IntelliCAD emulates the basic interface and functions of AutoCAD, however, it is particularly able to incorporate and interchange freely between a wide variety of file types (i.e., .dwg, BIM, TIFF, etc.).
[1] ITC IntelliCAD is not sold directly to end users but is licensed to consortium members,[2] who support the shared development by paying annual fees, similar to a co-op arrangement, in exchange for permission to distribute IntelliCAD-based solutions worldwide with their own end-user license agreements.
The ITC also develops integrations with third-party technologies, such as the "ODA Platform" from the Open Design Alliance[5][6] which it uses for working with “.dwg”, Building information modeling (BIM), and DGN data formats.
IntelliCAD began as an independent AM/FM/GIS (Automated Mapping/Facilities Management/Geographic Information System) software firm in La Mesa, California in the United States.
Further according to his own first-hand account,[16][better source needed] "He (John Forbes) called back a few hours later and said that he along with Jeremy Jaech and Ted Johnson would be chartering a plane that day and would be down to take a look at a demo.
In March 1997 the FTC forbade "Autodesk or Softdesk from re-acquiring the IntelliCADD product or any entity that owns or controls it, without prior notice to the Commission for a 10 year period".
Nevertheless, after several years of background development, "Visio IntelliCAD" (one 'D' for the product, two for name of the original company) was finally released for the first time to the public in 1998[20] with a very low price compared to AutoCAD.
[36] Released in June 2018, IntelliCAD 9 included native support for opening, editing and saving *.dwg 2018 file versions, incremental saving to increase performance, Mechanical entity support, tool palettes, and issues related to running IntelliCAD on Fall Creators 2017 Microsoft® Windows® 10 were also fixed.
[40] Also released in 2022 was IntelliCAD 11.1, which focussed on adding new commands and abilities across several areas, including but not limited to dimensions, blocks, tables, custom paper sizes for .pc3 files, and export to IFC.
[41] Released in October 2023, IntelliCAD 12.0 emphasized reporting (data extraction), super hatches, Quick Properties pane, project geometry, section plane settings, PDF presets, legacy image tile menus, and many more new commands.
IntelliCAD versions that work with BIM files focussed on levels, AEC styles, and plane symbols for creating roofs and ceilings.
IntelliCAD versions that natively work with DGN files focussed on Explorer elements such as layers, linetypes, dimension styles, blocks, and layouts.
[43] Released in July 2024, IntelliCAD 13.0 emphasized a new Options dialog, Quick Calculator, new surface commands, lookup tables for advanced blocks, ARX application loading, an all-new LISP API, and more.