The average specification for a P.C. (Personal computer - ‘Windows’ operating system) and ‘Applemac’ currently available to the domestic market is sufficient to run all of the software discussed here. Professional users enhance their systems with larger and better quality monitors, more RAM (Readily Accessible Memory), and faster CPU’s (Computer Processing Unit).

Whilst most professional design and graphics software is available for both the ‘Windows’ system and the ‘Applemac’ system, a far greater range of software overall is available for ‘Windows’ systems only and generally at a lower price.

Getting the finished design to the client may be achieved in a number of ways. The most common form is the printed design which may be outputted from the computer using a printer or a plotter. A plotter is a drawing machine which operates by picking drafting from a carousel and mechanically drawing lines on paper or velum. This machine is well suited to the task of producing technical drawings but has very limited rendering uses. The inkjet type printer is more versatile and particularly good for exhibiting rendered images. The quality of the rendered image is dependant upon the resolution capabilities of the printer expressed in DPI (Dots per Inch).

Images and models may also be recorded using Zip drives, DVD’s (Digital Versatile Disc) and CD-writers and sent to the client but each requires the client to have the appropriate peice of hardware in order to read or view the finished product. At the time of writing, only the CD-writer has an complementary piece of hardware (CD-Rom Drive) which is capable of reading the finished image and is common to most machines.

An further alternative is provided by means of the internet. Design images and information may be sent electronically either directly to the client or to a server from where the client may either view or download the data. In each case, the designers computer must have a modem which is capable of transferring the data over the telephone line. Here again, a number of different products are available. The main factor for consideration is the speed capability of the machine for transferring data.

The range of software available to the user is dependant upon the operating system which the computer uses. Whilst the various ‘Windows’ operating systems produced by Microsoft dominate the market overall, the rival ‘Applemac’ operating system produced by Apple still dominates the professional printing and graphics market according to Jansen (1999) who is the Art Director for De Limburger Dagblad (the main regional newspaper for the province) in The Netherlands. Jansen believes that the continuing dominance of the ‘Applemac’ system in this sector of the market is due to a more user friendly design which Thomas (1995) describes as the human-computer interface.

The type of software available which may be used within the design process will be a personal choice of the Garden Designer limited by;

Adams (1998) categorizes drawing programs according to whether they are ‘vector’ which he describes as being based on mathematical defined points and lines, or ‘raster’ or ‘pixel’ based which he describes as being based on a series of pixels or coloured dots.

Hybrid modellers as described by Jackson (1998) are able to store vector information which defines points, lines, areas and volumes and at the same time apply pixel based information in the form of bitmaps to the stored ‘virtual’ planes. The following table lists some examples of each type software.