Home Designer Architectural 2019 - Mac Download [Download]

I have used Chief Architect before and I was pleased to see that even this simplified version was still up to the task. The download and activation went very smoothly and the program itself has been great. I highly recommend this product and service.

I loaded in the software and tried something simple. A square garage. Ok, Put a garage door on it with the door tool. Ok, tried to change the width property - CRASH. Tried several times. CRASH. Rebooted PC, tried again - CRASH. 15 times. no luck. Tried to get technical support. No luck. Only if public.Looking for process to get a refund.

PROS:The design interface is fairly intuitive to navigateLots of free image collections available to downloadGood product supportAmple demo videos on YouTubeCONS:Several tool icons are grayed-out. I presume that you have to purchase the $499 version to enable them.Many more image collections available but they are not free. Some, I feel, should be included or available for free.You don't have the ability to draw-in pipes, ductwork, conduits, etc. Perhaps this is available @ $499 ?This is a memory intensive program. It's a bit "glitchy" run on my HP Envy running an i5 processor.

I got this for my mother (59yo) for Christmas. Within days she was able to design her dream home in such a high detail. She sent her designs to local contractors and hope to build a home based off her plans.

I downloaded the software and the plethora of offerings in the 3D Library is great (company boasts 8000 objects with the ability to purchase design add-on packages for average price of $2.99ea to supplement the library), and some nifty features such as drag and dropping 3D objects directly into the 3D rendering viewer, ultimately this is software for a DIY'er or novice who needs a basic program to plan a project. Easy enough to learn and use. Where this software fails is on the professional level: there is no ray-trace capabilities that make a final rendering photorealistic. Ray-tracing for photorealistic renderings has been around for years, so it's surprising and disappointing that Home Designer Architectural doesn't include this feature. The rendering capabilities of this software is, at best, adequate for the average DIY'er but laughable for the professional. There are less expensive and in some cases, free home design software downloads from competitors that have the ray-trace capabilities that triumph over Home Designer Architectural. Ray-tracing software is vital for professional designers, architects and general contractors with a design/build practice who present final concept renderings to clients. For the price, I'd say it wouldn't hurt the bottom line for Chief Architect to include ray-trace capabilities in this software edition. If competitors can offer better rendering software for less than half the cost of this one, Chief Architect is losing out on gaining a lot of professionals who could be using their products.Verdict: B- (not worth the price tag for professional use but good for DIY)

I just wanted something simple to show what changes would be in a home, this product even though they show in the video and say it in the description will not have any layout options like, sofa, beds, and the biggest thing kitchen and bath items to help with layout and visual.

Easy to design our new house.

The product is okay but it will not allow you to put in sinks or showers or tubs. Even the cheapest version of "Sweet Home 3D" allows you to put in sinks, tubs, and showers. And it only cost $19 compared to $199 for this program!