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 SmartDraw 2008 © SmartDraw.com SmartDraw 2008 ReviewFrom John Prida, Guest Contributor SmartDraw 2008: All-Purpose Business Graphics Drawing SoftwareGuide Rating -  Description
BackgroundMy background is in engineering so I am experienced with schematic capture as well as a variety of drawing programs that facilitate the creation of software design documents such as flowcharts, state diagrams and software architectures. These programs include PowerPoint, Visio, CorelDRAW, allCLEAR and the like.New FeaturesI should note that this review was originally written while using the 2007 version of SmartDraw. Since then, I have had a chance to upgrade to SmartDraw 2008. Though the look and feel of SmartDraw 2008 is very similar to the prior version, there are some notable new features that could make the upgrade compelling. I used the following new features and I especially liked the Live Maps feature, which integrates with Google Maps:
My Drawing ProjectI was originally led to SmartDraw while looking for an easy program to sketch floor plans and home designs for a vacation cabin. I needed a program with lots of pre-packaged symbols and easy-to-use tools for drawing walls, doors, windows, furniture, etc., because I had no patience for creating all these symbols myself. SmartDraw certainly fulfilled these requirements.With the new version, I used my same floor plan to become familiar with the program. Again, in just a couple of hours, I had created another professional-looking, to-scale floor plan. Several variations quickly followed, including a simple elevation. I'd like to stress here how simple SmartDraw is to use, especially for floor plan sketches. I've tried other more general drawing programs and they don't come close. SmartDraw's extensive symbol libraries and automatic tools make it a breeze to use. I don't mean to over-stress the floor plan features (there is much more that SmartDraw can do), but the floor plan project is what I used as my measuring stick. Using SmartDraw 2008When you open SmartDraw, you are presented with the "Create a New Document" tab, with a broad list of categories to choose from. The list includes just about every type of drawing you could ever require: Calendars, Certificates, Engineering, Floor Plans, Flowcharts, etc. Clicking on the broad categories brings up a sub-list of more-specific drawing types. As you click, thumbnail images of templates for the drawing types show up in the main window and clicking the template opens a new document with that template for you to begin editing. The User InterfaceOnce you have chosen a template or blank document, you are directed to the edit window. At this point, the document that you are editing is in the center of the screen. On the top left is the SmartDraw menu that includes the common document functions (Save, Print, Open, etc.) as well as quick icons for Undo/Redo, Save and Export (to PDF or MS Office Applications). Across the top is the Office-style ribbon interface that groups the functions you will be performing. The Home tab includes frames for Clipboard, Tools, Theme, Shape Style, Font, and Paragraph. The Design tab includes frames for Position & Size, Shape Layout, Shape Properties and OLE. Other tabs are: Insert, Page, Table, Chart, Picture and Help with similar functional groupings.To the left of your document is the SmartPanel, which includes the most common tools and commands for the type of document/drawing you will be creating. For example, if you are creating a floor plan this window includes tools for drawing walls, doors, etc. If you are making a flowchart, there are tools for adding shapes, drawing connector lines, etc. Next to the SmartPanel tab is the Library tab, which accesses all the symbol libraries attached to your document. By choosing "More…", the "More Symbols" pop-up appears, with a menu tree including an enormous searchable list of symbol libraries and clip art. To the right of the drawing is the SmartHelp frame with links to SmartDraw's Help documentation and step-by-step instruction appropriate for the type of document you are working on. From here, with all the tools and symbols at your fingertips, it is up to your imagination to create the drawing, flowchart, map, calendar, flyer... you name it! The thing I liked most about SmartDraw was the intuitive nature of almost all functions. The tools are straightforward, menu selections are obvious, and drawing is as easy as point-and-click, drag-and-drop.
I tested SmartDraw 2008 on a Dell Inspiron Laptop with Dual AMD Turion processor, Windows XP, 1G RAM and 256M shared video memory. The program starts quickly and runs very well on my machine, which is well above the listed system requirements. I recommend installing the libraries on your local hard disk; however, the extensive libraries are available online. A full-featured trial version is available from SmartDraw.com. The trial is valid for 7 days and prints a watermark on exported files and printer output. Pros:
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