Garden Design Software : Free gardening and landscape design and planning software
- Free Home Landscape Design Software For Macbook Pro
- Free Home Landscape Design Software For Mac Download
- Free Home Landscape Design Software For Mac Os
- Free Landscaping Design Software For Mac
We have been asked about garden design software a lot recently, home gardeners seem to be looking for a system of not only designing gardens and landscaping projects but also a way of recording their plantings and making notes on what grows well where it is and when to prune, divide, spray etc. Adobe after effects cs6 for mac free download.
GardenSketch is design software which can help plan and lay out a garden or landscape, enabling you to visualize a garden space before any plants are. More from my site Free Garden Landscape Design Software For Mac. This premium software can be used on the Mac platform for creating exterior designs. All the designs can be created from scratch. 2D customizable symbols, columns, outdoor cabinets, plant inventory, roofing system and much more can be designed when using this software. RealTime Landscaping. This first free landscape design software tool is a professional landscaping.
A number of ‘Gardening web Sites' offer different packages if you join a club or similar, these packages are usually online, you need to log in to get access.
Garden Design Software and Landscape Design Software programs are available in a number of forms including:
- Free online programs,
- 3D garden design and planning software programs for the home gardener
- Fully functional commercial garden design software designed for Landscape Gardeners and architects.
Look for garden software that comes with a good library of plants and plant care information.
Be warned – most garden and landscape design software packages provide no or little information on plant suitability, you will still need to do the research.
With all of the online garden design software, planning, design and record keeping packages available we are yet to find one where you can transfere the records and design successfully to your own computer, so you are stuck with them, if they disappear or go to paid model, you could loose all of your records and design.
However this does not mean design software, something free and online that allows you to keep your own records, design and plan your garden online does not exist, we has just not found one yet.
We have also not been offered review copies of garden design software. We get lots of books to review, but no garden planning or design software, so reports are a little ‘second hand', mostly from emails we have had regarding different software packages. We have trialled the two Google design products, and while not for everyone they are free and allow you to carry out garden design tasks relatively easily.
FREE GARDEN DESIGN SOFTWARE
Google Sketch Up
A free download and relatively easy to use. A 3D modelling tool and although it's not designed specifically for home gardeners it does work well for landscapers and architects, and it will do the job and is FREE. Also available as Sketch Up Pro
http://sketchup.google.com/ Google Layout
Free Home Landscape Design Software For Macbook Pro
LayOut is the 2D version of SketchUp Pro
http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/product/layout.html
COMMERCIAL GARDEN PLANNING and DESIGN SOFTWARE
LANDWorksCAD
A professional landscape design software and it is developed here in Australia. there is a free trial version and a 90 day paid version and a permanent version.
Small Blueprinter Garden Planner (free trial version)
This one has a free online trial, it allows you yo quickly create an ariel or overhead view of a garden plan. It has a simple to use, drag and drop system. You can resize plants, add paving, fences and other objects. Easy to print and you can create a custom library of plants if you wish to. Works on windows and Mac. Last price check was $34 US.
Garden Puzzle (free trial version and online trial)
If you are looking to see what plants will look like in front of a building, or in the landscape, Garden Puzzle has some easy to use features. You can import an image of your home, streetscape or a landscape and drag and drop plats trees and shrubs. Its easy to change the size of the plant to that you can visualise what the landscape will look like when the plants reach maturity. Last price check was $19 US
Broderbund 3d Home Landscape Designer Deluxe 5
Not trialled yet
SmartDraw
This has a free download as well as a paid version. Not yet trialled
DiComp 3D Garden Composer' garden design software
An Australian based program so has some relationship to plants and climatic conditions
Geoff Hamilton's 3D Garden Designer
Comes with a plant Encyclopedia this 3D garden design program will actually let you see your plants ‘grow'.
Punch Master Landscape design software
Not trialled
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What is the best Garden Design Software, what do we recommend ?
Until we review some garden design software we really like, unless you are a professional landscaper or architect, stick with the free Google Software. For professionals try the free download of LANDWorksCAD or SmartDraw.
Or just keep a record of different plants on a word processing program or database such as Excell, you can download lots of free drawing programs in fact most word processing packages come with one.
You will not be able to ‘drop and drag' plants from a library of images, but at least you will have a record of what is where, when you planted it and when to prune, fertilize etc.
At my college, I teach a course named 'Computers in Landscape Design' where I train landscape design students in AutoCad and Adobe Suite Programs, among others. These programs are tremendous for landscape designers who wish to use industry-standard software like regular landscape architects; however, they can be very expensive.
Students often do have access to free trials of the software, but for anyone interested in continually using them for the purposes of their professional business, eventually they will need to pay for the programs. To provide some perspective, currently the subscription for AutoCad software is around $200 per month. Unfortunately, this is just too expensive for many new business owners.
