PIR-Designs

I think I figured it out. Thanks for your help.

Well I saw that article already. But as you'll see above in the original post, this is not that. You MUST use it as a drawer, not a cabinet with a door. The problem is, when you show the drawer as "open" it shows the sides of the drawer, keeping you from seeing the rev-a-shelf spice rack insert. In that post above, you can see that the person has the pullout (of which you can see the sides) but you still have a cabinet door face. THAT'S what I'm trying to figure out. Thanks.

Ok so we're trying to do the same thing, but with a spice rack. HOW did you get the sides of the pullout to not actually show the sides of the "drawer"? Does that make sense? What base cabinet drawer did you use to put the rev-a-shelf in? Because when we do it, the sides of the actual drawer still show and you can't see the rev-a-shelf. Thanks

I'm not sure if doing that will keep it in scale. I really hope Chief can fix this. It's a very strange problem. Thank you so much for your response.

So now, when I go to other versions, it's also doing it. So I have no idea why this is happening. And I turned off the smooth art line, clicked save. Then turned it on again, and they show back up. But it can't be something in Adobe because I haven't done an update on that in a long time. This whole thing is just weird.

I did report it to the tech support folks. So I'm hoping they figure it out. Even though I've used/owned Chief since X11, I finally decided to take an online class from a community college up in Silicon Valley (I'm in San Diego). But I am taking it because I was self-taught on Chief. And I thought it might be a good idea to actually know how to do things correctly and learn all the icons and proper settings. These particular pdf's that I'm creating are to be turned in for a grade. So they need to be right. But, as mentioned, I've printed out pdf's in all versions of Chief that I've had... even in X14 prior to my update a few days ago. And THIS is totally new. I did have to create a "layer" setting for furniture (part of an assignment) but maybe I turned something off. But I'm not sure how that would translate to printing all wonky in a pdf. Just very strange. Anyway, if I hear back from the Tech folks, I'll certainly let you know. Thanks.

Hi Chopsaw, Well this is very strange that it all of a sudden happened. I did the update for X14 a few days ago. Before that, I could print to pdf with NO problem at all. Never saw any of that. I've used Chief for almost 4 years now. And for this to suddenly happen is the strangest thing. I've done no other updates with my computer, so it's not like it was an operating system update. I appreciate both of you trying to help me figure this out. I did research for about 2 hours trying to find the answer. So at least this helped a little bit. Maybe I could print to a pdf again from the pdf so that it doesn't happen to the person receiving it. I don't know. But thank you so much... both of you.

Michael! YOU are a genius! THANK YOU! I did uncheck it just now and they aren't seen. So chances are, when I send the pdf's to someone, they won't see those lines if I've unchecked them from my end?

Do you know what those lines are and how to get rid of them?

When I print the elevation to a pdf, it's got these weird lines on the drawing. Where are they from and how do I get rid of them? I've attached a jpg and pdf. You'll probably see them better on the pdf. What the heck are they? Thank you. Vacation Cabin 2 - Front Elevation.pdf

THAT WAS IT! YAY! So what I figured out that happened was that this time when I downloaded and installed X14, I put it in a different location on a different drive. It was trying to find stuff that was on my old versions on the C drive. So I went to the Cactus Stone location for X11, then while in X14, I "imported" the X11 Cactus Stone catalog... IT WORKED! Brilliant! Thanks S0 much!

I just went and looked at the colors again, I see that you were referring to the manufacturer that had that color I had clicked on. So it must have been something downloaded, like you said. But I can't delete it while it's in the search area. Even after we install catalogs, are they still being accessed though the folder on our computers from where they were downloaded? I mean, where would I delete these from? And if I do, I won't be able to access them if I use an older version, right?

I have no idea what the Cactus Stone catalog is. I don't recall downloading that in previous versions. I'll check with support for a solution that might not involve me jacking up something I shouldn't. LOL! Thank you for your response. Really appreciated.

Hi Mick, I've never deleted any folder in CA. I'm not sure how to find specific folders that contain all of these. They were things that came with the original core catalogs. So if I start deleting folders that may contain these "colors with texture" I might end up deleting something I shouldn't. But thank you so much for your response. Greatly appreciated. Lauren

I recently downloaded X-14. Normally when I'm going to assign a color to a cabinet or whatever, I can type in the color in the library materials, and I see lots of options. Sometimes the color is related to a tile, which of course, I cannot use on a cabinet. But when I do a simple as search such as "brown", I'm seeing these little "caution" signs that say texture is missing. Never seen that on any other version. I tried updating catalogs, etc. But the photo below is what I'm seeing. Is there something else I need to do to make these colors show up in the search browser? Thank you. Lauren

Just to let you know, I DID find all three receipts from the original CA purchase all the way to Feb 2022. I just spoke with Tech Support and he has solved my problem. Thank you for your responses.

Except when I spoke with the lady in sales on the phone a few minutes ago, she said that there is no way I can download it or even purchase a thumb drive with it on there. So I'm SOL. Thank you for responding.

I did call. They won't. I've always been current on my SSA. So, I don't understand why it hasn't ever been in the digital locker. Very strange. At any rate, I was told on the phone just now that if it's not in my digital locker that it can't be downloaded from anywhere else, nor can I purchase a thumb drive with it on there. I'll just have to use X11 for my current client. The bad thing is, that a bunch of new catalog items I needed can only be used with X12 or X13. Thank you anyway.

My SSA has always been current since 2019. So, then I guess Chief never put it in my digital locker.

