About Idea Spectrum

Overview

Idea Spectrum is a developer and publisher of premier landscape design software. We’re committed to creating software that exceeds your expectations. Our new line of products represents a breakthrough in ease of use and photo-realistic 3D rendering. Even if you’re new to computers, you’ll find that using Idea Spectrum software is a fun and rewarding experience.

Idea Spectrum is committed to providing top-quality, easy-to-use software at an affordable price. We pay special attention to our user interfaces to ensure our products are friendly and usable by everyone, novice and experts alike. Every feature is carefully designed and then tested by people who will actually be using the product.

What separates our software from the competition? See How our Software is Different.

Company History

Idea Spectrum’s Timeline: twenty years of landscape design software

2025Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 15)
2023Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 14)
2022Hard at work on the next release of Realtime Landscaping (eta Spring 2023)
2020Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 13)
2018Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 12)
2017Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 11)
2016Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 10)
2014Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 9)
2014The Realtime Landscaping line is translated by NBL Software to Italian, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian
2013Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 8)
2012Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 7)
2012Idea Spectrum partners with Unilock for premium paver design software
2012Idea Spectrum partners with NBL Software for European releases
2011Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 6)
2009Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 5)
2008Realtime Landscaping Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 4)
2007Realtime Landscaping Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 3)
2006Realtime Landscaping Pro, Plus, and Photo are released (version 2)
2005Water Garden Studio is released (version 1)
2004Idea Spectrum is founded

Detailed Company History

Idea Spectrum was founded in 2004, and is located in Washington State. After more than two years of heavy development and close consultation with landscaping professionals, the first iteration of the Realtime Landscaping software line was released in 2006, including Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo.

In the following years, several substantial upgrades were released that have transformed and refined the Realtime Landscaping product line beyond anything we could have hoped for. In 2008, our flagship product, Realtime Landscaping Architect, was added to complete the product lineup.

In 2011, Idea Spectrum released version 2011 of Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. These new versions represent the largest upgrades to date, offering a large variety of graphical improvements, new features, usability enhancements, and fresh content.

In February 2012, Idea Spectrum released version 2012 of Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. The new versions offer graphical improvements, exciting new tools, and additional options. Additionally, Idea Spectrum partnered with Unilock and NBL Software.

In March 2013, Idea Spectrum released version 2013 of Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. The new versions offer exciting new tools, substantial graphical improvements, and much more.

In February 2014, Idea Spectrum released version 2014 of Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. The new versions offer graphical improvements, new usability features, additional tools, an expanded plant library, and more. NBL Software translates the Realtime Landscaping product line to Italian, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.

In March 2016, Idea Spectrum released version 2016 of Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. The new versions boast a complete rewrite of the 3D engine that takes full advantage of DirectX 11 and modern 3D hardware. The overall design quality is increased, and both the design and walkthrough speeds are notably improved.

In June 2017, Idea Spectrum released version 2017 of Realtime landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. This release adds many internal improvements that focus on accessibility and smooth operation, including full scalable support for high resolution devices (such as 4k monitors). Additionally, improvements and enhancements have been made to the Unilock and Lampus paver libraries.

In May 2020, Idea Spectrum released version 2020 of Realtime landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. This release adds support for 64-bit computing, improved performance, SketchUp 2020 model import, and other improvements.

Company Relations

Idea Spectrum is privately owned and does not rely on outside investments. Additionally, we self-publish our software. What this means is there is no middleman between us and our customers, and that we can make decisions based on what our customers want, not what investors or publishers want.

We highly value your feedback. Please let us know how we can improve and what features you’d like to see in future products. We’d love to hear from you!

Our Product Line

Founded in 2004, Idea Spectrum has been working hard to develop the best landscape design software available. Our products include: Realtime Landscaping Architect, Realtime Landscaping Pro, Realtime Landscaping Plus, and Realtime Landscaping Photo. Our software is developed with a strong emphasis on ease of use and powerful 3D visuals.

About Realtime Landscaping Architect

Architect is our flagship product. Produced primarily for professional landscape designers and contractors, Architect contains many features that would not likely be needed by homeowners, such as a Plan View that can be tailored to look like a traditional CAD drawing. Architect includes every feature found in Pro, Plus, and Photo, as well as its many unique features.

About Realtime Landscaping Pro

Pro is primarily geared toward homeowners and smaller landscape design companies. Pro allows for the advanced 3D design of landscapes and water features, but does not incorporate the versatility of Architect’s Plan View.

About Realtime Landscaping Plus

Plus is targeted toward homeowners who need a landscape design, but do not need water features. The lack of water features is the primary difference between Plus and Pro, which helps to make the decision between the two products easy.

About Realtime Landscaping Photo

As an alternative to 3D landscape designs, all products in our lineup include Realtime Landscaping Photo. Photo allows you to take a picture of your property and landscape directly on top of it, achieving a “before and after” photo-realistic effect.
Realtime Landscaping Photo is included with all of our 3D landscape design software.

Services and Procedures

When a product is purchased, you are able to download the software immediately. All products are issued with a 30 day guarantee, and include free technical support by telephone and e-mail.

We value your privacy. Your email and other personal information will not be shared with anyone. (View Our Privacy Policy)