PatchCAD

[Luke W]

I've just started sorting out my patchbay ready to get it installed and remembered I discovered this great bit of software for designing/labelling a while back, it may be of interest to anyone doing/planning on doing a similar task.

PatchCAD



The only downside is that it's Windows only, which is a bit of a shame. Other than that I'm finding it very useful.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I work mine out in an Excel spreadsheet and then create the naming strips in Coreldraw...

[Luke W]

I'll admit was a bit lazy there and didn't fancy the working out bit

I think there was an offer on as well so it was about £10 in the end.

[gullfo]

PATCHCAD is pretty excellent - much faster when trying to get different panels printed using Excel or Sheets. and inexpensive. i think if you have a lot of patch labeling to manage - this is a very good choice.

[The Elf]

I work mine out in an Excel spreadsheet and then create the naming strips in Coreldraw...

I also use Excel and print direct from it to create my label strips.

I have lots of Excel sheets containing connection lists, MIDI port/channel designations, mic-to-wallbox connections, MIDI controller maps... it's a useful program for all kinds of things. Mosre importantly you can use Excel functions to translate connections into different formats - for example, I represent my wallbox/mic list in several different ways to help myself back in the control room, and whoever is connecting the mic's in the studio.

[Mike Stranks]

... and in other news...

I've seen some beta-testing - by someone whose judgement I respect - of an app designed for location work where you put in all the kit you'll be using and how it'll relate to each other - eg: B to A to C - and it'll tell you what cables you need to take, with the connectors on each end specified...

That could have save me an 'oops' or two when I was 'live-sounding'...

[Folderol]

I use Inkscape for just about everything (including schematics). It's a bit fiddly until you get used to its quirks, but extremely flexible. Its saved file format is SVG - which being infinitely scalable is great for making copies at different sizes for different jobs. It can also export to PDF, and I used that to send scale drawing of my kitchen worktops to the timber firm making them - they were delighted with being able to copy them straight into their CNC control program.
Inkscape itself is also cross platform

[gullfo]

inkscape - good!

[Luke W]

Just been having a browse at Inkscape, I'd not heard of it. Looks like an interesting bit of software.

[Logarhythm]

Just been having a browse at Inkscape, I'd not heard of it. Looks like an interesting bit of software.

Definitely worth downloading to have a play with it.
I installed it a couple of weeks ago as I was looking for a way to create some designs I could export in scalable and .dxf file formats for a one-off project, without taking out a second mortgage for e.g. Illustrator or AutoCAD.
I've never really done any graphics work before, so the learning curve felt a bit steep, but with a bit of google assistance it didn't take too long to do exactly what was needed, and for a very agreeable price