Mastering Templates in Chief Architect: Streamline Your Workflow

In this third video of our "10 Mistakes Chief Architect Users Make" series, we dive into a crucial topic that can save you time and frustration—templates. Many users overlook how powerful templates can be for efficiency, but understanding how to create and use them effectively can transform your workflow.

We break down the two main types of templates in Chief Architect: plan templates and layout templates. Whether you’re saving your preferred settings for materials, dimensions, or even custom layouts with your company’s branding, templates are the key to starting every project on the right foot.

Watch the video to learn how to create your own templates, optimize your setup, and take your Chief Architect skills to the next level! Plus, discover how ProAcademy members get access to exclusive, regularly updated templates to keep your designs streamlined and professional.

Transcript:

The number three mistake people make is learning how to use templates.

What is a template? Many of you are probably using templates already. Maybe you understand how they come together. You get two kinds of templates in Chief. A plan template and a layout template.

A plan template is a saved plan with your preferred defaults set up, such as layers, dimensions, materials, and other settings, to make it easier to start a new project efficiently. If every time you open a plan, you change the baseboard, casing, or cabinet style, you need to start working on your templates within the template.  Any plan that you create can become a template. If you delete everything out of a plan, poof, you have a template. You're good to go.

A layout template is the same. It's a saved layout with the right page size. In my template, I offer different page sizes. You'll have a master border where you'll have your company name, logo, client information, and page numbers. You'll have all of those things as part of your template.

I see many people I work with when I coach to help people with their plans. They're working with the Chief Architect template that comes with the program. Their template is okay. It gets you started. Like many things they do in the program, their template is super generic.

They can't create templates for everybody that uses the Chief Architect. I worked for years to create this template. I've worked with Chief since version one and developed this process and knowledge of what people need when creating a plan.

I've created a template covering about 85% of almost everything anybody ever needs to draw a plan for. Through my training, I'll help you set up that other 15% of what makes the template work for you.

So that's all templates are.

You take anything that you've worked on, if you like the setup, the defaults plan views, dimensions and text, you're good to go.

You've got a template that will save you time. That's the bottom line.  Templates are included in the ProAcademy when you join. I'm constantly updating them and adding new things.

I'm not making huge changes but adding new things as Chief keeps getting better with the software. Go ahead and get on the wait list.

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