DavidJPotter

Have you set the default exterior wall to what you are using in your plan? Have you opened the dialog box for each dormer and changed the material of the wall using the dormer's material tab? The solution to materials assignments is first setting defaults in Edit-Default Settings-Materials and also Edit-Default Settings- Wall. You will have fewer problems if you set your defaults first and use the materials panter and eye-dropper less. DJP

Probably more like "unwanted" as opposed to "Strange". You can vary the ceiling heights in various areas until you get a more acceptable result or you can upgrade to Home Designer Pro where you can manually edit and create roofs not dependant only upon settings as in Architectural, your choice. DJP

I have never done detailed cabinet construction documents nor have I ever been asked about doing it either in thirty years. The cabinet drawings I do consist of dimensioned and annotated cabinet wall elevations. That still does not mean you cannot do so, but one would have to be willing to draw piece by piece and component using 2D CAD tools and annotations. I am sure that it can be done, you just use the tools you have and make it happen. Other programs like "20-20" are specifically designed for cabinet construction documentation but are of course rather pricey as well. DJP

Your study of the Reference Manual sets you above most Home Designer Users, very well done to you for that. Another great resource is the Knowledge base on the Home Designer website: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/database.html Keep up the good work! DJP

I have for years shared symbols with others and also libraries of materials files. The common denominator of Chief and Home Designers is a willingness to help others. Please do not misidentify me with others you may have met, I am not a Saint but I do help a lot of users of Chief Architect and Home Designer since 1999. Commonly I expect personalized help requiring an hour or more to be properly exchanged for, on the other hand I often choose who I help and why. DJP

Sorry, I was speaking in terms of having Home Designer Pro. In Architectural all you can do is to vary the value in the "Upper Pitch" until by trial and error find a value that works with the geometry of your model. Your current setting is the cause of the unwanted artifacts, so change it until they go away. DJP

Not to my knowledge, I usually have to download several objects to find one that is worth keeping, sometimes downloading an older Sketch up file makes the difference, sometimes I just download several and see how they look once imported before deciding as to the quality. These are "free" only in terms of no money exchange is required, the quality is also "free", that is just the way it is. The only way to be completely safe is just not to play. DJP

Some of that is caused by the rafters being set thicker than the fascia (look at "Roof Plane Specification dialog - Framing Tab") DJP

The last time I said this, I turned out to be in the wrong but I will venture to say it again, "I think you will have to upgrade to Home Designer Pro in order to be able to manually edit roof planes, I cannot thing of how you would do that in Architectural just using settings alone". I could be wrong but I think not. DJP PS: After I came to my senses, I now remember that the "How To..." is in the software as part of the Build Roof Dialog-Roof Styles-Half-Hip" area of the Roof Styles tab, My Bad.

You will have to rotate the symbol in Sketchup and then reimport it, when repaired in Sketchup into your Home Designer software. Sketchup is free to download and rather easy to learn though set up differently from Home Designer. DJP

Alan is right about site plans which use Engineering scales as opposed to other views that use Architectural scales 1/8" = 1' scale etc. though he did not mention "site plan" until his last reply. The point of a layout file is layout your views per page at a readable scale to communicate your design. It is all about clarity and fitting your graphic data so it can be understood by other building professionals. DJP

Read these Knowledge Base Help articles, they should help you get done what you want to do: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/search/?q=copy+first+floor+to+basement DJP

Your link does not lead to your solution (that is a private link just for your use). If you would be so kind as to share your solution with the forum, I think it may be useful to others. DJP

no error message was attached to your post. You might simply try to download it as an earlier version in Sketch Up, I often have to do that to get something done. DJP

Separate that area with walls either visible or invisible. Then open that area's Room Specification Dialog, go to its "Structure Tab" and uncheck "Default" beside the input box for "Floor" and reset that value to -12". That will achieve the effect you desire. DJP

Sorry for the lag in responding (been busy). The thing is that bit map images do not show shadows but plants that are 3D do. In the attached image the palm tree on the left is a 3D symbol downloaded from 3D warehouse and the tree on the right is from the plant image library from Home Designer Pro. You can clearly see the difference in result. In Chief Architect Premier using its Ray Tracer bit map images do show shadows but only there under those conditions. The render engine in HD Pro and other Home Designer titles do not show shadows of plant images by default. See attached image, created in Home Designer Pro 2016. DJP

Snagit by Tech Smith Corp. http://discover.techsmith.com/try-snagit/?gclid=CKm7moe2scsCFQuPaQody9QDkg DJP

I rarely ever send elevations to layout as an image because they are not properly scaled using that method. I like my drawings in black and white lines for Construction Documents. For conceptual renderings in color I use letter sized paper and size my layout for letter sized paper with isometric camera views. Saying that you cannot control or be responsible for your own outcomes is just not true, rather you just do what is necessary for the outcome you desire. Making the reason for failure or placing blame on the software merely communicates that you do not yet understand how to control the software via careful study and enough practice to master your actions. DJP

Here is a You Tube video of me working your plan: https://youtu.be/dy1dwRPB-Ag DJP

You can reduce the size of images by left-click-drag grabbing one of the images "corner handles and dragging inward once on layout. The setting you missed is probably in the "Send to Layout" dialog , just take a look at the settings before you click "OK" for here on out. DJP

My best guess is that you made that image using the "Floor Camera" which excludes by default anything but just the floor on which its viewpoint is created (it is supposed to do that). Provided you built a foundation a roof and or upper floors they will appear only in a "Floor Camera View" (designed to include all that can be seen from a particular viewpoint). Or other camera types designed to include the entire model and its parts. I rarely ever use the "Floor Camera" for this reason. DJP

I cannot tell with precision from two images but my best guess is that your roof planes are "coffering" the ceiling (placing an angle into the otherwise flat ceiling"). Those lines are on a named layer in "Display Options" called "Ceiling Break Lines". Those lines cannot be "selected" or deleted but they can, via "Display Options" be turned on or off. Check it out. DJP

There are several ways to show walls to be demolished in Pro and identically in Chief Premier (same exact tools). 1. I commonly use two plan files for remodel projects: a. "As Built" and b. Remodeling plan file." 2. Using two plan files I first draw the "As Built" , making it as complete as is possible for the job at hand. 3. I usually mark the walls to be removed by using the "Hatch Wall" tool, Found under the Build Menu - Wall - Hatch Wall". With this tool you can mark your walls to stand out in plan view from other interior walls using the tool. 4. So in the "Remodel Plan" (being a save-as copy of the As built plan ) there is no need ever for invisible walls. If I feel the need to show demo walls in the remodel plan I commonly use 2D CAD poly-lines using a dashed line style (2D CAD lines cause less trouble than any walls, visible or invisible. 5.Some Permit authorities require an opaque fill in Demo Walls (meaning you cannot simply use the "Hatch Wall" tool method. In such cases I take a wall type that I am not otherwise using in the plan and edit it to look like an interior wall but that has a dark black fill instead of the default yellow fill of interior 4 walls. There are other ways to annotate these kinds of things using 2D fill boxes (filled poly-lines) but I do not favor that method over the above methods in Home Designer Pro. DJP

In Pro there is a setting for boxed eaves, you can set to overhang (the default condition) or you can enter a value and uncheck "set to overhang" manually. DJP

You appear to have differing overhang values. DJP