Editing Computer-aided design (section)

==Overview==
Computer-aided design is one of the many tools used by engineers and designers and is used in many ways depending on the profession of the user and the type of software in question.

CAD is one part of the whole digital product development (DPD) activity within the [[product lifecycle management]] (PLM) processes, and as such is used together with other tools, which are either integrated modules or stand-alone products, such as:

* [[Computer-aided engineering]] (CAE) and [[finite element analysis]] (FEA, FEM)
* [[Computer-aided manufacturing]] (CAM) including instructions to [[computer numerical control]] (CNC) machines
* [[Photorealistic rendering]] and motion simulation
* Document management and [[revision control]] using [[product data management]] (PDM)

CAD is also used for the accurate creation of photo simulations that are often required in the preparation of environmental impact reports, in which computer-aided designs of intended buildings are superimposed into photographs of existing environments to represent what that locale will be like, where the proposed facilities are allowed to be built. Potential blockage of view corridors and shadow studies are also frequently analyzed through the use of CAD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/computer-aided-design-cad-and-computer-aided-cam.html |title=Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) |website=Inc.com |access-date=2020-04-30 }}</ref>