DavidJPotter

I often help Home Designer and Chief Architect software users to learn how to use Chief or Home Designer software or to just help their plans along. visit my website to see examples of my work and to find out how much I charge for help or tutoring, please. Let me know what you decide. DJP

I have several 32-bit applications that run just fine on Windows 10 and in the past on Windows 8, 7 etc. Windows still supports 32 bit apps. DJP

I do not understand your statement or question as stated, sorry. X10 can open any version of Home Designer .plan files back to around Home Designer Version 6 that you started with. But once saved in X10 NO earlier versions than Home Designer 2019 can thereafter edit that plan file and ONLY if the X10 user programs the .plan file to be so edited (found in General Plan Defaults in X10). DJP

Try EBay or perhaps Amazon, Chief Architect does not sell legacy versions of their software. DJP

Lew, et al, it has always been this way: Newer versions can open older versions but once saved older versions cannot then after, open or edit those same files, whether Chief Premier or Home Designer Pro, top to bottom. The matching Chief Premier can work with the matching versions of Home Designer (with one exception: Chief Premier layout files cannot be edited in Home Designer Pro of any version. Home Designer pro you create one layout for each printed page and of course, Chief Premier's layout is capable of multiple printed pages per .layout file. I just finished a set of plans for a Home Designer Pro user and had to make 21 layout files, one for each printed page! DJP

X 10 is compatible only with HD 2019 X9 is compatible only with HD 2018 X8 with HD 2017 X7 with HD 2016 etc In order to actually share the plan file with Home Designer users is to, while open in Chief go to "General Plan Defaults" and you will find a checkbox there for programming the plan file for use in Home Designer Products. ONLY when that is checked and you then save the plan in Chief will any HD user be able to edit the plan thereafter. I do this all the time with various Home Designer users. DJP

Blueprints are not created, like the Ten Commandments, with God's own finger but rather by people like you and me. It is common that homes built from blueprints rarely match them in every respect and besides, no one will ever take up residence in a virtual-digital home, but rather just the one built from such helping constructs. In Home Designer Pro you only have, really a single choice using "sloped soffits". In Chief Premier there are additional choices but of course that is one of many reasons that Chief Premier costs a lot more than Pro. Your staircase many not meet today's codes for stairs and some stairs require a lot of manual, custom manipulation to make them come out right. After looking at your PDF, it appears that your stairs, meet code and should not be that difficult to emulate. Stairs are a pain and require methodical exactitude to make them work often times. 4) I had some success building the double sided fireplace but it was painful since I had to create all these walls and covering them with masonry, adding a window for the firehole, etc. But it becomes cumbersome very quickly. (I really wanted to make the entire fireplace as an architectural block but couldn't get that to work using walls. Also, editing an existing fireplace appeared to be too limiting for my needs.) Again you are up against the limitations provided by Home Designer Pro. In order to do everything possible in Chief, Pro users often also have to download and learn Sketch Up whre complex custom symbols can be more easily created for importation into HD Pro as symbols. Each project requires specific constructs and not all of them can be natively made in HD Pro. DJP

You can easily use a Default Window and then turn off the "Casing" adjust the "Sash" to then emulate the lower fixed window, then copy-paste that one above and resize it taller. Line up the two windows, then "Block" the pair. Be sure that in "Edit - Default Settings - Windows - Minimum Width Settings" is set to "Zero inches", then copy-paste the pairs to get the overall width you need and want, resizing the width as necessary. DJP

Read this Knowledge Base Help article and then practice what it says until you can create stairs with landings yourself: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00263/creating-staircases-connected-by-landings.html And watch this video located on the Home Designer Website: https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/videos/watch/2246/ The stair tool has not changed for many versions, including yours. DJP

A screen capture of my Windows Task Bar DJP

There are SO many variations of this term, a sample that they pick out is essential, that image could then be added to the plans: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/german-smear-technique/?autologin=true DJP

I have tried demo versions of Softplan and Revit and found them unimpressive. I think the main thing is the earned competence of the end user is always what makes the difference in the quality of produce and NOT the software used. I have seen renderings and plans created by others in many types of programs over the years and the only common denominator is the ability of the user, never the software. DJP

Are you saying that you currently have a copy of Home Designer Suite made by Chief Architect Inc? Which version of Home Designer Suite do you currently have? Once I know exactly what you need and have, I can then answer your original question. DJP

Do as you like, others opinions are just that: others opinions. Do as you see fit for you and your family. DJP

In Chief Architect Premier there is a setting in "General Plan Defaults" as a checkbox that says: "Allow editing in Home Designer Products". So you check-mark that setting in Chief and that allows Home Designer titles of the same version year to edit and work on these .plan files. An older version of Home Designer can NOT open such files at all what so ever. DJP

Only Home Designer Pro has the manual ability to edit roof planes. As Eric has indicated, in Suite all you can do is to alter Wall Specification Dialog - Roof Tab settings and other Structural Tab settings and then rebuild roofs or you can upgrade to HD Pro that does have manual roof editing abilities. DJP

If you are using a Wall Elevation Camera it will by default exclude the fireplace which is in a separate room from the viewpoint of that camera type, what I would use is a full elevation/cross section camera that will by default include the room and the fireplace. I am busy and I have NOT looked at your plan (thanks for sharing) but that is my opinion on what you might be seeing. DJP.

I have been using Chief since they added that feature. I too have always had a laptop for field work and my desktop. The procedure is simple but allows for NO variations of procedure. You can deactivate your desktop at home or you can deactivate or activate while online but the online activation and deactivation MUST be supported by a good Internet connection to do this. Whether at home or in the field a usable internet connection is required. I usually do the deactivate and activate at home where I have the best internet connection to support my choice. DJP

Was done in X9 DJP

Open Edit - Default Settings - Roof Defaults - Arrow - then choose a more prominint arrow size and Text size by way of the Text Size Input box. If you have already built roof planes you also might need to shift-select all roof planes and make those changes but I would reset Default Settings first. DJP

What Eric (Solver above) describes can be done AFTER one has MANY TIMES practiced doing so using simple test plans BEFORE trying this simple, but exacting method on your main plan. This is done by ONE designated user on ONE plan (not multiple users on the same plan. In order for this to not be a complete disaster, each of the individual users would have to carefully and thoroughly get the actions down perfectly before you let them do this on their own. BEFORE ANYONE DOES ANYTHING THERE NEEDS TO BE A COMPLETE, COMPETENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS BEFORE DOING IT ON THE MAIN .PLAN FILE, PERIOD. To do otherwise is just inviting disaster. As to multiple users working on a single floor plan together, you might call Chief Architect Sales about this and ask them that exact question. They do have specialized setups for networking Chief for classrooms but I have never heard of such a set up for commercial usage like in a design firm like you are asking about. Call them and find out from the SOURCE first, here all you will get is opinions, from Sales you will get facts. DJP

By observation, the "Backclip" camera shows exactly what you get when you first "left-click", which establishes the "Viewpoint" of that camera view. Then when you "Release the mouse" that exact point establishes the extent of what can be seen in that camera view. That is what I have observed is the case. You can decide for yourself it in fact it means something else. DJP

If you want something to look "exactly" like the photo you make it using corbels and polyline solid custom objects, only takes a minute and the more you do it, the better-faster you become, or there are some pergola symbols in libraries you can download from the Chief Architect Catalog area that will work but will not look like the photo, your choice. By the time you take to search for and download such symbols, you could have just made your custom pergola and move on to other actual productive work DJP

One more time... DJP