chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 1 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Chief Architect® X6 Reference Manual Professional Design & Drafting Software Chief Architect, Inc. 6500 N. Mineral Dr. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83815 chiefarchitect.com chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 2 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM © 1990–2014 by Chief Architect, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book or the accompanying software may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Chief Architect, Inc. Chief Architect® is a registered trademark of Chief Architect, Inc. The Sentry Spelling-Checker Engine This software uses the Ruby open source © 1994–2003 Wintertree Software Inc. library. See http://www.ruby-lang.org/ for details. The City Blueprint and Country Blueprint fonts are © 1992–1999 Payne Loving Trust. This application incorporates Teigha® All rights reserved. software pursuant to a license agreement with Open Design Alliance. This software uses the FreeImage open Teigha® Copyright © 2003-2013 by Open source image library. See Design Alliance. All rights reserved. http://freeimage.sourceforge.net for details. FreeImage is used under the FIPL license, version 1.0. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of Chief Architect, Inc. or their respective owners. Created in the United States of America. chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 3 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Contents Chapter 1: Program Overview Chief Architect Premier vs Interiors vs Lite...................................27 Startup Options.................................................................................28 The Chief Architect Environment...................................................29 Using the Mouse.................................................................................31 View and Side Windows....................................................................33 Toolbars and Hotkeys.......................................................................34 Menus..................................................................................................35 Dialogs................................................................................................36 The Status Bar...................................................................................39 Message Boxes....................................................................................40 Preferences and Default Settings.....................................................41 Drawing a Plan..................................................................................42 Viewing Your Plan............................................................................44 Sharing Your Files with Clients.......................................................45 Getting Help.......................................................................................46 About Chief Architect.......................................................................47 Chief Architect Trial Software.........................................................47 Chapter 2: File Management Compatibility with Previous Versions.............................................50 Organizing Your Files.......................................................................51 Chief Architect Data..........................................................................51 3 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 4 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Chief Architect X6 Reference Manual Creating a New Plan or Layout........................................................52 Saving, Exporting, and Backing Up Files........................................53 Thumbnail Images.............................................................................57 Auto Archive......................................................................................57 Undo Files...........................................................................................59 Opening and Importing Files...........................................................59 Plan Databases...................................................................................61 Searching for Plans...........................................................................64 Backup Entire Plan...........................................................................67 Closing Views and Files....................................................................68 Exiting Chief Architect.....................................................................69 Chapter 3: Preferences and Default Settings Default Settings vs Preferences........................................................72 Dynamic Defaults..............................................................................74 Set as Default.....................................................................................74 Multiple Saved Defaults....................................................................75 Annotation Sets..................................................................................78 Exporting and Importing Annotation Sets.....................................81 Template Files....................................................................................82 Importing Default Settings...............................................................84 Reset to Defaults................................................................................85 General Plan Defaults Dialog...........................................................86 Preferences Dialog.............................................................................88 Dialog Number/Angle Style Dialog................................................126 Chapter 4: Toolbars and Hotkeys Toolbar Arrangement.....................................................................129 Customizing Toolbars.....................................................................131 Creating Custom Toolbar Configurations....................................134 4 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 5 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Toolbar Customization Dialog.......................................................135 Hotkeys.............................................................................................138 Exporting and Importing Hotkeys.................................................141 Chapter 5: Layers Displaying Objects...........................................................................144 Layer Sets.........................................................................................145 Layer Set Management...................................................................147 Active Layer Set Control................................................................148 Layer Display Options Dialog........................................................148 Select Layer Dialog..........................................................................151 Layer Panel......................................................................................152 Object Layer Properties..................................................................152 Layer Painter, Eyedropper and Hider..........................................153 Layout Layer Sets............................................................................154 Exporting and Importing Layer Sets.............................................155 Layer Set Defaults Dialog...............................................................156 Chapter 6: Creating Objects Architectural vs CAD Objects........................................................158 Defaults and Preferences................................................................158 Snap Behaviors................................................................................160 Object Snaps....................................................................................160 Angle Snaps......................................................................................162 Grid Snaps........................................................................................164 Creating Objects..............................................................................165 Copying and Pasting Objects.........................................................168 5 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 6 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Chief Architect X6 Reference Manual Chapter 7: Editing Objects Defaults and Preferences................................................................176 Edit Behaviors..................................................................................176 Selecting Objects..............................................................................180 Editing Line Based Objects............................................................184 Editing Arc Based Objects..............................................................188 Editing Open Polyline Based Objects............................................193 Editing Closed-Polyline Based Objects.........................................198 Editing Box-Based Objects.............................................................203 Editing Spline Based Objects.........................................................206 Editing Circles, Ovals and Ellipses................................................211 Displaying Objects...........................................................................214 Moving Objects................................................................................217 Aligning Objects..............................................................................220 Resizing Objects..............................................................................226 Reshaping Objects...........................................................................227 Rotating Objects..............................................................................231 Reflecting Objects............................................................................234 Converting Objects..........................................................................235 Transform/Replicate Object Dialog...............................................238 Trim and Extend.............................................................................240 Union, Intersection, and Subtract..................................................242 Select Same / Load Same................................................................245 Edit Area Tools................................................................................246 Deleting Objects...............................................................................249 Undo and