Paul Stafford

Thanks Goustan. I like Polyline – I’ll do a post about it and give the vote results soon.
Regards
Paul

Thanks Vincent. I hear you – that’s my workflow too.
Regards
Paul

Hi Rebecca
Thanks for your reply. Did you follow the link to vote? If not I can do it for you
VOTE HERE
Regards
Paul

Hi Tosh
If that’s how you work then vote for all of them. I don’t want to prejudice the vote with my views yet
Regards
Paul

Hi Andrew
I’m interested to hear what others use as their default AutoCAD linework tool. Which one do you typically choose for your everyday work? 
Regards
Paul

I think in an ideal world the LA professional bodies, the education institutions and a panel of LA’s should work together to determine what the requirements are for a particular region/city/country. They will obviously vary from country to country but possibly from city to city. This would maybe be an ideal outcome though probably hard to…[Read more]

I guess it depends on your definition of “proficient” or “fluent”. From my experience I’ve not seen any new grads who are proficient to the point that they could start producing construction documentation from day one. I’m not an LA – I’m a CAD person working with LA’s. Part of it is learning their way around AutoCAD, part is learning what is…[Read more]

The situation is similar in Australia. The level of CAD knowledge that new LA graduates have varies wildly and those that are pretty competent are largely self taught.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that the LA course will output LA’s who are also great at AutoCAD. LA is the primary focus of the course and so it should be. To also fit the…[Read more]

I’ve been using AutoCAD to produce LA documentation for more than 15 years – and I’m still learning new things almost every day. AutoCAD is a very complex software and it’s a matter of learning what works efficiently and also how decisions made at the commencement of documentation will affect you through the whole documentation process. 
Happy to…[Read more]

I think I’m going to stick with M-Color. Have found it more stable than Impression – and it seems to be well supported…unlike Impression.
The closed polylines aren’t a concern as I would be creating them anyway to use in the hatch plans when the project gets to documentation phase. Yes layering and draw order are key.
Paul Stafford

Hi Anne
I don’t have any US specific plant databases. I use PlantManager for my planting plans and this has a database of 6000 plants. It has a free version to try.
I’ve actually just begun compiling a list of free, open source and cheaper software that could be helpful for a design office. I’ve got 7 listed now but will continue to add to it as I…[Read more]

Hi Laurent
Have you tried progeCAD? I don’t use mac so not sure how good it is
Regards
Paul Stafford

Thanks Matthew. I know a lot of people that use Photoshop too. I’ve just found the process a little longer than I’d like, though gets great results.

Thanks Jason. Yes I know M-Color…I used it ages ago and had forgotten about it. I’ll have another look because my memory of it was it was pretty quick with good output.

Regards
Paul Stafford

Autodesk Impression seemed like it could be a great solution for quickly producing such graphics when it first appeared. I’ve tried it a few times over the years but never really got it to work consistently.
Paul Stafford

No problem Calico.
If you have any PlantCAD queries ask away. It can also do other items like furniture, lights, etc and schedule those as well.
Regards
Paul Stafford

I totally agree with you – the plan has to be very clear. The example I used above is not the finished plotted plan but is a screen shot from within AutoCAD. It’s not a coloured plan when it plots and I also didn’t show the plant schedule with sizes, descriptions, etc. that help to explain things.
The project is being built now and there has been…[Read more]

Hi Calico
You’ve probably got this sorted now but if not…
I’m not sure why this has happened but how are you setting the blocks to scale uniformly? In the insert dialogue box…

…or in the block editor?

All my blocks are created to scale uniformly and not explode in the block editor and try as I might I couldn’t get them to be scaled…[Read more]

I just replied to another thread on Land8 about this. See here
Paul Stafford
http://www.cadsmarter.com

I’m a bit late but thought I’d reply anyway…
I use PlantManager and have done for 15 years. It has a trial version you can download and try out. It can do everything from small residential projects to huge commercial projects.

I know the guy who developed it – he’s a Landscape Architect – and he is continually updating it. He uses it every d…[Read more]

Hi all
I think that the choice of tool used to produce the work is (almost) irrelevant. I say almost because there are instances when the client dictates what type of drawings and documentation needs to be delivered. In my experience it was a particular software that needed to be used. There are ways around that but that’s for another…[Read more]