Features & Tools:  

This Mac landscape design product is best used for designing improvements for existing yards and fantasizing about your ultimate backyard getaway. Because the software uses Punch! object libraries, there is a nice selection of elements to choose from although we would like to see more information included on the items; things like how big the swing set or patio furniture is before you resize them.

Ease of Use:  

3D Home Architect Home & Landscape Deluxe Suite Mac landscape design software has been ported over from the PC platform to the Mac. It’s obvious because the simple interface lacks the polish and intuitive refinement that is characteristic of most Mac software products. The drag and drop utility is nice for placing elements like plants, screens or outdoor furniture as well as moving them around to try out different configurations. As a side note, it’s a good idea to assemble the landscaping design in the same order as you would build it in the real world. While this may seem like an obvious statement, the difficulties of fixing things done out of sequence within the program are not readily apparent. Things like adding an elevation increase to an existing flower bed is tricky once you’ve already added the mulch and plants. We tried it and had a grassy knoll in the middle of the bed. When we tried to change the grass to mulch, it changed ALL of the grass to mulch instead of just the little rise. If there is an easy way to do it, we couldn’t find it.

Support & Documentation:  

One of the best parts of 3D Home Architect is its video tutorials that are included with the software. The tutorials are a great aid in explaining the various aspects of the software despite a delay between what the voice in the tutorial is telling us to do and what the displayed image is doing. We watched the tutorials frequently throughout the testing period. A tutorial that is missing and would be very helpful to the user is a “Getting Started” or “Tips” that walked the user through the beginning stages of landscape plan and offer tips to make it easier and more efficient to use.

In the tutorials, which are obviously done on a PC, the screens look quite different than what they do on the Mac. For instance, on the Mac the information bar is on the bottom of the 2D window. It took a while to find it because of the confusion created by watching the tutorials that used the PC screens showing the information in a different spot than the Mac screens showed.

For dreaming and “sketching” ideas, 3D Home Architect Home & Landscape Deluxe Suite Mac landscape design software is a capable program. It lacks the more technical features of a time and materials estimator but is great for brainstorming. If you’re looking for a more in-depth design tool, we recommend you see our review of Punch! Home & Landscape Design Studio for the Mac.