Thanks to the arrival of the computer, the days when architects and manufacturers spent hours painstakingly drawing floorplans and exploded diagrams by hand are virtually gone. However, computer-aided design packages have often been prohibitively expensive, thus preventing young talent in particular being able to make use of all that they can provide.

Avanquest's TurboCAD Deluxe series has been addressing this problem directly by creating simplified and affordable tools that are aimed at anyone - whether modellers, artists, engineers or students - with no previous experience in CAD packages, for a fraction of the usual price.

This latest version adds a wide variety of new features whilst remaining compatible with the effective industry standard AutoCAD (including the 2008 version and AutoCAD DWG/DXF files) and Google SketchUp as well as 30 of the most popular industry-standard file formats. It can be installed on both Windows XP and Vista and you'll need a substantial 300MB free disk space. Using a familiar Windows-style layout and menus, getting started is helped by video and interactive tutorials that contain over 200 lessons.

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Once up and running you can start to explore some of the new features. These include parametric doors and windows where multiple combinations can be created by choosing the style, material and properties of each object, as well as advances that will allow you to translate your 2D drafts into 3D photorealism thanks to LightWorks 7.5. In addition, your 2D and 3D walls are self-healing - i.e. they automatically join and intersect, then update automatically.

3D shapes are fashioned by the simple process of extruding (i.e. pulling) them from your 2D originals, after which they can be revolved, transformed using colours, brush styles and effects and then sent along predetermined paths using Sweeps. Walkthroughs and varied camera angles allow you to peruse at leisure what you've designed before making any alterations or corrections.

Another novelty enables you to draw lines quickly and let snap tools automatically align them with the closest centre point, end point, or dozens of points that you choose. Lighting effects have been particularly enhanced, so you can now create transparent objects via the materials editor and define light from numerous realistic sources including ambient light, directional lights and spotlights with adjustable angles. There's even a luminance editor to apply light properties to any object; this comes with a preview window that outlines the effect of the different parameters.

In short, you have hundreds of tools at your command, which will take a while to master but which should help all imaginative designers to put their dreams into reality.

If you're on a tight budget but need all the assistance you can get to make your 2D computer designs into 3D wonders, and are maybe not up to speed on some of the weightier CAD packages, this is a perfect place to start.