[John Palasek]

.

First of all, I'm Design/Build.

I'm a small company with few year-round employees. I work in the field with all my jobs, (like it that way) and I rarely subcontract work.


Residential only.
Customers are homeowners.
Will not be submitting plans to municipalities except on occasions where engineering/permits are involved, (new decks, certain walls, etc.).

What I need is something that can provide two things:

1. The ability to create a plot plan to any scale while still providing a good imaging format and an ability to develop estimates/proposals from either.

2. The detail and presentation to allow me, (if I so choose), to offer design work only in the future.

I would like to eventually ease out of field work and perhaps dissolve the install aspects of my business and work solely as a designer. If I go this route, I'd like a software base which would allow for such a thing without having to start over from a software standpoint.

I used to do a lot of hand-drawn stuff, (which I still prefer over CAD), but I don't have the time for it now. The software I currently use is adequate, from a "stone knives and bearskins" point of view, but it offers no upgrade potential nor are there any later versions of it.

I like the options of "pastels, watercolors, photo-realistic or straight CAD" presentation modes offered with many new products as each job is different and it sometimes helps in sales if a presentation mode can be altered.


So, what can you suggest?




-JP





.