1.1
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.2.1
1.2.2.2
1.2.2.3
1.2.2.4
1.2.2.5
1.2.2.6
1.2.3
1.2.3.1
1.2.3.2
1.2.3.3
1.2.4
1.2.4.1
1.2.4.2
1.2.4.3
1.2.5
1.2.6
1.2.7
1.3
1.3.1
1.3.2
1.3.3
1.3.4
1.3.5
1.3.5.1
1.3.5.2
1.3.5.3
TableofContents
Introduction
DiscoveringFreeCAD
WhatisFreeCAD?
Installing
InstallingonWindows
InstallingonLinux
InstallingonMacOS
Uninstalling
Settingbasicpreferences
Installingadditionalcontent
TheFreeCADinterface
Workbenches
Theinterface
Customizingtheinterface
Navigatinginthe3Dview
Awordaboutthe3Dspace
TheFreeCAD3Dview
Selectingobjects
TheFreeCADdocument
Parametricobjects
Importandexporttootherfiletypes
WorkingwithFreeCAD
Allworkbenchesataglance
Traditionalmodeling,theCSGway
Traditional2Ddrafting
Modelingforproductdesign
Preparingmodelsfor3Dprinting
Exportingtoslicers
Convertingobjectstomeshes
UsingSlic3r
2
1.3.5.4
1.3.5.5
1.3.6
1.3.7
1.3.8
1.3.8.1
1.3.8.2
1.3.9
1.3.10
1.4
1.4.1
1.4.1.1
1.4.1.2
1.4.1.3
1.4.2
1.4.3
1.4.4
1.5
UsingtheCuraaddon
GeneratingG-code
Generating2Ddrawings
BIMmodeling
Usingspreadsheets
Readingproperties
Writingproperties
CreatingFEManalyses
Creatingrenderings
Pythonscripting
Agentleintroduction
WritingPythoncode
ManipulatingFreeCADobjects
VectorsandPlacements
Creatingandmanipulatinggeometry
Creatingparametricobjects
Creatinginterfacetools
Thecommunity
3
AFreeCADmanual
Note:ThemanualhasbeenmovedtotheofficialFreeCADwikiwhichisnowitsnewhome.
Ifyouwishto propose edits,please do them there, as this repository will be kept only for
generatingtheebookversionsandwillnotbedirectlyeditedanymore.
Introduction
FreeCADisafree,open-sourceparametric3Dmodelingapplication.Itismadeprimarilyto
modelreal-worldobjects,rangingfromthesmallelectroniccomponentsuptobuildingsand
civil engineering projects, with a strong focus on 3D-printable objects. FreeCAD is free to
download,use,distributeandmodify,anditssourcecodeisopenandpublishedunderthe
verypermissiveLGPLlicense.ThedatayouproducewithFreeCADisfullyyours,andcan
berecoveredwithoutFreeCAD.
FreeCAD is also fundamentally a social project, as it is developed and maintained by a
communityofdevelopersandusersunitedbytheirpassionforFreeCAD.
This manual is an experiment at taking the opposite way from the official FreeCAD
documentation wiki. The wiki is written collaboratively by dozens of community members
and,likemostwikis,itcontainshugeamountsofinformation,butisveryhardtoaccessand
navigate by newcomers. This makes it a precious resource for reference, but not a very
practical tool to learn FreeCAD. This manual will walk you through the same information
available on the wiki. However, we hope that the more step-by-step pace, based on
examples,andthemoreunifiedtonegivenbyasmallernumberofauthors,willmakeitmore
suitableforafirstcontactwithFreeCAD,andthatitwillbecomeaperfectcompanionforthe
wiki.
This manual has been written for the current stable version of FreeCAD which is version
0.16.
AllthecontentsofthismanualarepublishedundertheCreativeCommons4.0license,and
canbefreelyused,downloaded,copied,andmodified.Thesourcefilesofthismanualare
hostedongithub.
ThisbookhasbeenwrittenmostlybyYorik,butusingalotofinformationbuiltbyFreeCAD
users, mostly from the FreeCAD wiki. The real author of this book is actually the whole
FreeCADcommunity!
Introduction
4
Introduction
5
