EconBlueprints

I am trying to create a winder stair. The cheif training video tells me to create three separate stair sections. I can create the first, but when I create the second, it joins up with the first and makes a single stair section. How do you draw three separate sections that are connected so you can turn the center section into a winder? Thanks, Lane

Hello Clarissa, I think you are seeing the blue lines that represent the print size for the paper so check the scale size to make sure the drawing sheet size and the PDF size are the same. I had a similar issue and that solved it for me. Hope it helps. Lane De Muro

Hello, Is there a way to exclude certain components of a assembly? For instance, I want to know how many doors in a particular project. I do not need to know what type of hinge, how many hinges, door knobs etc. Same for cabinets, I do not need drawer slides, hardware or the like. I need just the basics: X # of 2/6 doors, x# of 2/4 doors, B33 Cabinet, etc? Thanks, Lane

Thanks, I enlarged an Arch D.

Hello, Is there a template for an Arch E sized paper. Thanks In Advance Lane Merry Christmas And Happy New Year!

Hello, I have several pages of building code notes that go on the layout sheets. When I move them I want to do so using the dimension tool so I can move them a certain distance from the top and sides of the layout sheet borders. When I dimension from a note (it comes in from the plan file as a library object) there are two boxes; one allows me to move the entire object (the 4 way cross arrow box ) and the other allows me to move the object edge only (the two way arrow box). By default, the two way move box is checked, so I have to move the check mark to the 4 way box. Is there a way to set the default check mark so it appears in the 4 way cross box? That would save me a lot of time moving objects. Thanks in advance.

Thanks, I suspected as much Lane

How do you taper a fireplace chimney? Fireplace is set at 6' Wide, firebox set at 36" wide, and height so it penetrates the roof and maintains the 24" above the roof at 10' offset. But I dont want it to be 6' wide all the way to the top. Starting about 2' above the firebox I want to narrow it down to 24" x 24" . Can I do that in the fireplace settings somewhere? I can keep the fireplace itself say 6' tall, then add a polyline solid above it to the dimensions I want and change the material to the same stone on the fireplace, but is there an easier, better way? Thanks, Lane

Got it. Thanks !

I use Chief on my desktop, but want to use it on my laptop as well when I am in the field. I have a single license, but I understand I can use the single license on multiple machines provided only one machine is active at any given time. So, the other day when I was out to do an as built with my laptop, I tried to open Chief on the laptop and the message came up I had to deactivate the license on my other computer. No problem, except my other computer was about twenty miles away at the time. So, I logged into my account and tried to find where I could deactivate the one and activate the other, but it seems I have to deactivate the first computer while logged into that computer, which means I need to remember to do that before I leave the house. Given that sometimes I would forget to do that is there any way to change the active computer remotely? Thanks, Lane

Perfect! Thanks so much

Hello again, My electrical schedule looks great....for the most part What I would like to do is have the devices on the exterior side of the building assigned to a room definition such as "Exterior". The kitchen ones show up as Kitchen, Bedrooms in the bedrooms, bathrooms in the bathrooms, but there are blank lines that look like they are just waiting to be filled in for any light, switch, receptacle etc. that is attached to the exterior of the building. I tried creating a room around each one of them, then giving it the room name of, for instance "garage exterior light", then making the room no locate, and the walls invisible, but that just made it worse in 3d views so I abandoned that idea. So, is there any way to assign the room name "Exterior Wall" or the like to those outside fixtures. I know I can put that in the comment line, but that is not what I want to do Thanks Lane

Will do.

Lew, There was a button to click that said it would send the report to Chief. I clicked it both times, and hopefully it worked. Lane

I making a new template for plans, and when I go into the default walls settings I am changing the default Exterior wall drywall layer from 1/2" to 5/8" Fire Rated Drywall. When I clicked "OK" I get a message a serious error has occurred. It does not say what the error actually is, although it says it is serious. Kinda like the feeling I got when I had an EKG and the technician looked at it and said "uh oh". When I asked what it was she said she was not allowed to tell me but it looked serious. Really? Anyway, I dismissed the error and went about creating another wall, this time an interior wall where one side will have the 1/2" Fire Rated Drywall. Same error message. Again, I dismissed it and continued working. Next, I closed out of the plan, closed CA then re opened it. I checked to see if my walls were saved as created and yes, they are there. So, what kind of error had been created and what will it mean to program functionality somewhere along the line (like 4PM on a Friday when you want to send the layout to the printer) ? Is it really a cause for concern? Thanks Lane

Thanks!

Hello, I am trying to change the labels for electrical outlets. I though I had all of the defaults set to "Chief Blueprint" as the text style, but when I place an electrical outlet in plan view, the label defaults to (looks like) Ariel. How can I change the label? plan attached 8' Ceiling Template.plan

that was it! Thanks!

I cannot seem to get the F8 function key to work. I press it, and it does not turn off the color, but changes every color to a shade of gray, including the wall fill layers, which used to turn off to tranparent or white, not sure which, but once I hit the F8, the wall fill used to disappear. It is not just this plan, it is all my plans. I posted the plan if anyone can figure out what the issue is. Thanks in advance. 2018-07-25 Graycen.plan

After reading all of your responses, I played around with different options and the following gives me about 90% of what I am am looking for. 1. Choose the Chief PDF maker for the printer 2. Print the plan in color to the Chief PDF maker. (When I printed in black and white to the Chief PDF maker, it did not come out as well) 3. Print the PDF file to my printer, but this time print in black and white. This makes all of the line and fill colors consistent throughout the drawing. Not as black as I want it to be, but I am working on that. Thanks for all the help.

Everything in my layout looks fine, everything in the plan looks fine. But, when I print to a PDF, some walls and other objects are more gray than black. A copy of one of the sheets is attached. Anyone have an idea why this is happening? Thanks in advance. test sheet mac.pdf

Thanks!

My goal is to combine two layouts, and associated filed into one layout along with the associated files. This is for a restaurant conversion where the 2nd story of the building was converted to a B and B two years ago. Now, the owner wants to convert the first floor into a B and B. It would be nice to be able to incorporate a lot of the former drawing elements into the new drawing. The first layout was created in 2016 using Chief V10(a). All plan files associated with that layout were created with the same version of Chief. The second layout (and associated files) was created with Chief Premier X10 just a few weeks ago. The older version has a beaucoup amount of notes and CAD blocks that I want to use in the new layout. Is there a method to combine all of the plan files, CAD blocks etc for the individual versions into one file and layout? Thanks in advance. Lane

Chief 10 (a) is old, I think around 2006?

I have a plan called "Model A". From that plan, I need to make a few changes for another client, and save the plan in the new clients folder. Can I simply do a "Save As", give it the new name (call it Model and place it in the new file location? When I did that in Chief 10A, I had to keep "Model A" in its original location forever, because if I ever moved "Model A" when opening the new plan, I always got a message saying Chief could not find "Model A" and therefore could not open Model B. So what is the best way to save one plan with a new plan name and new file location? Thanks in advance, Lane