Tip of the month! July: Restore program interface

No messing around this time as it is far too hot and sticky for my usual small talk. I have noticed that a few of our users have had interface problems after changing or simply clicking on things by mistake. Well the solution to reset the lot back is actually very easy, just follow the instructions below.

Regardless if you already have a plan open or not just go to the "File" tab, click on "Program settings" and select "Restore program interface".

Underneath window will pop up allowing you to reset a number of options. Just select the ones you need restoring, but be aware all personalisation changes will be lost.

It is highly recommended to restart the program straight away but please do not forget to save any progress you may have made beforehand.

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD Blog Team

Joga Bonito

So with an expected global audience of over 3.2 BILLION, myself already being a loyal contributor, 2014 FIFA World Cup is as big a talking point as it's going to get in June / July. Football is my favourite English gift to the world, and in Brazil they have really taken the love of the beautiful game to a whole new level. Even our American friends are jumping on the "Soccer" bandwagon, with the game against Portugal having attracted around 25 million viewers in the USA, surppasing viewing figures of Baseball and Basketball finals. Point here is, whether you love football or not, you can´t avoid it right now, and with the following it has, every business must consider using this mega trend to get a little extra revenue stream or marketing attention coming in.

 

July at Palette CAD also means the official release of Palette CAD 8.2. The 7th will make the latest version available in German and international release is on schedule for September. Just as exciting is the announcement that work is already well underway for Palette CAD 9, which could even be arriving in time to stuff your Christmas stockings. Before that though there are plenty new features to keep you entertained so keep an eye out on future posts for more details! Here below now as promised last month some football themed designs. It´s all about imagination.

Orange army embarrassing the current champions. Respect.

Tiling + commitment by Laurent Diriq.

Shame it was so short lived but we still believe.

Some still prefer club over country, thanks to Nitz Raimund.

It´s all about the little touches, even the laptop background is themed.

Subtly stylish, the wife would never know.

Well there you are, hope you enjoyed my little selection and if you wish to represent just post on our Facebook page. Let the fun continue!

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD "We still believe" Blog Team

Tip of the month! June: Object properties

How often have you accidentally moved or even deleted an object not realising it was marked? There is a crafty little trick to help out, found under "Object properties".

You can set objects as inactive or immobile, meaning these objects cannot be clicked on, or moved per drag and drop in the plan. This is often quite handy to prevent accidental changes. In order to access these options first select the object you wish to edit. This can be done by directly clicking on the object in your plan or using the "Object list" on the right hand side. Next right-click on your mouse and the below pop-up menu will appear. Here select "Object properties".

Object properties window will now open, presenting you with a number of editing options. For our exercise, go to the "State" tab. Here you can now remove the ticks from the features you wish to change.

Don't forget that if you make an object inactive, should you need to, you can still select it in the object list on the right.

Have fun with it, and enjoy the month long beautiful game spectacle.

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD "Joga Bonito" Blog Team

Road to Rio

Well that’s May gone now too. The whole time I’ve been wondering if it’s just me, or is time on fast forward somehow. When out of nowhere the big boss informs me that we are only three weeks away from our first half way to Christmas email reminder. Seems like just a few weeks ago when I got the last year’s reminder, at least proving I’m not going insane, for now. We also had the local and European elections this month. I was well proud of myself making the effort to contribute with my vote, even though actually picking a party by a representative is comparable to picking a favourite unheard of actor out of a foreign movie, before you watch it. Still I did my part.

At Palette CAD we are strongly focused on finishing the 8.2 version for July which should mean international release by the end of summer. Also nearing completion is our internet planner Palette@HOME, which will also soon be available for tablets. If you dare to try our BETA version, currently available in German, simply click on the image below.

Some important updates also on the way this summer include Palette Move 2, Architecture & interior design, Stoves & fireplaces as well as Wood engineering catalogues.

It certainly never gets dull and all you ever need is a little inspiration to get you going again. With this in mind I took a little of it from the forthcoming World Cup, and here below you can see just a little example of outside of the box planning in Palette CAD.

Adidas World Cup footballs from West Germany 1974 to Brazil 2014

Without a doubt it is going to be another fantastic spectacle, and completely without bias, I believe it would only be fitting that the founders of the beautiful game lift the trophy in Brazil.

I will leave you with this wishful thinking in mind. Have a great June!



Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD "Come on England" Blog Team

Tip of the month! May: Camera focus

Looking to add that extra touch to your customer presentations? Why not give our camera focus feature a go? It allows you to focus on a certain point of your photo and blurs out the rest, just like with a digital camera.

Start by getting your camera view in position. Next in the "View" tab select "Settings for presentation mode".

Now select "Ambient Light", make sure you turn up the quality all the way right to well, check the "Depth of field" box and then click on "Auto focal point".

 

The following window will pop up explaining that you need to select a point to focus on in perspective view. Select OK.

 

Next using the cross-hair select a point to focus on. Afterwards, back in the settings select OK again.

Now that the focal point is selected simply render your desired image in Ambient Light quality.

There it is! Please be aware that the "Depth of field" option will remain active until unchecked. Speaking of checking, make sure you check back next month for another tip.

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD-Blog Team

Fool me once

So, how do we sum up April? Sun, rain, sun, rain, sub-zero temperatures, first barbeques, shorts and back to winter jackets, with some pranks and Easter holidays. Yes, that will about do it.

In terms of Palette CAD it’s been another month of fairs, domestic as well as international and more and more version 8.2 developments. 

First of all, I found myself in Stockholm for four days at the Nordbygg fair. Described as offering range, quality and depth, it was also a hugely successful show. Some 52,000 visitors descended upon the stands from over 900 exhibitors.

Nordbygg 2014 was our Swedish debut fair.

It was our Nordbygg debut and the response from our visitors was very positive, especially since we offered much needed differentiation to the other software exhibitors. Being a leading interior design CAD provider was a clear advantage amongst many companies focused on construction.

Biggest noticeable trend was the demand for BIM integration. “Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.” More and more architects need want to be able to create a project in one software, export it to another and then carry on working on the same project. A good example would be using software to create a new apartment building, and then exporting this project into Palette CAD and then working on interiors of each apartment. It gives the designer an opportunity to use best suited software for each stage of the project as well as being able to share this information with other parties.

Perfect getaway cottage for the little hobbitses.

 Domestically we were also present for four days at IFH2014 in Nuremberg. With around 46,000 visitors and 685 exhibitors from 20 countries, there was plenty of products on display and creative ideas to take away from this sanitation, heating, air conditioning and renewable energies showpiece.

Our own innovations in form of Palette@HOME received much praise, and the guys from ImmerSight were on hand once again to take our visitors on a virtual tour using their full 3D immersion technologies.

Any more information sharing and it would be easier for me to make a book out of it, so I will stop now. If you wish to see more photos please visit our Facebook page or visit the official homepages of the above mentioned fairs. Until next time then!



Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD-Blog Team