Card Sorting – Software & Other Downloads

SynCaps V3 now free!

This page has the downloads you need you need to start printing and processing card sorts.

We also have videos and webinar recordings available for downloaded to be viewed in place. See card sorting videos.

Templates, User Guides & Sample Data

We used to supply these separately, but they are now part of the free SynCapsV3 package (below).

SynCaps V3 Cluster Analysis Software

SynCaps V3 is the world's most comprehensive card sorting analysis package. It includes a variety of valuble features not available elsewhere:

Five customizable charts that can be easily incorporated into reports using copy and paste
Expert/reference sort comparisons (to show current IA compared to participant results, for example)
Extensive set of spreadsheet export files for additional analysis and charting
Nested groups - allows participants to build their own hierarchies of groups
Participant analysis and filtering, including participant cluster analysis to determine if separate communities are present
Generation of SPSS scripts for further analysis

All of the new features are described in detail in the release notes which are part of the free download below. As of June 2018 SynCapsV3 is free for use by everyone. But please consider making a donation to help us maintain and develop the software.

We've also produced three one-hour webinars on card sorting:

Part 1: Preparing Paper Sorts
Part 2: Basic Analysis (Paper and Online Sorts)
Part 3: Advanced Analysis (SynCapsV3)

Part 1 covers all versions of SynCaps. Part 2 includes details of nested groups (V3) and Part 3 covers participant analysis and filtering (V3). See our webinars, videos and slideshows page to view or download the recordings.

SynCaps V3 Download

Right-click to download SynCaps V3.5 for Windows 8 and later - including Windows 10
(syncapsv3-setup.exe, last modified [an error occurred while processing the directive], size [an error occurred while processing the directive])

Free for All: As of June 2018 SynCaps is free and no longer requires a license or license management. If you already have SynCaps V3.4 or earlier, please uninstall it and replace it with the above.

Release Notes:

V3.5 removes license management
V3.4.2 fixes several important bugs:
- Earlier versions allowed users to start from a .caps3 file, but if they attempted to create new participant filters, the program crashed. Because access is needed to some data structures not present in .caps3 files, SynCapsV3 will now ask if you want to reprocess the original data. Generally, it is best to do research from the original .txt files and use .caps3 files to share results with others.
- Chart images copied to the clipboard were missing a few lines at the bottom. This is now fixed.
- Print and print preview of charts more than one page deep now works correctly.

V3.4 introduces an Items x Groups spreadsheet (.csv) output file. This shows all items in dendrogram-order as rows and all groups as columns. The order of groups is the same as the Items x Groups chart for the default number of item clusters (the average across participants). Cell values are given as percentages.

V3.3.1 is a minor bug fix. Also, in the licensing dialog, the text now clearly states 'You have a valid license' instead of continuing the trial license countdown (once you have entered a valid license key). Note that after a valid license key has been entered, SynCapsV3 will attempt to connect to the licensing server each time it is run. It must succeed at least once every 3 days for continued use of the software.

V3.3 fixes two issues with security certificates. The WinHttp library that SynCapsV3 uses does not support modern security protocols (TLS1.1 & TLS1.2) in Windows 7 and earlier by default. Since current security best practice is to disable older protocols, this update allows SynCapsV3 to continue to communicate with the licensing server. If you get an "Unable to validate your license" error message, please uninstall the old version and install V3.3. This version is also signed with a stronger encryption algorithm (SHA256) since Microsoft is deprecating SHA1 from January 2016.

V3.2.1 is a bug fix for a problem that prevented a valid serial number being generated if a system had only wireless network interfaces. (The only known occurrence of this was on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 without docking station.) V3.2.2 includes minor changes only.
V3.2 allowed you to edit data and view .caps3 files without buying a license. When SynCapsV3 is first installed it will run for 14 days in trial mode (with a 10-participant limit) but when the trial expires, only the analysis features (Import/Export and Filters) are disabled. V3.2 also ensures that when charts are copy and pasted into other applications, the chart backgrounds are solid white.
V3.1 introduced a new online licensing system that allows users to transfer SynCaps licenses between machines. You must upgrade to V3.1 in order to buy any new licences. An internet connection is required for license validation (see the note below if your network uses proxy servers). Please remove earlier installations of SynCaps V3 before installing this one using Control Panel->Programs and Features. SynCaps V3.1 requires Windows Vista or later.

Downloads: The installation includes all of the documents, templates and sample data files you need. There is nothing more to download. However, if you'd like further copies of these files, they are available separately at the top of the page.

Macintosh Users: SynCaps will run on Windows Vista or later. To run it on a Mac, either install the free Boot Camp utility from Apple or the free VirtualBox virtualization package. Both require that you have a Windows boot CD. Boot Camp allows Intel-based Macs (most machines since 2006) to boot straight into Windows while VirtualBox provides a desktop virtualization service that runs within OS X (however, it also requires the Mac to be Intel-based).

Keywords: card sorting, information architecture, menu design, screen design, cluster analysis, caps, syncaps