Shade Craft Designer
The only true Shade Craft awning design software with a powerful 3D awning visualizer built for fabricators and shade craft sales professionals. Design architectural canopies, standing seam awnings, fabric awnings, vestibules, dining enclosures and branded dining barricades, then manage leads, customers, estimates, approvals and payments through the built-in contractor CRM. One platform built specifically for the awning and shade industry.
7-day free trial • no credit card required
At Terrapin Designs Interactive, our Lead Management CRM is the center of the system, connecting every stage of the sales and production process directly to The Builders. From the moment a lead comes in, customer information, designs, estimates, approvals, revisions, change orders, project notes, vendor activity, payments, and production details all stay connected in one place. The Builders use that same project information to create accurate, visual, production-ready designs, while Live Design Links keep clients directly involved by allowing them to review designs, choose colors, adjust sizes, upload branding, leave comments, and submit requested changes back to your team before fabrication begins. Vendor messaging is built directly into each project, so conversations with fabricators, installers, suppliers, and subcontractors stay attached to the job along with drawings, pricing, specifications, photos, and updates for easy access. Clients can also make online payments directly through the system, and built-in books handle billing, invoices, and financial information without any double entry — not QuickBooks, but in-program books that are like QuickBooks only better, designed specifically to interact with this program. By keeping the CRM, clients, vendors, sales team, designers, fabricators, installers, communications, and payments working from the same information, Terrapin Designs Interactive helps eliminate wasted time, missed details, bad builds, costly rework, and poor communication. The result is a faster, cleaner workflow, better accountability, stronger client involvement, easier payment collection, and most importantly, happier clients and better finished projects.
Leads, customers, projects, estimates, invoices, communications, vendors, and approvals in one centralized system built for the awning and fabrication industry. Client and vendor portals keep everyone on the same job record.
- Lead, customer & project tracking from first inquiry through final payment
- Master sales tracking across every opportunity and pipeline stage
- Estimates, invoices, approvals & change orders connected to each job
- P&L statements with revenue, costs and profit totals per project
- Commission tracker for sales reps with rate and earned-per-deal totals
- Client Portal — customers review designs, approve estimates and comment in one place
- Vendor & Subcontractor Portal — share drawings, specs, schedules and pricing
- Vendor workloads — assign jobs, track status and balance open work per vendor
- Built-in messaging keeps all team, customer & vendor communication tied to the job
- And much more watch the demos
- Free new features add regularly
Lead, customer & project tracking
Estimates, invoices & approvals
Built-in client & vendor messaging
From lead all the way to payment
The Builders
Four tools, one suite. Each draws the real product in true 3D — built how your shop builds it. Each tool also runs as a standalone product — start with just the vestibule, awning, or barricade builder and add others when you're ready.
Design custom awnings and architectural canopies in minutes. Styles, sizes, pitch, fabric, valance, frame finish, lighting and branding — all in real-time 3D, with production-ready design sheets when the job is approved.
- Standard, glass panel and louvered canopy styles plus compound awning shapes
- Width, projection, height, pitch and valance controls with real-time 3D
- Standing-seam and architectural framing with shop-accurate truss spacing
- Sunbrella fabric colors, metal finishes, mill or powder-coat frame options
- Downward LED lighting, illuminated fascia letters and custom logo branding
- Live Design Links for client review, comments and submitted revisions
- Production-ready design sheets with dimensions, elevations and materials
- Coming soon: AI-Powered Site Fit
- Free new features add regularly
Design a custom entrance enclosure in just minutes. Choose size, door location, roof style, fabric color, finishes and branding, then view the vestibule from every angle as it comes together.
- Sloped or straight roof styles with awning-style framing and trusses
- Width, depth, height and door-location controls in real-time 3D
- Sunbrella fabric panels, clear PVC windows and rigid ceiling options
- Round or square downward LED lighting and interior view support
- Custom logo upload and branding placement on the enclosure
- Client-ready design links for client review, comments and submitted revisions
- Client direct messaging tied to each vestibule project
- Shop-plan framing, dimensions and one-page client design sheets
- Wide/classic toggle and 16:9 viewer for clean client presentations
- Free new features add regularly
Design dining barricades, sidewalk enclosures and rigid panel systems in minutes. Run length, panel sizes, frame style, finishes, colors and branding — with panel layouts and linear-foot takeoffs for the shop.
- Overall run length, individual panel sizes and frame style controls
- Sunbrella fabric panels or rigid panel construction options
- Shared fabric library with searchable named colors and textures
- Shared metal palette with mill, painted and powder-coat finishes
- Rope ties, post caps and hardware shown in the 3D model
- Custom logo upload and branding on the barricade panels
- Client-ready design links for client review, comments and submitted revisions
- Client direct messaging tied to each barricade project
- Panel layouts, linear-foot calculations and materials for the shop
- Free new features add regularly
Design awnings & canopies in true 3D
Configure vestibules with real framing
Build barricades with real fabric
Customized design sheet for every build . Direct client design links and messaging
Ready to design your next project?
