PerfectTablePlan Version 5.2.1

This release adds 21 enhancements and 10 bug fixes to version 5.1.1. You will require a version 5 licence key to unlock the full functionality. You can buy a licence key here (or upgrade from a previous version here). This upgrade is free to all customers with a valid v5 licence key.

v5.1.2 and v5.2.0 were test releases. v5.1.3 and v5.1.4 were Mac OS X only releases.

We recommend that you back-up any important plan files before installing any new release.

The download links are at the bottom of the page.

Backward/forward compatibility

This version can read plan (.tp) files saved by any earlier version of PerfectTablePlan. But reading v5.2.1 plans into versions of the software before v5.2.0 may lose some data.

System requirements

Windows Mac OS X
Operating systems Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP (both 32 and 64 bit variants are supported) Mac OS X 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, 10.5 (64 bit Intel processor)
Screen resolution 800x600 pixels or better
Colours 65,536 colours (16 bit) or better

Enhancements

The following enhancements have been made since version 5.1.1:

All editions

Windows and Macintosh

1. You can now colour code seats in the Floor plan and Table plan panes according to how well the guests are seated (based on the proximity of nearby guests). Well seated guests are shown in green. Poorly seated guests are shown in red. This 'hotspot' analysis allows you to quickly spot any problem seating assignments. [Added in v5.2.0]

find seating hotspots

2. You can now display a colour key in the Floor plan and Table plan panes when you are using colour to visualize gender, groups, meals or custom fields. Thank you to many customers for the suggestion. [Added in v5.1.4]

floor plan colour key

3. You can now show seat numbers at the same time as guest names for rows of seats. Set the Seats drop-down list to Rectangular+name, Chair+name, Rectangular or Chair and the Places drop-down list to Seat number (small), Seat number (medium) or Seat number (large). Thank you to Dag K-G for the suggestion. [Added in v5.1.4]

seat numbers on rows of seats

4. In the VDU chart the floor plan can now optionally be placed above (instead of to the left of) the scrolling text. Thank you to Sue and Christoph B for suggesting this. [Added in v5.2.0]

scrolling seat assignments

5. There is now an option in the Auto assign tab of the Preferences window to assign tables in the order shown in the Schematic pane. This might be useful if you want to fill particular tables or rows of seats first. However, allowing the automatic seat assignment to assign tables in any order will generally lead to better seat assignments. Thank you to Peter D, Stephen S and Melissa O for suggesting this. [Added in v5.2.0]

auto assign order

6. Guide-lines are now optionally displayed when you click on a single object in the Floor plan pane. This makes it easier to align objects in the floor plan. [Added in v5.2.0]

floor plan guide lines

7. You can now navigate between tables in the Table plan pane using a drop-down list. Thanks to Stephanie P K and Laura L for suggesting this. [Added in v5.2.0]

table plan navigation

8. You can now move selected items in the Floor plan pane using keyboard arrow keys. If grid snap is on, each key press moves one grid position. If grid snap is not on, each key press moves 5 cm/2 inches (1 cm/0.4 inch if Shift is held down). Thanks to a number of customers for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

9. You can now drag an image file from your operating system or from a web browser straight onto the Floor Plan pane. Double click the image to edit its properties (e.g. size and rotation). [Added in v5.2.0]

10. You can now drag an image file from your operating system or from a web browser straight onto the Stationery Plan pane. [Added in v5.2.0]

11. We have added stationery layouts for Avery C32253 and Avery L4794 place cards. Thanks to Dan F and Colin B for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

12. We have added additional 'How do I?' help pages:

  • How do I?>Stationery>Align printing with my stationery
  • How do I?>Floor Plan>Align tables

More cross-references have also been added to the documentation. [Added in v5.2.0]

13. If your device supports gestures, you can now use a 'pinch' gesture to zoom in and out in the Floor plan and Table plan panes. Thanks to Joe C for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

14. *.xlsm has been added to the list of default file extensions when importing data. Thank you to Richard G for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

