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2 stars
Version: SmartDraw 2009 2009.7
"Overrated and not well tested by CNET"
Pros: Based on the free (for only 7 days) download, it's probably very versatile with the many optional (many free) templates.
Cons: Many faults in the user interface, shortcut keys, help index, page layout, image and map import functions.
Summary: User interface: lack of harmony with established text editing/layout and MS shortcut key standards. You apparently can't position text in flowchart boxes (centered Hz/Vt only), and standard shortcuts cause different actions from those standard (eg, Ctrl+Alt+(arrow) to select text by fullword, etc.).
Help index: can't find "shortcut keys", "text positioning", "map zooming", "page (view)", and "image/insert" as examples. The "smarthelp", however, covers some of these under a separate structure that isn't cross-referenced in the help index.
Page layout: there is no page layout presentation mode without exporting the diagram to Word to see what a page will look like.
The Google map function is a disaster (no scaled zoom function, and if you zoom in too much the map function dies with constant error messages). I find it hard to believe that Google would release such a thing. Why include a poor map importing function without adequate testing??
Updated on Jan 23, 2009As a postscript, I want to state my purpose in trying SmartDraw. I am looking for software to diagram the 9th-12th cent. Nordic/Icelandic family relationships pictorially to augment an index database that I'm making of that literature. To do this I chose SmartDraw for its flow/family tree diagramming that also allows image (map location) importing as well as hot linking to/from the index entries built with another Word/Office-compatible tool called Sky (excellent index tool!). I'm NOT using SmartDraw to do conventional org./process flowcharting. But I'd hoped it would offer the functionality I need. Based on the marketing hype, it should have.
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