Ease of Use:  

Although powerful, the program is complex and doesn’t hold your hand; you’ll have to figure out where to go and what to do.

We’ve evaluated Master Landscape & Home Design solely on its landscaping tools; however, this program offers integrated home design features. The end result is a powerful program, but one that requires you to design a home before you can plan a full landscape.

You can also import a home photo to landscape around, but we felt this was difficult—if not impossible—to manage without an extra purchase. Punch! uses Jasc Paint Shop Pro to edit photos. This is a professional–level photo editing program that costs a little over $100. We feel Punch! ought to include compatible photo editing tools so users can edit photos without investing in more software.

Features & Tools:  

Master Landscape and Home Design 3D’s feature set is impressive. On the main screen, you work in Plan View, which looks like traditional blueprints. For a more vivid look at your design ideas, use 3D View. You can split the screen between Plan View and 3D View—a plus for those less familiar with blueprint symbols.

If you use the home design features, you can use the 3–D feature to view your yard from inside your home. And you can project views into the future, allowing you see how your landscape will look like twenty years from now.

Support & Documentation:  

Punch! includes a printed users guide and the program has a contents section, an index search and video tutorials—all very comprehensive and informative. The Punch! Software website offers online FAQs and technical support is available by telephone or email.

Master Landscape and Home Design is a commanding tool for those who don’t mind spending time learning to edit digital photos or for those who want to design a home and landscape together.