15. An import mapping has been added for registration and check-in solution MobiCheckin. [Added in v5.2.0]

16. A new 'garden party' sample table plan has been added. [Added in v5.2.0]

Advanced and Professional editions

Windows and Macintosh

1. There is a new Multi-plan (pairs) report in the Report pane. This allows you to see how often pairs of guests are seated next to each other, or on the same table, across multiple events. For example, we can see in the report below that Nikki Adams and Andrew Adams sat next to each other in seating 2 and on the same table in seating 5. The grey colour behind 'same table' shows that they had 'not next to' proximity for seating 5. The yellow behind their name shows that there may be a seating issue. Thank you to Oyvind H for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

networking seating assignments

2. There is a new Multi-plan (matrix) report in the Report pane. This allows you to see who was sat next to each other, or on the same table, across multiple events. For example, we can see in the report below that Nikki Adams and Andrew Adams sat next to each other (*) in seating 2 and on the same table in seating 5. The grey colour behind seating 5 shows that they had 'not next to' proximity for seating 5. Yellow cells show potential seating issues. Thank you to Cheryl R for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

networking event seating

Professional edition

Windows and Macintosh

1. You can now assign multiple seatings in a single operation, automatically changing the proximities after each seating. For example you can generate 5 seatings, automatically setting the proximities after each seating so the automatic seating tries not to seat guests next to each other twice. This can save a lot of time when you are planning networking events. To assign multiple seatings select File>Auto Assign Multiple... [Added in v5.2.0]

assigning seats for networking events

2. You can now set multiple custom proximities in a single operation. For example, if you have a custom field storing which of the 50 US states a guest comes from, you might want to set 'near to' for guests from the same state. You can now do this in a single operation, rather than make 50 separate changes. Thank you to Isaac N for the suggestion. [Added in v5.2.0]

bulk editing custom proximity

3. Weightings for custom proximities can now be set in the range 0.1 to 10.0 (previously it was 0.1 to 1.0). [Added in v5.2.0]

Bug fixes

The following bug fixes have been made since version 5.1.1:

All editions

Windows and Macintosh

1. Rotating multiple items in the Floor plan pane could sometimes cause a crash. This is now fixed. Thank you to Tom F for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

2. Changing proximity in the Proximity pane with the For drop-down list set to By group+ could sometimes cause a crash. This is now fixed. Thank you to Lindsey H for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

3. Clicking OK in the Select Texture window when there was no texture to select caused a crash. The OK button is now disabled if there is no texture to select. Thank you to Marte B for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

4. The Floor plan and Table plan panes were not always correctly updated when groups were renamed. This is now fixed. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

5. Fixed a bug related to adding colour coded spots to stationery. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

6. Multi-course meals were not displayed correctly in the colour key. This is now fixed. Thank you to Mark A for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.2.1]

Windows only

1. Installation sometimes failed when the installing user did not have Windows Administrator or Power User privileges. This should now be fixed. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

Macintosh only

1. Printing the Stationery pane from Mac OS X 10.8 could cause a crash in some situations, particularly if you were using rotated images. This is now fixed. Thank you to quite a few people for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.1.2]

2. Text was not properly aligned in controls (e.g. buttons) on Mac OS X 10.9. We believe this was only a cosmetic issue, but it is now fixed. [Fixed in v5.1.3]

3. Printing sometimes caused a crash in v5.1.3. Particularly on the second print. This is now fixed. Thank you to quite a few people for reporting this. [Fixed in v5.1.4]

4. CSV files were exported in UTF-16 encoding. Microsoft Excel didn't interpret this correctly. So CSV files are now exported in UTF-8 encoding. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

5. Support for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 has been re-added. [Fixed in v5.2.0]

Windows download

PerfectTablePlan v5.2.1 for

Windows

8/ 7/ Vista/ XP, 32 & 64 bit (20 MB)

Download

Windows download instructions »

(alternate download server)(troubleshooting)

Mac download

PerfectTablePlan v5.2.1 for

Mac OS X

10.9 to 10.5, Intel processor (26 MB)

Download

Mac OS X download instructions »

(alternate download server)(troubleshooting)

Please notify any bugs or problems in as much detail as possible to support.