DBCooper

Can't you just export the project, which is supposed to create a complete copy with all of the references, and then delete it? This tech article might help: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03212/exporting-projects-and-disconnected-files.html

X17 is going to work differently than older versions when you have project management turned on. So you can either turn off the project management or learn how to use it. These might be a good starting point: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03217/working-with-the-project-browser-using-project-management.html https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03205/copying-projects-or-files-using-project-management.html Or, if you just don't want to learn how to use it: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03210/enabling-or-disabling-project-management.html

You might need to make sure your dimension defaults are set to locate framing. I am able to use all of the dimension tools except the interior and centerline. It makes sense that an interior dimension wouldn't work in details since it is only going to have framing and 2D cad but I'm not sure why the centerline dimension is disabled since you can use it in other views to locate the center of framing.

I almost got it. You need to set your sq ft custom object fields to "format as a number" and then you can set your schedule to "calculate total" and "sum similar rows" for these columns. Unfortunately, your custom macro gives you an "error" for the non-pony walls but this might be something you can fix in your custom macro by having it just return 0 for these cases instead of "n/a".

So manual roofs is probably the easy way to go but just as an FYI, you can also do this style of roof using the automatic tools. Should be able to do it using invisible walls or even using roof baseline polylines. Here is an article that shows how to do it in one of the Home Designer versions that doesn't even have manual roofs: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01197/creating-a-prow-roof.html

I have no idea why that drawer panel would have the stretch plane setup that way. You could make a copy of it and fix it like Molly is suggesting. It also looks like it is just a plain old slab so instead of using the "benton drawer" symbol in your cabinet defaults, you could just switch it to the built in "slab drawers".

Might want to post this on the "seeking services" forum instead. Might want to call Chief to see if there is anyway you can renew your student license for a short period so you can do this yourself. Also, you can always rent Chief for just a month.

@davaze I don't think X12 even had CPU raytracing so you are comparing apples to oranges. X17 is going to take advantage of features of the video card that X12 doesn't use so it should be no surprise that it can run into problems that X12 won't. As for using outdated drivers, seems more like a video card issue than a Chief issue to me, but regardless, you just need to find a driver that works.

The only thing I can think of that might cause a problem like that is maybe a messed up symbol being used for the drawer front. If you post your plan, someone could probably look at it and figure it out more quickly.

If your first floor walls do not form at least one room, either because they are properly connected or any of them are marked as "no room definition", then you will not get any walls on your second floor. If it's not one of those problems, then you probably should post the plan.

"Add an arrow" just adds an arrow automatically when you click ok and close the dialog. It's not an "attribute" or "setting" so the next time you open the dialog, it will not be checked. If you check it again, you will get another arrow and it might be hidden because it is on top of the old one. It's actually pretty dumb and you don't have any control over where the arrow starts and ends until you edit it manually. You can also just draw the arrow manually using the "diamond" handle when the text is selected or by using the "text line with arrow" tool. Personally, I like to use the diamond handle because it gives you more control. You can always tell when the arrow is connected by looking at the end handles when you select it. When they are both filled, as you show in your picture above, then it is connected to both the text object and to the wall. If one or both of them is not filled, then it is not connected and your macro won't work. I am still not sure why you would lose the connections when you close and reopen the plan. It could be because you have multiple arrows on top of each other. It could be because you have bad settings in the arrow itself (like Joe mentioned in his post). Be sure that the arrow is marked as "attach tail" and "attach head" otherwise it will never work. I don't think the auto position matters unless you are moving either the text or the wall around. It could be something else, but we would need the plan to know more.

This post probably doesn't belong on the suggestions forum. Sounds more like a support issue or a Q&A issue. You didn't say which version you are using or if you have the latest update. I haven't seen this problem myself and don't remember seeing any other posts on it. It might be something different that you are doing instead of a bug in the program. Seems a shame to give up before you have figured out what the problem is. Post your plan that you are having problems with. Then someone can look into it and see if they can figure it what might be the cause. Or, contact tech support. It's free with your subscription. I haven't used them in years but had good luck with them in the past.

