FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question about setting up or using our Right-Suite® Universal program, please access our Support site here. You may also reach our Technical Support team at (800) 225-8697 or support.wrightsoft@mii.com.

General Questions

Wrightsoft recommends that your system has the following minimum components:

  • Windows 7 or higher operating system
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 17″ monitor or larger is recommended
  • Internet connection is recommended
  • 3 GB of available hard drive space

Wrightsoft Core: HVAC design for replacement or new construction projects.

Quickly and easily perform ACCA approved Manual J load calculations, Manual S equipment selection and Manual D duct sizing using our automated design tool Right Draw. Hydronic contractors can design for radiant home heat and snow-melting projects. Then take the design to the next level with a customizable parts take-off and job cost estimate – including Proposal, BOM, Service Contract and Purchase Order options. 

Wrightsoft Advanced: for design, permitting, and energy analysis on construction projects.

Along with the HVAC system design, we provide tools to support ‘green building’ initiatives including advanced building performance analysis, jurisdiction mandated permit compliance, and utility company rebates/incentives. Energy Raters can even export their reports to 3rd party building performance software programs. 

Wrightsoft Premier: complete package for full design and permitting needs.

The complete residential performance package that covers everything from HVAC design, sales, commissioning, permitting and compliance to high velocity ducts, air distribution balancing and geothermal system design.

Wrightsoft Commercial: commercial construction users.

Commercial contractors and design professionals can feel confident to compute light, medium or heavy heating and cooling loads for an unlimited amount of zones. Users have the choice of either ACCA Manual N, or ASHRAE international heat loss/gain and ventilation standards along with commercial duct sizing and layout.

If you are using Right-Suite Universal for residential applications, we recommend Right-Draw, Right-J for Manual J load calculations, Right-D for Manual D duct designs, Right-2Line for CAD-quality duct layouts, Right-HV Duct for high-velocity ducts, Right-Radiant for radiant heating, Right-Loop for geothermal calculations, Right-Sales for professional in-home selling, Right-Proposal for parts takeoff and proposal documents, and Right-$ for operating costs analysis.

If you are using Right-Suite Universal for commercial applications, you can use Right-CommLoad for ASHRAE load calculations, Right-CommDuct for ASHRAE duct design, Right-Comm2Line for CAD-quality commercial duct layouts, Right-HV for high-velocity ducts, Right-Radiant for radiant floor heating, Right-Proposal for parts takeoff and proposal documents, and Right-$ for operating cost analysis.

Customer Support

Technical Support is available to customers enrolled in Wrightsoft Software and Support Subscription. You can contact technical support at (800) 225-8697 (opt 1 for licensing, 2 for support) or email support.wrightsoft@mii.com

Templates

You can store any kind of Right-Suite Universal project information in a template.  Some information you could include:

Project-Wide Information

  • Project Information Screen
    • Contractor name, address, phone, etc
    • Weather data
    • Common fuel cost data
    • Financing and cost data
  • Zone Information

In Right-Draw

  • Default Construction Numbers
  • Duct system type

Load Calculations

  • Infiltration calculation method
  • Window types
  • Ceiling height
  • Duct loss/gain

…and more!

A template is just a project file that has been saved with some preset information. When you start a new project with a template, a project file is created with the information from the template file already entered. All you have to do is enter the project specific information. Templates are particularly effective for repeating common job types.

The easiest way to create a template is to start with a project file. Enter all of the information you use regularly. When you are finished, save the file as a template by selecting File | Save As | Template… The file will be saved with an .RUT file extension.

The default template refers to how your screens look when you first open the program. The default template is created and works the same as any other template; the only difference is that the default template opens automatically when you first open Right-Suite Universal. To create you own default template, enter all of the data that you wan in the default template, but instead of saving the file as a template, select File | Save As | Default Template.

Miscellaneous

Go to View, click on tool bars. Click the appropriate button size

Go to Help, Click on Licensing. Insert your Red disk and click on the ‘ Synchronize Red Disk ‘ button

The Basics

Whenever you add a room, window, or door to your drawing, Right Draw will use the default CST that is set in the Default CST section of the Right-Draw screen. When you add a room, Right-Draw will use the default wall, floor, and ceiling CST’s.

