Home Catalogue Software Boardmaker Software Family

An incredibly flexible and powerful communication display maker!

Boardmaker Australian/New Zealand Version 6 for Mac is now available.

Boardmaker is a communication and learning tool containing over 4,500 Picture Communication Symbols (PCS). It is designed to enhance the language and learning process for students of all levels. The program allows you to:

• Make a professional looking communication display in minutes


• Quickly find and paste PCS symbols into your display or desktop publishing program


• Make the pictures any size and with any spacing


• Print and/or save your display on disk for later use


• Print displays in black and white or colour (if you have a colour printer)


• Combine elements from PCS to create your own custom symbols
  
• Import digital photos and other graphics and create custom-drawn images
  
• Store, name, retrieve, resize, and paste any image or graphical object
  
• Make worksheets, picture instruction sheets, reading books, journals, schedules, posters or custom activities.

• 4,500 Picture Communication Symbols (including the Australian PCS symbols and vocabulary)
  For information on adding the Australian symbols into the Macintosh Version of Boardmaker click here.


• Symbols from the 1998 Addendum Library now integrated into the core set
  
• Symbols with transparent background, enabling you to seamlessly layer them to create free-form materials (e.g. in stories, language activities, games and more)
  
• A set of black and white symbols and a set of colour symbols


• A drawing program


• Over 300 templates for schedules, device overlays, calendars, communication displays and more
  
• Assorted pre-made blank grids for making communication boards or overlays


• Option to install a library of symbols pertaining to sexuality
  
• A Boardmaker User Manual


• A video showing you how to use Boardmaker


• A printed Picture Index booklet of the PCS symbols is provided with the Macintosh version of Boardmaker, but not with the Windows version.


• Support for country specific symbols which may include holidays, famous people, food, and currency. These symbols may be downloaded free from the Mayer-Johnson website.

An alphabetical index of Boardmaker symbols is available in .PDF format. Click here to view.

Boardmaker is so easy to use!

1. Just open a template or create your own board
   
2. Choose symbols and languages
   
3. Print and use!

Reasons to Upgrade to Boardmaker for Mac Version 5

Now includes the same features as Boardmaker for Windows V5:

• Instantaneous search times


• Thumbnails feature displays up to 49 pictures at once. For example, you can type in the word “play” and see all of the “play” pictures at one time.


• Pictures are sorted into categories. Combining the category and thumbnails feature allows you to view 49 pictures in the same category at one time (e.g. “grooming” or “cleaning”).


• PCS are vector-drawn metafiles which means they are scalable to any size – no more “jaggies”


• Paint tools added: paint bucket, eraser, pencil, flip, rotate tools


• Works better with digital pictures (eg. from your digital camera)


• Import your existing BM files and libraries into the new version


• Allows you to use the colour-coded backgrounds recommended by Goossens, Crane, and Elder. This means you can surround a black and white picture with colour while allowing the picture to stay white internally.


• Runs on Mac OS X (also runs on Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x)
  
• Cross-platform support to allow you to open Windows Boardmaker files
  
• Multiple languages support features
  
  • Each symbol is supported by 42 languages, can be searched in all languages, and placed in a board or activity with any of the languages
  
  
  • Symbols may be placed with:
    
    • no text above the symbol
    
    
    • one or any two languages above the symbol
    
    
  • Additional text in any language may be added to the symbol by the user

  Note: In order for the many languages to work, the computer needs to be set up with the correct regional settings and has the appropriate fonts for those languages.

If you upgrade your Boardmaker to version 5 you will also want to upgrade your Boardmaker addendums, libraries and add-ons to take advantage of the superior quality of the vector-drawn (scalable) images now available in Boardmaker for Mac version 5. More info on Boardmaker Addendums and Add-ons Upgrade for Mac.

REASONS NOT TO UPGRADE TO BOARDMAKER FOR MAC VERSION 5

• Your machine is old and can’t run OS X 10.2.8 or better


• You’re happy with your current version


• Your hard drive doesn’t have 250 megabytes of free space to load the new version of Boardmaker.


• Your computer does not have a CD-ROM Drive (as Boardmaker for Mac Version 5 requires that the CD is in the computer to launch the program).

Confused about which symbol software program would best meet your needs? Click here to view our Symbol Software Comparison Chart comparing the features of Boardmaker, Writing with Symbols 2000 and Communicate:In Print 2.

Click here to download a pdf booklet showing you all of the additional symbols supplied in the 2000/2002/2004/2006 Addendum Bundles (3.4 MB .pdf).

System Requirements for Macintosh

• MacOS X 10.2.8 or later
  Boardmaker Version 5.1.1 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2.8 – OS 10.5 (Leopard).


• 256 MB RAM


• CD-ROM Drive


• 250 MB free hard drive space

Download

• Additional pre-made templates
  
• Boardmaker Updates