These days, everyone is having to be creative in finding ways to work from home or other remote location.

For standalone licenses, Carlson Software’s licensing agreement allows users to install on two computers for your personal use. You can see more in this FAQ: Can I install my Carlson desktop software on two computers?

If you own network licenses, you have the ability to “check out” a license to a remote computer. See this FAQ: Working with Carlson’s network license manager for help.

Carlson’s support team is working remote and is fully operational if you run into any problems.

Stay safe out there!

Missed our live webinar? Follow this link to view the recording

LandXML is one of those “universal” topics that applies to everyone, regardless of what software you use and whether your primary business is survey, design, engineering or construction.

You can register here for a FREE webinar during which I’ll explain the benefits of, and how to use, LandXML-formatted files to share and archive project-related data files.

With the retirement of Windows 7, more and more of us are making the move to Windows 10 and that often brings a lot of headaches trying to make sure that we are not only viable and productive going forward, but are also able to view and access project data from years past. LandXML can be a lifesaver! Regardless of the program you currently use, the one you plan to use or the one other project team members use – LandXML is the best option for sharing and archiving project data; better yet, it is a tool that’s most likely in your hands now and won’t require any additional purchase!

This webinar is a MUST SEE for anyone still using Land Desktop, Eagle Point, TerraModel or other program that has been retired because it is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to install these programs on newer computers. The information provided will apply equally to users of Carlson Software, Land Desktop, Civil 3d, TerraModel, Eagle Point and practically any other software for surveyors, engineers or contractors (including machine control systems).

No purchase is necessary, you can register here.

I’m looking forward to joining other Carlson staff and trainers at this year’s Go West Conference in Portland Oregon – it’s a great opportunity to meet and greet some of my long-time west coast customers for the first time.

This year’s conference will be held at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel from April 20-22. Dave Lorenzo from the ITC (IntelliCAD Technology Consortium) will be presenting the Keynote address on Monday night.

You can Read More Here or Register Here

I’m not sure how long these options will be available but Carlson has (FINALLY!!) given me the OK to accept orders to Swap! modules in or out of existing software bundles and to Add! more modules to existing licenses. This is a test run so let’s see how it goes!

The option to Swap! a module out of a bundle for another one has been sorely needed and most requested by those who have previously purchased Civil Suite but find they don’t use one of the modules very often.

Now, for only $500 you can swap one or more modules for any of the programs that are included in Carlson’s Select Suite: Survey, Civil, GIS, Hydrology, CadNet or Point Cloud Basic.

Until now, if you own one or more modules and wanted to simply add one more program to the bundle, your only option was to pay full price for the new program.

Now, again for a limited time, you can Add! any of the modules in the Select Suite for only $750. The programs available for this promotion are: Survey, Civil, GIS, Hydrology, CadNet or Point Cloud Basic.

The fine print: You must have an active maintenance plan to take advantage of this offer.

If you want to Swap! or Add! modules please email me to request a custom proposal.

Earlier in 2019 Carlson introduced the new line of Select Suite bundles which gives users the option to create your own bundle with only the modules you need so the need to Swap! won’t be as important to us at some point. If you need to add a whole new license, click here to see our current pricing on Select Suite bundles of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 modules!

It’ll be my first time to offer Black Friday discounts and it might be a doozy! We will be sending out a short newsletter/announcement that includes a coupon code that you’ll need to get extra discounts. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Today is the day!

Carlson Software has just announced discounts on an assortment of software and hardware products that will be good through 12/31/2019.

One key difference from years past is that the maintenance that’s included with the software deals will expire on AUGUST 1, 2020 (instead of September). You are still guaranteed to get an upgrade to 2021 though; even if 2021 is released after the Aug 1 deadline next year.

Click here to find out more about Carlson’s 2020 product offerings

All purchases from That CAD Girl include a year of unlimited access to our live, online webinars. Click here for our schedule through February 2020.

Not seeing what you need? Request a custom proposal here

So, this is pretty impressive for Carlson Software… no?

The Surveying & Mapping Software CLEAReport from Clear Seas Research is based on an independent study performed each year that, among other things, determines and/or measures:

• Which surveying and mapping software manufacturers are industry professionals aware of?
• Which brands of CAD software, data collector/controller software, and/or GIS software did industry professionals purchase in the past year?
• How do the brands perform on technological leadership, price fairness, product support, and product quality?
• Which surveying and mapping software brands will industry professionals consider purchasing?

