Chopsaw

Trust me Chief does this too.

The short answer would be to only send to layout once. But there must be more going on here so you can open the layout box and change to Plot Lines with color fill or if you want a live view you can double click on the layout view and change how it will render in plan view. It looks to me like Vector view you had the first time but that could be Standard, or Watercolor or any of the other choices. If that is not helpful it would be good to know what version you are using.

Just ran a test for the first time on a big layout file and Adobe Acrobat printed it with a 53% smaller file size and cleaned up some issues Chief was having but also created other problems so I am not sure if I am any further ahead.

Yes that can be fixed but not sure if there is a default for it anywhere.

If you are using pony walls for your foundation you can set them to display upper or lower and it sounds like you want only lower displayed. Or maybe you just want the footings ?

Richard, GT is using X9 and my example was done in X9. Is there a solution with X9 that we missed ?

Seems maybe you have found a weakness of the wall hatch tool maybe. You can get the hatch to fill the corner the way you want but you will have to drag the interior drywall layer all the way through the wall intersection which is going to cause problems with your model.

Give the Edit Wall Layer Intersections tool a try.

Yes there is still something funny going on as the dividing line seems to stay in the same place but as you zoom in and out the level of distortion seems to vary and at times can clear to the point of almost being unnoticeable but will not stay that way. I may also have something to do with screen resolution maybe.

I think I first noticed it on an 11x17 layout so it is not print size but you are correct that it is larger higher resolution and more detailed images that get broken down and skewed. Unfortunately this is when it is most critical and you want to show precise details that you can zoom in on when necessary. It seems that there is a limit on how much data can be displayed per "box" but then it is also random and works sometimes without breaking down or skewing so there must be a solution somewhere.

Roland, I just ran off a PDF with my setup and used the CA Save As PDF @600 dpi. and ended up with 20 Adobe blue boxes. Hoping someone with a little graphic design know how can figure this out.

Yes I have run into this problem and submitted to tech and hope that they are still working on the issue. You will notice if you view with Adobe Reader that you will get a cross hair pointer that displays and if you click on the PDF it will show highlighted blue boxes that the edges correspond to the areas that are ripping. The only solution tech had at the time was to reduce the resolution to a fuzzy low 72 dpi. It does seem to be a random issue for me so it is difficult to figure out what is causing it. Rene, Could you educate us and expand on this a little if you have time. And what do you see on the "temp3.pdf" ?

I would run that error # past tech support in the morning before deleting any more stuff. Nothing in the Knowledge Base I assume ? Run what you can from the Existing plan for now.

Seems fine on my system but you could post your Video card model and driver version and maybe someone with the same will test for you. Also save the camera that is causing the problem just in case it is the camera settings. How reproducible is the problem?

Yes they are also live now but take a significant amount of computing power to keep them that way when open with a large plan file. You can open the layout box DBX and change the settings back to the old way of Plot lines if you like or just do that while working and turn on the new bling when you are done drawing.

You are so correct Johnny. I have read all the railing threads I could find and explored 5 or 6 viable workarounds over the last couple of days and not found one that satisfies my situation and all I need to do is offset 2" and lower 10 3/4". This feature could save a vast amount of storage space on the Chief Forum server I am sure. Actually called tech and gave them the request almost word for word earlier today before you posted.

You should be able to control it with a Terrain Break beside or under the ramp. Let me know how it goes. I may have a chance to look at the file later this evening if your stuck.

Justin, Can you replace your retaining wall with a flat top ramp? They come with railings.

Thanks Michael, You are the Master of "Cad Detail From View" and I will have to start using this tool more as you always seem to do things with it that I have never thought of. Great tip!

Depends on how accurate you want to be or need to be. Likely you have done it the best way with solids in 3D depending on the build. So if you can illustrate with line work and fills in the wall detail that should work fine for you just with cad and notes. But by all means open a test plan and explore the possibilities in the wall detail DBX.

You can draw with cad onto your wall detail and label if you have already built your steel in 3D. Or you can convert and edit a stud or lintel with some auto profile options and then just paint in 3D. Sometimes I will mark and dimension beam intersections etc, just so things make sense on the wall detail.

This is a little tricky but Michael makes it look easy here : Not too sure without the plan file but you could try turning off the rebuild of Attic Walls in defaults and then redefine the wall to not have drywall. Likely could be easily fixed with the Edit Wall Layer Intersections tool.

Thanks guys for responding to my rant and providing some workarounds. These will help a lot if I can incorporate them into my plan. Eric, I will have to use method 2 as I have a multi level deck but I will keep method 1 handy for its simplicity. Sorry for the misunderstanding as you are using an extra set of walls that I did not understand until looking over your plan files, thank you for that. Yusuf, Your ramp railings seem to require a 1/2" standoff from the deck or bad things happen. Ingenious but not quite within acceptable tolerances for construction drawings. Have you come up with a solution for this since posting or is it just something I have not figured out properly as usual. Eric's methods seem to only require a 1/128" standoff which seems to be dependent on the wall thickness and may even be able to be reduced a little more. Still a few more things to work out. I think Eric's method 2 will work for my "T" top railing that is so common around here that I cant believe Chief does not have a simpler solution for it. Also my Newels may need to be mortised into the deck but I will have to see about that. Just saying there may be more to come here.... And thanks for all your help so far.

Eric, You have me a little confused now that I tried your solution. A railing wall defined as No Room Def can not be controlled by adjusting the floor height of the room. Unless you left something out or I am not understanding. Because bad things happen when two railing walls touch. Also running into serious complications with deck stairs when adjusting floor heights. Seems there is no way to lock the stairs with the deck framing. So I am left with manually building the stairs or the railing. Humm.....