The Chief Architect Environment

Chief Architect's parametric, object-based design technology means you place and edit objects rather than work with the many individual lines or surfaces used to represent them.

You can quickly select and edit the location, size, shape, style and other properties of objects as well as change the materials applied to their surfaces.

Use Chief Architect's editing capabilities to make the objects you place in a plan match the objects they represent in real life. For example, you can set up your windows and doors to match those available from your supplier.

3D Drafting

In Chief Architect, the entire drawing area is laid out on a three dimensional coordinate system described using the X, Y and Z axes.

Architectural objects take up space in all three dimensions and their height, width and depth can be specified in Imperial or metric units. In addition, the location of objects can be precisely defined using coordinates.

CAD objects such as lines and arcs take up space in two dimensions in the current view. Their dimensions can also be specified in Imperial or metric units and their locations precisely defined using coordinates.

Easy Access to Tools

Menus provide access to most tools.

Convenient toolbar buttons allow fast access to tools and let you customize the interface.

Many tools also have keyboard shortcuts.

Contextual menus display with a right-click of the mouse.

The status bar at the bottom of the screen provides tool descriptions and other information about the current task.

Using the Mouse

Many objects, such as doors and cabinets, are created by clicking the left mouse button. Others, such as walls, stairs and dimension lines, are created by dragging the pointer from one end of the object to the other.

left button is the primary button used in Chief Architect. Unless specified otherwise, this reference manual refers to the left mouse button.


Note: If you are left-handed and have re-programmed your mouse, reverse the instructions for left and right buttons in this manual.

The Right button has several uses. Right-click to select any object. For example, if the Exterior Wall

tool is active, the left mouse button allows you to select only walls. You can select other object types such as cabinets, or stairs with the right mouse button.

Use the right mouse button to temporarily switch to the Alternate edit behavior. See "Edit Behaviors".

You can also use the right mouse button to open context sensitive menus with additional editing commands.

The Middle button can be used to pan in floor plan view or to temporarily use the Move edit behavior. See "Edit Behaviors".

The Back, or X1, button on 5-button mice can be used to temporarily enable the Concentric edit behavior. See "Edit Behaviors" or the documentation for your mouse.

The Forward, or X2, button on a 5-button mouse can be used to temporarily enable the Resize edit behavior. See "Edit Behaviors" or the documentation for your mouse.

Using the Edit Handles

When you select an object, its edit handles display. How each handle behaves when it is clicked and dragged may depend on which Edit Behavior

is currently active. See "Edit Behaviors".

When you pass the mouse over the edit handles, the pointer changes to show how you can use that handle.

A two-headed arrow indicates that the object, corner or edge can be moved in the direction of the arrows.

A four-headed arrow indicates that the selected object or edge may be moved in multiple directions.

A circular arrow indicates that the selected object can be rotated.

Resize handles display along the edges of the object are used to change the size. See "Resizing Objects".

The Move handle at the object's center lets you move the object. See "Moving Objects".

The triangular Rotate handle lets you rotate the object. See "Rotating Objects".

You can cancel any edit handle operation before it is completed by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard or by pressing any two mouse buttons at the same time.

The edit handles that display depend on the type of object selected, the current view, and how far you are zoomed out.

Edit handles do not resize as you zoom in or out. If you are zoomed out far enough, some edit handles may be hidden so that they do not stack over one another. As you zoom in, these handles become visible again.