The information in this article applies to:

QUESTION

When I use the Auto Exterior Dimensions or Manual Dimension tools, the dimension lines do not locate walls where I want them to. How can I adjust their settings?

ANSWER

You can specify how Manual and Auto Exterior Dimension lines locate both interior and exterior walls by changing the settings in the Dimension Defaults dialog.

To modify the manual dimension defaults

1. With a plan open, select Edit> Default Settings , select Dimension, and click the Edit button to access the Dimension Defaults dialog.
   
   In Home Designer Pro 2012 and prior, expand the Dimension category, select Manual Dimensions and click Edit.
   
   
   Note: Temporary Dimensions, which display when an object is selected and show the distance between the object’s selected edge and other objects, are not affected by adjusting these Dimension Defaults.

   Currently, Temporary Dimension Defaults are only offered in the Chief Architect Premier version of the software.
   
   
   
2. On the Setup panel:
   
   

• Determine what wall layers dimensions will locate, either the wall's surface, or the wall's main layer.
  
  
• Determine how interior walls will be marked, either the wall center, or both sides of the wall.
  
  
  
  
  In Home Designer Pro, this information is on the Locate Objects panel of the Dimensions or Manual Dimensions dialog, depending on version, which offers more control over locating objects such as Cabinets, CAD Objects and Fixtures.
  
  
  
  
  

• On the Format panel, you can make changes to dimensions such as changing the unit format, decimal or fraction accuracy, and location of dimension text.
  
  
  
  
  
• On the Text Style panel, you can also adjust the way that text displays, such as the size, color and font for dimensions on the Text Style panel.
  
  
  
  In Home Designer Pro 10 and prior, text font can be set under the Font tab, and font color is determined by the color of the Dimensions, Manual layer.
  
  
  
• Click OK to apply the changes

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  Because dimension defaults are not dynamic, changes made to the dimension defaults will only affect newly drawn manually dimension lines. Likewise, automatically generated dimension lines will not be affected if Auto Refresh Dimensions is turned off.

  In Home Designer 2014 and prior, automatic exterior dimensions had to be regenerated manually in order for changes to take affect