Major jewellery CAD programs currently used in the jewellery industry
Want to learn jewellery CAD, but you’re not sure which software to learn?
Whenever I’ve advised people as to which program to choose, I always recommend people look at programs which best suit their style of working rather than simply choosing what is the most popular.
Below I’ve created a list of the most commonly used jewellery CAD programs being used on the market as of right now.
In each link you’ll find information on that program’s origins, where and how it is most commonly used in jewellery design or manufacturing, its particular advantages and weaknesses, and options for learning. I’ve tried my best to provide an unbiased take on each, advocating them based on their relative strengths and the tasks for which they are most useful to jewellery professionals.
I have also provided the schedule for classes or other training options I’m currently offering, and where possible a carefully curated selection of CAD video tutorials to demonstrate and teach some essential basics of that software. These are included to provide a clear picture as to how these programs behave in practice.
If you would like to know more about which jewellery CAD Software is best suited for specific tasks, I have written FAQ pages comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each jewellery CAD program, as well as a list of CAD software combinations which work well together for various specialist tasks in 2D and 3D jewellery CAD modelling.
Other Jewellery CAD Programs?
Beyond 3Design, Adobe Illustrator, Carveco, Matrix 9, MatrixGold, Rhino, and Zbrush, there are other jewellery CAD programs which I do occasionally hear about. But these seem to be more rare exceptions, and their user bases at the moment seem to still be quite small. This could either be because they were designed for general product design rather than jewellery and someone has figured out how to adapt them, or because the software has been discontinued. Matrix 9 fits the latter bill, but because the software even now still retains a huge user base it doesn’t yet qualify as a minor program.
If there is a CAD program you’d like to ask me about that is not included here, feel free to contact me directly.
Jewellery CAD Software Overviews
3Design CAD
A flexible and powerful solid jewellery CAD modeller with unmatched fully parametric features.
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MatrixGold
Stuller/Gemvision combined Matrix and RhinoGold together and made a powerful parametric surface modeller and upgrade to Rhino.
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Rhino 3D
A low-cost flexible general product design CAD tool which has been adapted for jewellery manufacturing.
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RhinoArtisan
2shapes' latest comprehensive jewellery design plug-in for Rhino, and an excellent mid-tier entry between Rhino and more expensive fine jewellery CAD programs like MatrixGold and JewelBeetle.
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JewelBeetle
Made by the original development team of Matrix 9 and designed as an alternative successor to that software, JewelBeetle is a good mid-range performance tool between Rhino and MatrixGold.
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Adobe Illustrator
One of the oldest and most popular graphic design tools also turns out to be the 2D designer’s best option, and possibly the fastest CAD program of them all.
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Zbrush
A powerful and low-cost visual effects sculpture tool which has grown to become the jewellery sculptor’s secondary CAD tool of choice.
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CarveCo
The successor to ArtCAM as the best 2.5D relief CAD modelling tool for jewellery and medals.
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Matrix9
While now discontinued, its continued persistence shows just how dominant and well-loved this jewellery CAD tool has always been.
Learn MoreA Note On Quality Assurance and My Disclaimer
All of the information on the jewellery CAD software in each of these links has been verified as correct as of the writing of this post.
Note that before any of these CAD video tutorials are added to these pages, all of the videos are tested and confirmed to work correctly in the latest released version of that software. However, it has happened before that the owner of the videos may remove them or set them as private after I have posted them.
If there are any differences between the version of the software being demonstrated and the latest version, I’ve confirmed that the changes with the new version won’t affect how this tutorial works. Also, where possible I try to choose the easiest to follow tutorials with clear verbal instructions and without any distracting background music playing while they’re working. If there is a problem with any of these links or tutorials, please let me know and I will make an update.
Would you like to know more?
If you’re not sure which course to take, or would like to know more about a particular article here on the site, simply contact me and ask. I’m always happy to answer questions or provide advisory about the courses I deliver or jewellery CAD in general.
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