TFC #22: Where Is Cabinet Vision Today?

Over the years, people have said a lot of things about Cabinet Vision. Some people claim it is the best, others claim it is expensive and overpriced, while others claim it is hard to use and lacks support.

Where does it stand today?

I first started using Cabinet Vision on Solid 10.

Soon afterward, Solid 11 came out.

Solid 11 is where I spent most of my time. It was a very stable release that just worked really well.

In 2019, they introduced Version 12. This release included the new Connection Manager and the new radial menu. (which I always turn off)

They also restructured their pricing during this time to go to a module-based system instead of the original levels of Drafter, Advanced, and Ultimate.

It was at this time that things started getting tricky. I loved the idea of the new Connection Manager because it made a lot more possible with the basic construction methods instead of using User Created Standards. However, it didn’t take long to realize that for most people, updating from a previous version was going to be tough.

During this time, I helped several people set up Cabinet Vision for the first time on CV 12, and I loved it. The new features eliminate the need for a lot of User Created Standards.

However, I was still recommending most people that were on Solid 11 to stay on their current version.

Next, they released CV 2021 which included a redesigned Door Manager. I still hesitated to recommend people to upgrade from Solid 11.

A few people did start updating from Version 11, and it was a major deal. Things that used to work in Solid 11 didn’t necessarily work in CV 12 and CV 2021. The biggest issue was when you updated, it automatically tried to migrate your construction methods to utilize the new connection manager.

The idea of migrating your data seems like a good idea, however for a lot of the shops I worked with, they had several construction methods and so it migrated every single version of an operation that it found in the Solid 11 construction methods.

After the migration, you could easily end up with 100s of Connections with a lot of duplicates because of small differences. For example, it was common to see the following:

• Stop Dado .25

• Stop Dado .25 (1)

• Stop Dado .25 (2)

• Stop Dado .25 (3)

• and so on.

This huge list of connections makes it really difficult to maintain. So for most shops, I would go through the Connection Manager and start deleting and renaming the Connections so it was easier to maintain going forward.

Very time-consuming task.

So continuing on with the new versions, CV 2022 became available and they switched CV from 32bit to 64bit and they announced the sunset of Solid 11.

It’s difficult to know when the right time is to update business-critical software, however, when it impacts your ability to get support and add future licenses.

It is time.

I wrote an article on risk versus reward when updating business-critical software a while ago, you can read it here.

Now the bad part is, CV 2022 came with quite a list of bugs. So a lot of people were updating from Solid 11 due to the sunsetting and they were discovering all kinds of weird little issues that were no longer working.

It sounds like a bit of a sad story doesn’t it?

The good news is, when CV 2023 came out, it took care of a lot of the known issues and it didn’t take long to discover this is the most stable release since Solid 11.

I will admit, I did get a bit discouraged with Cabinet Vision at times over the past couple of years. However, with my software experience at Cabentry, I understand how you have to continue to innovate and bring new ideas to your product and you can’t always keep things the way they are.

Change is hard. However, in this case, it brought progress.

CV 2023 is an incredible software. All the new features caused a lot of pain but I for one am so glad they did it because it made their product a lot better and put them on pace for an exciting future!

Here are some of the common questions I have been answering lately concerning Cabinet Vision.

Q: I’m on Solid 11? Should I upgrade to CV 12, 2021, 2022, or 2023?

A: I would recommend jumping straight to CV 2023. Be prepared to spend some time migrating your data or starting clean.

Q: Should I start clean on CV 2023?

A: It’s for each company to decide. I personally, would recommend starting fresh in the new version. Lots of complications can arise from moving old data into newer versions. However, I understand companies that have been using Cabinet Vision for years have a lot of data in Cabinet Vision and it seems like a waste to get rid of it. The good news is, it actually doesn’t take as long as you think to build your construction methods from scratch, and then piece in the materials, schedules, doors, and User Created Standards that you still need in today’s market.

Q: Should I switch to Mozaik? Is it better than Cabinet Vision?

A: There has been a surge of people switching to Mozaik. I even spent quite a bit of time learning it over the past couple of years to see what all the hype was about. I made several videos on YouTube comparing Cabinet Vision and Mozaik. There are plenty of times when I recommend Mozaik over Cabinet Vision.

If it’s a smaller shop and I know they just want something that works and they don’t want to spend a lot of their time or their employee’s time learning how to use their software, I would definitely recommend Mozaik. Its easier to learn and easier to customize on your own.

If I know that a shop doesn’t have the resources to invest in Cabinet Vision, it would not be wise for me to recommend it.

At the end of the day, both Cabinet Vision and Mozaik are capable, as long as you are comfortable with it and able to set it up correctly.

Having said all of that, my answer to the question of which software is better is easy.

I would choose Cabinet Vision.

Why?

Because I feel unstoppable with Cabinet Vision. I feel perfectly comfortable meeting with a shop without preparation and being asked difficult questions about how to do certain things because I know that I can figure out how to do it in Cabinet Vision.

That is what makes it better.

You could ask a Mozaik expert which software is better and I’m sure they would tell you that Mozaik is better. Why? Because they are able to make Mozaik do exactly what they need it to do.

So as a shop, you need to determine which software is going to be easier for you to master or to get help mastering.

My advice for someone thinking about switching: Invest time and resources in learning how to use Cabinet Vision to its fullest potential.

There you have it. That’s my update on where Cabinet Vision is today.

So for my readers who are Cabinet Vision users, be encouraged. Cabinet Vision has an exciting future. Your software has the capability to take you far, it’s up to you to determine how well you utilize it.

For my readers using anything else, it’s perfectly okay. Ignore anyone who says “this” is the best and “this” is the only way for you to be successful. Focus on mastering the software you currently have in place.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this was helpful for you!

Feel free to reply to this email, I enjoy chatting with you all on my newsletter topics.

P.S. You may have noticed a new addition to the footer of my emails. I am currently building an online course to help people who want to master Cabinet Vision. It is going to take me a while to put the content together but I hope to have the first version ready in a few months.