Yep, this is from a while back, but I think it’s worth pointing out Deelip Menezes’ 7-part series on Delcam PowerShape 2010.

I did play around a bit with PowerShape-e 2009, but I found it hard to figure out.  OK, I didn’t do any tutorials, but I’ve had better luck figuring out other MCAD programs.  Since I now have licenses for Alibre Design and VX/ZW3D and my time is limited, I haven’t used free but limited programs like PowerShape-e or CoCreate-PE in over a year.

The PowerShape-e business model (not feature limited compared to PowerShape, but you pay every time you want to get your data out) doesn’t match well with my requirements (that’s the same reason I don’t like using “free” PCB design software that is locked to a specific proto house).

If you’re looking at acquiring MCAD software, I recommend considering all the CAD design software possibilities, including lesser known programs such as PowerShape, IRONCAD, KeyCreator, SpaceClaim, ZW3D, and Solid Edge.  And I highly recommend reading Deelip’s blog; he is a blogging machine (1000 posts in about 4.5 years), and has written many interesting multi-part series.

Why am I interested in viewing and measuring STEP files?  Because I can make a better automation PCB if I can use STEP files.  Mechanical engineers, of course, like 3D models they can import and use in assemblies, but I am mainly concerned with PCBs.

There are a variety of standard 3D file formats, including IGES, STEP, 3D PDF, STL, VRML, ACIS, and 3D PDFs.  The most common formats for electrical components are IGES, STEP, and, recently, 3D PDFs.  My experience is that STEP files typically import with fewer problems than IGES; 3D PDFs are very nice for viewing parts, but unless the file creator took the proper steps, cannot be used for measuring.

My uses for STEP files include:

• Viewing parts.  I can’t synthesize 3D parts in my head from a set of 2D drawings, and sometimes it’s very useful to see what a part looks like.   I really like to have real parts to play with, but that’s not always possible.
• Sometimes the manufacturer’s 2D prints do not give all the information I want to create my PCB component shape.  I can get any dimension I want from a STEP file.
• It’s very easy to screw up PCB connectors.  Doing a quick assembly of the PCB and components lets me verify that my drill sizes are correct, check for cable orientation, and such.

Since I am not doing any heavy duty mechanical design work, I did a bit of research into free MCAD programs that can view and measure STEP files, and preferably create small assemblies.  I found one program specifically designed as a STEP file viewer, IDA-STEP.   The free version of IDA-STEP does not measure.

However, most free MCAD programs can import and then measure STEP files.  I took a quick look at five different programs, listed below.  CoCreate PE is my favorite of the bunch; it seems the best match for a non-mechanical guy like me.

1. CoCreate PE
2. PowerSHAPE-e
3. Alibre Design Xpress Note: since Alibre has dropped STEP import from Design Xpress, it is no longer a good choice.
4. IDA-STEP
5. Acrobat 3D PDF
6. CAD Exchanger (a program to convert between CAD file formats, but it also works as a viewer)
7. CADFaster|QuickStep is another CAD file viewer with free and paid versions; when I get time, I will give it a short test.

Note that the free versions of MCAD programs exist primarily for marketing reasons, and the terms can (and have) changed at any time.

There are other free Mechanical CAD programs that might be able to read STEP files, including:

• Medusa4 Personal, which runs on Linux and Windows, but can’t export data and all drawings are marked.
• Kompas-3D Light, which cannot create assemblies.
• Autodesk Inventor LT, which cannot create assemblies.

PowerSHAPE-e is the free version of Delcam’s PowerSHAPE CAD program.  It has all of the functionality of the PowerSHAPE program, except that you can only save files using the encrypted PowerSHAPE-e file format, which cannot be read by any other CAD software (including PowerSHAPE).  You can use the Delcam Exchange program to save in another file format; I believe the cost is £200 (~$300) per file.

The Exchange software provides CAD file translation for a very large number of CAD file formats.  Importing the files is free, but exporting to another format costs money (currently £34 (~$50) per file for non-PowerSHAPE-e files).  The Exchange software can be run stand-alone, or from within PowerSHAPE-e.

You can set a variety of import options when directly importing STEP files using Exchange; there are no options when importing using PowerSHAPE-e.  However, you cannot measure parts in Exchange.

You can drag and drop STEP files onto PowerSHAPE-e.  One nice feature are all the pre-defined views – just click on the icon to spin the part into that orientation.  However, I had to look up how to manually rotate a part: you have to hold down the middle mouse button.  Part manipulation speed is good.

You use the calculator to measure.  When measuring, PowerSHAPE-e seemed a bit behind where I wanted it to be; it might need a faster system than my Athlon 2800 + older Quadro card

Viewing HD26M connector with PowerSHAPE-e