http://www.SmartDraw.com

What's It Do?

SmartDraw is Windows software for creating business diagrams, technical drawings, and business documents by simply selecting from ready-made graphic elements and dragging and dropping them onto the page.


Does it do what it promises?

Reviewer 1. Yes. As a long-time user of Visio, I can't say whether or not it is easy to use for a person new to charts and diagrams software.

Reviewer 2. Yes. From working with it, I was able to start immediately creating drawings. I can't say the same for Visio.

Reviewer 3. Seems so.

Reviewer 4. Yes. This is a fascinating program. Visit the Website to introduce yourself to SmartDraw and the resources that it provides you. Although much of it is devoted to advertising the product, a lot of the on-line help is there as well. When you start a new project, the "SD Advisor" will often appear. You will see a "Click here for a more 'in depth' tutorial' button. This takes you directly to an extensive set of pages on the Web site about that specific kind of drawing. What I particularly liked were the tutorials that introduce the concepts of that particular type of drawing. Not for the expert, but if you are new to the field you find yourself in, this helps you to choose what kind of drawing you will eventually produce. One of the more intriguing services on their site is space to publish your material on the Web, then inviting whoever you like to view your creation. If instead, you want to email your work to someone who does not have the program, they can download a free reader, so they can view your work.

Reviewer 5. And how! This program is designed to let the user create professional documents and charts with a "zero learning curve." It does this admirably; even my 14-year-old had no trouble mastering this powerful program.

Reviewer 6. Yes it does, with an outstanding easy-to-learn interface and a comprehensive set of built-in symbols and clipart images.

Reviewer 7. Yes.


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1. Yes, no snags.

Reviewer 2. Yes.

Reviewer 3.  Installation was unusual in that it installed the entire contents of two CDs totaling over 1.75G bytes of data. I think there should have been a warning for such a massive use of resources. It was also naturally long and when it asked for the second CD it hadn't dismounted the first, resulting in a warning from Windows asking if it was OK to eject the CD that was still in-use. This wasn't a problem as such, but it could be disconcerting. Again, there was no mention of this in the documentation. Also, it defaulted to installing in C:\SmartDraw, not into the "Program Files" directory. This is not necessarily a problem, just another oddity. I uninstalled it, but that was problematic as well. It was not in the Add/Remove list; instead I had to go to where I had installed it and click on the uninstall program there. It went smoothly after that.

SmartDraw replied: It appears that this reviewer selected to download a "full" or "complete" installation in the SmartDraw installation dialog. Users also have the option to download a "Custom" install where users get to pick and choose the collections and define the installation configuration. This takes less space and less time. Users can also select a "Typical" install. This installs the Business and Charting Collection and the Business Process Management Collection and a Preview Catalog for the other collections

Reviewer 4. Yes. The installation was smooth, allowing me to place it in my own default location without a hitch.

Reviewer 5. Yes, I had no problems installing it.

Reviewer 6. Yes, effortless. It also provided size info on its large symbol libraries so that an intelligent decision could be made above which to install and which to leave to be loaded if/when needed.

Reviewer 7. It did not default to the Program Files directory, but other than that, no problem.


Good points

Reviewer 1. This is a decent charting software that anyone can afford. You do get what you pay for. Visio has powerful features, but many don't need those whiz-bang features. SmartDraw has a small learning curve for Visio users. Now you can buy something for the home computer. It's good for creating time lines, organization or project charts, calendars, room or office layouts, and more.

Reviewer 2. With the extensive symbol drawing library, I could start with a blank page or with a variety of templates/symbols to meet my needs. The symbol library was available at all times but it wasn't restrictive. I could mix and match symbols from any library.

Reviewer 3. Very powerful tool that keeps going where Visio leaves off. It has lots of tips and helpful hints, including a tutorial.

Reviewer 4. Although it is a cliché, it is still true that a picture is worth a thousand words. As a teacher, I know that there are a number of different learning styles and that visual learning requires a different method of showing something to a student rather than the approach you take with auditory, kinesthetic or musical learners. Yet, if I feel (and I do) that I just cannot draw, a set of critically-important tools are not available to me. SmartDraw is a program with immense resources available to anyone who feels incompetent in the face of producing any kind of drawing or graphic design. There are thousands of pictures, symbols, forms, images, shapes and templates. They are organized for easy location and if not on your hard drive there is a dialog box that pops up and tells how to download the set that contains what you are interested in. For example, I found a set of international road-signs, sets of the flags from all continents, maps of different regions, and countries in the regions. The installation of the set of symbols that you need takes place in the background while you continue working with the program. At all times, you drag what you need from the toolbar or from a library, then use it in your workspace. For the rank beginner, like me, there is a quick introductory tutorial. As you get into the program, you find an impressive array of tools to help you produce a good-looking result. I appreciate all the help that continually pops up as I work. If I find that they are getting in my way, I just turn them off. What is marvelous to me is the extraordinary amount of material available. Anyone who needs a drawing can make a professional-looking image with this program.

Reviewer 5. Very easy to learn and use. It works very well and was trouble-free. This high-quality program remains clear and jagged-free regardless of how large images are made.

