Choose the Right Design Software

Confused by the many choices available in design software? You’re not alone.

There are, it seems, design programs for just about every residential design project—from complete home plans to cabinets. They range from sophisticated professional CAD (computer-aided drafting) to consumer-level programs.

“There are basically two types of design software,” says Greg Susman, a builder, designer and consultant who also runs www.b4ubuild.com, a resource on all aspects of the residential construction process. “There’s CAD, where the operator tells the program where to put a line in a 3-D space. With object-oriented drawing, you basically drag objects out of a library and stick them in a room.”

In many of today’s programs, the lines are blurring. “Most programs employ a little bit of each,” Susman says.

High-end to Homeowner
“CAD has been around for years,” Susman says. “AutoCAD is still the most commonly used ‘professional’ drawing software. You’re looking at about $4,000 and a pretty steep learning curve. But it will do anything you want to do.”

“Then, you have programs for decks, kitchens and baths, and landscaping, which generally start in the $20 to $50 range, up to $500. I would call them consumer-level, or for homeowners. Most pros who try them find that they’re not what they really wanted.”

What does Susman recommend? “I personally like Chief Architect. It’s a very good program for the average general contractor.  And you don’t need to have prior CAD experience.”

Chief Architect now offers three new programs under its Better Homes & Gardens brand. Home Designer, offers more than 1,500 sample home plans and thousands of architectural objects. Picture Painter allows users to upload their own photos and visualize different paints and materials.

One of the other well-known consumer/homeowner programs is Punch Software, which recently released a new version of its Architectural Series 4000, which offers functionality for everything from paint choices to swimming pools and landscaping.

“These programs work fine,” Susman says, “but if you’re expecting to get drawings that you can take down to the permit office, you’ll be disappointed.”

Generic or Specialty
While programs like Chief Architect might be your best bet for professional results, adding niche-specific software to your portfolio also might be a good idea if you specialize in a specific area of the home, such as kitchen and baths or deck design.

While these specialty software products can be expensive, they usually offer you important additional design detail.

Planit Fusion, the newest version of Planit’s design and visualization software for kitchen and baths, offers instant updates to manufacturer catalogs and Fusion software. Planit also offers Cabinet Builder, a new cabinet manufacturing program.

Other specialty programs include a new version of Cad Quest Deck Pro, which offers a 3-D design program for designing custom decks.

Lighting Technologies offers a suite of Simply Lighting products that uses the Windows operating system as an easy-to-use graphical user interface for creating complete lighting layouts.

Try Before You Buy
With all of the options available today, how do you decide which software to buy?

“If you’d like to try CAD, you could buy some of the lower-end products and see if you like that way of drawing,” Susman advises. “If you do, then you can spring for the higher-end products. Or, if your background isn’t drawing or drafting, one of the object-oriented programs is probably a better idea.

“The best advice I can offer is to download the demo and see if it’s what you’re looking for.”