OldCKD

....especially when I'm under the gun timewise? Opened layout today, went to make a few quick changes before printing; clients coming in this afternoon. I usually double-click from the layout to get to the correct elevation to make the changes on, save the camera, close the view and then it updates the layout page. Today, every single upper cabinet is showing up as dotted lines. Only the uppers. Weird. See attached example. Tried closing and re-opening and a few other Hail Mary moves, but no dice. What's more disconcerting is, every single elevation in the plan has the dotted-line uppers...I don't have time to manually re-draw each area...ugh. Any explanation? And I need a quick fix if you've got one! TIA

I'm not on Chief right now to double check, but I think I've been able to delete a saved camera by deleting it in the project browser. I'm assuming you are trying to delete it via selecting the camera and hitting delete?

I like to use these: http://www.mcnichols.com/designer/wire-mesh Lots of neat patterns there. Todd, I set the material definition in the dbx to 'tranparent'. It's not perfect, but usually close enough.

Interestingly enough, just today I attempted to download the 3D file for this specific leg: http://www.artforeveryday.com/shop/standard/legs/LEG-ORBWM and the only thing that showed up was the sphere portion, NOT attached to a leg! Something got lost in translation. I sometimes find that mfr. files are not 100% reliable when you download them, or otherwise have glitches that you have to repair before they are usable. I had a client come in right after I imported the file so haven't had time to mess around with it to see if I can make it right.

I've beefed about this in the past. There are many items in the 'furniture' layer and the 'fixtures' layer that I don't think really belong there (a stack of plates is not a piece of furniture in my world, for example). I had posted once before asking if I could group-assign items to a layer; the answer was no. I have been creating a new layer called 'accessories' and laboriously assigning items to that layer but it has to be re-done for each and every plan - not a good use of time. I would love to be able to permanently change an item's layer and have it be the new default.

Perry that's what I had been doing until I got the bright idea to put all my appliance PDFs in a separate folder on the desktop. I often use the same appliances over and over and it will make it simpler to find them in the future. As long as I maintain some discipline when saving the files it should be the same result as if I have them stored in the client folder.

Tommy, I usually do it that way, but I have amassed such a large collection of appliance specs that I decided to organize them into one central appliance folder so I can easily go to that one place instead of searching through individual client folders for a specific appliance. That's what messed me up this time - my organizational skills got the better of me! Similarly, I have a specific folder for textures and materials - they're all in one place and never get moved, and go on my auto-backup so I never need to worry about losing them. I guess it's just deciding on a particular method and sticking to it. So what does the 're-link tool' look like? I fixed it through the dbx.

Thank you Joey - I did manage to salvage my work by re-selecting the file location. You bet I just checked off the 'save to plan' box this time. Thanks everybody!

Perry, I did not. And therein lies the problem, I guess. I guess a good general rule of thumb is to always open the dbx and see if there's something in there that is either helpful or critical to have checked off. It didn't even occur to me to open the dbx for a PDF file. I learned the hard way to save textures/materials, guess this will be another of those learning curve experiences

Oooh. Cheryl - very possible. I did a desktop tidying last week and re-organized, moved stuff around. If that's the cause, can I re-link?

Last week I opened a layout that I'd previously made and into which I had painstakingly imbedded several PDF images of appliance specs for the electrician. When I re-opened the layout and went to that page, all the PDFs were gone. Just opened another layout for a different client; same thing had happened - poof, PDF image is gone. Both layouts were saved before closing. What gives? Is there a step I am missing? I'd post the layout but there's nothing left to see but an empty layout sheet

I'm not in the office right now but when I get back there I'll try to put up an example. Doesn't everyone make their own materials all the time? The quickie one I made and attached is not in the stock library, Scott - I found the image via The Google and turned it into a material. The name's Amy, BTW

When I can't seem to find just the right thing in the stock library I just search the internet for images ('wire mesh') and convert the jpg. into a new material, which I can adjust as needed for scale, transparency etc. I did this one up really fast, see below. DiagonalWireMesh.calibz

Well, nice to know I had the correct answer, even though it wasn't deemed the *BEST* answer.... Sometimes the stock library can be frustrating due to either lack of information (as above) or differences in terms that are found in different regions. For example I once wasted way too much time looking for what we call a 'bulkhead' around here (cellar access door, usually sloped), never did find anything despite trying many different terms. There have been many instances where I have to guess and guess as to what a symbol is or how it performs. Not sure how that info could be added to the thumbnails, however, even though it would be very useful.

I've always guessed that the EP means something like 'edge profile' or 'exterior profile' since all the doors with that label have a beaded or profiled exterior edge (and if you look at the other doors, they all appear to be plain square edged). It's the only rational explanation I've been able to come up with.

You can download them direct from the SubZero/Wolf website, I use them all the time. They have 2D and 3D symbols of most every product, available right there. Here's the page with a quick reference to all products, just click on "view spec documents" and they're all under CAD documents: http://www.subzero-wolf.com/professional-kitchen/kitchen-plans.aspx PS - Kohler has them available as well, as do many other manufacturers - sometimes you have to hunt around for them.

The solution to the presentation issue has been solved, but in real life there would likely be a back panel that spans all 3 cabinets since building something that length all as one unit is highly unlikely. So if it were me, I would show the same (a back panel) in my plan for accuracy.

I've had the Brother MFC-6490-CW for 3-4 years now, works great for me in my small office. I usually print in B/W but occasionally use the color, and find the print quality to be more than adequate for my needs. My one and only gripe would be that it's a total pain to print envelopes. I had one issue requiring tech support and they couldn't have been more awesome. It even sounded like English was their first language :-)

One thing I've done that works in a lot of instances is to use the 'center' tool (this one -><-) but the walls you want to have aligned have to be the same thickness, of course.

So you are suggesting to stack landings, editing each to be angled?

Hi all, Is there any quick, painless (hah!) way to create stairs with winders - know they're not to code anymore but need for an as-built, and they will be remaining so would like to include in the remodel plan. I've attached pics of the existing stairs to illustrate what I need to do. It's an old cottage on the Vineyard so everything is quirky! TIA, for any advice. PS - apologies for them being sideways - no idea why.

It's too bad you can't simply re-orient a standard wall cabinet (swivel it in elevation so the hinge is at the top).

I'm with Perry. Self employed, bought the program and jumped in with 2 feet, am mostly self-taught and refer to the videos or ask here when I stumble. It did take me several weeks to get proficient (I am by no means an expert - I still have a LOT to learn) and I tend not to learn how to do something until it comes up in an actual job condition (IOW when I am forced to) But I can draft up an ucomplicated plan, produce construction docs and do fabulous renders in very short time. From no-clue-what-I-am-doing to ready-for-prime-time took me, I'd say, a good 2-3 months but I don't draft all day every day. If that were my only responsibility I'd say it would have been even faster than that.

You can also drag the dimension 'handles' to locate them where you want them, such as if one 'sticks' to the wrong place or skips over something you actually want dimensioned. You can do this by clicking on a dimension (the actual numeral, not the line itself) which will make the entire line editable; you will get diamond 'handles' that you can click/drag across and position as needed.

Sometimes you can find what you need in one of the manufacturer catalogs but it takes some digging. You can also painstakingly make your own door and save it to your user library. Some kind soul here gifted me with a couple of 4-lite doors several months ago when I posted a question similar to yours (thank you again to whoever it was - use them all the time). I have been wishing for the ability to create glass cabinet doors with custom mullions much like how we can do it with windows <hint hint>