para-CAD

- Word of mouth. - Yelp. - Helping people outside of trying to make a buck on everything. Good happens.

Thanks Richard! I hadn't understood that before.

I'm currently licensed in WA state. So far all my designs are in WA state. In the olden days, I did my own drawings for design/builds in TX, TN, KY and even a job in Canada. The drawings were always mine. I did the framing on-site DBA a corp licensed in TX. Always legal. Your topic title makes me think YOU think you have to be licensed in every state you draw projects in/for. I have no idea. People order plans from online sources for every state....I'm pretty sure they have that part solved. I'm interested to see where this thread goes. Might uncover some good info.

I have a single .dwt file that has maybe 500 details on it. I tried to import that and learned that each detail should be its own uniquely named file. I haven't taken the time to do that yet. Maybe I'll get motivated one day when I have time.... So how do I deploy a CAD detail in chief......in the plan, or directly in a layout? I would assume in a layout but I've never tried. And in autocad, I make a viewport to select what I want to see of the modelspace in paperspace....not 100% clued in with the same process in CA. Thus, I only have the actual floor plan in the plan file. I tried a site plan in the plan file once. Big head ache for me. So I keep scouring youtube and watching videos from those who have gone before and are kind enough to capture/share their knowledge. Mine are a bastardization of CA and autoCAD, but they work. It'll be nice when I can streamline the workflow. I can't seem to get CA to put the level of specificity into some things that I can in AutoCAD (I know it's only because I haven't mastered yet) Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions. I appreciate that!

I've done this on my last five plans because I have several details that I like that I created in AutoCAD and I'm not skilled enough in chief architect yet to bring them across successfully. Here's how I manage to bring in details as screenshots with 144 PPI/DPI resolution and at scale. I even called the ICC and vendors to get permission to use their work directly in my plans. So far, green light. I started a thread here... Here is a PDF of a layout pages I paste my details and other CAD files onto as scaled image files. reference_01.pdf

I can strongly recommend Puget Systems here on the West Coast. https://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/genesis/I/customize.php This is the baseline model I had them build. It is a solid performer and their tech support are people from their office in Auburn. Great company.

http://www.userbenchmark.com/Faq/What-s-the-difference-between-SATA-PCIe-and-NVMe/105 NVMe looks like a RAM stick and is really fast. SATA SSD has a bigger overall size, like a standard HDD without any moving parts.

Yep. I realized that I was all over the place with cloud accounts, both free and paid. I copied everything to iCloud from Dropbox and worked that way for about a week. iCloud works fine. Not as fast at syncing as Dropbox, but it does sync everything to my phone if I want to access it. "It just works".......iCloud Drive\Documents\(1) para-CAD\_Clients I also use Evernote to keep all the project data and completed PDFs in. That way I have quick access to a couple of different sources to share files from if I'm on the road or away from my computer. One Note probably works the same. If I was Windows based, I might try the One Drive/One Note combination.

I was paying for the 1TB Dropbox and the 2TB iCloud. Now I just use iCloud. - Dropbox seems the fastest. - iCloud has wider Apple integration at the app level. - Box.com is okay and highly secure but they are resource hogs. - One drive is Microsoft. I’ve never tried them. - Google drive.....well they’ll read all your files but they are free I think.

1. What does your business need and what can you justify as an investment to making that happen? 2. Contact Chief and ask their future ops people where they are thinking about being in 3-5 years and what types of hardware they will be coding for. (If they want to share that info) 3. The M.2 NVMe SSD drives are really great. They are about the size of a RAM stick. The Samsung 960 Pro NVMe is almost 6 times faster in read/writes than the 850 Pro SATA SSD and WAY more faster than a spinning platter HD. 4. I like the idea of a single large 4K monitor. With screen position snapping you can have open apps snapped to positions as if they are on separate monitors.......WITHOUT THE TWO TOUCHING BEZELS IN THE MIDDLE. This is a personal thing though. Sometimes I like a dedicated screen to have a spreadsheet open or whatever. Maybe someday I'll go solo monitor. 5. I am hearing crypto-coin mining has skewed the graphics card market....that's a pain. My mac is only 2GB and works okay. The PC upstairs has the 1080 Ti 11GB. It is a WORLD of difference in rendering 3D, rotation, zooming. I wish you the best in whatever you decide.

The layout looks pixelated compared to the plan view. Did you export to PDF at the highest resolution from layout yet? Sometimes layout issues disappear when the final export to PDF is done. But what do I know. I never have nice looking stuff like this. I just create plans for permit.

10 years ago I used Solid Builder 19.2 to create wall panel shop drawings for an apartment complex in Junction City, Kansas. It was great software for creating individual walls saved to PDF by page so that they could be manufactured off-site, stacked in reverse assembly order, and then delivered for rapid build out. I haven't had the need to do anything like that since, but I was wondering if walls could be broken into individual panels and printed on single pages relatively easily in Chief Architect? See attached file for the output document that Solid Builder creates. Wall Panel.pdf

Our county just went paperless for the permit submission process. They are swamped/busy so they outsource the first look at a set of plans to WCCC, a plan checking firm. Of course, when WCCC found FIVE pages of things they wanted added to my super-duper plans, my first reaction was anger. "What the..........?" Well, I've come to a new understanding. I'm a solo business. I have NO review staff. I double, triple, quadruple check my work then send it off and see what happens. Since going paperless, I have had 2 plans come back with additional info requested. So this has got me thinking. Other than some lost time, I've been given the opportunity to tighten up my plans. This company (WCCC) has: - done a plan check for me - created a list with code references - included screenshots of the area in question So, once I choked-out my misplaced pride, I realized this was a great opportunity to make it a new challenge to improve my construction docs. Now I am more focused to address all kinds of little things that I was used to being industry standard and assumed, now being written out and addressed. I went from pissed off to motivated to take up the challenge. Just wanted to share.