To change the default CST’s, click on the component that you want to set the CST for. The Choices Help for that component will be displayed. You can then select the CST that you want and click OK. From that point on, any room, window, or door that you add will be the CST that you selected.

You can specify the scale for the drawing area. Choose from a traditional inch/foot scale (3/16″=1’0″) or a ratio scale (1:50). You may also specify a scale for printing a drawing. The print dialog provides a drop-down menu. The default print scale is ‘Scale to fit’ so that the entire drawing will be shown on the page. You can specify other scales, and even choose offset values to show an enlarged portion of the drawing in detail.

To change the scale of the drawing area, right click on one of the rulers and highlight the new scale. Click the mouse to select the new scale. The scale will be saved with the project, so the next time you open the project, you will see the same view of your drawing. You may want to change the scale while you are drawing to see more or less detail.

To draw a room, 1) select the ROOM button from the HVAC Shapes Toolbox. 2) Move your cursor into the drawing area. The cursor will change to a crosshair. 3) Click and hold down your mouse button to define one corner; drag to the other corner. 4) Release the mouse button when the room is the desired size. Note that adjoining rooms have a thin wall between them. This is how Right-Draw depicts internal walls, which are not included in calculations. Add doors and windows the same way, just select the component from the HVAC Shapes Toolbox then click on a wall and hold down the mouse button, drag until the window or door is the desired size and release the mouse button.

Repeat Last Selection: Normally once you have placed an HVAC Shape onto your drawing, you cursor turns back into a selection arrow. If you want to add multiple rooms to your drawing before going on to the window doors etc. without re-selecting the room HVAC Shape, select Drawing | Repeat Last Selection from the main menu. With this option checked, you can add another room without re-selecting the ROOM button. If you want to switch to adding windows, just select the WINDOW button and add all the windows. The HVAC Shape or notation tool that you last selected will be in effect until you de-select ‘Repeat Last Selection’ in the Drawing menu. How do I duplicate an HVAC Shape?

Copying HVAC Shapes: To quickly make an exact copy of an HVAC Shape, select the shape and press , then drag the copy to where you want it. When you copy an object you also copy all of its properties. The copy feature is particularly useful for adding windows to a design; you can set the height, width and shading characteristics for one window then make copies to add windows to your building. You can also use (copy) and (paste) to copy and paste objects or select Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste.

Right-Draw will automatically enters a ceiling and floor for each room with the DCNs and use the room dimensions to calculate the areas. Internal walls, floors and ceiling are not used in the load calculations. If there is a story below or above the story you are working on, Right-Draw will automatically remove the internal floors and ceilings.

Special ceilings: Special ceilings are used when you have vaulted or cathedral ceilings. You would also use special ceilings if your ceiling was not flat of if there are two ceiling types in one room. To add a special ceiling to a room or building, select the Ceiling shape then draw the ceiling over the portion of the room or building where the ceiling is needed. Select the ceiling type and enter the dimensions. Verify that the construction information is correct.

Special floors: Special floors are used when a room has more than one floor type (for example, if part of a room was over a crawl space). To add a special floor you would draw the floor in the portion of the room where the special floor was needed. Select the floor type and Right-Draw calculates the floor areas for both floor types.

Rooms are automatically named (Room1, Room2 etc.) as you create them. You can enter a different name (Kitchen, Basement etc.) immediately after you draw the room by simply typing the new name while the rooms is still selected (the green handles are showing). You can edit a room name at any time by selecting the room and typing the new name or clicking on the current name to edit it.

To print a drawing:
  • Display the drawing in Right-Draw
  • Select Print in the File menu.
  • Make your selections in the Print Options Screen and click OK.

