I work for a Mac-based company specializing in the design and construction
of  museum exhibits,  and  have used Architreon for many years. It is
currently owend by a company in France but available in the US. Our
designers work back and forth between Architreon, Freehand, Photoshop, and
rendering by hand to achieve the drawings we present.

We plan to upgrade to FormZ.

Freehand and Illustrator are not CAD-like programs (with 3D rendering and
convenient scaling capabilities) but various designers use these programs
for elevations, plans and to visual how an exhibit will look.

Canvas may have 3D capabilities, haven't used it in a long time. Otherwise
it's similar to Freehand and Illustrator.

In my experience, these programs are more user-friendly that CAD and give
the designer greater capability to make drawings that do not look/feel
highly mechanical. But the programs are limited in the degree of
construction drawing the designer can easily/accurately generate.

As Margot said, no program is going to give you beautiful results. It takes
a fair amount of time,  experience and skill to work successfully with any
of the complex graphic programs.

Lisa Friedlander
Split Rock Studios
2071 Gateway Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55112
651-631-2211


>Are there any good CAD related programs that are helpful in designing
>exhibit displays?
>
>My director would like a system that would allow the staff to view what an
>exhibit will look like prior to the first nail being driven.
>
>Any advice?
>
>
>
>
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