Last updated July 28, 2026
Structural Shapes draws the steel sections from the AISC Steel Construction Manual — either the ASD ninth edition or the LRFD first edition — from a dialog box. It is by Stephen R. Taylor, version 1.2, copyright 1997, and it draws in 2D from any of six viewing directions or in 3D as ACIS solids.
One thing to be clear about before you download it, because the listing says “Free” and that is only half the story.
This is shareware, and the free version is deliberately cut down
The installation guide inside the archive is explicit. The download costs nothing, and you may copy and pass it on without a fee, but the licence is a thirty-day trial: after thirty days from installation you are expected to either buy it or remove it from your computer. A second document in the archive explains how to order.
More practically, the shareware version ships with only a sample of the shape data. The author lists what the registered version contains: 446 beam sizes across W, M, S and HP shapes; 73 channels across C and MC; 184 angles, equal and unequal leg; 261 square and rectangular tube sizes; 404 tees across WT, ST and MT; and 276 pipe sizes in schedule and IPS. The copy you download here holds a limited subset “for review only”. If a size you need is missing, that is why — not a fault.
Given the age of the package, treat the ordering instructions as historical. Whether the author still takes registrations is not something we can tell you, so the honest position is that you have a functioning demonstration of a 1997 program with a partial dataset, and the full dataset may no longer be obtainable.
What it does in practice
The program runs from a dialog box with a Help button built in. You choose a shape and a size, and it draws it. All the 2D shapes can be drawn as a top, bottom, front, rear, right side or left side view, and any shape can be drawn in 3D as an ACIS solid — which is the feature that sets this one apart from most shape drawers of the era, where 3D usually meant a mesh if it was offered at all.
The author notes that shapes can also be defined by the user where the tables do not cover what you need, and that any sizes marked as obsolete in the manuals are flagged as no longer available. The dimension data is drawn from several sources: the AISC Green, Red, Blue and Brown manuals, a US Steel manual, a Bethlehem Steel manual and a Tioga Pipe catalogue.
Command reference
The package defines a single command, STEEL, which opens the dialog.
How to load it
The archive holds six files: the program (STEEL.LSP), its dialog definition (STEEL.DCL), a slide library of shape images (STEEL.SLB), a help file, the installation guide and the ordering document. Extract them all into one directory on AutoCAD’s support file search path — the dialog and slide library have to be findable or the program will load and then fail when it tries to show you anything. Then load STEEL.LSP with APPLOAD. Our AutoLISP guide covers loading and the search path.
Step-by-step usage
- Extract all six files to one folder on the support path and load STEEL.LSP.
- Type STEEL to open the dialog.
- Choose the shape family and the size. Remember the shareware dataset is a subset.
- Choose the view — one of the six 2D directions, or 3D as an ACIS solid.
- Use the Help button in the dialog for anything the interface does not make obvious; the author points to it rather than to a manual.
Compatibility notes
The installation guide states the software works with AutoCAD R13-C4 for Windows and AutoCAD R14. That is 1997-era ground, so written-for rather than tested-on, and the 3D side depends on ACIS solid modelling as it existed then.
It is dialog-driven, so it needs full AutoCAD. DCL is not supported on AutoCAD LT, and LT 2024 brought AutoLISP to LT without bringing DCL with it, so LT users cannot run this one at any release. See what runs on AutoCAD LT. As with any shape library, check the dimensions against your own copy of the manual before using them for fabrication.
Download
| Name: | Structural Steel Shape Drawing Program |
| Description: | This program will draw all of the structural steel shapes listed in the American Institute of Steel Construction’s (AISC) Steel Construction Manual, either the ASD Ninth edition or the LRFD first edition. |
| Type: | AutoCAD AutoLISP Routine |
| Author: | Stephen Taylor |
| File Size: | 123 Kb |
| Cost: | Free |
| Worked on: | AutoCAD |
| Download File: | StructuralSteelShapes.zip |
The Cost row reads Free because the download is free. As set out above, the licence inside the archive is a thirty-day shareware trial and the shape data is a subset of the registered version.
Related routines
- Al’s Steel Mill — the same job with no licence restriction and a complete dataset, including metric tables.
- Wisey’s Steel Shapes — Australian sections rather than American.
- Best of LISP collection — general drafting utilities.