Students often ask me if there are any free landscape design apps that work well for professionals. Over the past several years, I tested many free landscape design apps on various projects. In this article, I will review the pros and cons of the market's five main free landscape design applications.
First, I won't keep you guessing – my recommendation for the best free app is iScapes. The iScapes app is by far the best free landscape design app among its peers, having quality graphics, a solid user-interface, and a good plant library. In the table below, I provided a breakdown of some of my ratings for each of the five design apps. In case the image is too small, click here to download the pdf version. I will provide some helpful insights of each app in the sections that follow, along with some common issues that may influence your decision before downloading. But before you head off and just download the iScapes or PROLandscape app, I want to give you a little piece of wisdom I've accrued over my years of design. There is no substitute for a poor knowledge of landscape plants or design. If you are new to gardening or landscape design, before you purchase any app, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of The Essential Garden Design Workbook along with some essential drafting supplies and learn the old-fashioned way. Not only will it be fun, but you will be a better designer by doing this.
Okay, that's my word of warning – now onto the reviews
Finally – before I diveinto each application – I must state that noneof these free programs compare to the professional industry standards ofAutoCad, Vectorworks, PROLandscape, or Dynascape. Although these programs dohave some good features – they just simply cannot match the quality of theprofessional software. But for those designers that are looking for a cheapoption that can get the job done, some are worth checking out.
iScapes (Rating: 16/20 )
The iScapes software offers a free and paid premium subscription service. The paid service offers a larger plant library, along with additional image downloads, and project archives; however, the free version is very useful for a beginner landscaper or do-it-yourselfer. The biggest disadvantage of the app is that it is currently only available for iPhone or iPads. For Android users, they will need to find a substitute. To try iScapes, click here.
Pros: The biggest advantage of this app is the graphic quality of the three dimensional landscape elements. The drag and drop interface, along with the visual characteristics of the app make it very useful to professionals doing quick designs for clients on-site.
Cons: As with most of the apps you will see on the list, the major disadvantage is that if you want additional quality add-ons, you will need to pay. A more extensive plant library, along with additional project storage is available with payment.
Standout layouts. Only with InDesign. Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading layout and page design software. Create beautiful graphic designs with typography from the world՚s top foundries and imagery from Adobe Stock. Quickly share content and feedback in PDF. Easily manage production with Adobe. Most people download the trials by signing up for the free level of CC membership and using the Creative Cloud Desktop app to select and download any or all of these products, although with the direct links below, no membership is required to access the free trials. Whether you're considering just a single-app subscription like Photoshop CC 2017 or getting the complete Creative Cloud. Adobe indesign 2017 download mac. Adobe InDesign CC 2017 DMG File for Mac OS Free Download A + A - Print Email Adobe InDesign for Mac is a handy application which you can use to create state of art online publications and print layouts. Download Adobe InDesign CC 2017 for free. Adobe InDesign CC 2017 is a professional page design and layout toolset. Here Are All New Adobe CC 2018 Direct Download Links, Now Available. This includes InDesign and Dreamweaver et al, in the new 2018 version rather than the 2017 version. (Not sure if Adobe will add the previous versions of what was missing to the CC 2017 collection.).
Home Outside (Rating: 10/20)
I originally had high hopes for the Home Outside app, as the average app review was 3.8/5.0 with many positive comments. After having used the app in many different types of projects, I was disappointed in the lack of three-dimensional perspectives and the limited plant library. To test out the software, click here.
Pros: For plan graphics, the renderings are quite nice and the app allows for the importing of google maps of your customer's property.
Cons: The biggest downside to the app is the lack of any real plant library. The plants are categorized by 'tree' or 'shrubs' with no indication or availability to specify the planting in the free version. The paid version does offer some extra features.
Home Design 3D (Rating: 5/20)
Home Design 3D was an intriguing app that had very distinctive reviews when I originally had downloaded it. People seemed to either love it, or hate it. Unfortunately, I was one of the latter. The app is very useful for interior planning and design, but falls short for any realistic landscape design applications. To try the app, click here.
Pros: The only thing the app has working for it is the 3D aspect. The three-dimensional rendering capabilities are better than I would have expected for a free app.
Cons: The user-interface is very poor and the app itself is not intuitive. This combination makes for a very difficult experience for a designer, especially when there are other options available. I would hope that future updates provide pop-ups or a tutorial at the beginning to help designers navigate the platform prior to starting a design.
PROLandscape Home (Rating: 5/20)
I will start off with a disclaimer. In one of my classes, I train designers on the PROLandscape Professional Softwares (Planner, ImageEditor, and Proposal). These are good (but expensive) programs that are very useful for design. I believe it is a great marketing strategy by the developer Drafix to provide this free app to showcase some of the basic features of their paid programs.
