ebdesign

Are you getting dimensions for each room but just can't see the arrows? If that's the case, your arrows are too long. Se attached image. Or is the entire dimension string more like an overall end-to-end dimension?

Yup, that's right Perry, but only if you click directly on the bottom bar. Simply working in the PB or library doesn't reposition the dbx back into the monitor. It's not a major PIA, just an irritant.

Cad Details are found here: CAD/CAD Detail Management/Site Plan

I keep the PB & Library windows open on another monitor. Every time I open Chief, they are a little bit higher on the monitor screen, until finally the top title bar is off the screen & I can't grab to move them back down. So then I gotta restore tool bars..... Anybody else get this?

Not a problem Richard,. I keep forgetting that not everybody does their site plans in a CAD Detail w/ the plan footprint.

Keith, Are you looking in the CAD Details/Site Plan? The pdf is on a layer all by itself..........CAD, Plot Plan2. What Richard said in post #17.

The pdf may look hand drawn but it is accurate. I resized it & it is very, very close. I forgot to "save in plan", so here is the plan again. Notice that the line length & bearing of the lines I traced over the pdf are very close to what is stated on the pdf. Of course, for real, I would ahve gotten them exactly correct, but ...just playin' here. As Built.plan

I would just locate the house best you can & YOU call out the info needed to locate the house.......w/ a disclaimer, of course.

I imported the pdf & rescaled, traced over it. seems real close. Then played w/ it some. The pdf is on a separate layer so you can turn it off & see the CAD. Didn't really come up w/ anything different than anybody else. FWIW.

Matt, I believe that is hardwired to the "interior" dimension type. Interior dimensions have "suppress wall widths" enabled by default. Other dimension types do not. I don't know of a way to change that.

Oh, jeezus. We've been down this road before. Both of you are creating a straw-man argument here. I did NOT make that assertion. Please reread my statement. Chief's 2DCAD is adequate for my needs 99% of the time. When it's not, I use ACAD. & ask for anything you want. I'm all for improvements anywhere, incl 2D. Bring 'em on! Over & out.

Chief 2DCAD is the ACAD fan's favorite whipping boy. Chief 2DCAD does not work like ACAD for a few things, but everything you need to do in Chief w/ 2DCAD CAN be done &, more often than not, just as efficiently as ACAD. it's just a "different" methodology or sometimes merely a different name/title for the same exact operation that sends the ACAD fan into convulsions. Chief Architect is a 3D modeling software that uses 2DCAD when necessary. It imports/exports dwgs pretty effortlessly, so you can do what you want in whatever app you prefer.

Once you get past the different way Chief does the 2D CAD stuff , your biggest issue will be file management & coordinating details, notes, & schedules that get used repeatedly. The best advice I can offer is to find somebody who uses Chief in a similar environment as yours &/or has set it up in the past & lean on them heavily until not needed. It's important to get this aspect off to a good start, 'cuz changes in file management down the road can get pretty "dizzying" as you add chief models to your collection. JMO

For me, the pdf IS the con doc.

Dimension Defaults

......\Documents\Chief Architect Premier X6 Data\Archives

I use pdfs & track by the print date in the file name. Same w/ dwgs- date in the file name. I have only one plan file & one layout file. Sometimes I have 2-3 versions going but....... & they both keep the same name throughout the project. So no relinking plan & layout. If I need to go back to the chief plan from a spec'd date I see on a pdf or dwg, those files are in the archives.

My understanding of how this works: There are 3 possibilities w/ the ceiling settings in the roof spec dbx. w/ "Use Room Ceiling Finish" selected, Chief will put a ceiling under the rafters over rooms that have a cl'g thickness spec'd in the room dbx, as well as "cl'g over this room" deselected in the Room spec dbx. There will not be a cl'g layer under the rafters over certain types of rooms (Unspecified, Attic, etc) or when there is no room at all under the roof plane. w/ "Use Room Ceiling Finish" & "Has Cl'g" deselected, there should not be a cl'g layer under that roof plane's rafters at all. w/ "Use Room Ceiling Finish" deselected & "Has Cl'g" selected, there will be a cl'g layer under the rafters regardless of what (if any) rooms are below that roof plane. Frequently w/ curved roof planes in particular, I need to remove the cl'g (sometimes the soffit too) to get the roof planes to join & display properly in a camera. Again, this is my understanding of how it works. Your mileage may vary.

Or, if you're kinda lost when using the numeric keyboard, just copy/paste from the Character Map or from existing text. (I'm not mentioning any names)

Make sure the room TYPE is "Deck". w/ decks, you shouldn't get a floor finish layer- unless you changed the OOB Room/Deck defaults. That would be where I would start.

If the tilde is set to display & you don't see it, then the dimension is accurate........but only to 10-12 decimal pts. I have tildes set to display & then, when I see one, I move whatever to get rid of it.

Ubet.

dimension defaults & also can be controlled individually.

There are many symbols used for "approximate". Whatever, Chief uses "~" & it also uses "+/-". I'm going w/ that.

You can draw 3D molding p-lines in plan, although I rarely do. Usually when they are drawn in an elevation/section they attach to the closest wall surface. Usually. When I draw them, I always use a very narrow clipped section drawn directly in front of the wall. Select the p-line in elevation while you still can & note the layer. What layer it goes on can vary depending on how the 3D molding p-line is created. If you can't find it in plan view, use the All Off layer set w/ just that layer displayed & you'll find it. it's usually on the 1st flr, but that may not always be the case either. If you know it's there, but still can't find it, just group select the area where it is & then deselect everything else until that is the only object left. Multi segmented 3D polylines need to be group selected somehow to move them anyway.