SAN DIEGO - September 10, 2007 - SmartDraw.com today announced the launch of the SmartDraw Legal Edition 2008, the first program that automates the task of creating legal graphics including crime scene diagrams, trial graphics, accident reconstruction, evidence charts, flowcharts, and much more.
Unlike other graphics programs that present users with a blank screen and rely on users to draw, SmartDraw Legal Edition uses templates tailored to each specific type of diagram--such as a flowchart. Users enter their information and SmartDraw does the rest: laying out the correct illustration automatically using built-in rules and professional design themes to guarantee polished, presentation-quality results in just a few minutes.
"Legal and law enforcement professionals will finally be able to create their own diagrams in minutes, not hours. All the diagrams they use for courtroom presentations, accident reconstructions, analyses and reports--without ever drawing," said Paul Stannard, SmartDraw CEO.
Stannard said SmartDraw has been analyzing feedback from nearly two million computer users--including thousands of attorneys and law enforcement professionals--who downloaded the predecessor program over the past year. "Our legal and law enforcement users are not graphics experts. They don't have time to spend on layout and on graphic design. The SmartDraw Legal Edition 2008 does both, by automatically creating the layout and applying professionally designed color schemes."
Should additional help be required, SmartDraw offers free telephone support from its own staff located in San Diego. According to its users, SmartDraw is the essential legal graphics tool to help them communicate, persuade, and succeed.
In addition to improved accident and crime scene diagramming, the SmartDraw Legal Edition 2008 includes the following new features for legal professionals:
- Live Maps. New Live Map feature captures live data from the Internet to allow users to incorporate roads, regions, counties, zip codes, countries and even satellite images from across the globe into their illustrations. Great for courtroom graphics, enhancing accident reconstructions and more!
- Integrated Photo Capability. SmartDraw includes built-in photo software features making it a snap to incorporate photos into business graphics. SmartDraw captures images from cameras, lets users crop and scale them, adjust color and brightness levels, and drop them directly into evidence charts, and other illustrations.
- Picture Charts for Courtroom Presentations. These lively, eye-catching charts use pictures and images to display data, instead of standard bars, lines and circles...just like USA Today! We call them Chartoons(tm).
- Automatic Business Graphics. Hundreds of specialized SmartTemplates(tm) are included that automate the creation of every type of legal graphic, including: evidence charts, timelines, case chronologies, crime scenes, forensics, and more.
- Automatic Flowcharting. Flowcharts are built using simple commands. Users can even build one without taking their fingers off of the keyboard. Lines are drawn automatically. Formatting is automatic: Shapes are evenly spaced and perfectly aligned.
- Automatic Graphic Design. A professionally-designed graphic theme, specifying colors, line and type style, is automatically applied to each graphic. Users can select from a library of themes and apply a different one with a single click.
- Express Charts. Charts and graphs can be built without having to create a spreadsheet first. Users can pick a chart and type their data directly into the bars, or simply drag them to represent the right values.
- One-Click Copy to Microsoft Office programs, PDF and many other graphic formats. SmartDraw 2008 is one of the first applications to adopt the new ribbon interface used in Microsoft Office 2007.
Users can download a free trial of SmartDraw Legal Edition 2008 from the company's website (www.smartdrawlegal.com), and may also purchase online. Individual licenses start at $449. The company also provides variety of options for multiple-seat licenses, including an annual subscription agreement for department-level or company-wide usage starting at $2,495.
About SmartDraw.com
SmartDraw.com is the creator of the SmartDraw, the world's most popular business graphics software and the first program that makes it possible for ordinary computer users to create presentation-quality business graphics in five minutes or less. Each year more than two million people install and use SmartDraw and the company counts more than half of the members of the Fortune 500 as loyal customers.
Founded in 1994, SmartDraw.com is privately-held and based in San Diego, CA. In addition to SmartDraw 2008 for general business and home use, the company also offers SmartDraw Healthcare and SmartDraw Legal editions which include graphics and applications unique to their respective fields. For more information on the company or to download a free trial of SmartDraw, please visit www.smartdrawlegal.com