With that being said, I found it difficult to provide an honest review of the free version because I kept remembering the full functionality of the paid programs. In any case, I did my best to realistically provide good feedback on the user-interface. Overall, there are many elements that can be improved. To test this out app, click here.
Pros: The free software has many similarities with the overlay perspectives of Home Outside, but with a greater plant library. The biggest drawback of the software is that most of the plant database is only offered for the paid version.
Cons: The app is not very intuitive and there is very little within the program to provide help or support. Also, there is a limited availability of plants, with poor customization, and relatively no ability to modify the existing library.
Sketchup Viewer (Rating: 5/20)
I had originally downloaded the Sketchup Viewer because I had received a recommendation about the app from another designer. I already have extensive knowledge in Sketchup, along with a variety of other 3D Software programs including three-dimensional CAD, Rhino, and Revitt, so I figured the Sketchup Viewer was worth a try. In general, it was a big disappointment as the viewer does not really offer anything valuable for a designer that does not have access to the base-program of Sketchup. To test out the viewer, click here.
Pros: If you have the ability to work on a regular computer to complete a great 3D model in Sketchup, the Viewer is useful -essentially just a tool to view the model and show it to your client on site. Other than that, the viewer does little else.
Cons: It is not a design software and offers no specific landscape capabilities. The app is obsolete without actually using Sketchup to generate the landscape model.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for the best free landscape design apps that also offer some assistance in designing and showcasing designs to clients in a professional manner, then I would recommend iScapes. If you do not have an iPhone or iPad, use Home Outside.
Free Home Landscape Design Software For Mac Download
Until we review some garden design software we really like, unless you are a professional landscaper or architect, stick with the free Google Software. For professionals try the free download of LANDWorksCAD or SmartDraw.
Or just keep a record of different plants on a word processing program or database such as Excell, you can download lots of free drawing programs in fact most word processing packages come with one.
You will not be able to ‘drop and drag' plants from a library of images, but at least you will have a record of what is where, when you planted it and when to prune, fertilize etc.
At my college, I teach a course named 'Computers in Landscape Design' where I train landscape design students in AutoCad and Adobe Suite Programs, among others. These programs are tremendous for landscape designers who wish to use industry-standard software like regular landscape architects; however, they can be very expensive.
Students often do have access to free trials of the software, but for anyone interested in continually using them for the purposes of their professional business, eventually they will need to pay for the programs. To provide some perspective, currently the subscription for AutoCad software is around $200 per month. Unfortunately, this is just too expensive for many new business owners.
Students often ask me if there are any free landscape design apps that work well for professionals. Over the past several years, I tested many free landscape design apps on various projects. In this article, I will review the pros and cons of the market's five main free landscape design applications.
First, I won't keep you guessing – my recommendation for the best free app is iScapes. The iScapes app is by far the best free landscape design app among its peers, having quality graphics, a solid user-interface, and a good plant library. In the table below, I provided a breakdown of some of my ratings for each of the five design apps. In case the image is too small, click here to download the pdf version. I will provide some helpful insights of each app in the sections that follow, along with some common issues that may influence your decision before downloading. But before you head off and just download the iScapes or PROLandscape app, I want to give you a little piece of wisdom I've accrued over my years of design. There is no substitute for a poor knowledge of landscape plants or design. If you are new to gardening or landscape design, before you purchase any app, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of The Essential Garden Design Workbook along with some essential drafting supplies and learn the old-fashioned way. Not only will it be fun, but you will be a better designer by doing this.
Okay, that's my word of warning – now onto the reviews
Finally – before I diveinto each application – I must state that noneof these free programs compare to the professional industry standards ofAutoCad, Vectorworks, PROLandscape, or Dynascape. Although these programs dohave some good features – they just simply cannot match the quality of theprofessional software. But for those designers that are looking for a cheapoption that can get the job done, some are worth checking out.
iScapes (Rating: 16/20 )
The iScapes software offers a free and paid premium subscription service. The paid service offers a larger plant library, along with additional image downloads, and project archives; however, the free version is very useful for a beginner landscaper or do-it-yourselfer. The biggest disadvantage of the app is that it is currently only available for iPhone or iPads. For Android users, they will need to find a substitute. To try iScapes, click here.
Pros: The biggest advantage of this app is the graphic quality of the three dimensional landscape elements. The drag and drop interface, along with the visual characteristics of the app make it very useful to professionals doing quick designs for clients on-site.
Cons: As with most of the apps you will see on the list, the major disadvantage is that if you want additional quality add-ons, you will need to pay. A more extensive plant library, along with additional project storage is available with payment.
