Cheap or free program to tinker with elevations


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Old 03-11-19, 03:01 PM
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Cheap or free program to tinker with elevations

Is there a cheap, preferably free program that will let me take a straight on photo of an elevation then mess around with it? I want to change or move some windows, maybe add shutters or faux lintels or corbels or quoins or the like. I am not good at picturing "what ifs" I want to dress up the front of my house but I can't afford to experiment. I need to see it on paper.
So does anyone have a suggestion on some software to do this?
 
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Old 03-12-19, 06:29 AM
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Taking a picture and editing it is quite a bit of work. My first guess would be Photoshop but it's not free and it takes some skill to use. Something like Google Sketchup if free and will allow you to draw your elevations though it also has a bit of a learning curve. I find it faster to just draw it out with an olde fashioned pencil and ruler. Graph paper can help.
 
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Old 03-12-19, 09:11 AM
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Actually the drawing occurred to me. Just if there were an electronic way to do it it would be fun to do it that way. It would also be a good way to start to learn how to use drawing programs. I have tried a couple and they don't work the way I think.
 
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Old 03-12-19, 10:54 AM
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CAD requires a little different frame of mind especially when doing 3D. Most programs operate in a similar manner so once you learn the process it's easier to learn the specific commands and where they are located in each program. If this is the only project you are doing it is quicker to just draw on paper. If you will be doing CAD on a regular basis then it makes sense to learn but if you won't be doing it often enough you'll forget and have to re-learn or at least brush up the next time. It's not a skill I would learn unless you plan to use it.
 
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Old 06-09-20, 09:35 PM
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Photoshop can be had for about$20/mo. When done quit paying. If you want to use it again, pay for another month. In photoshop you can find the feature you want by searching. Import it into the photo of your home. Paste it on its own layer. That way you can turn off the layer with, say shutters, and turn on the layer with lintels. It is very quick.
Step 1: photograph your house from a straight on angle (as most accessories will be shown in a full photo to show you the shape, etc.)
Step 2: Look up features you wish to consider.
Step 3: Using layers paste each feature into its own layer and then you can see it with one feature or another. If you want to see the house a different color you can use your photo and duplicate it; then using it as a base change the colors; add features, etc. Not much to it. I think CAD is much more precise, and anal... not for a "quick look" but great for getting approval from a permitting office at the city. Good luck.
 
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Old 06-10-20, 03:00 AM
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For what you want to do, it may be easier to take a picture of the front of the house, print it on 8-1/2 x 11 plain paper, then sketch over the picture. It also helps to lighten the picture before printing so it's easier to see what you're sketching. This is a "down and dirty" technique that I used once in a while when I didn't have time to use the CAD software. You can even roughly change the size of a print so it's roughly to scale, but if you aren't familiar with (or own) architectural or engineering scales, there may be a bit of a learning curve.
 
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Old 06-10-20, 09:39 AM
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There is a program available for free to non pros from babacad. I had it saved in favorites as it's been discussed here before. I've never tried it. I'm sure there will be a learning curve to it.
 
 

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