Kbird1

this thread from last week covers a lot on how to print to sizes outside allowed sizes via PDF and using scaled drawings , sounds like you could print to A0 same as Keith in this thread https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/204-layout-sheet-head-explosion/ Edit: I think I may have mis-read your request......I guess you already own an A3 printer and want to use it and don't mind taping pages together.... Never done this but hopefully this is what you need : set the Printer paper size to A3 ( check box for page breaks and landscape) set Drawing sheet to A1 (if possible) if not use the customise button and copy A3 and edit its sizes and name to A1 eg 594x841mm (check box for show drawing sheet and landscape) set desired scale and hit ok check print preview to see if you scale is correct. the above should have you printing 4 sheets of A3 to get the A1 page , you could of course printer to A0 or perhaps any size you want using multiples of A3 sizes and portrait or landscape mode. please post back on the results, thanks.

if that doesn't work use a terrain hole the same size as the basement area to remove the extra terrain. worst comes to worse use a backup of your plan or use one of the auto archived files in the Archive folder to get back to a "good state" and try again. M.

So you get nothing when you try to open the Trial ? you did get the Serial No# from the Trial request email right ? What videocard does the laptop have? is it supported ? HD used to have issues with older intergrated Intel cards ..latest drivers loaded? http://cloud.homedesignersoftware.com/1/pdf/documentation/home-designer-2015-download-and-installation-instructions.pdf If you are trialing Pro2015 and decide to buy I believe you just activate the existing install , no need to download everything again. Also you can leave the trial installed and Run HD Arch as well if you buy that instead ( or Suite) so you can do direct comparisons , you can even open plans from ARCH in Pro trial and see if what you want/need to do is doable in Pro , you just can't save it ... I can open my old Plans (Pro 10) in 2015 Trial so the same should work fine for you. With HD and Chief , the Forums are invaluable and very good , I learn plenty here , so try to help back if I can.... Mick.

you can just leave it running minimised to play around but I don't know of anyway to move those files to the Full version when you upgrade as you can't save them, print them or even export a view. Only option there is to purchase full and if you really don't like/need return after 28 days..... if you Buy Arch you can upgrade to Pro at anytime , there is no 30 day requirement for that. in fact you could buy Suite to play /start out and then go to Arch. or Pro if really needed. I don't think the Trial has an expiry BTW , if you buy you have a 30 day 100% return guarantee though...... I assume your laptop is running 64 bit Win7 or Win 8? if not you need the 32bit version.

I am not sure what the Auto Dormers Layer does , in plan view at least , I had assumed that it didn't work as all checking or unchecking it seems to do is possibly lock the dormer ie if OFF, is seems it does the same as lock button..... so it can't be selected , and of course if you explode the Dormer it is no longer an Option in Display Options under Auto Dormer, so you need to turn off displaying all the Dormer's components as above anyway. Moving the Roof planes up and down is a handy tool I agree , though once my roof is done I turn off there display in Plan view anyway and lock them so I cant accidently change or select them.

just note that if you do this the Roof Planes move back down to their default location if you rebuild the roof edit: just to clarify only the roof planes will move down again not the Dormers. You can not move Dormer's Up with this trick once built however.

Thx again Vikki , been using this software for a number of years and never seen your tip anywhere on setting the Opening -No Material ,transparency to 100% , I have hardly ever used it as you could still see it, but it works a treat when Transparency is 100%

you can use the Display options but its not a one click solution as the is no Dormer Layer this works on my one level test plan..... - explode the dormer , assign all three walls as Attic Walls in the General DBX ( could make them Invisible too but you may lose other invisible walls in plan when you turn them off below) in Display Options uncheck - Roof - Overhang area ( I usually have this off anyway) - Roof-Openings - Roof Planes ( this will remove all roof planes though) - Roof -Gutters (if used , I usually have off) - Walls - Attic ( or invisible if assigned so above) M.

Thanks for the advice , would not have thought to check transparency on a material that is supposed to be invisible any chance you can zip your templates and post them so I can see what you do ? Thx. Mick.

yep does take a bit of "playing" I found to get the sheet to select so you can drag it , Usually I need to zoom out and try the different edges , then you get the center handle and can move it over the drawing . Use the "center sheet tool" 1st , it usually gets it close , then you can finalise the position with the drag if needed. The A2 to A0 should work Keith , it's the same idea I mentioned above going Arch B to Arch D..... Hope you have a big table that's one massive Print.... M.

glad I could help

the wall against the house is doing what it is programmed to do , it doesn't recognise the house Foundation but you can delete it and try a few options - use the Terrain Flat region (cut/fill Tool) in between the two retaining walls - it maybe more accurate to add an elevation line every foot off the house to the end of the retaining walls with each line set at the same elevation as the outer end of the wall or 4" ? below the French doors so you can add a concrete slab or pavers or ??? in that area. you can draw one at the end of the retaining walls and then use the Transform/replicate tool on the edit toolbar to draw the others back to the house, make the copy no# = the length of the retaining wall and the move distance 12" ( might need -12" depending on the orientation) on the y axis which is up/down on the plan view. Move the one closest to the house right against the foundation wall, then you will probably need to "Build terrain" again once the EL Lines are drawn to get it to update ( even if auto terrain is on) - the Elevation Region Tool maybe the best tool and saves a lot of work above , it will give you a flat area if you set the elevation height in the DBX and the check box for "interior is flat" .

