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(despite Lew's incredible skill and first time submittal success rate) Larry: I never did CA and my qty of permits was tiny compared to you guys my "skill" was finding out what the jurisdiction wanted and giving "only" that to them the more you give after that - the more the feel the need to find something "wrong" Lew

As Scott and Larry have stated every jurisdiction is different even town by town call and ask what they need visit their website visit the website of lots of other jurisdictions some have wonderful amounts of info - great learning tools Lew

Bross: try connecting 430 to a Win 1o PC and print to PDF then to printer using PDF first can solve many driver issues Lew

an alternative http://www.signature995.com/ I have been using PDF995 since Chief ver 9.5 since it used to come with Chief - still works fine for me I just bought the entire suite995 - it was time to make a contribution again I had done this a decade ago but lost the license when a PC died Lew

find out what garage mechanics and other non-licensed trades charge maybe even charge a little lower until he has a few project under the belt and can tout via his website then start raising rates as his confidence goes up if you are getting more than 1/3 of your bids you are probably charging too little if you are not getting 1/3 of your bids then you are doing something wrong or have bad breath or .... Lew

I never had any trouble with any of these issues My partner Joe was always able to figure it out Lew

Larry's advice is very good model your own house or a family or friends house so that you have constant access to it to learn how to measure and model "everything" when you can duplicate a complete as-built you will know the software decently never do a job for free to get the experience tell the builder or remodeler or homeowner "no fee until the permit is accepted - then you owe $$$" I did my first job for free there is always someone on the forum who can help with issues either for free or fee Lew

could be fixed EASILY by letting us set the floor height of a room and then letting us LOCK it at that height. Nothing changes until we unlock it Richard: good luck on this I've been asking for over a decade in the past the request was not received well by CA Lew

there is someone who will/can fix it for free or fee Lew

if intended as an argument or "smarter than ... " does not help solve this problem nope not that at all just stating why I (and others) like to use PDF if going straight to printer is what you want then go for it Lew

printing to PDF first is the "recommended" method 1. allows verification before "wasting paper" 2. allows for emailing plans etc 3. create archive of what was actually sent to client etc probably a few others I also create PDF's of web pages I want to save orders when buying online etc etc etc Lew

+1 here too just goes to show how stupid these points are Lew

my overall recommendations 1. as Graeme stated - get the best you can afford - don't scrimp 2. spend $ on items that can't be upgraded later 3. get as many cores as possible and get an i7 cpu (forget i3 or i5) 4. get an Nvidia video card - best gaming card you can afford no need for Quadro card unless other software can benefit from it 5. get a decent power supply - 800w range 6. get at least 8 GB ram - ensure there is room for growth to 16 GB or more you want a system that will be good for 5 years personally I despise win10 but that is the top dog now (get PRO - always get PRO) best to get a PC built for win10 if you really hate it - it is possible to drop back to win 7 PRO note support for win7 ends in 2020 Lew

Chopsaw: very nice on drawing walls in 3D thanks for showing that Lew

All CAD programs are a work in progress, otherwise we'd all be using the final version Telling it like it is .... Lew

I agree that the reputation system is "stupid" and can only lead to bad things with petty people Payette: I gave you a + also Lew

SOFTPLAN - it is VERY procedure oriented this would drive me crazy ..... Lew

Lance: no public beta yet official release likely to occur Q1 2017 (March ?) Lew

it looks like the LIving Area Label has FINALLY been fixed Lew

NOTE: printing to PDF first usually bypasses most printer driver issues Lew

Michael: yes, I doubt if they will want to pay what it will cost do so In 2008 I became a licensed Realtor and thought of offering that service to my fellow agents It soon became apparent that the money just wasn't there maybe for really high-end houses ??? Lew

in the past I had no issues (that I remember) in reversing a plan perhaps those plans were "simple" so to hear that there are these types of issues is disturbing especially about having to re-frame why would stone veneer and siding colors disappear - that is just wrong !!! since we are now on ver 18 of Chief this should be a one-click operation Lew

Nelson: as for running Chief from another drive besides C: I would check with tech support as in the past they would blame any/all issues on this I started with ver 9.5 and with ver X1 I learned it's not nice to argue with "Mother CA" since then I have always installed Chief to C: and all its other default locations Lew

we probably won't see official X9 until Q1 (March ?) Lew

Larry: I would agree with your comments when I was doing projects I usually found stairs "complicated" and anything beyond the "simple" I usually let me partner do anything that makes stairs "easier" is welcome my biggest stair "wish" is to be able to block all the pieces and parts as an "assembly" especially if it is a multi-floor stair system so that the entire "assembly" can be moved 1" or 1' if desired by me or the client Lew