A Comparative Study of Open-Source and Licensed CAD Software to Support Garment Development Learning

Evridiki Papachristou,Panagiotis Kyratsis,Nikolaos Bilalis

doi:10.3390/machines7020030

Evridiki Papachristou, Panagiotis Kyratsis + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/machines7020030

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Abstract

Most universities have included computer-aided design (CAD) pattern making systems education and training in their clothing technology courses in recent years, so as to respond to the actual needs of the fashion world for high-skilled fashion designers and clothing engineers. With the rapid rise in the use of open source software (OSS) in all types of applications, it is important to know if the existing OSS CAD software for garment prototyping development can successfully support the learning process. The present study compares two commercial licensed CAD systems for pattern design (Polypattern and Create) to an open source software, Seamly2D, and to Wild Ginger’s Caveo V6 programme, which runs within an OSS. In total, two licensed and two OSS systems have been evaluated in their weights in accomplishing the garment development of ten different pattern designs. The results obtained for the evaluation of a set of OS and licensed CAD systems are presented and critically discussed.

Highlights

The skilled labour-dependent nature of apparel design, the globalisation of the market, the proliferation of information, the typical iterative “optimisation” trial-and-error process of apparel product development, the reduced time to market and continuous pressures of cost are just some of the factors that add to the fashion industry’s already complex activities
Since the fashion industry is the most skilled labour-dependent industry, and any cost saving through new computer-aided design (CAD) technologies has become a requirement in gaining a competitive advantage, most universities have included CAD pattern making systems education and training as part of their clothing technology courses in recent years, so as to respond to the actual needs of the fashion world for high-skilled fashion designers and clothing engineers
A search for classification of open source CAD systems available online for pattern drafting have verified that the only CAD open-source, parametric, variational, feature-based, and procedural software available

Summary

Introduction

The skilled labour-dependent nature of apparel design, the globalisation of the market, the proliferation of information, the typical iterative “optimisation” trial-and-error process of apparel product development, the reduced time to market and continuous pressures of cost are just some of the factors that add to the fashion industry’s already complex activities. Taking into account the recent trends in the industry, the product development cycle and the use of new digital technologies cannot be restricted in the “typical cycle”, but additional tools and skills require integration for these developments to be taken into account [2]. Machines 2019, 7, 30 quickly without diminishing creativity, and provide better communication and integration between product development systems [3]. They have been instrumental in reducing lead times, improving accuracy, and putting apparel products in retail stores much closer to the time they are needed by the consumer [4]

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