Redo................................................................................251 Chapter 8: Walls, Railings, and Fencing Wall, Railing, and Fencing Defaults..............................................254 6 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 7 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Wall Tools.........................................................................................259 Railing and Deck Tools...................................................................261 Fencing Tools...................................................................................263 Exterior and Interior Walls............................................................263 Foundation Walls.............................................................................264 Pony Walls........................................................................................266 Room Dividers and Invisible Walls................................................267 Polygon Shaped Rooms and Decks................................................268 Hatch Wall.......................................................................................269 Break Wall.......................................................................................270 Drawing Walls.................................................................................270 Connecting Walls.............................................................................273 Displaying Walls..............................................................................274 Measuring Walls..............................................................................277 Editing Walls....................................................................................278 Edit Handles for Walls....................................................................282 Editing Straight/Curved Wall Combinations...............................284 Aligning Walls..................................................................................285 Roof Directives in Walls..................................................................288 Attic Walls........................................................................................290 Stepped and Raked Walls...............................................................291 Double Walls....................................................................................292 CAD to Walls...................................................................................293 Wall Type Definitions......................................................................295 Wall Type Definitions Dialog.........................................................298 Exporting and Importing Wall Types...........................................301 Wall Specification Dialog................................................................301 Railing and Fencing Specification Dialogs....................................315 Wall Hatch Specification Dialog....................................................321 7 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 8 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Chief Architect X6 Reference Manual Chapter 9: Rooms Floor and Room Defaults................................................................324 Room Definition...............................................................................325 Selecting Rooms...............................................................................325 Displaying Rooms............................................................................327 Editing Rooms..................................................................................327 Room Types......................................................................................329 Room Labels....................................................................................331 Decks.................................................................................................334 Floor and Ceiling Heights...............................................................335 Floor and Ceiling Platforms...........................................................337 Floor/Ceiling Structure Definition Dialogs...................................339 Special Ceilings................................................................................342 Room Polylines................................................................................345 Room Specification Dialog..............................................................346 Room Finish Schedules...................................................................354 Chapter 10: Doors Door Defaults...................................................................................355 The Door Tools................................................................................356 Displaying Doors..............................................................................359 Editing Doors...................................................................................360 Changing Door Swings....................................................................363 Special Doors....................................................................................366 Door Specification Dialog...............................................................368 Door Schedules................................................................................382 Chapter 11: Windows Window Defaults.............................................................................384 8 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 9 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM The Window Tools...........................................................................384 Special Windows..............................................................................386 Grouped Windows...........................................................................388 Make Mulled Unit............................................................................389 Window Levels.................................................................................391 Displaying Windows........................................................................393 Editing Windows.............................................................................395 Custom Muntins..............................................................................396 Window Specification Dialog..........................................................398 Bay, Box, and Bow Windows..........................................................416 Bay, Box, Bow Windows and Roofs...............................................418 Bay/Box and Bow Window SpecificationDialogs.........................420 Window Schedules...........................................................................424 Chapter 12: Multiple Floors Floor Defaults Dialog......................................................................426 Floor Tools.......................................................................................426 Adding Floors...................................................................................427 Displaying Floors.............................................................................429 Exchanging Floors...........................................................................430 Copying Floors.................................................................................430 Deleting Floors.................................................................................431 Rebuilding Walls, Floors and Ceilings..........................................431 Split Levels.......................................................................................432 The Current Floor...........................................................................433 The Attic Floor.................................................................................433 The Reference Floor........................................................................434 Chapter 13: Foundations Foundation Defaults........................................................................438 9 chief-architect-x6-reference-manual.book Page 10 Sunday, August 3, 2014 10:10 AM Chief Architect X6 Reference Manual Building a Foundation.....................................................................442 Displaying Foundations..................................................................444 Editing Foundations........................................................................445 Aligning Foundation Walls.............................................................448 Deleting Foundations......................................................................448 Foundations and Rooms.................................................................449 Foundations and the Terrain..........................................................450 The Slab Tools.................................................................................452 Editing Slabs....................................................................................452 Editing Piers and Pads....................................................................453 Slab Specification Dialog................................................................453 Fireplaces.........................................................................................455 Fireplace Specification Dialog........................................................456 Library Fireplaces...........................................................................459 Chimneys..........................................................................................459 Chapter 14: Roofs Automatic vs. Manual Roofs..........................................................462 Roof Defaults....................................................................................463 The Roof Tools.................................................................................464 Automatic Roofs..............................................................................465 Build Roof Dialog............................................................................468 Roof Planes.......................................................................................477 Displaying Roofs..............................................................................479 Editing Roof and Ceiling Planes....................................................480 Roof Plane Specification Dialog.....................................................486 Roof Baseline Polylines...................................................................492 Roof Baseline Specification Dialog................................................493 Roof and Ceiling Framing..............................................................495 Curved Roof Planes.........................................................................495 10