SmartDraw Reviews

Pros

I has little to say for Pros: because it is just as easy to draw boxes without having this program. I learned every feature and applied all of the program's features. It is likely that you could get a beginning design to give to someone, as a simple floor plan, if that is what you need. But be sure to print it to preserve your work after each little change.

Cons

Customer service is practically nil and there is no "help" or troubleshooting. If you try to contact them for support, you have to wait and see if they will send you an email the next day - and they usually won't. If you get the email, it does not remotely address the trouble or offer to talk you through it if their "solution" or instruction is not on point. Really disappointing. There is no auto save unless you are working in the Cloud for this program. Further, it constantly just stops and closes itself - and dumps all of your work during that session, even if you have been saving! So, then the hours of work are permanently lost - no kidding, EVEN if you pushed save. If you use it, you must remember to save, save, save - after each little line or inclusion and then print. Then close the program before its instability causes it to just close itself as to the design you are working on. If you don't close it down, you will lose all of your work. Then - get this - when you reopen a file after it has decided to shut down, it says that there is a recovered work file and asks if you want to open it and recover it. If you say "yes" the program shuts down again, over and over and over. It is so unstable that it can't hold up to the tasks it claims to be performing with its features, such as layers, measurements, inserting photos, etc.

Pros

SmartDraw is a very complete plication for all types of diagrams that you need, has great virtues with respect to Visio that can be considered the number one in the market or at least used, when you need to diagram a project from the basic algorithm to the more complex gantt diagrams , this tool is very useful, it makes you much easier in work (in my experience much easier to use than Visio) the connection between diagrams is simpler, since finishing a diagram makes it much easier to do the following, has a wide range of options and templates that help you in the creation process, contributing to the development of diagrams for systems that you are going to develop, a very useful tool for projects where you need to correctly capture what you want to develop, use it, try it for yourself.

Cons

Its main against is the price, the full version is very expensive although it allows you to enjoy the desktop version and its cost is very high, I think you should download it to compete more in the market.
The speed of the online version sometimes fluctuates negatively, it is a mistake that must be corrected.

Pros

Where this software really shines for our business is its ease of use for submittal drawings when bidding and creating contracts for jobs. It allows us to empower our salesmen to create their own submittals without the expense or training needed for some of the more "professional" suites. This means for smaller projects we do not need to tie up our senior estimators, leaving their time free and better spent with CAD. What this means is that for job cost, we are able to use lower wage employees to perform simpler tasks and not eat into the margins of a job from utilizing higher paid engineers.

Cons

It can be a bit finicky in trying to get it to do exactly what you want it to do. Its ease of use sometimes means that you are fighting those very elements that make it easy to make it do what you want it to do. Snap to grids and the like, while toggle-able, provide an annoyance when they should "just work".

Pros

This product ships with a lot of prebuilt content, templates that can let you create quick and easy diagrams, visuals, etc for presentations.

Cons

We bought this thinking it might be a lower cost replacement for Visio and that we'd be able to use the Project Planning template for our PM needs. Neither turned out to be true. This tool will give you a good variety of templates, but if you want to move something manually... forget it. Don't like how the basic flowchart looks or need to make room for a 3rd branch? You'll go back to Visio after a month. Project plans look create, but when you need to update 1 date good luck. ugh. This had a lot of potential but it just isn't flexible enough for real use cases in our experience.

Pros

With SmartDraw, I can create visual documents in an easy way, in addition to streamline the work, smartDraw has templates that come with a library of shapes and symbols, which I can use with just drag them to the worksheet. I can add textures and photos to further improve the document.

Cons

-Consume abundant resources, and its installation is so slow that it becomes tedious waiting until fully charged.

Pros

Easy to navigate and ease of use. It took me a few clicks and I was able to find all kinds of things I needed to work on my projects. One of the requirements for my business was to submit a blueprint and I was told I need an Architect for that but I was also told that if I can draw and provide details in my drawings, it will be accepted so I purchased SmartDraw although I have no knowledge how to use it. It was easy...really.

Cons

It didn't have some of the drawings I needed so I have to improvise. This took me a little time come up with the desired drawing of object I needed; but it still worked.

Pros

I tried Smartdraw for the first time in 2016 and I was impressed by the ease of use ; I understood the major workings around this program in a matter of days.I have used Smart draw for Gantt style charting , simple drawings ,including floor drawings when I moved to my new home a while back.
Smartdraw provides users with a variety of modules ,making it a program which can be leveraged by different professionals in different career fields.

Cons

Smartdraw doesn't allow for remote collaboration like what I have come to expect from months of recently embracing Lucidchart. I have also found out that when creating Gantt charts with this program , I am limited in the number of coloumns I am allowed to use.

Pros

SmartDraw has tons of images to support visual documentation. It's great way to share knowledge with others using this solution. I use SmartDraw to create: process maps, easy mindmaps, data flows and creative mix of ideas. Sometimes there is good opportunity to export document as image file and put to MS Excel and add contextual values to present bigger picture of business in easy to understand way (complex but easy to see relations).

Cons

I'd like to see more options in mindmapping area, to be able to manage task information in advanced way.

Pros

SmartDraw comes with many types of templates that include flow charts, bar graphs and charts. If you do not find a template that you like, you can create a customized template that suits your project, Photos, and images. Add photos and images to the document with the import to lump sum, copy and paste the commands. You can also import images and photos from your digital camera, and then manipulate them inside SmartDraw until you have the effect you want.

Each template comes with a library of shapes and symbols, to use these shapes and symbols, simply drag them to your worksheet and place them where you want. You can add textures and photos to further improve the document.

