As designers (of any discipline), we often draw and design on behalf of a third party, our client. In these cases, sooner or later we will have to share the drawing, since the client will be the one who approves the design, or requests changes. There are other cases where sharing a drawing is required, such when a student wants to share a design with the CAD teacher. It could also happen that we need to share the design we are making with our colleagues, or even with classmates. 

In any case, working in a traditional way would imply sending the drawing in its original format, probably DWG, or converting it to PDF before sharing.

In most cases, by the time we send the DWG or PDF file to someone else, it is already an outdated version. That’s because typically, we will continue to work on the design, which quickly evolves beyond the static “old” version we shared.

This is where hosting a drawing in the cloud, and then sharing it with third parties, changes everything. It’s a small action that can save many time-wasting exchanges of emails coming and going with outdated data.

ARES Kudo allows sharing access to our drawing online, and there are multiple ways to do it.

The ability to easily share a drawing with anyone is what makes view-only links a favorite of professionals, teachers, and students. The reason is very simple: Thanks to this function, you can share the drawing with others — whether they are ARES users or not — through a URL. This URL can be deactivated at any time, it can be changed, and it can even be set to automatically expire on a date you choose. With this URL, even users without any type of CAD license can view the drawing from their browser, thanks to ARES Kudo. And it is free for those who access the link.

If a client or other link user wants to comment on the drawing, they can do so, but first they must create a free Graebert account.

After creating the link, you (and your colleagues who share access to the online drawing) will be able to continue working on and modifying the drawing. Your client will always be able to see the latest version of the drawing, because the link is kept up to date. If you want your client (and other users who know the URL) to stop having access, you can simply turn off the link. Or you could add a password, which would add another level of security to the drawing.

In this module, you will learn about:

• The main features of view-only links.
• How to generate view-only links and share them with others.
• What your clients will need to see the drawings and comment on them.
• The differences between PDF files and view-only links. (You'll be happy to know that view-only links work for 3D drawings too, and we'll show you how to comment and validate the drawing).
• Why view-only links are always up to date, ensuring that your client always sees the latest version of the project.
• How to disable the view-only link, and why you'll need to generate a new URL if you want your client to have access to the file again.
• Which option to choose so that your client can print the plans to PDF.
• How to create a password, if desired, to make your file more secure.