Carbide Create870

Turn ideas into CNC-ready parts by drawing designs and generating their machining toolpaths in Carbide Create. This CAD/CAM software combines 2D and 3D design with CNC-router preparation in one application, supporting Shapeoko, Nomad, and other CNC machines.

Create Core provides shapes, splines, text, Boolean operations, and vector offsets for 2D and 2.5D work, along with pockets, contours, V-carving, and engraving. Its tool library includes cutting speeds and feeds, while basic drawing tools cover squares, circles, polygons, polylines, and Bezier curves. Text can use any font installed on the computer and follow either a straight line or an arc.

Users can load a background image for proportional reference or tracing, combine and subtract geometry with weld, union, intersection, and subtraction operations, and create parallel copies with offsets. Create Pro adds 3D components, textures, heightmaps, and STL import, plus roughing, finishing, rest machining, ramping, and tiled toolpaths; it also outputs standard G-code for any CNC machine. The software suits makers and CNC operators designing anything from simple signs to highly detailed parts, including people accustomed to vector applications such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.

Carbide Create is offered for Windows and Mac, while this Apple Silicon version requires macOS 12 Monterey or later and is freeware, currently version 870. Core is included with every Carbide 3D machine, and Pro has a free trial; Shapeoko and Nomad owners receive Core without a purchase requirement.