It works well with programs such as Microsoft Office, Visio, Microsoft Project, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. And so you can export the mind map to any of these programs to be able to share.

You can export the file with just one click of your mouse. The following graphics formats available to you: JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, and GIF. Export the file to the web or send it anywhere in the world

Cons

It consumes abundant resources if your machine is slow it can become tedious to work, besides its installation is slow

Pros

The interphase is awesome, and you have no limits using this software you can a simple diagram showing a workflow or you can do a complex net design for established a network in an office building, you can even design plans of houses or do 3D models for engineering processes.

Cons

It is really expensive, if your are going to buy it be sure of spend that amount of monet in one software, the best option is use the online version.

Pros

Helpful Smart Panel feature. Good integration options. It is very Easy to use. It has a desktop and online version that allows you to work in any place, it is very useful. Smart Draw is a very complete application for all types of diagrams that you need.

Cons

Weak collaboration features. It is very expensive you asked me. The speed of the online version sometimes fluctuates negatively.

Pros

Ease of manipulation of floor plans, handy clip arts. User friendly, can move groups of objects together. 3D modeling is something we rarely use, but it was easy to learn to do.

Cons

I don't care for the cloud based option and it seems like this is what it is migrating to. I prefer to save copies to my hard drive. I was unable to open previous files unless I upgraded software as well. That isn't right.

Pros

Well organized and very easy to move data to other Microsoft Office applications (including Microsoft Project) or Adobe .pdf. There are also some great graphics and geographic maps in the library for use with presentations, flyers, floorplans, etc.

Cons

In the Gantt chart, there is a limited number of columns that can be used.

Pros

My absolute favorite thing about SmartDraw is the simple drag and drop to build out anything from mind maps to flowcharts and more. An especially good investment for anyone needing to make their ideas clear and points understood in a powerful way.

Cons

The design of the dashboard could be better. It is a bit boring for all that it does. The layout would be better if I had the whole screen and the options to drag and drop were at the top.

Pros

*Templates for diagrams.
*Simple to use.
*Can use for small to large projects.
*Multiple type export facility.
*Easier than Visio.

Cons

*Not features as Visio.
*Bit expensive price for a tool.
*Not able to multi-users collaboration.

Pros

This is the best alternative to Visio I tried. Very easy to pickup and get started with. Very 'light' and fast to work with.

Cons

Wasn't good enough to get me to drop Visio, which to me is still slightly better. I found the licensing hard to manage with multiple users in my office.

Pros

2D Floor feature . I used to implement software monitoring solution at customer site. Very often I have been asked to insert as background of the network map the floor plan of the building to easily determine the physical location of the network devices.

Cons

At time I used it there was not SmartDraw Cloud now available. This is perfect for small/individual business.

Pros

I used SmartDraw a lot for school assignments, and it really came in handy. I like that it has lots of built in contents and templates and that it is easy to use. You can use SmartDraw to make flowcharts, network diagrams, organizational charts, software design plans, and so much more. One even can share diagrams with others using just a link.

Cons

I like SmartDraw. A minor con if I must say one, is that moving and manipulating bubbles can be quite challenging at times. Or, maybe it's my computer.

Pros

Easy to use.
It has a great variety of modes of modeling adapting to any type of objective that we want to define or design.
Concept maps can be made.
You can create all kinds of graphics that you can then use in your presentations by exporting to PowerPoint.
It has 70 types of visualizations / diagrams, and examples and templates for almost all.

Cons

It can be tested without limit for a while, and then its use requires an individual license, although the cost is relatively low.

Pros

I've used this for years to plan out the cubicle layout of our office, the details and features make it very easy to visualize and help people determine the best fits. Once you get the general structure it's really easy to keep things up to date.

Cons

A little bit of learning curve and the huge variety of detailed images available is a little hard to navigate.

Pros

This is the best software if you want and need to edit segment of a picture or image, because is pretty easy to use, the tools are very friendly and you can even work a pixel level with the maximum zoom and the results are awesome.

Cons

It is a very heavy software and demands many resources of your computer you need a very high speed ram memory and a good video card to get the most of this software.

Pros

I love that I can set up an organizational chart fairly easily and make it as large as I'd like to.

Cons

Wish there were more printing options for a large chart. Though it's fairly user friendly, it also has some challenges. I wish it was a little easier.

Pros

Very well to make Process Flow Diagram which is very important in any industry to manage process and design data.

Cons

Sometimes dows not work very well. You cannot open files between different version, in others words if you make any work at x-version after you cannot open the same file in another version which is a bad aspect because must be compatible between version.

Pros

Like the options of adding doors, windows, and extra walls and not just a square box to work with. My floor plan highlighted some operational challenges which we possibly would not have identified if we had not really laid the furnishings and equipment out to scale. It resulted in us changing the architect and planning a whole new design to incorporate the services and image we envisage.

Cons

A bit fiddly in getting the scaling right but once that was sorted, it was easy to finish the plan and adjust as needed.

Pros

We used SmartDraw to reorganize our warehouse. It was quick to drop in wall dimensions, racking, conveyor belts and obstructions like support beams. Everything is pre-rendered and you input the dimensions of your equipment to customize it. It also allows for colors to be added to help in identifying different racking styles or belt types.

Cons

We use the web-version and for the size of our warehouse it can slow the system down and make it difficult for making a quick adjustment to be made. Something simple like moving a row of racking can take several minutes instead of seconds. I used the trial PC version and did not have these issues, so it appears to be a web-only issue.