kitchen cabinet design and cut list software

[scott vroom]

I'm looking for software under $500 that aids in kitchen cabinet layout and design, and that automtically calculates a cut list. A poster on another thread mentioned Cabinet Planer ($70, and no I'm not affiliated with them!). Hard to imaging a good design/lkayout software for only 70 bucks....but I checked their website and it looks promising. Any other suggestions in my price range would be appreciated. There are sooooo many softare packages out there it's impossible to tell what's really good and what's hype. I'm looking for some genuine woodworker's testimonials!

Many thanks

[Jeff Monson]

Scott, cabinet planner works really well for me, they have a free trail of the program, gives you around 15 uses and all the functions of the software are usable. For the money its great.

[Jeff Wright]

You can do all that you want for no cost with SketchUp and a free plugin that will extract a cutlist from Sketchup. It's been a while since I used the plugin, so others may be able to provide more current sources for the plugin. I just finished designing our kitchen using SketchUp and did my cutlist manually. Designing in SketchUp is like building the entire kitchen twice . . . once in SketchUp and once in your shop. Incredible tool, but don't let anyone tell you that there is not a learning curve. It takes time and practice to learn how to use it effectively.

[Mike Goetzke]

Scott - I'm down the same path (kitchen re-model, see the design forum). By suggestion I purchased this software a couple months ago. The visuals saved me from building a kitchen we wouldn't have liked. I have played with SU but this program is designed for cabinets. If you have any questions about the software you it's not unusually get answers in minutes. It takes some time to figure how to set up the standards but after that it's a piece of cake. You build a wall, drag a base cabinet, drag an upper, add crown...produce 3-D images, cut lists, material optimization, and labels. Plus it's easy to modify later.

,,can you tell I'm sold on the software????


Mike

[Brendan Plavis]

I love a good old pencil and paper... but then again, I am taking courses in Drafting...

The cheapest method is that tho... You could also use Solidworks for.... well... add a couple zeros to your 500.... to do it... I am sure there are pluggins for it(its a mechanical design program..)

[Randy Carnley]

Cabinet Planner, Cabinet Creator and SketchList 3D all work to do what you want. My favorite is probably Sketchlist 3D. All under $500.

[Karl Brogger]

Most of the shops I've worked for, and I use in my shop, Cabnetware from Planit Solutions. Not exactly under $500 though, I think I paid $3700 for my copy.

www.planit.com (http://www.planit.com)

[Travis Byler]

Another vote for Cabinet Planner. Great software for the price.

[scott vroom]

Thanks to all for the responses. I purchased Cabinet Planner.