Sketch program choices

[larryhaskell]

John:

I keep a DOS version of DC Sketch on an old 486 computer for the tough sketches. Then we just scan the sketch into the file and it looks fine. I have both Apex & Winsketch and have seen the Windows version of DC in operation. None come close to being as easy to use & versatile as the DOS DC. Winsketch is on one of our computers and works OK but Alamode doesn't support it any longer. We are still learning the Apex program.

 

[John Hassler]

Larry

I'm just like you. I pull out DC Sketch when I have a tough drawing. Winskecth does not let you put doors on angled walls (at least I don't know how to). With DC I always included interior wall, even on angled homes, because it only took a two or three extra minutes - now I only include them when there is functional obsolescence in the floorplan AND it is a basic layout using Winsketch. I do like having the sketch integrated into the appraisal which is a short comming of DC. Winsketch is a Dee-Ohh-Gee in my book and the sooner it's out of my office the better.
I played with the free download from Apex and it is much more intutive than Winsketch and looks promising!


John Hassler

 

[KD247]

The latest version of DCSketch makes it easy to copy the sketch and paste it directly into the appraisal. However, you do have to type the living area into the form.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I have a year old version of DCSketch which is very DOS like, and find the program extremely cumbersome and slow. The book is a burden by itself. Apex, likewise, is easier to use, but there are some DOS features within a Windows window.

WinSketch is the only TRUE Windows product. It is the only one that allows you to highlight a page WITH CALCULATIONS, save as a metafile, and paste into a word processor. Doing the same with Apex saves the sketch, but not the calculations. DC creates a poor quality .jpg graphic (but not cut and paste) with the resolution of a $5 digital camera.

I keep hearing people complain that these programs are too simplistic, but I cannot think of anything that I have sketched that will not sketch correctly in WinSketch EXCEPT, a full wrap around porch. It does not allow overlapping lines, and that is an annoying feature.

Do any of the programs sketch and calculation donuts, even square ones?

 

[KD247]

Hi Terrel,

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that the DCSketch manual is an exercise in obfuscation, but once a few basic principles are understood, the program seems straightforward.

The image DCSketch places in the clipboard is fairly high resolution, but I suppose it could be degraded by the program you paste it into. Why do you say that it's not "cut and paste"? I copy it by selecting copy (you're right, it's not a true Windows product, but many appraisal programs aren't) and then I paste directly into Toolbox by pressing Ctrl-V.

Here's a sketch pasted into Word:

http://www.pierpont.com/dc.doc

Donuts are no problem, just enclose a closed area and then exclude the interior area. Here's a donut:

http://www.pierpont.com/donut.doc

I haven't spent the time to become familiar with any other sketcher, but I would really like to move to a more "mainstream" program like Apex or Winsketch. However, I don't want to give up the ability to easily modify sketches once they're drawn and I'm really getting the impression that DCSketch is the only one that allows sketch components to be easily altered. Am I wrong?

Koert

 

[John Hassler]

That Winsketch is a real windows program is the only reason I have it in the office. It's not that it is too simplistic, it's that it is not well thought out. If the building has less than eight walls you can usually delete and re-draw faster than you can modify a wall. Decks are a pain when, say, you go around four bay windows - not only do you have to draw them on the building but you must draw them on the deck too. Symbols such as doors do not snap to a line and I find myself going back and forth between the sketcher and URAR to fine tune the symbol location (which you can only change once you close the symbol window, why?). Try drawing a building and re-sizing the scale before you are done, then hit auto-close and see what happens. No donut buildings, what, the programers never thought of this? And I can not tell you how many time I get a critical error and the line starts drawing from an old deleted point - I have to shut the program down and re-open, usually having to delete the building and re-draw. Ouch! With Winsketch I rarely put in interior walls - too touchy trying to get a start point on a wall with my mouse - which I considered the first ever downgrade of my work product.

Now DC Sketch is not perfect either. Lots of commands to remember. But I love being able to tab over a set amount with the pen up, and not defining the area until I'm done drawing it - for example, you can draw the home and garage perimeter and then delineate the garage/house wall and still define both areas. Interior walls are no problem even on an angled building. Decks are a breeze since all it cares about are the two end points abutting the building (it doesn't care what the building shape is).

If someone could just blend the best features of the two. Maybe get a crack programer and a practicing appraiser in the same room together.

John Hassler

 

[KD247]

John, Thanks for the description of Winsketch. You confirmed some of my preconceptions. I'm surprised that A La Mode or Bradford hasn't aquired DCSketch and turned it into an integrated component of their appraisal software.

John said "Maybe get a crack programer and a practicing appraiser in the same room together."

Do programmers ever get to see an actual appraisers? You wouldn't think so.

Costco has tablet PC's for about $1,900. DCSketch looks like it can be used without a keyboard. I'm anxious to try the combination along with the Disto laser measurer I'm trying out.