ChiefArchitect

Thank you for the question.  Home Designer products do not support the save to cloud feature.  You would need Chief Architect to upload to the cloud and share the 360 images or 3D Viewer files.  The primary requirement for a mobile device to view a 360 image is having a gyro.  The gyro allows you to move the device around while looking at the screen (up, down, side-to-side) so you can see the different areas of the image.  Feel free to contact us in sales for more information at 208-292-3400.

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  We have a 30 day Current Version Guarantee.  If a new version releases within 30 days of purchase, you can upgrade to the new version for the price difference (if there is any).  Here is a link to more information about the Current Version Guarantee.  Note that there is a link to download the Current Version Guaranteed form on this page.  https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/guarantee.html

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello William,

I checked and our sales department has sent you an email with your Transfer Password.  The code does not change, so you can keep a record of it and use it in the future.  The version of software you are using does not have the online deactivation feature.

I apologize for any delay in getting this resolved.  Note that our office is closed on the weekend.

Please contact us if you experience any trouble with getting up and running.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello Richard,

Thank you for the question and for your interest in upgrading your software.  Our website has a page dedicated to outlining new features released in the 2017 version.  You will find the link to this page below. 

Please feel free to contact our sales department should you have any questions.  You can call us at 208-292-3400 or email sales@chiefarchitect.com

Home Designer 2017 New Features:   https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/whats-new/#whats-new-summary

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello,

Thank you for the question and interest in upgrading your software.  This upgrade is not available online, but you can currently call into our Sales Department to get the upgrade discount.  We can be reached by calling 208-292-3400.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Islands are the latest design topic for the Grandview project. Check out our latest Blog Post and vote on your favorite kitchen island for the Grandview Home.

Hello,

Thank you for the question and for your interest in Home Designer. 

Home Designer Architectural will create general framing automatically based loosely on general building principles.  As mentioned above, you can specify the on-center spacing for wall studs, so that you get a more accurate materials list for the framing.  This is true for this product and all others below it in the product line.  If you need to get into the specifics of how the project is framed, would need to consider either Home Designer Pro or Chief Architect Premier.  These products will allow you to specify exact sizes for all framing including header sizes, joist and rafter width/depth, and they can also create roof and floor trusses.

Please feel free to contact us in sales if you have questions.  You can email sales@chiefarchitect.com or call us at 208-292-3400

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello,

Thank you for your question and for your interest in Home Designer Software.

The answer to your question lies mostly in what your local building department requires for construction documents for the scope of the project you are doing (requirements vary drastically from place to place).  In addition some building departments have different requirements for homeowners submitting their own plan versus a professional (builder, contractor, etc.).  I would recommend calling or visiting your local building department and ask what the minimum requirements are for the project you are planning in terms of paper size, scale, engineering stamp and any other requirements for submitting a plan for permitting.

As mentioned above, our Home Designer Professional can create construction drawing pages on up to a maximum of Arch C  18" x 24" paper size.  The Home Designer Suite and Architectural can print a maximum paper size of 12" x 18".  If you building department requires a larger sheet size you would need to consider our Chief Architect Premier product.  Note that you can rent the Premier product for $199 per month.

Feel free to call or email our sales department if you have questions about which product is the best fit for you based on your building department requirements.  You can email us at sales@chiefarchitect.com or call 208-292-3400.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  We do not sell  hard copies of our manuals for the Home Designer products.  You can open the pdf version and either print it at home or bring the pdf to a print shop to have it printed.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in Home Designer Pro. What you are experiencing with the software shutting down is not normal and we would like to help.  Please contact us by calling 208-292-3400 and press 1 for sales.  Let the Sales Rep. know you are working with the trial version and we will get you through to someone that can troubleshoot the issue.

Yes, Home Designer Pro can create layout pages for construction drawings along the lines of what you have described.  The maximum sheet/paper size that this product can generate is Arch C (18" x 24"). 