Start your 7-day free trial — no credit card required . Configure your first shade structure in just minutes not hours. Enjoy your free time
“Shade Craft has completely changed the way we sell and manage projects. The CRM, 3D builders, estimates, customer approvals, vendor communication, payments, and project management all work together in one system. It saves us time, reduces mistakes, keeps everyone on the same page, and gives our customers a much better experience from the first lead through final payment.”
Tommy Rourke
Project Manager
Rourke & Sons Canopies
“The CRM ties every lead, estimate and approval together in one place. My reps close faster because clients can review designs, leave comments, and pay online without a dozen phone calls.”
Karen Whitfield
Sales Director
Summit Shade Systems
“This thing is awesome. As a fabricator, having framing details generated with the push of a button is a huge time saver. Then it gives you a complete materials list right along with it. No digging through drawings or figuring everything out by hand. It makes the whole process faster, cleaner, and easier to send straight into fabrication. Wow. Love it.”
Eric Jr.
Fabricator
Ericson Family Fabrications
“Shade Craft cut our design time in half. The 3D awning builder lets me show clients exactly what they're getting before we cut a single piece of fabric. No more surprises, no more rework.”
Marcus Delgado
Owner & Master Fabricator
Delgado Awning Co.
“The Barricade Builder was incredibly easy to use. We picked our style, entered our measurements, reviewed the design, and submitted everything in just a few minutes. There was no long back-and-forth or confusing process. Once we approved the design, the project moved into fabrication almost immediately. The whole experience was fast, simple, and much easier than we expected.”
Michael R.
Customer
“I own a fabrication shop, and Shade Craft has made our day-to-day a whole lot easier. We’ve got the CRM, estimates, customer info, project notes, payments, and all the Builders working together in one place. My guys can build out an awning, vestibule, barricade, or enclosure, send it to the customer, make changes, get it approved, and keep the job moving without chasing emails or bouncing between a bunch of different programs. It just makes sense for the way a shop actually works. We’re saving time, making fewer mistakes, and getting jobs into fabrication faster. I wish we had this years ago.”
Jason M.
Fabrication Shop Owner
Premier Shade & Fabrication
“Lawrence, our awning guy, sent us a design link for the Vestibule Builder and we honestly had so much fun with it. My husband and I were able to play around with the size, make our enclosure bigger, add a ceiling, and even add lighting. It was really cool being able to design the enclosure together and see exactly what we were getting before it was built. The finished enclosure literally looks exactly like what we designed. Just incredible!”
Amanda & Chris R.
Homeowners
Lawrence Shade Solutions
THE PLANS
Try every feature free for 7 days
- no credit card required-.
It’s free — why not give it a try and save some time
- 1 user, up to 1 DBA
- Lead tracking, estimates & invoices
- P&L, commissions & vendor workloads
- Client & project records
- Client & vendor portals
- Preloaded response emails
- Branded intake page
- Designer & builder ready — scale up when you grow
- Mobile-friendly access from any device
- Automated follow-ups & task reminders
- No design builders
- On-the-fly customization at a reduced rate
Best for: Sales and office staff who manage jobs but do not draw them.
Design any awning from scratch — 16 base shapes plus compound design freedom, full fabric library, real-time 3D, and proposal-ready sheets.
- Every builder — awning, vestibule, barricade
- Compound design awnings
- Full fabric library — 549 fabrics
- Proposal-ready sheets & downloads
- Custom design links & client messaging
- Company branding on every sheet
- CRM portal ready
- On-the-fly customization at a reduced rate
Best for: Awning shops that want every design tool but run their business elsewhere.
- 1 user, up to 2 DBAs
- Every builder + full CRM controls
- Lead tracking, estimates & invoices
- Designs flow straight into your CRM portal
- Client & vendor portals
- Proposal-ready design sheets
- On-the-fly customization at a reduced rate
Best for: Companies running quoting and fabrication in one place.
- Vestibule & Barricade builders
- Awning designer not included
- Full fabric library — 549 fabrics
- Design sheets & downloads
- Custom design links & client messaging
- Company branding on every sheet
- CRM portal ready
- On-the-fly customization at a reduced rate
Best for: Shops and designers who already have their own quoting system.
- Everything in Complete Suite
- 2 seats — each with its own branding & DBA
- Team admin controls
- Priority support
- On-the-fly customization at a reduced rate
Best for: Larger teams and companies that need multiple branded users under one plan.
On-board AI-assisted automation — auto-draft specs, copy, and estimates.
- 100 credits — $27.50/mo
- 200 credits — $55.00/mo
- 400 credits — $110.00/mo
- 800 credits — $220.00/mo
Best for: Shops that lean on AI to draft specs, estimates, and design copy at volume.
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