Chief Architect®

Home Designer® 2019

Download & Installation

Instructions

Chief Architect, Inc.

6500 N. Mineral Dr.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83815
HomeDesignerSoftware.com
Home Designer 2019

Contents

Chapter 1: Installation
What’s Included with the Software ...................................................................................3
System Requirements ........................................................................................................3
Downloading Home Designer Software .............................................................................4
Installing Home Designer ...................................................................................................4
Starting Home Designer .....................................................................................................8
Troubleshooting Problems .................................................................................................9
Program Updates ...............................................................................................................9
Installing on Multiple Computers .......................................................................................9
Uninstalling Home Designer Software .............................................................................10

Chapter 2: Additional Resources

Tool Tips and the Status Bar .............................................................................................11
Home Designer Help ........................................................................................................11
Reference Manual & User’s Guide ...................................................................................12
Tutorial Videos .................................................................................................................12
Home Designer Web Site .................................................................................................12
HomeTalk User Forum .....................................................................................................12
 What’s Included with the Software

Installation

This section will help you install your Home Designer software.
• What’s Included with the Software • Starting Home Designer
• System Requirements • Troubleshooting Problems
• Downloading Home Designer • Program Updates
Software • Installing on Multiple Computers
• Installing Home Designer • Uninstalling Home Designer Software

What’s Included with the Software

Your Home Designer purchase includes the following:
• Home Designer Program DVD (optional purchase if program was downloaded)
• Your Product Key, or software license activation code

System Requirements
In order to install and run Home Designer 2019 software, your computer system must meet
the following minimum requirements:
• Windows® 64-bit 10/8/7; macOS® Sierra or High Sierra
• Multi-core processor
• 4 GB of memory
• 5 GB of available hard disk space
• Video card minimum: 1 GB of memory; OpenGL 3.3 on Windows; OpenGL 4.1 on Mac
• Recommended minimum monitor resolution: 1152 x 864
• High speed Internet for registration, license authentication, deactivation, video access,
content downloads
• DVD drive (to install from optional DVD)
Internet access for license authentication is required once every; for Home Designer Pro, it
is required every 14 days. For more information about system recommendations, visit our
Web site at: HomeDesignerSoftware.com.

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Home Designer 2019

Downloading Home Designer Software

To download and install Home Designer 2019, begin by logging in to your Home Designer
account at HomeDesignerSoftware.com.
Browse to the Digital Locker page, click the Download button, and save the file to
your local hard drive. Select an easy to find Save in location on your computer, such as your
Documents folder or Desktop, then click Save.

Installing Home Designer

When the installer file is completely downloaded, the Setup Wizard will launch
automatically.
If it does not, browse to the location where you saved it, which is Documents\Downloads by
default, then double-click on the file with the title of your Home Designer program in its
name, followed by a version number.

Setup Wizard Welcome

1. If you have not installed the program before, the

Welcome window will display. Click Next to continue.

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 Installing Home Designer

Setup Maintenance

2. If you are installing the program for the first time, this window will not display. If you
have installed it before, this window will display, allowing you to reinstall or uninstall.

License Agreement

3. Read the License Agreement carefully. Before installing, you must accept its terms and
conditions.
• In the Windows version, click the Advanced button if you’d like to specify a non-default
installation location, exclude supplementary content from being installed, or choose
whether a desktop shortcut is created.
• Click Install to install the software. The Setup Wizard will copy files to your hard disk,
which may take a few minutes.

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Home Designer 2019

Advanced Options

4. This window is only found in the Windows version, and only if you click the Change
button in the previous window.
By default, the Windows version of the program installs in a folder with the same name
as the program version located at C:\Program Files\Chief Architect.
You can, if you wish, choose a different destination folder on the local machine.
• Type a full pathname to the destination folder in the text field.
• Click the Change button to browse to a destination folder in the next window.
• Uncheck Create a shortcut on the desktop if you prefer that a desktop shortcut icon
not be created.
• Click OK to proceed to the next window.

Choose Installation Location

5. This window is only found in the Windows version. By default, the Windows version of
the program installs in a folder with the same name as the program version located at
C:\Program Files\Chief Architect.
• If you prefer a different folder on your hard drive, click the drop-down arrow to the
right of the Look in: location and navigate to it.
• Any folders located inside the selected destination folder display in the field below.
• The full pathname of the installation directory is stated in the Folder name: field. You
can type a different pathname if you wish.
• Click Next to proceed to the next window.

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 Installing Home Designer

Note: Regardless of the location that you specify here, the

program’s library content will be installed in your computer’s
ProgramData folder.

Choose Items to Install

6. You can use this window to specify what features to install.

• Click on a line item to select it. Information about its contents and hard drive space
requirements displays beneath the list of features.
• Click the drop-down arrow beside a line item to specify how it is installed. By default,
Entire feature will be installed is selected for all line items.
• To prevent a selected feature from being installed, choose Entire feature will be
unavailable. When this option is selected, a red X will display beside the line item’s
arrow.
• Click Install to install the program and supplemental content as specified.

Install

7. The Setup Wizard will copy files to your hard disk after a few moments and a green
progress bar in this window will show the status of this process. This may take a few
minutes.
• The installer checks your hard drive for enough space to install the software
successfully. If it does not find enough space, a warning message will display. You may
be able to resolve this issue by running the Disk Cleanup Utility on your system. To
learn more, see www.microsoft.com/atwork/maintenance/speed.aspx.