If you are an industry professional, you may want to consider our Chief Architect Premier product.  The Premier version is more efficient and detailed in creating construction documents, there is more design flexibility and no limitation on page size so you can generate full Arch D (24" x 36") or larger if needed.  You can rent-to-own Premier for $199 or buy for $2,695.  Here is a comparison matrix that shows the differences between Home Designer Pro and Chief Architect products. https://cloud-hd.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/sales/x8-feature-matrix-hdpro2017.pdf

I hope this helps and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions (just ask for Derek)

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Congratulations to Timothy (14 yrs old) for winning the Aging in Place/Accessibility Design Contest!

http://bit.ly/26y9oNE

The prize package includes a Chief Architect water bottle, 8 GB USB drive, t-shirt, and one hour of personal training.

Thank you to all who entered and shared your great designs!

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  Our first Mac compatible product for Home Designer is the 2015 version.  This version is compatible with  OS X 10.8.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Design Contest – Aging in Place/Accessibility!
The Chief Architect Design Contest is a fun way to share your work and win great prizes. Share your Aging in Place or Accessibility Design for a chance to win Chief Gear! Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.

Enter:

• Submit a single image file of your design to submissions@chiefarchitect.com.
• Include your name, company information, the software you used and a description about your Aging in Place or Accessibility design.

Winner:
Entries will be posted in a photo album on Chief Architect’s Facebook page. Fans of Chief Architect will be asked to “Like” their favorite entry. The entry with the most “Likes” will be declared the winner. Share with your friends to earn their votes!

facebook.com/ChiefArchitect

Prizes:

• 1-hour personal online training
• 8 GB USB drive
• Chief Water bottle
• Chief T-shirt
• Design Contest – Featured Customer
• Automatically be entered into our Design of the Year Content!

Rules:

• Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.
• One submission/image file per person (can be single view or collage)
• Chief Architect reserves the right to refuse any contest entry.
• Your free hour of training must be redeemed within 60 days.
• Entry Deadline is April 25, 2016

Questions?
Send inquiries to submissions@chiefarchitect.com

Hello,

Thank you for your question.  You will find a list of new features in Home Designer 2017 here.  You can also compare our Home Designer Suite to Home Designer Architectural by using this comparison matrix. 

In terms of dimensions settings, there is not a difference in the dimension default options between Suite and Architectural, but both will allow you to adjust the position of dimensions using edit handles.  The primary difference between these 2, as far as dimensions go, is that in the Architectural version, you can add dimensions to elevation views for both interior and exterior views.  There are many other differences between Suite and Architectural that you can explore by referencing the comparison matrix I have linked to above.

I hope this helps and please feel free to contact us with any questions  208-292-3400 or sales@chiefarchitect.com

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

We are excited to announce the release of Home Designer 2017! Visit our New Features page for more information.

Like the new features? Upgrades are available through our website.

Did you purchase Home Designer 2016 within the last 30 days? We offer a Current Version Guarantee. 

Room Planner 4.1 is now available!  Download available for Android or iOS.

New Features in 4.1

• Change room height
• Share plans with other users
• Room schedule
• Room labels show area or dimensions
• Toggle display of dimensions, furniture, and annotations
• Material painter scoping
• Savable cameras
• Game controller support
• Global search in the Library and Material Painter
• Cancel addition of new objects while dragging
• Library access in 3D
• Evenly space openings on a wall
• Magnifying glass to aid placement of Library objects
• Floor to top and bottom controls for openings
• Full screen support

Hello Lee,

Thank you for the post and for your interest in Home Designer Software.

In regards to question 1, if you are looking for a product that will allow you to create detailed construction drawings on large format Architectural size paper (up to 18"x24" - approx. RA2 or A2 Metric) you will want to consider the Home Designer Pro product.  This is the only product in the consumer line of Home Designer that has a specific tool for creating layout sheets for generating construction documents.  If you need a larger sheet size that what is listed above, you will need to consider our Chief Architect Premier version.

In regards to question 2, the cabinet tools are very flexible particularly in the Home Designer Pro version.  You are able to modify cabinets and combine multiple cabinets into a single unit giving you nearly unlimited options for creating built-ins, custom cabinetry and more.  I would encourage you to play around with the cabinet tool and explore the options.  You mentioned that you are looking for a tool to create workshop drawings for building the custom units you design.  This software does not produce a cut-list automatically, but you can use the CAD tools along with the "backclipped cross section camera" to create scaled drawings of what you create. 

