SmartDraw Reviews 190

3+hrs wasted on a family tree that wouldn't load the next day. So annoyed. Beware. Glad I didn't purchase the software before testing it out.

2013 Smartdraw version. Of all the software packages I've used over the decades, this is the worst. Many bugs and deficiencies. I greatly regret having chosen this for software documenation as I now have to convert all my drawings to another drawing package.
As for technical support....forget it.

I have been using Smart draw for the last 9 years and have had a lot of mileage out of it. I've used this program for housing plans/design creation, infographics/web, logo's. SD does a great to excellent job! For house plans it is far-far easier than learning/using CAD. I can make changes to a house plan on the phone to the client at the time. I can save the plan to a rough CAD plan that a drafts person can trace over and or get exact dimenetions.

What I love - I can create shapes/Logos/House plans and store them in a visual library for re-use in the future. Compared to Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat or MS Publisher/Power point it is a faster learn time with pretty much everything I would ever need.

What I hate - SD wont/cant show print borders ) on the screen (only shows the page border) Cant work separately on one page alone (every page you are working on is present on the screen so the PC takes time to catch up). It wont tell you if an object is centered on the page (like PShop & PPoint). As an example I am working on a 28 page brochure with lots of images and when I print to PDF my intel i7 lags plus some images don't print out. I end up having to create dedicated files for groups of pages to get an exact print (these problems appear as i am literally pushing this program to its limits though) My running gear within my PC is not stressing, so it is a program thing.

Summary- I think the team at SD where obsessed with having there service work in the cloud for the light user and have not really focused on power or pro users, nothing has really changed or improved in that 9 years, which can be a good or bad thing depending how you look at it! For SEO, google is focusing on infographics and diagrams and I couldn't say there is a better program for this that is easier to use! I strongly recommend SD, but if you have to do large-large files, I would possibly look at other options! 1x Star lost for speed!

SmartDraw is a decent enough piece of software but we've found it to be both expensive and in many ways quite inflexible for our needs. By inflexible I'd say it is in no way as intuitive as, say, a package like Visio, and because of that we won't be renewing our subscription. If you need to create complex diagrams and have the time to really learn the nuts and bolts of SmartDraw I'd definitely recommend it, but our CAD people have found that through a combination of Visio and SolidWorks they can produce pretty much everything we need. Also, set your email filters up as you'll seemingly be deluged with messages from the company.

Full of bugs where symbols change shape by themselves. Auto aumatically saves the page without asking so you can't go back to where you were before the bug changed the page. Absolute waste of time. Amazing for a product that cost $295.

Super service, helpful advice freely given.

I've been using SmartDraw since 2012 and I LOVE how easy it is to throw together very polished diagrams and visuals for professional purposes. I use this product to build industry-standard process models, UML diagrams, UI mock-ups for clients, as well as many day-to-day reports and tables for business use. With a little practice, the interface becomes very easy to get around and its worth the investment to produce great outputs. I use expensive EA software in my job and some open source software for diagramming and graphics at home, but SmartDraw is a good affordable all-rounder in all environments. Highly recommended!

Smart draw meets all my needs. Its a pleasure to work with.

Excelent software!!
Very complete!

Poor choice of scales available. Lacking in features and poor user friendliness. Inordinately complicated making simples drawings and tasks extremely time consuming.

Great product for many applaciation scenarios.

SmartDraw is an effective cost savings tool for those who need design work for smaller projects

Excellent alternative to Visio software which was discontinued years ago. I'm finally able to import and revise my old Visio files! Also, this software comes with many pre-made templates. Great for being able to "see" various estate planning concepts. Great software.

I love use smartdraw for all my diagrams, flows, networking, etc...But in the interaction for me I would like to see a 'Hand' Option to move me into the more fluid in the screen, other thing is the Zoom menu I think can be better and some times the screen freezes and closes it authomaticlally. Thank you!

I tried the trial version and found the program to be good for what i needed and that was to design a large warehouse , workshop and office . As i found the program very easy i decided to purchase the full program and this was also an easy process. I recommend it.

Purchased Smart Draw in 2011 for work. Had not contacted for support in over 4 years. When I got my new laptop at work, I had problems with installation. I contacted support and my problem was resolved very quickly and the support desk followed through until all issues were resolved. Love the product! Love the support services!

I´m very satisfied with SmartDraw.
I´ve been using it since 2017.
It solves a lot of my office demands in a charm.
I use to run SmartDraw together with other applications and it is very stable. There is no memory problems and not that "big software running" feeling.
I´m ok with SmartDraw!

As echoed below, the trail is a complete waste of time. Can only export drawings with intrusive watermarks on them which block any content from being read.

I will not be purchasing as I have no idea what the finished drawings will look like in a report.

Thought I'd give it a go as we're all a bit sick of Draw.Io. Created my first image in SmartDraw but can't export it without the "made with trial copy" watermark.

With this kind of tool, I want to be able to use the software for a few weeks, across different use cases, to get a sense of whether it's worth purchasing for my team

As we cannot export images to use, we have no idea of whether this software improves our company. We won't be purchasing it.

This is not how to offer a trial. We'll be sticking with Draw.io.

In short, SmartDraw was EXACTLY what I was looking for as I prepare to launch my first business. I'll detail my exact use of it specific to my business type, but I'm sure anyone can extrapolate it to other business types for their use.

My business is in fitness and I was looking at different locations of varying square footage. The fitness business studio requires exercise equipment that is both fixed (bolted) as well as movable (soft goods). Standalone, it was a challenge to figure out exactly what equipment would fit in 2000sf vs 5000sf, and how it would all conform to varying structures. I could "envision" only so much, but when my location size would dictate my equipment budget (while still ensuring enough "free space"), I needed something TANGIBLE, MEASURABLE, MOLDABLE, and EASY TO USE.

SmartDraw was all those and more! I was able to create very accurate equipment budget proposals for each location (regardless of size) by drawing out floorplans, taking equipment measurements, and piecing things together. Of course, a service like this is available through different fitness equipment vendors, but then we introduce the variables of timeliness (or lack) of communication and added cost (every dollar always counts, but when you're a start-up, every dollar counts especially when you don't have much).

A HUGE additional benefit is that I drafted my gym/studio EXACTLY how I want it. I provided a copy to my architect and contractor so they could "see" exactly what I want. There's no back and forth and they don't have to guess what I'm envisioning.

Very happy with the product. I highly recommend it to anyone needing to lay out a floorplan and more. There's a ton more items I haven't been able to use, but I plan to continue using it.