DavidJPotter

Use the floor toggle to toggle to the second floor, delete the unwanted walls over the garage, then finish your single story garage. DJP

Post a scanned sketch so we know what you need and want please. DJP

The stairwell and landing areas should be designated "Open Below" and on their Structure Tabs the "Ceiling above this room" unchecked. Then draw, starting at the bottom floor each stair object and connecting landing and work your way to the top floor. There is NO automatic way to do this, it is all done by you manually per floor. DJP

Just replace the edited cabinet with an unedited (new) one. DJP

It is a limitation of Home Designer Pro that is built in. Soffits as you can see are only straight. You will either need to make your trims in Sketch Up and import into Pro or upgrade to Chief Architect Premier that has a 3D molding poly-line tool for such trim applications. Sketch Up is free and not terribly hard to learn but does have a learning curve. Your Choice to make. DJP

In Pro you use "Ceiling Planes" tool to create interior vaults like that beneath the roof plane system. Read the Reference Manual section about how to work with custom "Ceiling Planes" and then go for it. They are found under the "Build Menu" in the "Roof" category. DJP

No one can help you until and unless you also state what software and its version number that you are using. What do you have please? Depending upon what software you have you should be able to curve stairs, turn off the railings (again depends completely upon what software you have) then just use the stair dialog to edit the style and turn railings off. It takes some practice but I know can be done in Home Designer Pro, I am not sure about in other Home Designer titles and versions. DJP Here is a Chief Premier X6 user who made a video of such a stair, after you get just the right dimensions and diameter you merely turn off the railings and suppress the stringers

When you select the stair object, in the Edit Toolbar there should appear a command called "Auto Stairwell" that will get you started, look for that. DJP

Not in any way, shape or fashion, you guide the software to any results by way of your settings, set up a nd knowledge always. DJP

IF you are using Home Designer Essentials, Suite, Interiors or Architectural you must set the ceiling heights higher so that the roof generator then "knows" to create the roofs higher. (Higher ceiling heights equals higher roof planes) If you have Home Designer Pro you can do the same as above plus just manually raise the roof planes you need to be higher by changing their baseline height figures in their dialog boxes. What software do you have? DJP

Under the "Help" menu you can find the provided "Users Guide", it will help orient you to how to use the program and its tools. Then found also under the "Help" menu you will find a link to video tutorials that introduce how to use the basic tools in the program, those videos are "Title sensitive" so it is up to you to make sure you are looking at videos made just for the application that you are using. Be sure while reading that you get cleared up on any terms that you hear or read during study (Make sure that you understand and get defined any unfamiliar words, symbols and terms. If you do not fully understand what you are studying while you are studying, you will not get the needed-wanted competence you seek. DJP

https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/update-archives.html DJP

It is not true at all what so ever This You Tube video shows general "Dimension Defaults" in Home Designer Pro which are pretty much the same in all Home Designer titles including your Suite.: All dimension points in all Home Designer titles and versions are manually editable in terms of where they dimension from, you can dimension from any outer layer, any framing surface layer or the center of a wall, the same is true for windows and doors where preprogrammed dimension points can be manually edited and relocated to fit your specific desires. Dimension defaults can be set to general choices as to which wall-window or door surfaces are to be dimensioned to before you start a new project You would do well to actually read the provided Users Guide, watch the provided free video tutorials which introduce the tools in Suite before making unfounded claims about what it can and cannot do. DJP

Have the view on screen and the layout file open but not on screen, Then go to "File - Send to Layout", the send to layout dialog allows you to set the scale of the view. You do that for each view sent to a layout page. DJP

The picture is about 10 years old, I am ten years older but essentially the same. DJP

I opened my copy of Home Designer Pro 2017, created a roof plane manually, then opened its dialog. I then went to its "Line Style" tab but FIRST I turned on the "Show Line Weight Tool" so I could evaluate any changes, zoomed in on a Roof Plane edge, then using the "Line Style" tab I changed the line style and color as well as the line wieght, easy-peesy. You can make global line weight changes by way of "Display Options" by layer where you can also change line color, weight, style of any layer that is displayed there.Check it out please. DJP

Yes, and such .skp files are "version sensitive" DJP

In Chief Premier you have settings for showing newels, rails and balusters but in Home Designer you have to manually place 2D CAD filled boxes for that purpose in terms of plan view. DJP

Take a look in "Default Settings - Dimensions" dialog. DJP

On which floor please (each floor has its own defaults)? DJP

No actually the "Materials List" is merely a measure of how accurately you built your 3D model, your own knowledge of building techniques and NOTHING else. IT measures only where and how you built your 3D model. Few new users are schooled enough to completely duplicate in a 3D model every cubic foot of concrete to every stick of lumber and masonry. Anyone who hires me to do such a thing I tell them up front that such a construct usually takes ten times the effort necessary for a model good enough just for construction documentation. The model and its settings must be perfect in every detail and then double-triple checked to make sure that is so. Home Designer and Chief Premier software is not a "take off" application. .plan files can be very useful for gaining the raw data necessary for a "take off" or materials list indeed but is not a substitute for experienced competence of a builder-estimator. Many of the Professionals who use Chief Premier and do professional take offs (materials lists) use Chief for raw data and use a second application specifically designed for doing materials estimation. I am not saying it is impossible to do using Home Designer Pro or Premier, what I am saying is that is a lot more than merely setting defaults and making a .plan file "look" like the intended structure. It requires master craftsperson type skill and knowledge in using and emulating in detail the structure inside and out, from foundation to roof framing. To the degree you miss perfection determines the accuracy of any resulting Materials List thus derived. The software does not somehow magically make up for one's ignorance of how things are built, rather it just does what you tell it to do and then measures what you told it to do. DJP

Were I you I would set my "Default Settings - Floor - Ceiling Height" to whatever is the predominant ceiling height (what rooms have a particular ceiling height more than the other rooms that are other ceiling heights. Where you diverge from the default ceiling height is then programmed into each diverging room specification dialog box. So the rule of thumb is that Default Settings is for the majority of room instances and exceptions are handled by way of specific Room Specification Dialog boxes where they differ from the default settings. DJP

Mr. W. Unless you are a State LIcensed Structural Engineer I would not bother building trusses since it is not legal for you to design them by law. Trusses are designed by Engineers only in the USA, the material that goes into them is rather useless as well since lumber or truss companies working with Engineers make and sell them as units, customized for a particular home design. I draw them under the supervision of Engineers but usually I just note "Trusses by Truss company or Engineer", lumber companies and Engineers do their own drawings usually that go with your drawings. Home Designer and Chief Premier are NOT engineering programs and are not substitutes for licensed professionals assigned by the State. DJP

With Pro the paper size is a limitation as well, the largest it will natively print to is 18" x 24". With Chief Premier you can print to any size imaginable. It is true that HD Pro requires a .layout file for each printed page, 10 pages=ten .layout files. In Premier you have one .layout file that is programmed for up to 1,000 pages within that one file. The greater exchange in terms of money gains you a lot more productivity and choices. But in the end it is your choice to make based upon what you need and want. DJP

read this and see if it helps you: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00179/restoring-the-default-size-and-position-of-the-library-browser.html DJP