Gawdzira

The automatic labels are very robust

I think your going to be able work out your details and overall project well with CA. The speed of working with the program can be astounding (and sometimes frustrating if you want the model perfect). Very good support system and good enough library that is constantly growing. Also one of the most economical programs with full rendering and construction doc capabilities. I have not checked out Softplan lately but I have heard rumblings that it is pretty damn good too.

Your idea of a stud by stud con docs presentation sounds cool on Instagram but the reality is that it is very unlikely to be executed unless you are on the job site 8 hours a day. Making a case for OVE framing and or right sizing of headers, sure. But, even then, unless you have one of those packages with all precut lumber with layout stamped on it (those do exist, at least I saw it on Instagram) you will end up with some level of variation with a custom stick built residence.

Below is an image that I had worked up for my engineer to call attention to some critical ridge beams and the load paths as I saw it. This was a guide for him and really quick and easy to come up with in CA. Those are just solids that I placed and moved around. Not perfect since these were visual guides. To me, this is the most important thing. Construction documents are visual guides and instructions, not shop drawings. Also attached is a shop drawing that was easy to produce in CA and highly accurate.

On you Pinterest board, a lot of those projects show roof to wall intersections with no overhang. Yeah. It looks cool. I get it. Most of my Architecture profs were very theoretical and conceptual with their work. Gamal El-Zoghby, Raimund Abraham, etc. But, if your insurance/contractor license is following you after the work is done, you might want to work overhangs into the aesthetic.

Does that mean the ArcSite demo did not appeal to you?

That was not my experience. Did you do something very different with your file structure?

That escalated quickly. 

Search "curtain wall"

A balcony is a room. You can select that room and adjust it's floor height to where you want it. Probably an inch or 2 below the respective floor level

Just a bit south in Carmel.

Sometimes you will need to cheat the wall location slightly under the stair stringer so the wall does not continue up past the stringer depending on your desired design.

Pretty sure those stairs are not even legal in Russia. Heck, Florida Man just texted me and said he wouldn't even walk his pet gator down those.

Also, these intersections can do you dirty. 

Which PDF driver are you using? "Chief Architect Save As PDF" is the most reliable.

Do you have it named as a room? If it is called out as a deck, change it to Balcony.

That app looks like a decent program for it's use case (final drawing to send for realtors or appraisal). For me, I believe it would be slower than hand drawing on site. I am pretty fast with my oversized sketch pad (about 12x18 sheet of mdf with some clips for the paper). I print out 11x17 sheets with a grid. Even when I have brought a laptop to the site and done the drawing directly into CA I find it slower overall. Also, having the locked drawing from the site gives me a sense of comfort that a wall did not get bumped and adjust the as built.

This diagram is for an article regarding deck guardrails but the same concept should apply to retaining walls. If you have more than a 30" grade drop at 30" away from your retaining wall, consider the use of a guardrail to protect from falls. 

If you are creating a title block for the size of you new set up, that is done on sheet 0. They are cad lines and text. I save layers per layout in the same file. Generally one for landscape ArchD, 11x17 landscape and portrait.

When starting a plan file (and always) you are drawing in real world scale. 1"=1". When you send to Layout, you define what scale you send. This is where it becomes important to be aware of what scale you intend to send to Layout if you want your text and callouts to have a relative size when in Layout. For me, if I am working on a plan or elevation view that will be sent to Layout at 1/4 scale, my text is 5". If sending at 1/8", then text is 10". For your 100' long plan, you could possibly send at 3/16" scale and it could fit on a 36" wide sheet. There is also a sheet display in plan view and that could be what is bothering your eyes?

Not using SPV's in CA begs the question "Do you even CADD bro?"

All the time. Too much info?

What you show in that image is illegal in the US and Canada.

Putting the stubbed toe in toe kick.