Help Required and yes I'm an Engineer

I am finding LibreCad difficult to use = nothing works properly!  (Rant over)

Whilst I can open a blank drawing and draw a line or circle, this is not what is expected from a computer based drafting system.  I find the menus (Version 2.1.3) confusing and related to systems developers NOT professional users.  Whether an architect, electronics, mechanical or process engineer.

The status bar at the bottom has no relevance and appears inoperable.

On opening a drawing I want to decide the scale of my drawing e.g. is the grid 1:1, 2:1 or 1:1000.  There is no menu to decide how my screen should reflect any printed output.

The library browser and parts list has no scaling capability.  If I import an item the icon is miniscule - in drawing my garden if I import a tree then I want to consider its dimensions on my plot.  If designing a wall from bricks - what size of brick am I using and how many are needed if when using Hatch.

If as an electronics engineer designing with IC, resistors, capacitors etc, whilst these can be labelled where is the inventory data-base?  This should be automatically produced as items are imported from the parts library. (if required of course)

I've tried reading the various manual and Quick-Reference guides without success.

Please can somebody who understands LibreCad look at the system from the End-User perspective?  (I've also looked at FreeCad and have very similar issues)I've tried reading

I don't mind helping but I just cannot even start!

 

Regard.

JGI

I disagree with your assertion that "nothing works properly."  It has been my experience over the last couple of years that most things work exactly as needed.  Notice that I said, "most things."    Different folks have different ideas about how things should work.  Sometimes these ideas are in direct opposition to one another.  The developers have to make a decision on which way to have a particular feature work.  Some will love it, others will hate it. Ka sura sura.

I have never used a CAD program where the scale is determined while drawing.  Everything is drawn full size and the scale is set when printing.  To accomplish this, create your drawing full size in the drawing unit of your choice.  Feet, millimeters, inches, etc.   Options>Current Drawing Preferences>Units and set the paper size Options>Current Drawing Preferences>Paper.  Then File>Print Preview.  This will open another window where you can set the scale of your drawing to the paper size you have selected.  Very easy to accomplish.

When importing blocks and other drawings the same things I outlined above are also true.  If the block was drawn at full size and the drawing units are the same (mm, inch, etc) then the block (a tree in your example) will be scaled correctly.  Note that if the tree was drawn in feet and your current drawing is in inches, the scale will be off.  (1' not equal 1").

Please ask if you have any questions.