Design tools exist for some, but not all, lighting products on the market. IESNA files, fixture specification, product cut-sheets, and tools, which calculate performances are common throughout the lighting industry for newer products. Older products might have less information available, and designers frequently rely on rules of thumb or practical experience as "design tools" for these products.

Eventually, and as designers expect and demand more quantitative information, these older, less well documented products will either be phased out or have more helpful information and "time-savers" made available on existing products.