Dermot

Go to Michael's post #7 above. His outlets seem to work pretty good in both plan view and 3D. Download his calibz file and then use the Import Library tool in either X7 or X8. You should find a library called "Cabinet Outlets" in your User Catalog.

This is a bug in the X8 beta. If you try to change any of the post or beam defaults through the Framing Defaults or Build Framing dialog, the changes might not stick. This should be fixed in the next available update. For now, the easiest way to avoid this problem is to edit the post and beam defaults directly by double-clicking on either the post or beam tool. In the future, I would encourage you to report these kinds of issues to our technical support team.

All of the currently featured libraries are free to anyone with active SSA. Some libraries are free to everyone. Some libraries are free if you have SSA and available for a small fee if you don't have SSA. Some libraries are only available if you have SSA. Pay attention to the right hand corner of the preview image. If you see "SSA" as part of the preview, then the library is free to anyone with SSA. You can also hover over the "I" button to get more info about the library.

This does not need to be complicated. These are basic options in the railing dialog that have been there for years now. Please reread my post #8 above and then look at Michael's picture in post #15. Or, for those that still need more help, take a look at the attached plan and picture created in X7. X7 glass panel rail.plan

Fun fact...you can change the panel to be any material you want, including glass.

You are using a symbol for your panel. The top and bottom rails you have are part of the symbol. These are designed to butt up against your newel post and can't be extended to go over the top. Instead of using a symbol for your panel, choose "Solid (With Rails)" for your panel type. You will now be able to have the top rail go over the posts and use a custom profile for your top rail if you want. You may also want to do the same thing for your railings around the stairwell on the floor above so that they will all match.

The "Send to Layout" options that are available depend on what rendering technique you are using. You can only send Standard render views as images. You can send Vector Views as plot line drawings.

Please report any problems like this to our tech support team. Please be sure and include the original X7 plan so that we can confirm that the problem is happening when it is brought into X8. If we can duplicate the problem, then there is a good chance we will be able to get a fix into an update.

I would use "Library->Install Core Content".

"Does anyone know where we submit bugs for X8? I have an auto roof that works fine in X7 but X8 can't do it. Images attached." Please submit bug reports for any problems that you find in X8 to our technical support department: http://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/#contact Also, be sure and include the X7 plan with your report along with the pictures showing what you are seeing in X7 and X8. We will look into this and try and get a fix into the next available update.

If your SSA is valid through February 24, 2016, you should find the X8 Beta in your digital locker. If your SSA is valid and you still don't find it in your digital locker, please feel free to contact our customer service. If you are having problems renewing your SSA, please contact our sales or customer service department.

I believe updating the libraries should usually be much faster then the initial install.

The core libraries are fairly large (700 MB+) and can take a long time to download depending on your internet speed as well as traffic on our end. It is not possible to download the core libraries in only 2 minutes. If you have been an X8 beta tester and already had the libraries installed, then you would not need to reinstall them. For more information about downloading and updating libraries, please see the help topics in the program. To quickly find the help, just put your mouse over the menu item for Install Core Content or Update Library Catalogs and hit the F1 key.

All of the info you are mentioning would normally be stored in your template plans. It should be pretty easy to transfer your template plans to a new computer. See this help article for more info: http://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00001/migrating-chief-architect-to-a-new-computer.html

To summarize what everyone else has said... All of the information that is in the reference manual is also available in the installed help system. You can get to it any time you are running Chief by clicking on any Help button or by using F1. An electronic version of the manual is also available for download. Using Help->View Reference Manual should open up your browser and open the pdf file. If you are having problems doing this, it may be a problem with either your internet service or browser. You should also be able to click on this link: http://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x7-reference-manual.pdf If you still can't get this to work, you may want to contact technical support. A printed version of the manual is also available for purchase. You can find more information here: http://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/addon/

Although sinks can span multiple cabinets, the program might not always cut the automatic counter top hole correctly. The best thing to do in this situation is to simply create your own custom counter top. The easiest way to do this is to select all connected base cabinets and then use the "Generate Custom Countertop" tool. This custom counter top should replace the automatic ones and this should give you a proper hole for your sink. I would also encourage you to report any problems you find with the automatic counter tops to technical support. If you are creating your own sink symbols, you may have to manually create your own counter top hole. Custom sink symbols will only create a rectangular hole by default. If you need any other shaped hole, you will need to create it yourself. Also, just as an FYI. You can split cabinet faces up into as many different face items as you like. Assuming that you are using Chief Architect Premier X7, you can split faces either horizontally and vertically and sub-divide them as many times as you like. It is very simple to create a single cabinet with a double or triple face. In your case, it looks like you are trying to make a sink base that is narrower then the other cabinets. This is just a guess based on your rather small picture. Since you can't make a single cabinet with multiple depths this probably won't help solve your problem. And finally, you will usually get more help if you post a simple plan demonstrating the problem.

