Replies

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   Guest_ | Feb 08, 1999 05:45pm | #1

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   Thats a big question. A lot depends if you are a pro or not (only as it has an influence on what you want to spend). There is a good discussion farther down the page, also in the Fine Woodowrking forum. If you are a pro cabinetmaker, you will probably end up looking at dedicated kitchen programs like Cabnetware, Cabinetvision, or Cabinet Pro. They can draw the cabinets with all the bells and whistles customers like, do the cutlists, write up the proposals, etc.,add up the hardware and sundries, tell you your door, drawer front, and drawer sizes, and how to cut up your 4x8's most efficiently. Expect to pay $1500 to over $10000 depending on your options. Cabinetmaker magazine has an online forum with ongoing discussions on the respective merits of these programs; none are perfect, most people seem to be struggling somewhat with them, but I think most feel they can't get along without something like this. I am looking at buying one of these programs (I'm a cabinetmaker, and I really have to speed up the design/detail process), but i haven't settled on one yet. I also have a CAD program, Turbocad, which a lot of woodworkers seem to head towards, maybe because it costs a tiny fraction of Autocad and is supposed to be easier to use. I'm still learning it, but I plan to use it for drafting floor plans, furniture, details etc.All these cad programs seem to have a pretty steep learning curve. Turbocad has support forums on their website, and also a user group on a separate website where there is currently a discussion regarding Turbocad for kitchen design (you can get the link from the Turbocad website). On the other hand, if you want more architectural applications, the guys farther down the page cover most of the bases. Hope this is of some help. Good luck

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   tester | Feb 21, 1999 08:44pm | #2

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   Blue

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   markm_ | Feb 21, 1999 10:04pm | #3

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   I'm looking for a cad software for designing kitchens cabinets, also would like to use it for renovations projects, your thoughts please.