Speeding up your work is easy when you use the Favorites Palette. In this tutorial, we're going to explore the Favorites Palette to make your life simple. You'll want to select the most common features because these will be the elements you use again and again. Using Favorites will speed up the process of placing and modifying objects. They do not limit you in any way or prevent you from making changes.
Everyone wants to simplify and make their work faster. Now you can with the Favorites Palette,
in this tutorial you will learn how.
Many ArchiCAD users already know that they can pick up similar settings from one element and apply it to a new one with the eyedropper. Your plane will be blank when you start a new project, which means you can't use the eyedropper. Inputting all your settings manually can sometime take a great amount of time. Favorites are a great way to get this done much faster.
Start ArchiCAD and load an existing project. Then, go to Window menu > Palettes > Favorites. You will then see a floating palette with text. There may be some favorites there already. If there are any you don't want, go to the little popup menu at the top right and choose "Delete" to clear them.
It's easy to save an element as a favorite, simply select it and save. Just click the Save Current Selection option and give your new favorite a name. Make it as descriptive as you wish. You'll find the easy "Rename Favorite" command in the top right popup menu in case you need it. Continue saving additional Favorites with the appropriate menu options. You'll soon have a list of names to choose from. Name sorting is done alphabetically. You can make as many as you find useful.
People have found it possible to make this in 3 Dimensions, if you could believe it! By executing the same protocol in the ArchiCAD 3D View Mode, you can save Favorites for additional use. You can put in information such as its size, because that information will become relevant when you want to choose it from the list.
You'll notice that when the Window tool is active in the Toolbox you'll only see window favorites listed. Click the Arrow Tool button located on your screen to show all available Favorites
Having a well developed project will allow you to create a very complete list of Favorite elements quickly and easily. To go faster, use the eyedropper, click an element, then choose "Save The Current Default Settings". This will save the settings of the element that was just eyedropped. By combining this with the shortcut key for eyedropper, the "Option" key for Mac and "ALT" key in Windows, You can build up a large list of favorites within a few minutes this way.
In the future, when you open the project again, the list will still be available to you just as you saved it. Use the popup command "Save Favorites" to make your new list available while working in other projects. You can select any folder and name you like to remember the list. Your new file will have the Preferences file extension, .PRF
Now, it's time to open the saved Favorites in another project. Just start or open the other file and use the "Load Favorites" option from the popup menu. Once you activate this, you can choose to either replace all the current Favorites associated with the project or merging the old and new ones together into one Pallet.
Using the saved favorites from previous projects, you'll be able to build the shell of your building much quicker. Double click on an exterior wall favorite to activate it. Your favorites will include all the right layers and settings so it'll be all set up for you when it's time to switch from exterior to interior walls.
The favorite tool can also help you change things as well if you need to do that. To make a 2x4 wall thicker, select it (or many of them) and double click on a different wall favorite to switch their settings instantly.
The key is to create a complete list of objects to work with again and again. By going though this list, you can then in the future make swift work of new projects.
Switching objects can be done in 3D and 2D. You can switch the material or construction of individual walls while in 3D by selecting them and double clicking the favorite you want to load. Select one or more windows, and change them instantly to a different size, material, style or type.
Changing the favorite will not change the original element it was created from. You can change the elements as you like. Favorites do not prevent you from making changes, they just make it faster to draw and model things, while allowing you to modify them just like anything else.
