CadPro Platinum Bundle

Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: My husband and I talked about putting up a barn next to our house for years, but the commitment of hiring a professional architect seemed intimidating - as well as expensive.

CADPro is not just a listing of standard house plans that maybe you will like (or maybe not), it's a real blueprint design program. Yes, it does have some ready made plans, including a pretty cool tree house and outdoor kitchen - but this was not what I wanted. I started by installing the program - with so many buttons and features (over 8,000) I was not sure where to begin. Luckily, CADPro includes a separate training CD (with sound and video) in the box. I watched the individual video lessons while I had the CADPro program open on my computer so I could go back and forth to practice. This is not a program you will fully master overnight.

I still have not used all the features, but I was able to quickly access the tools I needed to design my barn in detail. One of my favorite features is the pop-up photo. By dragging and dropping the camera icon from the toolbar onto the floor plan the program automatically opens My Pictures. Since I wanted a post and beam look on the inside I took a digital photo (taken while eating at my favorite restaurant) and saved it in My Pictures. I also scanned in some photos from a post & beam brochure and popped these in too - there is no limit to the number of photos you can include. The photos show up on the floor plan as little camera icons - by clicking once on the tiny camera the photos open.

Although my intent was to just design my barn using CADPro, I found I could redesign my great room (or other rooms) by using the existing dimensions of my house and creating images of the furniture I already have (with their size to scale). I can now rearrange my furniture to see if it will fit - before I move my sofa 10 times.

I am still waiting to see if the town will approve the building permit for my barn, but I feel better knowing I only invested 70 dollars, and I know exactly how it will look, and what the materials and estimated labor will cost, before they pour the foundation. I would highly recommended this program for anyone who wants to design their own renovation (or house) exactly the way they want, with blueprint results that a contractor can work from.