.
... and more.

For a full explanation of PowerCADD 2000 v5’s capabilities for Managing Color click here .

PowerCADD v6 has no such color equivalents, so keeping a copy of PowerCADD 2000 v5.012 safe would be a good idea for those occasions when you need that control of color.