01 PROMPT
Type it the way you'd say it. "PL 1/2 × 24 × 20, two Ø13/16 holes" becomes an exact solid with the holes where you said.
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Steel fabrication CAD · from the shop floor, for the shop floor
Indolent CAD turns a text prompt, a sketch, a DXF, a PDF, or a 3D model into the same complete fab package: exact solid, shop drawing, NC1, DXF, cut list. Detailing software that runs offline and keeps your work in your shop.
Drag to orbit · real engine output — this frame exported one STEP and one NC1 per member
The loop
However the work arrives — an email, a napkin, a customer's old files — it leaves as the same thing: a part your machines and your crew can run.
Type it the way you'd say it. "PL 1/2 × 24 × 20, two Ø13/16 holes" becomes an exact solid with the holes where you said.
Draw the profile in the full-screen sketcher — typed dimensions, osnap, fractions. Closed loop becomes a real plate part.
Drop in the customer's DXF. Geometry comes through exact — and exports round-trip back out as DXF.
Import a vector PDF, calibrate with two picks and one true distance, and trace over real geometry. Deterministic — no AI guessing at your dimensions.
Open a STEP, or build parametric from scratch in the MODEL workspace — sketches, constraints, features, rolled members.
STEP · shop drawing (PDF) · NC1 / DSTV · DXF · cut list
Every intake path lands here. No re-drawing, no re-typing, no second tool.
The MODEL workspace
A full history-tree modeler: constrained sketches, extrude, revolve, fillet, chamfer, mirror, patterns — plus a feature no general CAD has: rolled steel members as first-class geometry, placed on work lines by AISC designation.
This W-shape carries two web holes cut in the 3D workspace. Export it and the NC1 file carries both — as proper BO rows at exact positions, written by the same verified writer that handles every part in the system.
Members export one NC1 each: profile matches the designation, length matches the work line to 0.01 mm. Families that can't be represented honestly in DSTV are skipped with a stated reason — never silently mangled.
W · M · S · HP · C · MC · L · WT · MT · ST · HSS · PIPE
Drag to orbit — the beam, as exported
The 2D sketcher
The full-screen SketchPad works the way your hands already know: window and crossing selection, osnap with per-kind toggles, typed dimensions while you draw, right-click to finish a run. Fractions are first-class input — 13/16 means Ø13/16″.
Built for fabricators
The AISC v15 section database ships inside the app. Type a designation, get the real profile — k-fillets and all, volumes checked against published section areas.
We don't just write NC1 files — the test suite re-imports and re-measures them. Profile matches designation, length to 0.01 mm, holes at exact positions.
The geometry kernel runs on your machine. No internet on the shop computer? Once the licence is activated, modeling, drawings, and exports still work.
Parts, drawings, and your growing library live on your disk. Nothing about your jobs is uploaded to model anything.
Millimeter-exact kernel inside, fractions at your fingertips outside — 1/16″ snap, feet-and-inches readouts, ± tolerances on the sheet.
Over 2,200 engine tests pin geometry to closed-form volumes and real file round-trips. A failing feature refuses honestly — it never ships you a wrong part quietly.
How it compares
The detailing packages are excellent at what they do and cost what a seat of them costs. Indolent CAD is the one you hand a detailer, a foreman or an estimator for the parts that never justified a seat.
| Indolent CAD | Tekla Structures | SDS/2 | Advance Steel | SolidWorks | Onshape | Offshore detailing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prompt or sketch to NC1, drawing and cut list in one step | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| NC1 / DSTV export | Yes, round-trip verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via add-in | Not native | Depends on the vendor |
| Built for steel fabrication (AISC shapes, copes, bolt gauges) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | General-purpose CAD | General-purpose CAD | Yes |
| Desktop, works offline, files stay on your machine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Browser only | Your files leave the shop |
| Revisions | Unlimited, included | Included with the seat | Included with the seat | Included with the seat | Included with the seat | Included with the seat | Re-billed per revision |
| Price per user, approximate * | $249.99 / year | Quote only; commonly reported in the thousands per year | Quote only; commonly reported in the thousands per year | About $2,700 / year | About $4,000 one-time plus yearly maintenance | About $1,500 to $2,500 / year | About $20 to $40 per hour |
* Competitor figures are approximate, taken from the vendors' public price lists or commonly quoted rates at the time of writing, and change without notice; they are shown for scale only. Confirm with the vendor before comparing quotes. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners; Indolent Designs LLC is not affiliated with any of them.
Pricing
Offshore detailing bills by the hour and re-bills every revision. Indolent CAD is one flat yearly license per user, and the library you build is yours: the second time you need that clip, it's already drawn.
Prices in US dollars; sales tax or VAT, where it applies, is calculated and added at checkout. Each additional user needs their own license. Need several users on one shop license? Site licences: talk to us. Every purchase is covered by our refund and cancellation policy.
Get it in your shop
Twenty minutes, your parts, your machines' formats. If it doesn't earn a place on the floor, you'll know by the end of the call.