Favorite software for generating b/w mechanical drawings

[OutWest]

Hi everyone. I'm a mechanical engineer and have spent a fair amount of time generating black and white line drawings to go in papers, documents, etc. What is your favorite software to create drawings like you might see in textbook homework problems? A couple of simple examples given below. I typically will hash something out in microsoft powerpoint or publisher, but have pretty much reached the limit of those applications. In high school and early undergrad I became quite proficient in using AutoCAD to do line drawings, which is, after all, what it is designed for, but its been some time since I've used it. Ideally, I want something that combines the ability to do geometric constraints, snap, and other capabilities like trim or extend with a fairly simple UI like you might find in a microsoft application. Your thoughts?

 

[Paul Colby]

Autocad is a drafting program. A simpler one that is free is IPE under linux. Generates pdf files which include latex and integrate into lyx.

 

[CalcNerd]

I use TurboCAD lte as it is fairly cheap, has an autoCAD like interface and can generate files in nearly all formats.

 

[OutWest]

Autocad is a drafting program. A simpler one that is free is IPE under linux. Generates pdf files which include latex and integrate into lyx.

This is pretty close to EXACTLY what I was looking for. Bonus points for Latex integration even though it took me a little while to get working right on my machine for some reason. The software would be just about perfect if it had trim/extend capabilities (or maybe I just haven't found that yet...)

 

[Paul Colby]

The software would be just about perfect if it had trim/extend capabilities

One approach is to redraw the bit of line or arc using the intersection or endpoint snap option then delete the untrimmed object.