Producing a set of construction documents in ArchiCAD 19 often involved manually publishing each layout. The Smart PDF Export tool automated this process by:
1. The Elevation Magic The star of the show in v19 was, without question, the Cadimage Elevation tool. Native ArchiCAD 19 elevations were fine... until you had to draw a brick soldier course, a complex stone lintel, or parametric cladding panels. CADimage let you draw 2D elevation details that actually looked like architecture, not vector soup. The "Drag and Drop" library of parametric objects (windows, louvers, vents) was so intuitive that it made the native Object tool feel like a DOS program.
2. The Door & Window Superiority Complex Let’s be honest: ArchiCAD 19’s stock windows were ugly. CADimage’s Door and Window tools weren't just prettier; they behaved. You could get a sliding patio door with a transom, side lites, and realistic 3D hardware without diving into the GDL labyrinth. The scheduling was robust, and the 2D linework on output looked like a traditional architectural drawing—heavy lineweights where you wanted them, light where you didn’t. CADimage Tools Plugins For Archicad 19
3. The "Stair" That Didn't Suck ArchiCAD 19’s native stair tool was famously clunky. CADimage’s stair tool allowed for winders and landings that didn't require a geometry degree to fix. It was a lifesaver for residential multi-story projects.
To understand the value, consider two scenarios for a typical single-family home project (15 sheets) in ArchiCAD 19. Producing a set of construction documents in ArchiCAD
| Task | Native ArchiCAD 19 | With CADimage Tools (v19) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Door Schedule | 45 minutes (manual data entry, custom GDL objects) | 8 minutes (auto-populated via Efficent) | | Stair Design | 90 minutes (complex profile + morph + 2D linework) | 15 minutes (StairBuilder parametric) | | Shading Analysis | Not possible natively (required external calc) | 10 minutes (Solar Stone) | | Drawing Index | 30 minutes (manual typing) | 0 minutes (Markers+ auto-builds on save) | | Total Project Time | ~20 hours of documentation | ~6 hours of documentation |
The 70% reduction in documentation time was the primary driver for firms sticking with ArchiCAD 19 to install CADimage Tools. No software suite is without flaws
No software suite is without flaws. For ArchiCAD 19, CADimage Tools had a few notable limitations: