Here’s a list of 5 CAD viewer software for Windows 10. CAD software is usually bulky and large in size. Installing a fully-featured editor just to view files can be an overkill. Simplistic viewer will be more than enough if you are only interesting in checking out CAD designs. Programs that I listed down below are simple, lightweight, and won’t take long to install if you need a simplistic CAD viewer.
Let’s have a look at what exactly it is that’s available.
Mini CAD Viewer
Mini CAD Viewer is a lightweight CAD viewer software for Windows 10, just the kind that we’re after. Most impressive feature that it has is the built-in file browser in the left sidebar. Just navigate to the folder where CAD files are located and select the ones you want to open up (thumbnails make selection easier).
Selected document will open up in the viewing area on the right. If the document is layered, clicking on the top right corner “Layers” icon lets you choose which layers are going to be shown. Rest of the tools from the menu bar are the usual, zoom tool, move tool (for panning) and printing is also supported. Underneath the preview area, there are quick access zoom levels, for quickly changing the zoom level.
Get Mini CAD Viewer.
JETCAM CAD Viewer
JETCAM CAD Viewer is an even smaller and more compact CAD viewer software than Mini CAD Viewer. With a size of around 3.5MB, it won’t be too taxing on your system to install. Supported formats include CAD documents like DXF, DWG, IGES and JETCAMs own JGF file format.
Layout is similar to Mini CAD Viewer, but things work a bit differently. For starters, file browser on the left is just for navigating to the folder where CAD documents are located. Once the folder is selected, thumbnail previews of files within the folder are going to be loaded into the strip underneath the file viewing area. Selecting a file from there loads it into the viewer. The only available controls are hidden away behind the right click context menu. Nothing special is available though, only zoom in/out.
Get JETCAM CAD Viewer.
Also, have a look at 4 Free DWG Viewer Websites.
VariCAD Viewer – free CAD viewer software for Windows 10
VariCAD Viewer is a CAD viewer software for Windows 10 that’s simple, but it’s not as simple as JETCAM CAD Viewer. For example, it still lets you perform some minor changes to the opened files. Changes that can be done are rudimentary, like changing object colors, shading and so on.
Another useful feature found in VariCAD are the measurement tools for measuring distance, angles, volume, surface area, etc. All the usual CAD formats are supported, DWG, DWB, DXF and STP. Interface is simple, with the menu and toolbar up top with all the important options, and the rest of the interface down below being the viewing area. Printing is supported, if you need CAD documents committed to paper.
Get VariCAD Viewer.
DwgSee Plus
DwgSee Plus is a CAD viewer software for Windows 10 with a modern UI design and lightweight approach to viewing CAD files. File browser on the left will let you select a folder. All the CAD documents from the selected folder are going to be displayed in the “Explorer” view tab on the right. They will have thumbnails, which makes selection easier.
Multiple files can be opened at once using tabs. Vertical and horizontal split views of two files at once are also supported. Other tools include things like rotate tool, zoom tool, file dependency viewer, panning tool, layer manager and the background color changer. No editing tools are available, only those for viewing CAD documents. Application supports AutoCAD formats, DWG and DXF. Interface design mimics the one found in newer versions of Office, with support for differently colored themes (black, silver, aqua, custom), which is a nice touch.
Get DwgSee Plus.
Also, have a look at 5 Websites To Convert DWG Files Online.
IrfanView
In doing my research for this list, I was surprised when I discovered that the very popular image viewer IrfanView can also be used as CAD viewer software. By default, it doesn’t have support for CAD formats, but it does get support for them once you install the plugin pack.
As far as using the program goes, it’s no different than using it as an image viewer, once that the plugin pack is installed. Click on the “Open” button to load a CAD file. Left/right buttons can be used to browse other supported files in the currently active directory. Tool selection for image editing also worked on CAD files, like resize, crop, cut and even color corrections. IrfanView will give you suggestion for additional third-party CAD editor for CAD specific file editing.
Get IrfanView.
Conclusion
With this list, I’ve set out to find simple CAD viewer software that works on Windows 10, and I think that I’ve done just that. My favorite would be DwgSee Plus, because it has a great mix of features, simplicity and modern looking UI. For something absolutely and completely simple, go for JETCAM CAD Viewer. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment down below.