Reviewer 6. Outstanding intuitive user interface, one of the best I've encountered. As opposed to the hype for most programs, SmartDraw really lives up to its claim of being "immediately usable with no training, no manuals, and almost no learning curve" as well as "instant productivity". Outstanding and comprehensive documentation, beginning with the marketing materials that give a succinct-but-thorough overview in just 17 pages, to the 12 online Quick Tutorials, to the New User Hints popups, to the 250-page User's Guide with a real index. Excellent value at its $70/$130/$200 price points, including free technical support, even for trial users, compared to its competition, Visio, at $200/$500. Excellent market packaging: 30-day free trial, convertible without reinstallation, and ability to trial-use not-yet-purchased symbols that show up with an unlicensed watermark until purchased. Professional color and gradient shading capabilities can be very easily added to any of the diagrams produced.

Reviewer 7. It was easy to create a simple drawing with very little help from the program. It also contains lots of templates and pre-built forms. The SmartDraw explorer was a nice touch and made it easy to find the shape I needed.


Weak points.

Reviewer 1. No anti-aliasing, so lines and some clip art look jagged. Importing Visio drawings is not without flaws, it works sometimes and other times it doesn't. SmartDraw only imports them as a graphic instead of as an editable chart. Considering that Visio is its biggest competitor, it would seem reasonable to try to handle all of Visio's files. Its interface is crowded and overwhelming. It is not for pros who do detailed architectural layouts and networking diagrams and who import CAD drawings.

Reviewer 2. The Professional Plus has all the symbols and libraries and these can be overwhelming at times. There were also libraries for things such as presentations that I would clearly do in another program (PowerPoint for example) or tables that I would typically use Word in which to create.

Reviewer 3. I can't mention enough about how large this program is.

Reviewer 4. Smart Draw's greatest strength is also its weakness. It is such a comprehensive program, offering such a myriad collection of drawing possibilities, that it is somewhat imposing, and even overwhelming to a real beginner. When you scroll through the libraries and the General Categories of projects that can be done with this software, you could be forgiven for wondering why you find yourself in the august company of professional architects, engineers, designers and commercial art executives when all you wanted to do was a simple time line. Voila! There it is in the list. Well, look at that. I can make all kinds of time-lines. My daughter has just been given a project to do a biographical time-line in her Modern History course. For each year since her birth, she will link it to an event that happened in that year. Now that should be fun. My wife is also talking about renovating the basement, fixing up the little corner where we have a kind of grungy toilet, and redoing the rest of the basement to set it up as a kind of apartment for our oldest, who wants to have a bit more privacy.

Reviewer 5. I had no problem with this program, except in trying to use it to its full potential.

Reviewer 6. None, and I've tried very hard to identify some.

Reviewer 7. The interface could be improved; it looks like it was made several years ago. It lacked a formatting toolbar. It took me a while to find the menu that allowed me to change fonts.


Other comments.

Reviewer 1. Remember you can try it for free before buying. You can save images in .gif, .jpg, and HTML format for Web pages. It's an OLE client, which allows you to double-click on its drawing to edit it even if the drawing has been imported into Word, PowerPoint, etc.

Reviewer 2. SmartDraw is a simple and clean drawing program but it tries to be all things. For example, some of the templates cry out for some automation. A project management or using Gantt charts really need to be data driven; however, the user can't enter data directly as in, for example, Excel charting. Such an addition could take the software to the next level.

Reviewer 3. This needs to have an option where most of the program can be run from the CD. The main engine is all that really needs to be installed, all the libraries can stay off-loaded to run as needed. At the very least, the installation needs to alert the user as to the awesome magnitude of the disk usage this will demand (1.75GB) so as to leave the user an option of placing it on another disk or partition.

Reviewer 4. This is a most impressive program. Usually I find myself shying away from the graphics part of computing, as I have often demonstrated to myself and to others my lack of skill in the visual arts. Apart from the projects mentioned above from other members of the family, visual additions to my own work are appearing, and I do think that I will be able to pull them off.

Reviewer 5. SmartDraw is an excellent program, and I recommend it.

Reviewer 6. I'm giving a grade of 10.0, one I've never given to any program reviewed. I'm entirely satisfied that SmartDraw has earned it! The design and functionality is excellent, but it's marketing and packaging aspects are pure genius, the best I've ever seen.

Reviewer 7. The interface is not as nice as Visio, one of its rivals; but, overall the package gets the job done. I didn't like the advertisement for SmartDraw Photo as a button in the toolbar. The Tool tip for it said "Add a Photo to the Drawing" but it just brought up a dialog box that asks if you want to try the trial version of SmartDraw Photo. This would have been fine if it only showed up once, but every time you hit the button the ad shows up.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1. Although I have a registered copy of Visio, I will most likely use SmartDraw, too, for features and symbols it has that may not be found in Visio.

Reviewer 2. Yes. I also have Visio installed and will use SmartDraw over Vision from now on.

Reviewer 3. It is just so much larger than Visio that I don't know. Sure, it does so much more, but my personal needs have thus far been satisfied by Visio. I'd like to keep it but it will depend on my disk usage. It is just fortunate that I got a larger drive prior to installing this.

Reviewer 4. Without a doubt.

Reviewer 5. Yes. I have found it to be a simple, very powerful, and effective program and I will continue to use it.

Reviewer 6. Yes, definitely, and recommend it to my clients.

Reviewer 7. Yes.

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