I'll have to try it on a new plan cos I think it has something to do with the way you did it manually as adding that invisible wall means rebuilding my roof on the test plan which totally messed things up for some reason , I even lost the gullwing on the lower roof...very weird behaviour... I had the 2nd floor at 12" as that is what Bob wanted but not sure what else maybe different.... EDIT: Finally figured out why it wasn't working for me , I didn't notice in your plan Jo, the dormer is on / touching the outer wall , mine weren't and it took a while before I realised I had the "Island Room Issue" and once I had an invisible wall connecting my dormer to an exterior wall, it built as expected. That invisible wall at the back has to be just inside the roof hole then you get the gullwing roof on the Dormer , however it totally messes up the inside view , the roof gets "little wings" which stick thru the roof + thru the drywall , I can see the little "wings" in your plan view too JoAnn, did you look inside the Attic? you also get an attic wall above the invisible wall (which can be made invisible too if needed.) For those reading this with newer versions the Island Room issue is now automatically "fixed" by the program if the checkbox in preferences is set to do so AFAIK. M.

actually I think know why Rick dubbed you Q.O.W there isn't anything I can think of that would lead me to believe that adding a invisible wall at the back of a dormer would lead to a Gullwing wing Roof --- if the settings for upper / lower are there.... that's wayyyyy outside the box thinking was it so you could get a room Definitionfor some reason?

Thanks Jo , so the Gullwing Roof will only generate if you place the invisible wall? strange cos usually you can set upper/lower over anywall / anywhere and it works as prescribed .....how did you figure this out ?

Vikki I used the Opening -no material in the 2nd pic above as a test but you can still "see" the rail /stringers , the Delete surface tool will remove them , but only temporarily for that one view or you update something , so it isn't as nice a look ( though may not take as long) M.

I think it's in the 700-900 mbs range (pro 10 was over 700) plus you have to download all the libraries once it is installed. If you get the DVD I think the core library is on it , not the Manufacturers or Bonus though... so if you are on a limited internet account it maybe cheaper to order the DVD. Edit : Forgot I had the Free 2015 trial on here , it is 375mb ..... without the libraries , you could try it 1st ...

Morning Jo I see you got the gullwing roof to work on the Dormer , did you do anything special? what pitches did you use? , I can set the upper/lower no issues , the gullwing roof just doesn't generate as normal M.

tech support has been busy this week , there is now a separate section on the Knowledge Base (KB) under Roofs just for Dormers with 4 new Tuts. including the one #396 you used earlier but there is a new one with a longer explanation than the ChiefTalk Tut. too on Auto Dormers worth Reading. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00442/167/Home-Designer/Roofs/Dormers/Creating-an-Automatic-Dormer.html

The floating dormer doesn't usually have any walls under it ( sits on Rafters) but it is not "fake" in the sense that it does cut a hole in the roof , with both types of auto dormer because it is placed as a defined size /slope/type etc (plan defaults) I usually get an error message which , I ignore , I then open the Dormer's DBX and change the roof pitch and type ,width etc until it will draw/auto generate, until that happens you will only have a grey box in plan view (nothing in 3D) but it instantly "appears" once it likes the input settings, you can then go about refining the design /look of the Dormer and it's placement. If all your dormers are the same you can preset the style /height type etc in the Plan's defaults in Edit>Default>Dormer Tab before hand to get it close straight off. did you "uncheck/check " both the skylight checkboxes ? plumb sides was other I think ? On my 1st try knowing walls were going to be coming up I made the skylight hole much bigger , then after the walls built I snapped the skylight sides back to the walls to close the roof hole. With Pro we can manually make a roof hole too , I think they used the skylight trick cause it is easier/quicker is all. here is my practice plan Bob , not sure if it will help but might.... a Tut. on placing Auto Dormers I just found... http://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00751/34/Chief-Architect/Roofs/Message%3A-Placing-an-automatic-dormer.html

the Garden bed tools uses Mulch as their default material ,but it can be changed either to a different kind/colour , river rock whatever you like/is in the library. (maybe Bonus Libraries too if you haven't already got them?) but you can add/change the "Material" from the Library to just about anything so you can use Terrain Features/splines and change them to grass or mulch too ( think they default to concrete) M.

yes , use the Cabinet Soffit Tool and adjust the thickness/width and material as needed spacing each on it's own width and the Riser height higher than the last. If you have the Transform replicate tool you can copy the 1st one to produce the staircase. not sure you can add a handrail (code) though.... yes you can as DJP and Elovia said...sloped soffit below... you can use a normal staircase and make most of the materials Opening(no material) from the Misc. Library however it is not 100% transparent so you tend to see some of it depending on the view but you can get the handrail . Soffits: Staircase with Opening (No Material) yes Sloped Soffit of course for handrail

**** Note to Others this Tutorial ONLY works IF you have Pro. try this one if you have another title http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00367/52/Home-Designer/Roofs/Drawing-a-Shed-Dormer-Manually.html it does work though for me Bob, but not exactly per the tutorial ...not sure why to get the walls to built you MUST uncheck the skylight checkbox in it's DBX and The skylight/roof hole must be big enough for the walls to be not impeded when they try to grow to full height. ( I did not need to designate the outer area as Attic ,walls went to full height automatically , and did not need to build the Gable end either) The manual roof planes would not create their own Valleys , the trick in the Tutorial didn't work for me despite getting the warning message, so I had to do the valley manually. neither this way or the way discussed in your other thread allow me to do a Gullwing roof on a dormer , you can set the walls with the upper pitch but the settings are ignored, at least in Pro 10.... I did not need to change the Roof Hole ,but was using a low pitch 5/12 so possibly didn't need too. There is as so a new Tutorial on doing Gable Dormers for Pro , I just found too : http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00236/167/Home-Designer/Roofs/Dormers/Building-a-Gable-Dormer-in-Home-Designer-Pro.html I can post my practice Plan if you'd like it Bob , just let me know... Mick

That Tutorial is brand new (posted Monday 21st) so I haven't seen/tried it, let me have a play....... Do you not like using the Auto Dormer Tool or the Auto Floating Dormer Tool?