Any CAD package from IMSI Design is bound to be full of features, and to add even more with each annual update. IMSI Design, the company best known for TurboCAD, has always prided itself on supplying the greatest capability for the lowest cost with the aim of creating an unbeatable value proposition. The recently released FloorPlan is no exception. There’s a lot to share about it, but here is a quick summary.
If FloorPlan is not ringing any bells, it could be because IMSI Design was selling it as TurboFloorPlan until 2020. The 2022 version of FloorPlan, which snuck in under the wire of the year’s end, keeps to the the product’s original name. IMSI acquired FloorPlan in 1998 to supplement its best-selling, general-purpose TurboCAD.
Continuing with the perpetual price model, abandoned by most professional CAD programs in favor of subscription pricing, IMSI Design must introduce enough new features so that users will feel compelled to buy the latest annual update. Primary among them is the ability to create an object, or feature, and save it to a library.
“This is a real game changer!” says Bob Mayer, president of IMSI Design.
FloorPlan adds a 360°Online Viewer, which lets users collaborate on their designs.
The 64-bit version of FloorPlan promises faster performance, better large file handling and faster rendering using the open-source LuxCore physically based rendering (PBR) engine (instead of the alternative, ray tracing, which is more realistic but takes longer).
Rendering is not quite push-button and requires quite some time to set up—as is the case with other rendering tools. This may come as a surprise to those attempting their first rendering, those who may equate cheap design software with ease of use. Still, inclusion of rendering (in Pro and Deluxe versions) is most welcome for it usually costs more to get—either with a professional home design application or with a purchased add-in (V-Ray for SketchUp, for example).
FloorPlan 2022 allows metal and glass to have matte or glossy finishes or a transparent finish. Windows and door panels, including those with double-paned glass, should now look more realistic.
You can now make sheet sets like you can with AutoCAD with the software’s Layout Manager, which lets you add or reorder pages. Create one title block once and it will be in all the associated sheets.
More stair and railing styles are available in FloorPlan 2022, but if you can’t find yours, you can add a custom railing style.
Over a thousand AEC and CAD symbols have been added to the Symbols Library. In addition, you will have more control when you are snapping or grouping.
You can import PDF files. Again, this is something offered by professional CAD tools that can cost as much monthly as FloorPlan costs outright.
How Much?
FloorPlan competes with other consumer home design programs like Chief Architect and Cadsoft Envisioneer and sounds perfect for DIY home remodel and amateur builders who can’t justify the hundreds, or thousands of dollars, that professional CAD tools will cost over years of use.
FloorPlan 2022 comes in four versions: the Pro ($300 with the Custom Workshop; $200 without), Deluxe ($100) and Instant Architect ($50). The Pro version has all the bells and whistles, a big library of objects and materials, “floor management” of up to six floors ... and other features that are too numerous to list. Instant Architect, even more of a bargain, can handle three floors, has no rendering and fewer library objects and materials. An even lower-priced version, Express ($30), is listed on the press release but does not appear on the IMSI Design website yet.
Users of IMSI Design's older version of TurboFloorPlan can upgrade to FloorPlan on the company's website.