Posted by dellus on Dec 25, 2017; 6:04pm
URL: https://forum.librecad.org/Can-LibreCAD-do-what-I-want-tp5715625p5715628.html

1 - LibreCAD is a purely 2D CAD program, so you can't make files for 3D printing. It can be used for laser- or watercutting or milling purposes, though.
2 - People often think CAD makes drawing easier than to do it by hand, but the opposite is the case. LibreCad is relatively easy to learn compared to other CAD programs, as it is only 2D and has somewhat restricted capabilities, so not so complex. Still, if you are a complete newbie in that field and concerning your age it will be quite challenging. If you want to give it a try you shouldn't focus too much on what you want to achieve with it but for the experience ("would really like to try it again").
3 - Yes, entities can be moved to other layers.
4 - Manuals and tutorials are a week spot with LC. Those in the WIKI are a bit outdated. The user interface has been changed meanwhile and you have to search for your tools at different places, but they are still there and work the same way. I don't know of a tutorial covering your special use case.
5 - For "pre-processing" Irfanview is quite sufficient, I would say, don't think Gimp or Photoshop can do this much better.
The problem with vectorizing bitmaps is that it normally produces two lines of the one original, the inner and the outer boundary of a line that has a certain width. You have to use a vectorizing software that can calculate a center line. And export to DXF, as this is the native format of LibreCAD, DWG - support is unreliable.

So I would say, just try it out.