Landscape design software

Last post 21-09-2009 11:15 AM by David . 17 replies.

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25/02/2005 11:26 PM
Pete Greenwood Location: Joined on: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 1	Reply \| Contact I have been searching for a quality software package to aid my studies in landscape design. Any recommendations would be welcome.

22/03/2006 12:40 PM	In reply to
Wildflower Location: Joined on: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 1	Reply \| Contact Hello Pete Did you get any replies to your request and if so what was recommended or indeed have you anything you could recommend? Thanks

31/03/2006 07:52 AM	In reply to
bogweevil Location: Joined on: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 2,043	Reply \| Contact I woud like to find software too. The ones for amateurs are rather like toys - fun, but not really up to planning a garden. The professional CAD programmes are expensive, need special landscape libraries and a drawing tablet. This a bit too much for my simple needs, so I am still looking... Beware the bat-eared bogweevil

10/01/2007 07:37 PM	In reply to
reddon Location: Joined on: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 4	Reply \| Contact If you want something simple and easy to produce freehand 'paintings' of your design, I would suggest a programme called 'ArtRage'. It is purely a painting programme and has no libraries to call on. I showed it to an aquaintance who is a gaden designer by profession (with a couple of Golds under his belt) and he immediately downloaded it to use for his design work. It can be got from [url=http://www.amientdesign.com]http://www.amientdesign.com[/url] and the price is about $20. If you want something that can be used as a painting pogramme and a photo manipulation package, 'The Gim' can be had for free from [url=http://www.gimp.org]http://www.gimp.org[/url] Again I must stress that it is not garden design specific. A more complex, but easy to use 'drawing' programme which can rival the likes of CorelDraw, Macromedia Frehand and Adobe Illustrator is 'XaraXtreme'. Again not garden design specific, but a very useful tool and you can build up your own library of images. [url=http://www.xara.com]http://www.xara.com[/url] has a trial version that can be downloaded. Costs - XaraXteme about $89, XaraXtreme Pro aroun $199. Hope this is useful.

10/01/2007 07:37 PM

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reddon
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If you want something simple and easy to produce freehand 'paintings' of your design, I would suggest a programme called 'ArtRage'. It is purely a painting programme and has no libraries to call on. I showed it to an aquaintance who is a gaden designer by profession (with a couple of Golds under his belt) and he immediately downloaded it to use for his design work. It can be got from [url=http://www.amientdesign.com]http://www.amientdesign.com[/url] and the price is about $20. If you want something that can be used as a painting pogramme and a photo manipulation package, 'The Gim' can be had for free from [url=http://www.gimp.org]http://www.gimp.org[/url] Again I must stress that it is not garden design specific. A more complex, but easy to use 'drawing' programme which can rival the likes of CorelDraw, Macromedia Frehand and Adobe Illustrator is 'XaraXtreme'. Again not garden design specific, but a very useful tool and you can build up your own library of images. [url=http://www.xara.com]http://www.xara.com[/url] has a trial version that can be downloaded. Costs - XaraXteme about $89, XaraXtreme Pro aroun $199. Hope this is useful.

10/01/2007 07:44 PM	In reply to
reddon Location: Joined on: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 4	Reply \| Contact Sorry, A few typos crept in. ArtRage's web address is [url=http://www.ambientdesign.com]http://www.ambientdesign.com[/url]

10/03/2007 12:04 AM	In reply to
garden gorgeous Location: Joined on: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 4	Reply \| Contact I should refer to the college you are with because they could get you a discount as a student - often get deals - and will know what is compatible with what! I'm trying to get on a course from Pershore College - but still prefer drawing by hand as it is fun! CAD sounds like hard slog! Juliet

30/01/2008 10:27 PM	In reply to
Plantman Location: North Yorkshire Joined on: 30 Jan 2008 Posts: 276	Reply \| Contact Pete. I have seen a program for Landscape Design offered by a company called 'Vectorworks'. They offer all sorts of dsign programs but the one for Landscape is called 'Landmark'. The problem is, that it is difficult to get hold of. It is also very expensive. You are talking best part of £1,000 for the software. However, I am assuming that you are still fairly young, you may get a reasonable amount of use out of it. Like any CAD program it is a little complicated at first, but the more you use it, the better it becomes. I am a landscape designer myself, but unfortunately, cannot see the benefit financially in such a product. Retirement looms. I have seen it being used however, and it does the job. Much better than all the other software that are not particularly Landscape specific, and some that are. Best of luck in your career, and I hope you can find someone that can maybe show you the benefits of the program, before you look to buy. At £1,000 you better make sure it is right for the purpose, and you will use it.

30/01/2008 10:27 PM

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Plantman
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Pete. I have seen a program for Landscape Design offered by a company called 'Vectorworks'. They offer all sorts of dsign programs but the one for Landscape is called 'Landmark'. The problem is, that it is difficult to get hold of. It is also very expensive. You are talking best part of £1,000 for the software. However, I am assuming that you are still fairly young, you may get a reasonable amount of use out of it. Like any CAD program it is a little complicated at first, but the more you use it, the better it becomes. I am a landscape designer myself, but unfortunately, cannot see the benefit financially in such a product. Retirement looms. I have seen it being used however, and it does the job. Much better than all the other software that are not particularly Landscape specific, and some that are. Best of luck in your career, and I hope you can find someone that can maybe show you the benefits of the program, before you look to buy. At £1,000 you better make sure it is right for the purpose, and you will use it.

