Pixiq

I've been using SmartDraw since 2008 and I've just tried the new version, SmartDraw 2010. While I am not so happy with the new interface, probably because I was used to the old one - I also had the same problem when moving from Office Word 2003 to Office Word 2007 - but I continue to think this is a good investment if you regularly need to do things from flyers to charts.

I do believe there are other programs out there than can do some things better, but the diversity of documents you can do with SmartDraw make it a good choice if you're not doing technical drawing but still need to do different things fast and clean. Remember, this is not a program for techies - much less the CAD users looking for cheap alternatives - also not a tool for pure domestic use, but for those that need to create different types of documents, from planning charts to certificates, and prefer to rely on a single program to do all that.

The company that sells the product states that "SmartDraw 2010 makes it easier than ever to create business graphics, diagrams and charts of all kinds, to improve communication, productivity, organization, management and planning" and that it "was designed to help businesses be more productive by distributing the planning process, documenting company knowledge and improving their presentations. It lets users turn flowcharts, PowerPoints, floors plans, and business presentations into compelling visuals. Users can animate a .PPT using thousands of smart templates, theme slides, a story board and effects."

The SmartDraw 2010 features a simple and easy integration with Microsoft Visio and SharePoint collaboration, something I don't need for my work, but the sheer number of options it has convinced me it's a good program to have installed on your hard drive . I've used it to do everything from certificates to flyers or tip sheets for my workshops, not forgetting calendars.

I love the calendar options built into SmartDraw 2010. Having tried a lot of calendar making software, I like the options I find in this program, and that has been one of the reasons why I keep using it and moved from an earlier version to SmartDraw 2010. Another good reason is that, although the program already has a huge image (vectorial) library, I can build my own libraries of images from clipart, something that opens new venues. If you use to do lighting diagrams for your work, SmartDraw 2010 can be an asset, provided you get the clipart for that.

You can download a trial version of the software. You might find the interface daunting when you first open the program, because there is so much you can do - there may be too many features for many users, really - but once you get used to it, and start saving documents, the program puts forward the "most popular" and it becomes easier to do what you want quickly. And browsing through the more than 60 types of documents, each with a lot of variations to choose from, you'll start to feel that... "uhmmm, maybe I can use that one too." Give it a try.