I’m looking for a tool for windows
I began to think about the design (internal & external) of my future controller.
I’d like to know if you would have a tool for me in order to help me to design…
I mean, a Visio-like tool but more specifical, more midibox-oriented!
does it exist ??
i had to google to find out what visio is… (drop it)
i would advise Inkscape, more and more people are using it, very user friendly and it s got all you need for panel and inside design (2D), it served me well and it is FREE !
and it s free multiplatform OSX, Windows and Linux so we can all exchange project seamlessly.
simone
Seconded. You won’t find a program like “midiBOX Designer 3.5”. You could write one though 
I’ve gotten really comfortable with a CAD app called Canvas (was by Deneba Systems, now it may be by ACDSee).
I use a really old one though (v.3.5), which is limited to Win98SE & pre OSX Mac. It’s tight as crap though. I’ve done PCB and panel stuff in it.
George
PS- I’ve learned that you still won’t know exactly what the hardware version will look like until it’s born, but it can give you an idea, and the dimensioning will be right at least. 
i had to google to find out what visio is… (drop it)
I have to intervene. I just checked the two mentioned tools above… that’s not really what I call CAD. Visio might not come close to AutoCAD, but at least I can call it a CAD-tool.
I come quite good along with Visio and when you have some training, you’re quick as hell.
Greets, Roger
Canvas has turned more Photshop’y over the years, but when I got it, it was inexpensive competition for ClarisCAD and I guess AutoCAD. It does all the dimensioning and measurement stuff too:
Still wish I was as comfortable with something more current. :-[
I don`t believe you need special tool for designing midiboxes. They are usually square shaped, flat, and they are constructed out of flat 2D sheets of metal, acrylic…
So as designing the box, in most cases, takes 2D graphics any vector program like Corel Draw, Illustrator, Freehand… will do. Using vector based software is is important as every machine can use those files for manufacturing. My friend designed his box in Photoshop, and he brought the files to me like “ready” so I can send it to the cutters. I have to redraw whole design in Corel to be really useful.
If you wanna do some complex constructions and assembly, and if it will not be only for only one or two boxes, than you you better get yourself some CAD software and your life will be easier.
I use Zoner Draw 5.
I probably will change to something else one day, as I’m not 100% happy with everything it does, but then I like it a lot more than Illustrator because of the way it handles object position/size. Take a look at the screenshot, from one dialog (upper left), I can change the absolute or relative position of things, as well as view what the current position is… handy for then transferring into Front Panel Designer or PCB design software. It can easily do things like creating multiple copies (i.e. an array of buttons/LEDs at given spacings). Also, any place you can type in a dimension/coordinate, you can use any units, handy for working primarily in inches but specifying sizes of components in mm… or drawing up an LCD footprint using mm dimensions from a datasheet. The grid is nice, and you can move things in grid increments using the arrow keys, which is how I mostly move stuff around so that it stays aligned to the grid (unfortunately moving things with the mouse will align the top-left corner of an object to the grid, which is not what you want most of the time).
Things like grouping things on multiple layers means I can have a LED made up of a drill crosshair on a “Drill” layer and the LED picture (red circle) on a “LEDs” layer and toggle the visibility of each layer to produce different displays. One limitation though is the “printed page” co-ordinates with origin at top-left instead of bottom-left… not too big a deal though, since you can move the origin in FPD. Another limitation is the exporting, some things don’t get exported nicely, so if you really need something that exports perfectly to DXF for laser cutting or something, this will require some tinkering afterwards in AutoCAD… i.e. I think curves come out as stepped line segments instead of circle and arc primitives. It does print nicely, and you can print across multiple A4 pages with registration marks etc. to easily cut and align the pages (if you’re doing 19" rack panels, this is a very handy feature for printing mock-ups).
I give it a recommended rating because it’s not too much CAD like AutoCAD but more CAD than Illustrator… it’s very easy to make a sketch of what you want to build, but a little limited in what you can do with it afterwards… since my workflow usually involves using FPD for the panels, I have to manually create the panel in FPD anyway.
I think you guys are talking about something different to the OP - he asked about visio, which is a flowchart tool, and thus I’m not so sure he’s talking about panel/case design, which you all are…
As for a flowcharting app, visio is as good as it gets. I use it extensively for my designs.
Mmmm… Inkscape rocks… I think I’m switching ;D
Mmmm… Inkscape rocks… I think I’m switching Grin
.. come home dude
thanks a lot for all of you
When looking at that Zoner sceenshot, it really seems to be similar to Inkscape. I just switched inkscape’s background to black 
FYI I’m still using Zoner Draw 5.
Inkscape doesn’t have the Transformations tool window, which I just cannot live without for this stuff (I do a lot of typing in dimensions, coordinates, widths, heights, and in multiple dimensions too). Maybe I should suggest this feature to the Inkscape developers.
What do you mean by transformations? Move, Rotate, Scale, Clone, Matrix and such?
See the screenshot I posted before. That little window in the top right. It not only shows/edits the dimensions of everything, those 9 little squares let you see/edit the coordinates of the corners/midpoints and even resize things while that corner/midpoint stays fixed. It’s what makes this app a good compromise between artwork/graphical stuff and CAD stuff.
Yeah i see. Inkscape actually has similar functions, but what annoys me is that I cannot set center origin. Every parts’ coordinates are at the point of their bottom left corners. That makes me switch between inches and mm, then calculate their coordinates, then switch back to inches to align them…
For those who don’t know, Solid Edge 2D Drafting is free.
http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/velocity/solidedge/index.shtml
I am using the full 3D package since 1996. I can tell you that this is a very powefull 3D CAD parametric feature solid modeling software for the price.
Download here the Free 2D drafting package :
http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/velocity/solidedge/free2d/new_user.shtml
i use the pencil tool in gimp (free) for quick sketches.. then i’d use qcad (free) if you don’t have access to Autocad to do a drawing with dimensions.
