Use the LDraw All-In-One-Installer, in short AIOI, if you want a quick and easy way to install LDraw parts library and many of the popular 3rd party tools as well.

The AIOI supports Windows XP (Home and Pro), Windows Vista (all versions) and Windows 7 (all versions). On 64-Bit Operating Systems it will install in the "Program files (x86)" folder. The Installer will NOT run on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT Ver 4, 2000, or XP below SP2. If your version of Windows is different, follow the install instruction at http://www.holly-wood.it/mlcad/install-en.html.

• What is LDraw?
• How do I install LDraw?
• What is included in this version of the installer?

What is LDraw?

The term "LDraw" can be used to refer to the original DOS based LDraw program, the LDraw parts library, the LDraw file format or the LDraw System Of Tools. As you can see this can be very confusing for new users. For this tutorial LDraw will refer to the LDraw System Of Tools, which you will be installing on your computer.

In a nutshell, LDraw is a free "CAD"-like set of programs that allows a user to create virtual LEGO® like models on your computer. You can use it to document models you have physically built, create building instructions just like LEGO, render 3D photo realistic images of your virtual models and even make animations. The possiblities are endless. Unlike real LEGO bricks - were you are limited by the number of parts and colors - in LDraw nothing is impossible. You have an unlimited supply of virtual bricks in every possible color. Even colors that LEGO has never created!

As stated LDraw is a series of various programs. At the basic level you need at LEAST two of these applications:

Application 1: The library of parts and
Application 2: An editor

The parts library is the core of the program as it has over 4800+ LEGO parts (as of June 2011). Note that the ONLY brick we ENDORSE is LEGO although the parts format can be used for any other type of brick (MEGA Block, Block-it, etc). LDraw.org, however, DOES NOT SUPPORT OR ENDORSE these other types of bricks and they are NOT part of our official parts library. Also while our parts authors are hard at working creating new LEGO parts NOT ALL LEGO bricks are currently available in the library. The process is very hard and time consuming and our part authors are all volunteers. So be patience if the piece you are looking for is not in the library. If a part is not in the library you can check the LDraw Parts Tracker to see if the part is in production. Otherwise, you can post a request for a part creation to the LDraw Forums.
An editor allows the user to create virtual models using a graphical windows interface in the process. Most people found it very hard to use the original editor (LDRAW.exe) since it was a DOS based program with no graphical user interface – it is therefore not included in this installer package. To overcome the limitation of the original DOS program several 3rd party editors have been created. MLCad is the most popular of our 3rd party editors and is very easy to use if you are comfortable using Windows and the drop & drag concept.

If you want to create 3D images (renders) of your models that you created in LDraw you will need several more add-ons to LDraw:

Application 4: LDView
Application 5: POV-Ray

LDView is primarily a viewer program that does also convert your LDraw model file (.ldr or .mpd) into a POV-Ray file (.pov). POV-Ray is the ONLY non-LDraw program of the bunch. It is used to create stunning 3D images of anything. See sample 3D images of what POV-Ray can do by visiting: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=37564 and check out the http://www.povray.org/ website for more information.

How do I install LDraw?

• Download the following file: LDraw_AIOI_2011-02_setup_32bit_v1.zip
  NOTE: The file is protected by a Captcha image. Please type in the letters you see in the picture.

• Unzip the content
  NOTE: Use 7-Zip (recommended), Winzip or Winrar if the explorer of your Windows OS has no inbuild decompression of .zip files.

• To start the installer double-click on the
  LDraw_AIOI_2011-02_setup_32bit_v1.exe
  file. A tutorial with screenshots of the single dialogs can be found at http://www.holly-wood.it/ldraw/aioi1-en.html.
  NOTE: You must have administrator rights on your account in order to properly run this installer.

What is included in this version of the installer?

The following library files and applications are included in the AIOI. Note that newer version of each application may be available as this installer was created for the release of the latest LDraw parts library update, which happens twice or three times a year.