Landscape professionals can make their landscape presentations look better with software programs such as GardenWorks.

The opening screen has large navigational buttons. Users can view all photos, enlarge photos to full screen, search for a particular picture and create their own projects, or edit the data listed for photos.

GardenWorks, produced by software company GardenSoft, helps landscapers create professional landscape portfolios for consultations; and create presentation documents that include digital photographs of a client's project. These portfolios can contain photos of retaining walls, pools, front yards, brick patterns, decks, stairs and patios.

A slide show featuring before and after photos of a contractor's projects can be produced using the software. Adding photos to the program and using the company's "hot link" technology to see the connection between the two photos achieve this.

Contractors can also use the software as a storage facility for past projects. Still photos can be scanned into the software and photos from a digital camera can be linked into the program. These photos can be added to more than 200 landscape categories that are sorted and searchable by designer/photographer, themes, styles, types, features, plants, elements and materials. Personal categories can also be created, and all photos can be easily retrieved using the software's search tool.

Using the software, blueprints can become more useful by showing the relationship between plant symbols and pictures of what they represent. In addition, the software and included hot-link technology allow users to visually demonstrate choices for hardscape and softscape elements.

GardenWorks also features a compare/contrast tool, allowing landscape professionals to illustrate the difference between items such as tile and concrete walkways; a comparison between an English cottage versus Italian style gardens; and showing different types of wood decks available for a particular project.

Another added benefit of the program is that it can be linked with GardenSoft's PlantMaster, a fully editable and open plant database system designed for professionals. PlantMaster holds thousands of plant records and photographs but the user is free to add new plants or images. Its primary function is to produce plant portfolio submissions to clients. Additionally PlantMaster is intended to be a horticultural journal where a professional or a hobbyist can store information and pictures of the plants they work with.

Minimal System Requirements for GardenSoft Programs

• Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, ME, 2000, XP
• CD-Rom drive
• 800MB free disk space

About GardenSoft

GardenSoft, formerly Acacia Software, was founded in 1984 to provide software tools for the green industry. Since then, the GardenSoft customer base has grown to many thousands of users including garden hobbyists, botanical gardens people, professional nurserymen and landscape professionals in all 50 states and in all provinces of Canada. Products include PlantMaster, GardenWorks, WaterWise Gardening CD, eCatalog and Kiosks.