Who writes the guides
Guides, format pages and tool notes are written and reviewed by the CADProps team. The byline is CADProps because the team is responsible for every page. Guides show who reviewed them and the date their content last changed.
English is the source text. A translation states the same facts, limits, units, precision and privacy boundaries as the English page. If a page has not been translated, we link to the English version rather than publishing a machine copy.
What we write about
We write about tasks people actually do with CAD files: opening a format, checking units, measuring, converting, comparing revisions and sending files to suppliers. We describe only features that CADProps has today. When a task needs desktop CAD software, a drawing or a physical inspection, the guide says so.
We keep three distinctions in every guide:
- Exact geometry and mesh approximations. Values calculated from B-Rep geometry are reported separately from values measured on a triangle mesh. See how CADProps calculates properties.
- Preview and conversion. A file that displays has not necessarily been converted into exact solid geometry.
- Nominal and measured. Nominal dimensions in a model are not the results of inspecting a physical part.
Sources
We cite the documents that define a format or a method: standards bodies, specification registries, archival format descriptions and the documentation of the geometry kernels and libraries involved. Examples are NIST, the Khronos Group, the Library of Congress and Open CASCADE. Cited documents appear in the Sources list at the end of a guide.
Links to other websites use rel="nofollow". A link points to a reference. It is not an endorsement, and we do not exchange links. We do not accept payment for links, mentions or placement in a guide.
How we test claims
We test the steps and numbers in a guide on files anyone can download.
- Reproducible cases. Each case states its input, the observed result and how it was verified, for example the inch-unit check, the open-surface check and the assembly-instance check.
- Known-good samples. The sample files include their expected dimensions, volumes and areas.
- The CADProps parts library. The free parts library on GitHub contains 30 parts in STEP, STL and IGES, each with a preview, its dimensions and a source record. 23 are community models under CC BY 3.0 with author credits, and 7 are CADProps originals under CC0.
- Real interface screenshots. Screenshots come from the English interface of the live site and show public files only.
We never use customer files, private models or account data in guides, examples or screenshots.
What "Updated" means
The Updated date changes when the substance of a page changes: a step, a fact, a limit or a result. Edits that only touch a title, a description or internal links leave it unchanged.
Advertising
Some pages show Google ads, as described in the privacy policy. Ads are placed automatically, and advertisers have no say in what a guide recommends.
Corrections
If a guide is wrong, out of date or unclear, email support@cadprops.com with the page address and what you found. A sample file or a screenshot helps. We check the claim against the product and the cited source. If the claim was wrong, we correct the page and update its date.
Coverage of CADProps by other publications is listed on the press page.
Original article: CADProps · https://www.cadprops.com/editorial-policy/