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Home Designer 2019

Setup Wizard Complete

8. When all files have been copied, this dialog will display. Click Finish to launch Home
Designer.

Starting Home Designer

In Windows, you can use the Start menu or the shortcut on your desktop to start Home
Designer.
On a Mac, open Finder and browse to Applications.
When you launch the program for the first time, the Product Activation dialog will open.

• If you are launching the software for the first time, enter your Product Key, which is
located in the account information from your download or on your shipping invoice.
• If the program has been previously activated on the current computer, two options will
be available. Activate with current key will be selected by default and the first five char-
acters of the current product key will display.
• To activate a different license instead, select Activate with new key and enter a different
product key in the text field.
• Click the Activate button to launch the program. Not available unless a valid Product Key
has been entered.
If your Product Key is not associated with a User Account on our web site, the Create Home
Designer Account dialog will open next. You can also open this dialog later on by selecting
Help> Create Home Designer Account.

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 Troubleshooting Problems

So that you can take full advantage of our online resources, click the Create Account button
and take a moment to associate your software license with a User Account on our web site,
HomeDesignerSoftware.com.

Troubleshooting Problems
If you encounter problems either downloading or registering your software, the following
suggestions may be helpful.
• Make sure that you can visit our web site using your default web browser.
• Disable your firewall for the duration of the download, installation, and registration
process.
• Disable other security applications, including anti-virus and download manager
software, for the duration of the download, installation, and registration process.

Re-enable all security applications and restore all settings

when you are finished installing, and registering.

Program Updates
From time to time, Chief Architect releases downloadable program updates at
HomeDesignerSoftware.com. When the program is launched, a dialog will inform you if an
update is available.
• Click Yes to open your default web browser to the Program Updates section of the Home
Designer web site.
• Click No to launch Home Designer.
At any time, you can select Help> Download Program Updates from the Home Designer
menu to launch your web browser to the Program Updates section of the Home Designer
web site.

Installing on Multiple Computers

A license of Home Designer can only be active on one computer at any given time. If you
have been running the software on one computer and wish to run it on a different
computer, or if you wish to rename your computer, you must deactivate your license first.
For details, please refer to the End User License Agreement.
To deactivate a Home Designer license
1. Launch the program on the computer where the license is active.
2. Select Help> Manage License from the program menu.
3. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to deactivate the license.
4. After a pause, the program will close.

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Home Designer 2019

To manage license activations online

1. Visit HomeDesignerSoftware.com and log in to your Account.
2. On the My Account page, click the link to Manage your Active Licenses.
3. Click the Turn Off button to deactivate your license on the computer where it is cur-
rently active, making it available for use on another computer.

Uninstalling Home Designer Software

Home Designer can be removed from a Mac by moving it to the Trash. This does not
deactivate the license, however, so you may want to deactivate your license before
removing the program.
On Windows computers, there are two ways to remove Home Designer: from the Control
Panel and using the Setup Wizard on the program disk. Please note that if you do not have
an active Internet connection, your license will not be deactivated.
To remove the program using the Control Panel
1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
2. Navigate to Programs and Features.
3. Find the Home Designer program in the list and click Remove.
To remove the program using the Setup Wizard
1. Launch your downloaded program installer or place the disc in the DVD drive.
2. On the Setup Maintenance page of the Setup Wizard, select Remove and click Next.
3. A message will ask if you would like to remove the selected application and its compo-
nents. Click Yes.

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 Tool Tips and the Status Bar

Additional
Resources
There are many forms of help in Home Designer, including: Tool Tips, the Status Bar, online
Help, written tutorials, and product documentation in PDF format. Still more valuable
information is available on Home Designer’s web site, HomeDesignerSoftware.com.
• Tool Tips and the Status Bar • Tutorial Videos
• Home Designer Help • Home Designer Web Site
• Reference Manual & User’s Guide • HomeTalk User Forum

Tool Tips and the Status Bar

When you move your mouse pointer over a toolbar button or menu item, a Tool Tip displays
a brief description.

More information displays in the Status Bar at the bottom of the program window.

Home Designer Help

Home Designer’s Help is a browsable, searchable resource that describes the tools
and dialogs in the program. It can be accessed in several ways:
• Select Help> Launch Help from the menu.
• Place your pointer over any menu item, toolbar button, or selected object. When you
see a Tool Tip in the Status Bar, press the F1 function key.
• Click the Help button in any dialog.

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Home Designer Pro 2019

Reference Manual & User’s Guide

The complete contents of the Home Designer Help is available in PDF format. Select Help>
View Reference Manual to view it in your default web browser.
In addition to a description of each menu item, toolbar button, and dialog in the program,
Home Designer includes a collection of written tutorials that describe how to create a plan
in the program.
These tutorials can be accessed by selecting Help> View User’s Guide from the program
menu.

Tutorial Videos
Home Designer offers a searchable collection of online training videos that show you how
to perform many tasks in the program. Select Help> View Online Help Videos to launch
your default web browser to: homedesigner.chiefarchitect.com/videos.
Some Home Designer Help pages also have links to Tutorial Videos that are relevant to the
information on the page.

Home Designer Web Site

Our web site, HomeDesignerSoftware.com, has answers to many frequently asked
technical support questions. The online Knowledge Base contains a variety of articles
describing how to resolve common technical problems and achieve specific design goals.
New online tutorials are added regularly, and we invite you to visit our web site whenever
you like.

HomeTalk User Forum

Other Home Designer users have a wealth of knowledge they are willing to share. You can
link to the HomeTalk user forum by selecting Help> HomeTalk from the Home Designer
program menu or by going directly to hometalk.chiefarchitect.com.

Chief Architect strives to make our documentation as helpful as pos-

sible for all of our customers. Please send any questions, comments,
or feedback to [email protected].

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