LXFree

LXFree is intended to help in the design of light plots. Moreover, it permits associating the graphics with the information required to generate the necessary paperwork.

At first sight, the program looks just like a general-purpose drawing tool. However, it allows drawing not only common shapes and lines, but also other symbols related to lighting. Luckily, there is help documentation for users to find their way.

The program has some features that make it ideal for technical drawing. It supports drawing various shapes, lines and curves. Fortunately, you can customize such aspects as line width and fill color. It is also great that the tool supports working with layers that can be hidden and arranged to your convenience. Moreover, it is possible to attach information to them via the Inspector Window.

As said before, LXFree allows using the information attached to the graphics to generate interactive reports, which are kind of spreadsheets. It is also possible to edit the information directly from the report without needing to access the Inspector Window. The resulting documentation can be exported as PDF or shared on the local network, Dropbox and Box.

All in all, LXFree is an excellent tool for designing light plots. In addition to its default features, the program allows installing extras or using AppleScript to expand its capabilities. However, Sketchup plugins are not supported by this free edition. It is a shame that the current version of this product can only run on OS X 10.12 or later, provided the machine has an Intel 64bit processor. However, previous versions of LXFree can still be downloaded.