Set Mfr cabinet catalog as default?


TennVol
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Have a client wanting to use Kraftmaid cabinets throughout and trying to figure out a simple way to make them the default for that drawing. Spent some time searching the forum but nothing seems to address this. I'm sure I missed it somewhere...  Thanks. 

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Yes, shortcut to default settings.  Had looked in there and it appears there would be several things to set via the library buttons.  I could do that, but was wanting to know if there is an overall setting to point to the mfr catalog to just fill all those selections in based on the catalog's content. 

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10 minutes ago, TennVol said:

wanting to know if there is an overall setting to point to the mfr catalog to just fill all those selections in based on the catalog's content

 

No unfortunately , but you can build a "Kraftmaid Template Plan" and a Library Folder with saved Cabinets over time , if you think you'll work with Their Products a lot?

 

Mark McAniff  ( MarkMc ) has posted on the process of making a Manufacturer's "Catalog" before , so I'd think it was search-able....

 

@MarkMc

 

M.

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1 minute ago, TennVol said:

B plan is I'll just place one of each type and copy as needed

 

And then Save to a KraftMaid Folder in your Library too... and place cabinets from it in the future if needed not the Cabinet Dropdown.

 

Mick.

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19 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Just a thought, but you might look into joining the Beta testing team and see if the new Style Palette tools will do what you need. Not sure if they’re looking for testers yet or not, but I imagine it wouldn’t hurt to ask...

 

beta@chiefarchitect.com
 

 

 

They took down the Beta 2 announcement , and usually the next release ( Public Beta) is done on the 1st day of the KBIS Show in Vegas which is Jan. 21st this year. If your SSA is valid for 2 months beyond that point (I believe it will be available automatically in your Digital Locker the day of the Show.

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On 1/5/2020 at 5:34 PM, TennVol said:

I could do that, but was wanting to know if there is an overall setting to point to the mfr catalog to just fill all those selections in based on the catalog's content. 

Not sure what you mean there since the Kraftmaid catalog has dozens of door styles, finishes, species. There is no way for the program to know what you want as default. This would be no different in 2020 or any other kitchen design software.

How I deal with client specific mfg (or anything else) Set up a library folder for the client (or the job), adding spaces to the front of the name so it is at or near the top of the library list. For a cabinet brand then a sub-folder within that. Find out what the most common doorstyles they use are-they never use all of em and rarely use more than half a dozen. Copy those to your folder. I copy most or all of the wood species and finishes. Moldings -the Kraftmaid catalog in CA doesn't have any (?) so get hold of a pdf catalog to find out what you need or find out what the client uses most and place in a sub folder.

Once you have all that then if you set your defaults from there and need to change them Chief will open to that folder which saves a tone of clicking around the library.

 

As to cabinets-none of Chief's catalogs have cabinets in them. I make the most used ones that are work to configure (as Kbird noted more info on that posted in the past).

The big trick with cabinets comes when you want to generate a schedule suitable for ordering. That means that you need labels to match the makers specs. In Kraftmaid this is a bit of a bear since they use so  many different labels. Instead of adding an accessory it becomes a new cabinet label. Building a user library for that would get more than a little cumbersome. Hopefully you are not expected to provide that level of detail and can get away with a more generic schedule? IF I had to do a Kraftmaid schedule for someone on a regular basis I'd be looking at a macro to generate the label. Now most brands I can use a very simple macro for that and then have some specific cabinets in the library. For KM that would not be adequate. I had written a macro back a ways for Showplace which was also complicated though not quite as bad as KM. It should exist somewhere on the forum. If you need something like that and are not versed in Ruby it would be wise to contact Alaskan Son or Joe Carrick or someone who writes macros for a fee.

My 2 cents.

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Thanks all.  Mark - the good news is the the client's wife works at Lowes and knows the cab's and finish she wants, so I went through the library and set up a few to match.  Made life  a lot easier once I got that info.  

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