About the first BIM Software: ArchiCAD

About the first BIM Software: ArchiCAD

Company Graphisoft Inc

Headquarter: Budapest (Hungary)

Co-Founder: Bajor, Gabor

ArchiCAD is an architectural BIM CAD software for Macintosh and Windows developed by the Hungarian company Graphisoft. ArchiCAD offers specialized solutions for handling all common aspects of aesthetics and engineering during the whole design process of the built environment — buildings, interiors, urban areas, etc.

Development of ArchiCAD started in 1982 for the original Apple Macintosh. ArchiCAD is recognized as the first CAD product on a personal computer able to create both 2D drawings and parametric 3D geometry.] In its debut in 1987 ArchiCAD also became the first implementation of BIM under Graphisoft's "Virtual Building" concept. Today more than 100,000 architects are using it in the building design industry.

Supported Platforms

ArchiCAD is available for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. ArchiCAD 17 runs on Windows Vista/7/8 64-bit, Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 and 10.9.

License types

Commercial, Educational and Fully functional 30-day trial versions can be installed with the same installer. The license type is to be chosen upon installation. The installers and the necessary educational or trial registration numbers can be obtained on MyarchiCAD.com after registration.

Commercial version is protected by a hardware protection key. If no key is present ArchiCAD switches to Demo mode where Save, Copy and TeamWork features are disabled (printing/plotting is still enabled).

Educational versions are protected by registration numbers. Saved files in educational ArchiCAD versions are compatible with commercial ArchiCAD versions, but carry a watermark identifying the license type. Once a project has been edited with an Educational version the watermark will persist in the file.

Trial version is a 30-day fully functional version in which you can save, print and publish projects. File formats are fully compatible with the commercial version once the copy of ArchiCAD has been converted to a commercial license; otherwise, the trial files are only readable on the original computer on which they were created. The trial version is protected by registration numbers.

Languages and localizations[edit]

ArchiCAD is available in a number of localized versions. In addition to a translated user interface and documentation, these versions have a set of parametric objects (object libraries) developed taking into consideration the specific requirements of the regional market, and different default values for object properties, menu arrangements, etc.

English versions

International (INT) (metric)

US Version (USA) (imperial)

Australian (AUS)

New Zealand (NZE)

German versions

Germany (GER)

Austria (AUT)

Switzerland (CHE)

Spanish Version (SPA)

French Version (FRA)

Italian Version (ITA)

Portuguese Version (POR)

Russian Version (RUS)

Japanese Version (JPN)

Polish Version (POL)

Czech Version (CZE)

Hungarian Version (HUN)

Dutch Version (NED)

Finnish Version (FIN)

Swedish Version (SWE)

Norwegian Version (NOR)

Danish Version (DEN)

Turkish Version (TUR)

Greek Version (GRE)

Simplified Chinese Version (CHI)

Traditional Chinese Version (TAI)

Korean Version (KOR)

Brazilian Version (BRA)