CAD, or Computer-Aided Design, is software for creating and editing digital design files — technical drawings, sketches and pattern pieces — instead of drawing and cutting by hand. In fashion, a CAD file is usually the first digital record of a style, carried forward into fittings, sampling and production.
CAD software lets designers draft flats, technical drawings and pattern pieces directly on screen, replacing paper croquis and manual pattern cutting. Measurements can be set precisely and adjusted in place, so a change to a seam or a grading rule updates the file rather than forcing a redraw from scratch.
Fashion moves through many small revisions before a style is locked, and CAD lets teams make those changes fast, without cutting a new physical sample for every tweak. Design, buying and sourcing can all work from the same digital file, cutting down on version confusion and the back-and-forth that paper-based processes create.
In Delogue, sketches, CAD files, artworks and references are linked directly to the style, so the design work sits alongside the rest of the product record instead of in a separate folder. Delogue supports PLM and CAD integrations, and for many brands that CAD-PLM integration is what keeps design, sourcing and production working from the same file rather than passing copies back and forth. See Delogue's PLM integrations.