Right, but I never put it in my digital locker when it was available. I went from X11 to X13 (which I do NOT like). So in another forum, many people were saying that X12 didn't require as much from your computer for Raytrace and that the renderings are MUCH crisper. I'm about to do a commercial rendering job and wanted to go ahead and download X12. but I found out that if you never put it in your digital locker when it was available, then you can't go back and download it. ONLY versions of what's in your digital locker can be downloaded. So I'm pretty much screwed unless I can suddenly go out and purchase another video card and install it. And you need a PHD for that, haha! Thanks for answering.

Does anyone know if X12 is still available for download? I have X11 and X13. But I wanted to get X12 (I do NOT like X13). If I don't see it in my digital locker, does that mean it's no longer available to download? Thank you Lauren

Thanks Mick. I may go ahead and do that. I'm hoping it will let me download it since I already downloaded X13. Does it let you download an older version (even though you can't downgrade a file to an earlier version)? Lauren

Dermot, let me say, first of all, that each and every time I use Chief Architect, I'm amazed at the vast amount of things this software can do. I'm always thinking to myself, "This took a LOT of work!" I have used AutoCAD, Revit, Sketchup and more. I've also used 2020 Design software in the past for kitchen design. HORRIBLE... crashes at least 3-4 times an hour. When I was introduced to Chief Architect at an NKBA local meeting, I was hooked. Purchased it in January 2019 at KBIS. It has never crashed on me, and I ask a LOT from it when I'm working. I'm like a walking advertisement for Chief Architect. So I love all that you do and am in awe of what it must take to create the software and provide so many things needed for design. (I'm an interior designer.) I'm always thinking when the CA software engineers see users saying something derogatory or just issuing a complaint about the software, that you all must feel like we're criticizing your children. LOL! But I think deep down, every single one of us are so thankful that CA exists. So thank you for all your time and incredible effort that it takes to make these things work. Now, onto the next part... you mentioned X12 several times in your answer above. I've only had X11, never downloaded X12 because by the time I realized that it was already out, there was so much talk about X13 that I thought I would just wait. So my original post showing the same shot in X11 and X13 was because I was seeing white on stainless steel appliances in X13, but they had the SAME exact materials settings. X11 seems much clearer and easier to manipulate material. After Philip Gibney (at Chief Architect) mentioned last fall that I might need a more robust video card for X13, I was kind of disappointed because I specifically purchased the desktop gaming computer I have now to run Chief Architect. I chose this $2,000 HP Omen gaming desktop computer that, at the time (January 2019), was very beefy and provided a decent ray trace for me. The computer stays cool even through 8 hours with CA creating designs and ray traces. But to hear that I would have to get yet another video card (between $500-$1,000 depending upon where you can purchase it) I was thinking, "Oh crap. More money and someone will have to take my computer to an offsite place so they can install it. Ugh!" Everyone keeps saying that I would only need a beefier video card if I wanted to do a real-time ray trace or walkthrough. But as mentioned, I'm an Interior Designer. If I can't wow the client with some amazing designs through software that leaves them in awe, then I won't get the job from that client. That's why I chose Chief Architect. So beautiful renderings and amazing walkthroughs are what I absolutely need. If there is a significant difference between X11 and X12, maybe I should download X12 and use that until I can get a new video card. And by the way, I get a pretty fast ray trace with my computer now. Even 10 passes create a pretty amazing rendering. But I was looking to get an NVIDIA RTX 3070, hoping that it would still be good for the next few versions of CA. Anyway, I did look at the PBR view. LOL! It looks like a photo negative. So I'll just stick with the standard view and try to manipulate the materials. Again, so thankful for all of the software engineers that create and work on Chief Architect. I do have a kind of cool suggestion. You know how CA sometimes has online seminars to talk about "what's coming" in the software and you all allow us to ask questions? How about doing something where the software engineers have a version of that with specific types of users. Maybe one seminar for architects only - they discuss how they use it. Then another online seminar for Interior Designers. We discuss how we use it, any drawbacks or what we would like to be able to do with the software. Because I think instead of all these voices coming at you asking how things work or why "this is happening," you could, instead, speak to specific types of users, understand our usage individually and make notes for future versions. OR, even tell us, "Hey, it can already do that!" Thanks again Dermot! You are greatly appreciated! Lauren X11 and X13 HP Omen Gaming Desktop Windows 10 Pro 64 bit Intel® Core ™ i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 32.0 GB RAM 512GB SSD; 1.8 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, Driver v. 26.21.14.3107

When Mick mentioned the Graphics Issues with X13, a lightbulb went on. I remember watching the "What's coming next with X13" webinar that I watched last October 2020. At that time I had emailed Philip Gibney with Chief Architect about where I could find info on the CA site regarding the best video card for that version (and beyond). At that time, Philip said, "We recommend the Nvidia RTX video cards, preferably the 30 series (3070, 3080, 3090), although the 20 series (2060, 2070, 2080) would still be a major step up from the 1070." So then I remembered that I had told him what I had currently on my computer... a computer which I purchased in early 2019 specifically to run CA. And now... it's already needing a new video card. Ugh! As mentioned on my initial question, I have the X11 and X13 version. (I do not have the X12) Here is my computer info: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit Intel® Core ™ i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz 32.0 GB RAM 475 GB SSD; 1.8 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, Driver v. 26.21.14.3107 So I suppose this answers my question. I just need a video card with more beef because the 1070 is not going to cut it. (Although I wasn't asking for a walkthrough or raytrace or anything... just a camera shot of the kitchen. So not being able to discern the brushed stainless steel in X13 yet it's perfect in X11 still baffles me. But, whatever.) I'll go create a "signature now." Thanks guys for all your responses! Lauren