Great post. I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly. Thanks!

Draw your plans by typing in exact measurements when placing objects. Like a building's framing should be some feet' - 11" wide (like 31'-11"). Making the framing end at 11 inches allows for the sheathing to take the structure to an even foot measurement. (like 32'-0"). Also, framers *****, moan, complain. It's what we/they do. Nice that you are willing to placate their concerns.

Back a couple years ago I created this initial model for a spec builder/pastor. He wanted it for much less than I was asking for. So here you go.....free. And as with anything free, I wasn't very CA skilled, so the model might have issues. I was able to build one side complete and then mirror it with a 2" separation gap. I owe much to the great work by all the experts here and the videos some have created. Thanks! Ontario St Duplex_R1.plan

Yep. I've been using Dragon for mac as well. I became frustrated with the activity of creating the same words as already exist....so I reached out to them. Now I copy/paste and know that I'm not skirting the law.

And for shrinking a PDF's file size I like CompressPDF. (see screenshot) It can take a 30MB PDF and shrink it to 5MB or so with no noticeable degradation.

I spoke with a representative of the ICC legal department yesterday. (the folks who make the IRC and other code books) I had recently received my 2018 IRC code book and on the cover was a sticker that said I could in no way make any duplication or copy of any part of that book in any way without written permission from the ICC.....so I was asking them for written permission to copy paste code from their website (that I just joined). I explained that the county that I am working with seems to be requiring more and more direct code language inserted into the plans on the pages they are referring to. I explained that t I was reading the code from the book and typing it directly onto my plans. I asked her if I could get their written permission to copy and paste rather than have to type so that it would speed up my time and minimize potential typographical errors. The nice lady said that under the fair use doctrine I was allowed to copy up to five pages at a time. This was great news! I told her that I mostly only copied about a paragraph or two depending on what I was drawing. She said I did not need a letter from them as long as I was copying less than five pages of direct copying. It's nice to work with reasonable people. Oh, and she said t that if ever I run across a code or requirement that seems odd or not something that is done typically in the industry that they welcome suggestions from people such as us in the industry on how to address that code or requirement. She said they receive all kinds of comments and suggestions and part of their job is to analyze and test these industry suggestions for possible addition in future codebook releases.

I might be late to the party but here's my two cents (and I'm just up the road in Kingston so I know what you mean about Kitsap County going paperless) I'm on a mac so it may be different if you're on a Windows machine, but I use an application called PDF Expert. One of the options is file/save as flatten. (see attached image) I'm pretty sure that Adobe Acrobat or other PDF applications have the ability to merge all the layers into one so that things don't get hidden or mis-located by other PDF applications.

Love your avatar. SCMS! I bought one when I started framing on my own. I was given a hard time about it by other framers. After a few years I saw them on more jobsites. Precision became an obsession. I fully believe that the more accurately you calculate and cut materials, the structure tends to "true" itself as you assemble it. (If one knows what one is doing).

I have run into a repeatable issue when using rich text. Whenever I am creating a note that specifies IRC code I typically bold and underline the top line, then leave the rest as regular text. I noticed that chief architect defaults the font color as a good-looking dark blue. When I select all the text in the window and then change the color from original chief architect blue to black, all of the text not only changes to black but it also becomes bold and underlined like the original first line. It's not a big deal other than I have to highlight the lines underneath the first line and toggle off bold and underline. This happens every time I try it. Is this typical and to be worked around, or maybe it's just me on my mac. Thanks. Rich Text Issue (HB).mp4

I see Chief as a two-pronged tool mostly. 1. Sales tool with great 3D modeling to educate clients on what they are getting with their design 2. Creator of construction plans for permit. Sure it does more, but for me, I get paid to create plans for permit and it has NOT been easy to get up to speed with Chief. I give MUCH credit to DS Hall, The Alaskan Son, ChiefTutor and all the others who have taken the time to create videos to SHOW how to use Chief effectively. Thank You! I would like to see a collaboration between the smart/talented people here to develop "the perfect" residential layout template. (well actually it would be close maybe) It could follow the general format we would all vote on: Cover Gen Notes Design Criteria and State/Local specifics Site/Plot Plan Ecology Foundation Basement Plan Basement Framing First Floor Plan First Floor Framing Second Floor Plan Second Floor Framing Elevations Sections Schedules Roof 3D Not all would apply for everyone, but a thorough starter template would be great. Each page would have basic text and details located (current IRC code etc - if allowed by copyright). All items would be customizable. It would be nice to have some of the ruby macro tools already populated and ready to use or delete instead of spending so much time trying to discover if something is possible. The "work-around" term is wearing thin with me. A work-around is just a series of steps that can be encapsulated into a.........button. It just takes smart coders and the will and $$$ to make it happen. Just my 2 cents for today

All of our garages up here have either straps or some form of hold down but we don’t add anything more than what the hold down requirement is which is typically two or three studs total.

The 2018 code fixes this. I just bought it in binder format and was happy to discover this. It’s not in effect yet but it’s nice to see they’re fixing things that don’t make too much sense.