DavidH51605 Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Hi. I have had HDP17 a few weeks now and have really enjoyed and appreciated your posted videos. I come from a Deneba Canvas background with the Mac. I was so used to the "align right" "align center" bottom, top, etc, etc.. Also group, ungroup. I can't find any aligment tools on the toolbars, and am instructed in some passages to look for "make architectual block" tool so I can group my windows and doors to match my inventory of custom mullioned glass windows and doors that I have. That tool never seems to appear for me after I have group selected doors and windows from the default library that I have modified to match the component parts of a particular grouping that I own. Am I missing something or is the engine of this program too alien to that concept? I do admit that HDP put's all those old programs to shame however, and I am grinding through this with much satisfaction. Please bear with me it's my 1st post. CABIN_WINDOWS_DOORS_2006.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solver Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 There are no alignment tools in Home Designer products -- something I could not believe was missing. You will learn to use the center tool, point to point move etc in their place. Often drawing a CAD line, or lines helps. You can precisely locate the CAD lines, then center or move other items to them. Some things cannot be blocked. Place 2 cabinets in a plan. Select them both, then right click on the center handle to see options. You will find Make Architectural Block. There is also an icon in the Edit Toolbar, I believe, that is available when blocking is allowed. Work through the YouTube videos linked in the above post, picking out the Home Designer specific ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH51605 Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 There are no alignment tools in Home Designer products -- something I could not believe was missing. You will learn to use the center tool, point to point move etc in their place. Often drawing a CAD line, or lines helps. You can precisely locate the CAD lines, then center or move other items to them. Some things cannot be blocked. Place 2 cabinets in a plan. Select them both, then right click on the center handle to see options. You will find Make Architectural Block. So my observations are essentially correct. Wow. That is what I have been doing to get where I have gotten and it was frustrating getting there. It does seem that pressing the shift key (like in Deneba Canvas) when moving objects will at least keep them in the same plane. I just now finally discovered the break roof plane tool at the bottom thanks to a DJP post. I had been breaking them down into many planes, which seems to work, whenever I needed to, thinking maybe they were saving that feature for the Chief Architect program. Why can't I (or can I) lock a roof plane or group of roof planes before re-enabling "auto build roofs"? That is another great feature of Canvas, the locks. I do see the global lock enables. Is the gable checkbox essentially a tool for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solver Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Read up on the options in the Build Roof dialog. You can maintain modified roof planes, but an auto build will still create new ones. The program -- even Chief, is not set up to mix manual and auto roofs. Many use the auto roof tool as a starting point, then switch to manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH51605 Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 That seems like a contradictory statement. I'll study up and try to see what you mean. Thanks Eric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJPotter Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Why can't I (or can I) lock a roof plane or group of roof planes before re-enabling "auto build roofs"? That is another great feature of Canvas, the locks. I do see the global lock enables. Is the gable checkbox essentially a tool for that? Home Designer Pro is not Deneba Canvas, part of learning software is what it does and does not do. You have learned a new lesson is all. Eric literally means that yes you can mark existing roof planes to remain but "Auto Build Roofs" does just that: it rebuilds all roof planes leaving the prior set in place, so I never use that "feature", I consider it a redundancy. I almost always either manually build roofs or auto-build and then manually edit that result. DJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH51605 Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 DJP thanks again for all your posted tutors. Speaking of which, is there one somewhere that shows that (marking existing roof planes to remain) happening ? I am nearly there on the manual build process, but now you have me really curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solver Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Read up on the options in the Build Roof dialog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJPotter Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 All the knowledge you need is contained in your "Help - Users Guide" and your "Help - View Reference Manual". It takes a while to absorb all that stuff (over 2K pages) so take it a little at a time followed by practice sessions after study to verify that you can actually do what you studied. It took me over a year to do that with my first Reference Manual and Users Guide but it is the difference between knowing what to do and floundering around guessing. DJP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now