Standout layouts. Only with InDesign. Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading layout and page design software. Create beautiful graphic designs with typography from the world՚s top foundries and imagery from Adobe Stock. Quickly share content and feedback in PDF. Easily manage production with Adobe. Most people download the trials by signing up for the free level of CC membership and using the Creative Cloud Desktop app to select and download any or all of these products, although with the direct links below, no membership is required to access the free trials. Whether you're considering just a single-app subscription like Photoshop CC 2017 or getting the complete Creative Cloud. Adobe indesign 2017 download mac. Adobe InDesign CC 2017 DMG File for Mac OS Free Download A + A - Print Email Adobe InDesign for Mac is a handy application which you can use to create state of art online publications and print layouts. Download Adobe InDesign CC 2017 for free. Adobe InDesign CC 2017 is a professional page design and layout toolset. Here Are All New Adobe CC 2018 Direct Download Links, Now Available. This includes InDesign and Dreamweaver et al, in the new 2018 version rather than the 2017 version. (Not sure if Adobe will add the previous versions of what was missing to the CC 2017 collection.).
Home Outside (Rating: 10/20)
I originally had high hopes for the Home Outside app, as the average app review was 3.8/5.0 with many positive comments. After having used the app in many different types of projects, I was disappointed in the lack of three-dimensional perspectives and the limited plant library. To test out the software, click here.
Pros: For plan graphics, the renderings are quite nice and the app allows for the importing of google maps of your customer's property.
Cons: The biggest downside to the app is the lack of any real plant library. The plants are categorized by 'tree' or 'shrubs' with no indication or availability to specify the planting in the free version. The paid version does offer some extra features.
Home Design 3D (Rating: 5/20)
Home Design 3D was an intriguing app that had very distinctive reviews when I originally had downloaded it. People seemed to either love it, or hate it. Unfortunately, I was one of the latter. The app is very useful for interior planning and design, but falls short for any realistic landscape design applications. To try the app, click here.
Pros: The only thing the app has working for it is the 3D aspect. The three-dimensional rendering capabilities are better than I would have expected for a free app.
Cons: The user-interface is very poor and the app itself is not intuitive. This combination makes for a very difficult experience for a designer, especially when there are other options available. I would hope that future updates provide pop-ups or a tutorial at the beginning to help designers navigate the platform prior to starting a design.
PROLandscape Home (Rating: 5/20)
I will start off with a disclaimer. In one of my classes, I train designers on the PROLandscape Professional Softwares (Planner, ImageEditor, and Proposal). These are good (but expensive) programs that are very useful for design. I believe it is a great marketing strategy by the developer Drafix to provide this free app to showcase some of the basic features of their paid programs.
With that being said, I found it difficult to provide an honest review of the free version because I kept remembering the full functionality of the paid programs. In any case, I did my best to realistically provide good feedback on the user-interface. Overall, there are many elements that can be improved. To test this out app, click here.
Pros: The free software has many similarities with the overlay perspectives of Home Outside, but with a greater plant library. The biggest drawback of the software is that most of the plant database is only offered for the paid version.
Cons: The app is not very intuitive and there is very little within the program to provide help or support. Also, there is a limited availability of plants, with poor customization, and relatively no ability to modify the existing library.
Sketchup Viewer (Rating: 5/20)
I had originally downloaded the Sketchup Viewer because I had received a recommendation about the app from another designer. I already have extensive knowledge in Sketchup, along with a variety of other 3D Software programs including three-dimensional CAD, Rhino, and Revitt, so I figured the Sketchup Viewer was worth a try. In general, it was a big disappointment as the viewer does not really offer anything valuable for a designer that does not have access to the base-program of Sketchup. To test out the viewer, click here.
Pros: If you have the ability to work on a regular computer to complete a great 3D model in Sketchup, the Viewer is useful -essentially just a tool to view the model and show it to your client on site. Other than that, the viewer does little else.
Cons: It is not a design software and offers no specific landscape capabilities. The app is obsolete without actually using Sketchup to generate the landscape model.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for the best free landscape design apps that also offer some assistance in designing and showcasing designs to clients in a professional manner, then I would recommend iScapes. If you do not have an iPhone or iPad, use Home Outside.
Free Home Landscape Design Software For Mac Download
Free Home Landscape Design Software For Mac Os
None of the free apps have great functionality when compared to their paid counterparts. If you are starting out in the design profession, the free apps might be worth exploring but you will quickly find better value from some of the other paid alternatives.
If you haven't already – check out my article on Gift Ideas for Landscape Designers – you can use the money you've saved on some nice things for a fellow gardener, or yourself.
For more articles on Landscape Design, please be sure to check out our Design resources and landscape Business articles.
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