"Also files saved in plan are not showing up." I think something is wrong with your process. It sounds like you and your partner are not actually looking at the same files. I would recommend that you use the "Backup Entire Plan" tool to make sure you both have all of the needed files on both machines. Assuming that you are looking at the same files, then there should not be any major differences between a windows and mac machine. The only thing that I know of that might be different has to do with text fonts which can be slightly different between machines. If all else fails, you should probably contact technical support.

The following applies assuming that you are using Chief Architect Premier X7. There are a lot of reasons why your walls may not be falling on even increments. One common reason is that you have accidently turned off either your grid snaps or angle snaps. Your grid snaps are completely independent of your reference grid that displays on your screen. Working with angle snaps turned off is not recommended except under very special situations. Another reason is that you have modified your "dimension to" layer in your wall type definition. Or your "Resize About" settings in your General Wall Defaults. Or your Locate Object settings in your dimensions. Changing any of these settings can change where your dimensions locate your walls without actually moving any of the walls. For example, if you draw your walls using dimension to the framing and then change your dimensions to locate the surface, they will probably not be on even increments. Another reason is that you are drawing angled or curved walls. It is always going to be more difficult to have all of your dimensions on even increments in these situations. In any case, if your walls are not exactly where you want them, it should be easy to position them where you want them by using your dimension tools. Click on the wall you want to move, then click on the dimension that locates it, and then type in the exact distance you want. As for windows and doors, these are not automatically going to be placed using any grid snaps. You will have better results if you place them close to where you want them and then reposition them by typing in the exact dimension you want. Note that when you select a window or door, you should see a temporary dimension locating the nearest wall or other object. If you click towards either the inside or outside of the wall, the temp dimension will be on the same side of the wall. It should be pretty easy to get them exactly where you want them. It is usually helps to make sure your walls are accurate before you try to accurately position your openings. If you are still having problems, try posting a plan indicating exactly where you are having problems. I am sure someone here will be able to quickly help you. If all else fails, contact tech support.

"(because you can only select in a rectangle fashion)" Actually, you can use Edit Area with almost any shaped area. Just draw a normal polyline in your plan and shape it however you like. If you use the Edit Area tool while the polyline is selected, then the program will use your polyline instead of letting you draw a rectangle.

"Is there a way to permanently change the layer name that the curtains are assigned to? So when I insert curtains into the plans they show up on a layer named "curtains" and not on "fixture, Interior" which is the same layer name that is assigned to the kitchen appliances." Not in X7. In X7, we only store limited information about the fixture and furniture objects in the library database. This means that some of the changes you can make to it, such as which layer it is on, won't be retained when you save it in the library and then use it in a new plan. In X8, we will store all of the information in the library.

Your plan has some random room divider walls and some other bad wall connections. If you remove these random room divider walls and clean up your wall connections, it will probably behave much better. Also, I noticed that you turned off "Connect Island Rooms" in your general wall defaults. I don't recommend doing this until you completely understand how to always keep your walls properly connected. Turning this on also fixes the problem with bad rooms. https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/7492-cant-get-rid-of-automatically-created-room-dividers/

Have you tried the "Reset Side Windows" button in your preferences dialog? If this does not work, then I would recommend that you contact technical support.

You can't control the height of the distributed line or polyline but you can control the height of the objects. In the distributed path/region specification dialog, you should find an "Edit" button to the right of the "Select" button. This will allow you to modify the object being distributed. Assuming your rocks are really just exterior fixtures, you should be able to raise or lower all of them by setting the "Floor to Bottom" height. Also, you may want to make sure they are set to "Auto Adjust Height" so that they will follow the terrain height. If all else fails, you can always explode the distributed path so that you can modify the rocks independently.

You should not turn off the option to automatically connect island rooms. Your plan has "island" rooms. These are interior rooms that are not connected to any exterior walls. If they are not connected, you will very likely have problems with things like room definitions, floors and ceilings, moldings, and more. If you don't like where the program put the automatic room dividers, then draw your own and then you can delete the ones the program made. If you don't want to see the room dividers, then just turn off the layer.

My best guess is that you have the camera layer turned off in your Layer Display Options. Active cameras will display even when the layer is turned off. Saved cameras will only display when the layer is on. I bet if you turn the layer on, you will find a whole bunch of saved cameras in your plan view. If this is not the problem, then you should probably contact technical support.