melmalinowski

Good tip. However, I decided to rent the full Chief Architect Premier instead. A month will suffice. It is really an amazingly powerful program, which I like a lot. There is a bit of a steep learning curve, but it can do anything if you learn how!

I did not come across that page. I dug into the big user manual, and did not find a page size limit noted there. If I can get my building department to accept 18" x 24" sheets, this may work. They require ¼" scale for most building sheets, and this house is small enough that it will just fit. Can you comment on any not obvious limitations in Home Designer Architectural 2020 vs. Chief Architect? It appears that the major features are all functional, but there may be some things disabled. However, the deeper I dig into this, the more convinced I am that I am better off renting Chief Architect Premier for this project. I'm a retired building contractor designing a small retirement home, used to drafting my projects on Clearprint with pencil, which I gather is no longer done much. While CAP is overkill in many ways, the power features will make it easier to make a complete professional submittal package. I am building in a 130mph wind, D2 seismic area, and will have a structural engineer involved.

Actually, even Pro seems to not support 24" x 36". Only the $2800 'Chief Architect' does, near as I can tell. I really think they should disclose this limitation up front where it's easy to find, so you can qualify the software before purchase.

My building department requires submittal of house plans on standard 24" X 36" sheets. I tried exhaustively to find out if the Architecture version supports this obvious feature, but could not find it in FAQs or manual. So I bought the $199 version. It appears that it will not print above 18"x24", nor allow you to set and print title blocks on pages. Is this true? If so, this is just a hobby tool rather than one meant to create and submit plans to building departments. I hope I am wrong.