Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, architect and editor-in-chief of the online CAD publication Architosh, discussed developments that raise ARES Kudo to a new position in the CAD marketplace.
At this year’s Graebert neXt event, Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, an architect and the editor-in-chief of Architosh, delivered a keynote presentation about ARES Kudo, Graebert’s cloud-based CAD solution for creating, viewing, and editing DWG files online. Here, we’ll focus on some highlights from the keynote presentation.
To see the full discussion about the new capabilities in ARES Kudo, and what they mean for online CAD in the DWG format, you can watch a replay of this presentation on Youtube: “Online CAD in DWG.” You can also read Frausto-Robledo’s in-depth product review, “ARES Kudo 2025 Takes Aim at AutoCAD LT,” on Architosh.com.
Watch Anthony Frausto-Robledo’s full keynote presentation on Youtube.
ARES Kudo’s Transformation in the CAD Software Market
Frausto-Robledo cut right to the chase, opening his talk by stating, “This year, ARES Kudo has transformed into a bona fide AutoCAD LT competitor. That is the consensus after completing my in-depth first look and the strong view of its developer, Germany’s Graebert.”
Frausto-Robledo continued his comments on Kudo’s position, saying, “This year Graebert has taken ARES Kudo up a weight class. Although it is an online solution, it is now aiming for AutoCAD LT.”
“Is ARES Kudo full-featured enough to replace LT?” he asked. “To begin with, it is important to stress two major changes this year with the addition of the ribbon interface and support for dynamic blocks. The new ribbon interface instantly elevates your sense of the application. And the support for dynamic blocks not only matches LT, but fundamentally gives Kudo desktop CAD utility.”
Exploring ARES Kudo’s New Ribbon Interface
Frausto-Robledo and his co-presenter, Cédric Desbordes, Graebert’s Business Development & Marketing Director, explored the CAD and collaboration capabilities of ARES Kudo. As it has been nearly a decade since Kudo was launched, the software is equipped with a rich array of features. One of the newest is the ribbon interface, which users can choose to display or hide as they prefer.
ARES Kudo now offers a ribbon interface, designed to help new and experienced users find the features they need quickly.
“The new ribbon interface was designed to facilitate the transition from AutoCAD or ARES Commander,” explained Desbordes. ARES CAD software applications have always been developed with an eye to easy adoption, and a familiar interface helps new users feel comfortable quickly.
“The second advantage of the ribbon,” he continued, “is to better expose the hundreds of features available in Kudo.” Both new and experienced users can benefit from this visibility when locating and using features, although they can still enter commands by name as well.
“Kudo’s new user interface is impressive,” commented Frausto-Robledo. “I found the new ribbon layout and new icons very strong compared to all the different CAD and 3D software we have ever reviewed at Architosh. It is attractive, well laid out, and easy to master.”
Dynamic Blocks Boost ARES Kudo’s Mature Block Offerings
Desbordes led the conversation to the topic of blocks, pointing out that ARES Kudo has recently added:
- A block editor that allows users to edit block definitions without exploding them;
- Support for parametric blocks created in AutoCAD (dynamic blocks) and ARES Commander (custom blocks); and
- A ready-to-use group of more than 450 dynamic blocks in the Trinity Block Library.
ARES Kudo’s array of blocks features has been boosted by support for dynamic blocks, hundreds of which are included in the Trinity Block Library (below).
“When it comes to blocks, I think it is fair to say that ARES Kudo goes beyond the expectations of most users,” he commented. “And there is a reason for that: For an online solution like ARES Kudo that is also very affordable, It makes sense to take care of the needs of occasional users who are very attracted by the collaboration features but not really CAD experts.”
Using blocks makes design easier for these non-experts, and it also speeds up design for everyone — even the most experienced users. The dynamic blocks that ARES Kudo now supports are parametric blocks created in AutoCAD. “They include grips and visibility states that make them very easy to use, even for a beginner,” Desbordes explained.
Dynamic blocks can be modified quickly, even by non-experts.
To help users get started with dynamic blocks, Kudo now includes hundreds of dynamic blocks in the Trinity Block Library, grouped into libraries organized by industry. Users can also create their own libraries to organize their own blocks or dynamic blocks. The Trinity Block libraries can be accessed in ARES Commander and ARES Touch, as well as ARES Kudo. This makes it easy to share block libraries with other ARES users, and create standard libraries used by everyone in a department or company — or just a few select individuals.
“Working with blocks is faster, as you can focus on simple operations,” Desbordes said, while demonstrating just that. “[By] combining dynamic blocks with ARES Kudo’s CAD features, you can achieve professional-looking drawings in no time.”
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