17/12/2008 01:27 PM	In reply to
ukhostland Location: central France Joined on: 17 Dec 2008 Posts: 2	Reply \| Contact Once you start talking about professional software at these sorts of prices there is quite a lot of choice. I am a garden designer and have been using CAD for more than 15 years (we also provide CAD tuiton from our base in central France). We have Autocad, Turbocad, Vectorworks Landmark, LandworksCAD and a few others providing precision drafting, programs like Sketchup for quick 3D models, and use Photoshop and a number of drawing programs for other applications. There is also plant selection, estimating and photovisuisation software out there: all easily obtained on the internet. We would not use drawing programs for precision drafting for obvious reasons...they are not accurate in producing scaled plans. As well as the cost of the program, there is the hardware to consider (powerful PC, graphics tablet, big screen, wide format printers / plotters) and you must consider the learning curve....these are not simple products. When we spread the cost over the 1,000 gardens we have designed it all makes sense but for one or two gardens this is quite an expensive hobby. Colin Elliott www.garden-design.co.uk

17/12/2008 01:27 PM

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ukhostland
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central France
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Once you start talking about professional software at these sorts of prices there is quite a lot of choice. I am a garden designer and have been using CAD for more than 15 years (we also provide CAD tuiton from our base in central France).

We have Autocad, Turbocad, Vectorworks Landmark, LandworksCAD and a few others providing precision drafting, programs like Sketchup for quick 3D models, and use Photoshop and a number of drawing programs for other applications. There is also plant selection, estimating and photovisuisation software out there: all easily obtained on the internet. We would not use drawing programs for precision drafting for obvious reasons...they are not accurate in producing scaled plans.

As well as the cost of the program, there is the hardware to consider (powerful PC, graphics tablet, big screen, wide format printers / plotters) and you must consider the learning curve....these are not simple products. When we spread the cost over the 1,000 gardens we have designed it all makes sense but for one or two gardens this is quite an expensive hobby.

Colin Elliott

www.garden-design.co.uk

02/01/2009 12:18 PM	In reply to
Lucy Location: London Joined on: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 2	Reply \| Contact A lot of design students use Shoot www.shootgardening.co.uk It also has a lot of plant information. Cheers

02/01/2009 12:18 PM

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Lucy
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A lot of design students use Shoot www.shootgardening.co.uk It also has a lot of plant information. Cheers

05/02/2009 12:02 PM	In reply to
Gaffs Location: East Dulwich Joined on: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 1	Reply \| Contact I quite like the look of Shoot as it seems nice and simple, plus the use of plant info etc is a good touch. I also wouldn't mind having a go with Art Rage. Does anyone have a sample of what can be created using it? Currently I am using a trial version of CorelDraw Pro, but I'm not totally enamoured with it.

05/02/2009 12:02 PM

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Gaffs
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I quite like the look of Shoot as it seems nice and simple, plus the use of plant info etc is a good touch. I also wouldn't mind having a go with Art Rage. Does anyone have a sample of what can be created using it? Currently I am using a trial version of CorelDraw Pro, but I'm not totally enamoured with it.

05/02/2009 03:59 PM	In reply to
ukhostland Location: central France Joined on: 17 Dec 2008 Posts: 2	Reply \| Contact As I said before, it all depends what you are using the software for. If you are serious about garden design and want professional software for precision drafting you will use AutoCAD or one of the clones like TurboCAD, Vectorworks, LandWorksCAD, etc. Because of our work as CAD trainers, we have all of these. The drawing programs are for client visualisations and with a bit of work these can be made to appear "hand drawn" The software aimed at amateurs, and Shoot appears to be of this level, are easy and quick to learn but would be unacceptable to most clients: although Grannie may be impressed! Colin www.gardendesignacademy.com

05/02/2009 03:59 PM

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ukhostland
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central France
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As I said before, it all depends what you are using the software for.

If you are serious about garden design and want professional software for precision drafting you will use AutoCAD or one of the clones like TurboCAD, Vectorworks, LandWorksCAD, etc. Because of our work as CAD trainers, we have all of these.

The drawing programs are for client visualisations and with a bit of work these can be made to appear "hand drawn"

The software aimed at amateurs, and Shoot appears to be of this level, are easy and quick to learn but would be unacceptable to most clients: although Grannie may be impressed!

Colin

www.gardendesignacademy.com

09/09/2009 10:28 PM	In reply to
bradytimes Location: Joined on: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 1	Reply \| Contact I've been developing web-based landscape design software at www.MyGardenPlans.com. The software is pretty new, but I'm making updates almost daily. Its free and doesn't any installation, but it does require registration so that designs can be saved. The site aims to be a new venue for sharing home and garden plans...kind of like YouTube but for gardeners. I'm intersted to see what you think. New featuers will be prioritized based on community feedback. Thanks!

09/09/2009 10:28 PM

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bradytimes
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I've been developing web-based landscape design software at www.MyGardenPlans.com. The software is pretty new, but I'm making updates almost daily. Its free and doesn't any installation, but it does require registration so that designs can be saved. The site aims to be a new venue for sharing home and garden plans...kind of like YouTube but for gardeners.

I'm intersted to see what you think. New featuers will be prioritized based on community feedback.

Thanks!

18/09/2009 04:14 PM	In reply to
spade monkey Location: earth Joined on: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 37	Reply \| Contact Here is an article on choosing garden and landscaping software tools. It mentions a couple of different gardening software product types, but is mainly useful for things to think about before buying anything. If you are studying, then looking for an educational license may be the way to go?

18/09/2009 04:14 PM

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spade monkey
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earth
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Here is an article on choosing garden and landscaping software tools.

It mentions a couple of different gardening software product types, but is mainly useful for things to think about before buying anything. If you are studying, then looking for an educational license may be the way to go?