Here is a tech article about how to create a custom entertainment center that will show off some of the options available using our smart cabinet tools.  https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00918/creating-a-custom-entertainment-center.html

The Home Designer Pro and Architectural products have the ability to modify wall layers so that you can create most any type of construction.  The walls are layer based so that you have the flexibility to define the thickness and material of each part of the wall giving you the ability to create very custom wall types in the software.

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to call or email our sales department directly if we can provide you with and help.  You can email sales@chiefarchitect.com or call +001-208-292-3400.

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

New Catalogs Available

You are now able to purchase additional catalogs directly through the 3D Library! Visit the 3D Library to browse through the additional catalogs: 3D Library

New catalogs will be released periodically.

Simply select the shopping cart to add catalog to your cart and checkout. You’ll need to log into your account upon checkout or create a new account if you ordered through a different retailer. Your purchased catalogs will be stored through the 3D Library under My Purchased Catalogs.

Here’s a help article if you need assistance Downloading Additional Library Catalogs:

www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00048

Hello,

Thank you for the question and welcome to the user forum.

The answer to your question about which version is capable of producing acceptable plans for your project depends on the minimum requirements of your local building department for the scope of the project you are planning.  For example, you will need to find out if your building department has a minimum paper size and/or scale requirements.  Home Designer Suite and Architectural versions are capable of printing to scale a maximum paper size of 12" X 18".  The Home Designer Pro version can print to scale up to a maximum paper size of ARCH C 18" X 24".  Also, the Pro version is the only product in the Home Designer line that has a separate functionality for easily creating blueprint layout pages. 

Note that many building departments have different requirements depending on the scope of the work (new, remodel, addition), and if the plans are created by a professional or homeowner, so this may play a role in what you can submit.  It sounds like you have lots of experience in the industry, so perhaps I am giving more detail than necessary.

Feel free to contact our sales department.  We would be happy to help you work out what would best suit your needs.  You can call 208-292-3400 or email sales@chiefarchitect.com

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

Congratulations to Rene Rabbitt of Daoust Design and Construction for winning the Design Contest – Remodel/Addition! Learn more about Daoust Design and Construction www.daoustdc.com

The prize package includes a Chief Architect water bottle, 8 GB USB drive, t-shirt, and one free hour of online training with a certified Chief Architect trainer.

Thank you to all who entered and shared your great designs!

Eric,

Thank you for the suggestion.  We have added a post in the Announcements section of the forum.

https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1595-17322-update-is-now-available/

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales

We have just posted an update for Home Designer 2016.

You can read the release notes here: Release Notes

Portfolio Contest

We want to see more of your designs! This is your opportunity to promote your skills with our Social Media communities. And one talented Chief Architect customer will be highlighted on our website, win Chief Gear and a Leica Disto Measuring Device.

Enter:
We will create an album for each Portfolio Submission, so you can send in multiple image or PDF files of your designs. Feel free to include renderings, plan sets, brochures, etc. We can even add a link to your YouTube Channel if you have created walk-throughs.

Please answer the following:

• Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
  • Your name, company and title
  • A little bit about your company
  • Where you are located
• How long have you been using Chief Architect and what influenced your decision to purchase Chief Architect over other software?
• Do you have a success story about Chief Architect that you can share?

Send submission to submissions@chiefarchitect.com

Winner:
Entries will be posted as photo albums on Chief Architect’s Facebook page. Chief Architect will declare the winner December 16, 2015.

facebook.com/ChiefArchitect

Prizes:

• Leica Disto E7500i ($149 value)
• 8 GB USB drive
• Chief Water bottle
• Chief T-shirt
• Featured Customer

Rules:

• Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.
• Chief Architect reserves the right to refuse any contest entry.
• Entry Deadline is December 14, 2015

Questions?
Send inquiries to submissions@chiefarchitect.com

Hello,

Thank you for the question.  Home Designer Architectural and below are not eligible for a license transfer.  The list of Home Designer (HD) products specifically excluded from license transfers are HD Architectural, HD Suite, HD Essentials, HD Interiors, HD Landscape and Deck, HD Deluxe and Picture Painter.  Home Designer Professional is the only Home Designer product that is eligible for a license transfer as long as it meets the other transfer criteria.  You can contact our Customer Service for more information.  customerservice@chiefarchitect.com or call 208-292-3400

Kind regards,

Derek

Chief Architect Sales