Does anyone know a "Floor Plan Workshop" like impression

[clubber2k]

@pbacot said:

I think people might have ideas if you showed what you start with and what you want to end with. Also the workflow you envision. Are items listed in the last post related to the primary objective? Why doesn't PS work for you?

Thats allot of questions.

well to be frank, if impression worked, it would be it, you can view it here:
http://download.autodesk.com/us/impression/2009overview/index.html

I tired the free version but its an old version from 2010 that keeps crashing! (I have a powerful i5 with 8gb ram and dedicated GI card, its not my PC). I'm not sure where this app is going, but I cant really use it, if it worked. I also don't know anyone who uses it, not sure what is autodesks plan for this.

anyway, in general you want to make something that looks like this:

and turn it into this:

I think only an architect or designer familiar with CAD can help me on this..

[ipsketchpi]

"and turn it into this:"
nice work, looks like SU result , no problems to get such result in SU. The biggest problem in SU for me is that when I import dxf which I have not made myself, I must find and fix all not closed lines, clean up some lines... when it is done the rest is just a pleasure to work in SU.
Test SU pro with layout : http://sketchup.google.com/download/gsup.html

[clubber2k]

@ipsketchpi said:

"and turn it into this:"
nice work, looks like SU result , no problems to get such result in SU. The biggest problem in SU for me is that when I import dxf which I have not made myself, I must find and fix all not closed lines, clean up some lines... when it is done the rest is just a pleasure to work in SU.
Test SU pro with layout : http://sketchup.google.com/download/gsup.html

for that you can use the "stray lines" plugin

[pbacot]

Nice!
Your comments originally made me think of this site. Not that this is the answer, but it may be a resource for your plan graphics: http://www.2dplan-shop.com/

It seems an Illustrator sort of program would work better for this than PS. I could do this sort of thing in my CADD because it is like illustrator and perhaps just put it in PS for some overall effects at the end. However it would not automatically do any of it. It would be a manner of adding the fills and replacing CAD type symbols with colored ones. So no answer, really. Sorry.

You might look at what people are doing in SU and layout. In any case, you can guess, starting in ACAD it's still going to be a lot of work. Look at some of the posts in the Layout section.

[clubber2k]

Thanks everyone!
you made me give layout another chance, pro3 is much more elaborated then what I rememberd, and costs the same as the 2d-shop blocks (which I have seen before and loved - but felt to expensive).

it does require me to detail each door and window correctly or maintain a separate file for the plans in layout but that feels reasonable since I already used CAD -> Illustrator -> Photoshop. replacing Illustrator with Layout doesn't make the work much smoother, but it could be slightly faster!
[I have to maintain the CAD for the construction details & sending to the different advisors.. and the PS for the finish brochure and catalogs.]

I hoped there was an all in 1 app I was not aware of but I guess not. This is something at least, thanks!

[bmike]

[Glenn at home]

Not sure if this is the look you are after but the SuperHatch in AutoCAD might be able to do what you want. This took about 5 minutes once I found what texture I wanted to use.

Using this with filled walls and true color hatches would/could produce favorable results.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Richard]

If you are supplying these to be later used in print then steer clear of image editors such as PhotoShop as they work in Rasters and your linework and text will suffer.

I do LOTS of these for print and the best way is to do you whole plan in Layout and if you must use image furniture (the worst thing one can possibly do to enable people to actually read the plan). Then export on high to PDF with layers enabled, then drag them into Illustrator or Indesign for shadows and finally export again as PDF.

PDF retains your textures as raster but linework and text as vector so the printed result is crisp and legible.

If you output from a CAD program to PDF this is will also maintain the Vectors BUT these may likely be converted to TIFF later by the graphic artist compiling the brochures as the resultant files tend to end up way to large and drag indesign to a hault! The plans also tend to carry too much information also to be legible when printed. Also a lot of linework may be lost if weights aren't considered as the plans and linework will likely be scaled down - most printers have a minimum line weight achieveable by their presses so you need to be mindful of this - 0.2pt at final scale is a good guide.

Although I complained like a bitch to the client about his wanting these in a textured format, here is an example I've done with images for flooring and furniture. Funny, despite his pushing for this style initially we have since reworked and reprinted all artwork to get rid of this dreadful 80's style and gone back to something proper / legible!

[clubber2k]

Just got back to this post, 10x all for your comments.

I know about the vector/raster issues. thats life.

I'm going to try layout for a while, really liked bmike's work

[Gaieus]

@clubber2k said:

...I...really liked bmike's work

I think we all do. Though I do not post here (nor in the Gallery, general), I do keep a'count of those extremelyvalued posts.

[bmike]

@gaieus said:

@clubber2k said:

...I...really liked bmike's work

I think we all do. Though I do not post here (nor in the Gallery, general), I do keep a'count of those extremelyvalued posts.

Well thanks gentlemen. The kind words are greatly appreciated.