DavidJPotter

The common denominator of such problems is a failure on your part to first set "Edit - Default Settings-All categories" before starting to draw your plan. Especially in your case, Edit - Default Settings - Floors - Current Floor - Ceiling Height, you are supposed to set that value for the majority of the first floor before actually creating that floor. Once it is created, any necessary changes are then made in a single Room Specification Dialog box. Eric, it is common that new users often concentrate on embellishments to a.plan file like plants, driveways and other brick-a-brack that is easy to add instead of really learning how to use the software to correctly 3D model structures. They often import with wild abandon objects made using Sketch Up. often without regard to how that bloats the size of the plan file. Where I see such bloated files is most usually here in situations similar to this one, (they need help but cannot share their plan due to its size). DJP

and this one. DJP

See if this helps: DJP

You can emulate walls using a reshaped soffit object (cabinet tools). DJP

One of your posted images appears to be close to correct. With Architectural you have only pre-settings to guide the roof generator to an outcome. Relative to the intended dormers in your posted image (first post) you will need to preset your Dormer Defaults so as to be a little smaller than the ones in your image, Dormer objects must fit into the perimeter of its host roof plane and cannot go over the host roof planes edges. After you get one in place you can edit it to emulate the dimensions of the actual dormer then copy paste the second one. Being new to how the dormer objects work, it may well take you a while to get them in place, just do not give up and stay at it. DJP

Not enough information from you to comment other than to say that your answer depends upon what software you are using, and its version number. each Home Designer version contains several different titles and each of those has different tools and capabilities. Relative to roofs, the largest divide is between Home Designer Pro and all the rest. What you have will determine your answer here. DJP

Currently, the oldest version of Home Designer Pro I have is the current version (2018) but never the less, yours should be essentially just like my copy, in regards to line weights. Even your older version comes with a Reference Manual. If you were to open it and search for the subject of "Line Weights" you would discover that lines weights can be edited per payer in your "Layer Display Options" dialog for the plan view Layer Display Options dialog. There is a column called "Line Weights" that you can increase of decrease the line weight value for any given layer in the Plan View Layer Dialog. For a visual check, they have provided a "Show Line Weight" tool and icon for visually displaying line weights so you can evaluate the relative lightness and darkness of said line weights on screen. This also is explained in detail in your Reference Manual and Help files, which should be your first destination when you become curious about how something is done or how something works in this software. DJP

DJP

Eric meant and what is real is that the size of the virtual model in the software is at "Real World Scale" (1' = 1'). Of course when you send a view to a layout so it will print on a page of paper, it must be scaled down from "real world" scale to a scale that will fit on the intended paper. That can be done in any Home Designer or Chief Architect software. I believe you want to simply downsize the square footage of your structure (not really scale it down but just make it smaller), that can be done by moving the walls to a smaller dimension as Eric indicated (THAT IS WHAT HE MEANT). So you are NOT SCALING down the plan but merely resizing it (scaling is not actually what I believe you meant to originally communicate). Scaling can mean "to make smaller so as to fit on a smaller graphic communication media, what I believe you meant is to make the square footage of the structure smaller. Verbal communication is often a source of confusion. No Architectural software on Earth that I know of can scale an entire structure down, concentrically as you seem to want to do and if you think about it in detail you would not even want to do such a thing as appliances, furniture and fixtures are not capable of being concentrically resized either, virtual or real. DJP

You import the two photos as custom backdrops and then switch backdrops per camera view. DJP

There is no such application called "Suite Pro", there is Home Designer Suite and separately there is Home Designer Pro. The attached image I did in Home Designer Pro 2018 DJP

Yes, there are:

If that does not work, you may have to "Explode" the dormer object into its parts (walls, roof planes, window and hole in the roof poly-line) and then manually align the dormer till its ridge matches the main house ridge (a unified dormer object, unexploded cannot do this action because its hole in the roof cannot touch or go over the main roof's main ridgeline), that is the way dormer objects are programmed to work (or not work in your case). You then delete the dormers hole in the roof polyline and manually adjust the roof edges. It is a bit of work but sometimes the auto tools do not work in all cases causing you to have to manually step in. DJP

What you want to do cannot easily be done in Interiors. It can be done in Chief Architect Premier and Home Designer Pro but in either application, it is a rather tedious process, which can be learned and done IF you are intent on doing so, DJP

That feature exists in Chief Premier X9 and X10 (Niche tool), as well as Home Designer Pro 2018 and Architectural 2018 but not what you currently have. DJP

I agree with Allyn. It may be your PC or Mac does not meet "Minimum Requirements" to support the running of Home Designer software OR something else an educated Tech Support person would be familiar with to your benefit. DJP

Roof planes are programmed to cut off walls that are under the plane of the roof planes. So like Eric said, edit the edges of the roof planes in the area of the chimney walls, so they are not interrupted by roof plane edges. DJP

By "Icon Bar" do you mean TOOLBAR? If so you do not need to reinstall, rather just watch this video and do what is indicated: DJP

I have been using Chief Premier and Home Designer software since 1995 and I have never heard of any such ".pro" files or what they might be significant to, sorry. As Eric said, please supply more explanatory data so we can then possible help you. DJP

Like Eric said, just rebuild the roof planes, your design is not a difficult one to auto-produce provided your wall specification dialog - Roof Tab settings are correctly set up. DJP

I would not even attempt to do what you intend in Architectural. You will have to copy-paste each floor of each structure and then precisely align them, one to another. Then, even with Pro or Chief if your terrain plan is something other than flat, you will then have to adjust each building to the terrain as it changes height. It is very exacting work however you decide to do it. I have done multi-structure projects before so I know what I am talking about. Upgrade to Pro and even then be very careful and operate with plan copies so if you make an error, you have something to fall back on and start again. DJP

Doing what you want to do only in Architectural would drive me batty. You are better off in this case upgrading to Home Designer Pro to finish your project. Pro has "Edit-Edit Area All Floors" like you need. Architectural does not. Pay the extra money and do yourself a big favor! Your .plan file will open and edit in Pro so no time will be lost. DJP

Be sure that your parapet wall is the same wall type as other exterior walls. That being the case, they then should line up, floor to floor. DJP

I know many users who are remodeling contractors that use Pro. I use mainly Chief Premier as I am a professional designer and draftsperson but I do work with many Pro users who are mostly remodelers. Pro exports only in .dxf 2D format (not .dwg), as Chief Premier does. DJP

Every object in this software has a dialog box, that is the basic way you edit anything in this software, take a look. DJP