Their latest report includes data collected in November and December 2018 and concludes that “Carlson Software outperforms all competitors across every tested metric.” Well done Carlson Software!

You can read the press release from Carlson Software here and more about the 2018 SURVEYING & MAPPING INDUSTRY SOFTWARE STUDY from Clear Seas Research here. [updated link from American Surveyor here]

The rollout of Carlson Software’s 2020 desktop programs is now complete with this week’s release of Carlson Survey 2020 and Takeoff R11 with embedded Carlson AutoCAD (OEM). There wasn’t a new release of Takeoff last year so Carlson Survey 2020 includes two years of updates which you can see here.

If you purchased a new license or upgrade to 2019 on or after 9/1/2019 – you are eligible for a free upgrade to 2020! Email me to request your 2020 serial number.

Click here to request a 30 day trial of the software or, if you’re currently using an older version of one of these OEM products and are interested in upgrading, please click here to request a proposal.

Here are a few links and video with more details about new features and updates in the 2020 software:

Click here to download a PDF of improvements to Carlson Takeoff R11

Click here to download a PDF of improvements in Carlson 2020 products.

Carlson’s 2020 Page

More Dynamic, Carlson Civil and Hydrology 2020 Provide Advanced New Features

Carlson Mining 2020 Features Upgrades, New Tools, and Functionality Enhancements

Carlson Survey and GIS 2020 offer User Interface Upgrades, Efficiency Tools and Education

Time to Upgrade?… No Problem

A couple of weeks ago Carlson Software released the 2020 version of their desktop software that runs with IntelliCAD 9.2 (which is included) or on top of a separately purchased license of AutoCAD 2015-2020.
UPDATE: Carlson Survey 2020 and Takeoff with Embedded AutoCAD (OEM) is now available

For customers who are current on maintenance, you can follow this link to look up your new 2020 serial number. If you have trouble finding your serial numbers, you can call Carlson for free tech support at 606-564-5028 or contact me and I’ll try to help.

You can click here to request a 30 day trial of the software or request a proposal for a new purchase or Carlson 2020 update.

Here are a few links and video with more details about new features in the Carlson 2020 update of the software:

Click here to download a PDF of improvements in Carlson 2020 products.

Carlson’s 2020 Page

More Dynamic, Carlson Civil and Hydrology 2020 Provide Advanced New Features

Carlson Mining 2020 Features Upgrades, New Tools, and Functionality Enhancements

Carlson Survey and GIS 2020 offer User Interface Upgrades, Efficiency Tools and Education

Time to Upgrade?… No Problem

I don’t know about you but the new Carlson product offerings for P3D Topo and Point Cloud Basic and Point Cloud Advanced confuse me. Admittedly, these are products I haven’t dived into much and have relied on Mark Long and Doug Aaberg for their advice and direction. So, I put the question to them, “Who Needs Point Cloud? And Who Needs P3D Topo?”

Doug Aaberg: I feel that while Carlson P3D topo is a good solution for producing, manipulating surface models as well as some hydrology capabilities while Carlson Point Cloud is a good solution for performing virtual surveys and extracting existing data out of a cloud. It is probably to simple to surmise by saying Engineers would like P3D while Surveyors would like Point Cloud but I sort of think that way. The truth is, there is a lot of overlap between the two products.

Mark Long says: Carlson P3D Topo is intended to take large point clouds and create surface models for design professionals via Drones or Lidar.

And as to the difference between Point Cloud Basic and Advanced? Doug says: Point Cloud Basic – designed to work within a CAD environment to manipulate and extract data from a point cloud. It has a very large capacity (up to a billion points) and is a great program for performing a “virtual survey” directly in a cloud. It allows the creation of Carlson points and 3D polylines utilizing a typical Carlson Field to Finish code table (FLD file) and draws entities directly into an open CAD drawing with no additional export function. A notable feature is Survey by Grid which sets points at any specified grid spacing.

Point Cloud Advanced – contains all of the functionality of Carlson Point Cloud Basic plus the ability to extract features such as trees, hydrants and poles. It also allows the creation of solids and utilizes typical Carlson cross section alignments (mxs files) to extract cross sections and profiles. You can select cloud data by color or elevation and create regions for isolating portions of a cloud for editing or extracting features.. A notable feature is the ability to simplify a TIN and create smoother looking contour lines.

Here is a handy chart – current as of the 2023 product release:
Comparison: Point Cloud Basic vs Point Cloud Advanced

View Carlson Point Cloud webinars