The evolution of jewelry design and jewelry manufacturing is never complete, but in today’s world, we have reached a level of achievement so far beyond the humble beginnings of jewelry, it’s difficult not to marvel at where technology has brought us. Jewelers have gone from designing on paper and carving models by hand, to designing three dimensionally in a computer and 3D printing jewelry.

In recent years, one of the biggest developments jewelry manufacturing has been CAD, computer aided design. CAD has been used by architects, engineers, landscapers, and automotive designers. Today, we are seeing a growing trend of CAD for jewelry design. There are many different CAD programs and a variety of ways to design in them, so here is an overview of what computer aided design actually is and how it can help your business thrive.

What is CAD?

Prior to any kind of CAD for jewelry design software, the development of jewelry manufacturing prototypes was done manually. Tedious, time consuming, and expensive, designs were often laden with imperfections and had to be consistently redesigned through trial and error.

Computer aided design software eliminates most creation errors, as it is used to draft, modify, and optimize a specific design on the computer before printing a tangible model. There are specific CAD for jewelry design programs with certain design elements already implemented within them, such as setting designs, total weights, and gemstone shapes. With a CAD program you can design a jewelry prototype in two or three dimensions and then use the resultant file to 3D print a piece.