If your computer doesn't meet the minimum system requirements (https://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/sysreq.html), then you can either upgrade to a better computer or contact customer service to get your money back. If your computer does meet the system requirements, then you might want to contact tech support (https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/). You could also try posting your problems on the Q&A forum to see if someone has ideas about how to solve them.

See if the stovepipe is really on the exterior furniture layer. Select it in the view you can see it in and check the status bar to see the layer it's on. Also, probably want to use a better description for you post in the future. You can always add a signature that has your company name or other info.

I couldn't find a setting to do this. As a workaround, you could use a bottom rail, make it smaller, and then offset it so that it is hidden inside the stringer.

Use the "horizontal offset" to move the railing outward. Turn off the bottom rail and use the "raise/lower bottom" to drop the balusters down. Use the "bottom offset" to drop the newel posts down. There are lots of other settings in the railings that you might need to adjust to handle the rest of that railing style. For example, you will need to change the size and offsets of the top railing to get that look and you might want to use a symbol for your balusters and newels if you want the tops and bottoms angled.

Are you using the "export picture" tool? Do you have "retain aspect ratio" checked? I think if you don't have retain aspect ratio, and you turn off "use active window size", you can accidently squish or stretch the picture. If you need the image to be a different aspect ratio, then either set your window size first or edit the picture in a photoshop type program to crop it after exporting it.

I wouldn't bother with a "down" ramp. Just use a normal "up" ramp. Set the width and length to the width and length of of the room and turn off the railings. Turn off automatic heights, check the box for "lock heights", and then set the base height to 0, the bottom of the ramp to 0 (or to the floor height), and the top of the ramp whatever you need it to be. Ramp should then sit on the floor and slope up as much as your need to the top height. As for the room heights, just treat it like a normal room with floor height set to the lowest value.

Ramp should work if the room is rectangular. Would probably want to use a poly solid for any other shaped room.

I think there is a way, but it will be a bit of a pain because you will need to do it for each unique roof plane. Start with an orthogonal full overview. You will need to turn off everything you don't want to see. You can do this by putting each roof plane on a custom layer and turning off all of the other roof planes and any other layers you don't want. So the tricky part is setting up the camera angles so it is looking at the roof plane dead on. If you open up the camera dialog and go to the "positioning" page, you can enter the camera angle and tilt angle manually. You can figure these out using math, but hey, who really wants to do that? Camera angle should be pretty easy since it is just the plan view angle looking at the roof plane from perpendicular to the wall. If you have any walls that are at odd angles, you might need to go into your plan view and use the make parallel/perpendicular tool to make the camera point at the wall perpendicular to it. The tilt angle is a little tricky but you can just open the roof plane dialog and check the box for "pitch in degrees" to get the actual roof angle. Now if you set the tilt angle to (roof angle-90), I think it will always be dead on. Now you should be able to print out this view to use for your model. Just make sure that you use the same scale for all of them otherwise you will have a hard time putting together your model.

You can always try using a new wall type that is only 1/16" thick. Might not be structurally accurate for all situations but would look how you want in a plan view.

I couldn't figure out a way to do it automatically. I tried playing around with the framing reference marker but it didn't seem to make a difference. Might be something you need to submit a feature request for.

First, I would encourage you to give your posts better titles because I almost ignored this because I thought you wanted to hire a draftsman instead of ask a question about the program. Second, making a railing symbol (like Joey suggested) should always prevent the railing from affecting anything else in the model so technically it will work and there are some situations where this is the easiest way to get what you want. In your situation, I'm not sure it's needed and would be less flexible than just using a normal railing. This is what you should get if you just turn off "flat ceiling for this room" and turn on "use soffit surface for ceiling" for the porch room: Not sure how you have things setup but if you post your plan someone can probably help figure it out.

Is that a real "note" or is it just a text object or callout? I played around with the notes and it looks like there might be a bug in X17 because it doesn't work like it used to in X16. As I move the note around, the arrow end is moving in strange ways. So it might not be anything that you did.

I assume you mean "stretch to fit" but basically it sounds like what you are doing should work. Could either be a problem with the image you are using, or a problem with the way you have setup the material, or maybe something else? You could try posting the image on the forum but it would probably be best to post the full plan (and include the image) if you want someone to dig into more.