To set window shading and other window options:
  • Select the window
  • Click the right mouse button with the mouse pointer over the window
  • Make your selections in the Properties Screen

The properties of a building component (room, door, etc.) are viewed and changed in the component’s Property Sheet. Property Sheets are also where you specify the height of walls, windows, and doors. To view a Property Sheet, 1) select an object (make sure you can see the green handles) and right click. 2) Now type in the new height or width or make selection from the drop-down selectors. To update a field, press after entering a value or click elsewhere in the Property Sheet. 3) Close the Property Sheet by clicking on the ‘X’ in the upper right corner though you do not have to close the Property Sheet to see another object’s properties. Just select the new object and the Property Sheet is updated for your selection.

Window shading: Change the properties of a window in the Property Sheets. Select the window and right click. Change any of the field located here including height, width, configuration, whether the window is NFRC rated, internal shading, insect screens, external sun screen SCss, foreground and overhang information.

Multiple selection: You can select several objects and change their parameters at once, for example, change the height of all windows in a building. To do so, 1) select the objects by holding while clicking on each object. 2) Right click the mouse to open the Property Sheet for the group of objects. Note that fields that are similar among the objects will be visible whereas fields that are different will be blank. 3) Change the desired fields and close the Property Sheet to view the changes.

Door types: Use the door Property Sheet to edit the construction number, height, width, and door type. Select from various door opening types (opaque sliding, garage, single, or double doors). You can also add ‘wall openings’ for internal walls here. Just draw a door on an interior wall and select wall opening for the door type. Please note that interior doors are not used in calculations.

Glass doors: If you want to add sliding glass doors, French doors and glass block walls, use the WINDOW button to add these features. Right click to open the window Property Sheet and selection the appropriate construction type and set the height.

Internal walls: If you have a situation where an internal wall needs to be considered in the load calculations, you can enter a construction number and an area in the Property Sheet for a room in the wall tab. Add a wall type by, 1) click on the ‘Wall 2, type’ field and select a construction number for your wall. 2) Click on the ‘Wall 2, area’ field and enter the area for the wall under the appropriate direction. More than one wall construction on one wall: If you want a wall to have more than one wall construction type, you can enter an additional wall construction number and an area in the Property Sheet for a room in the wall tab. You must also remove the area of the first wall type to account for the wall 2 type. For example, if the north facing wall has two construction types, you would 1) add a wall type by clicking on the ‘Wall 2, type’ field and selecting a construction number for part of the wall. 2) Click on the ‘Wall 2, area’ field and enter the area for that construction number under the appropriate direction. 3) Now remove that area from the wall 1 type. Click on the ‘Wall 1, area’ field and subtract the area you just added in the ‘Wall 2, area’ field. Your total area for the north wall should be the same as it was before you added the new construction number.

To resize an HVAC Shape, 1) click on the object to select it. When an object is selected the handles are visible (the green squares located around the perimeter of an object). 2) Click on a handle and hold down the mouse button. Drag until the HVAC Shape is the desired size. 3) Release the mouse button. NOTE: Change the vertical size of a room with the middle handles (top, bottom, right left) or change both dimensions at once with the corner handles.

When you place a room next to another room so that their sides touch one another, Right-Draw makes the portion of the sides that touch an interior wall. All the sides that don’t touch other rooms are considered to be exterior walls. Interior walls are represented in Right-Draw as lighter weight lines than exterior walls. The area of the interior walls is subtracted from the wall area in the Right-J Worksheet.

If the wall that you want to make interior is not next to another room in your drawing (in a duplex apartment, for example), you can set the wall area to a percentage of the total wall area.

  • Select the room
  • Click the right mouse button with the mouse pointer over the room
  • Click on the wall tab
  • Click on ‘Total percentage = 100%’ and select ‘No’ from the list
  • Click on ‘Wall 1, percent of total area’

If you add, delete, resize, or modify an HVAC Shape and then change your mind, just click on the UNDO button on the Right-Draw toolbar. You can also select Edit | Undo from the main menu or use the keyboard shortcut. There is also a redo function; either click the REDO button, select Edit | Redo or use the shortcut.

Right-Draw uses multiple sheets and layers on the drawing area, almost like transparent paper drawing pages that can be stacked on top on one another. Sheets are used for levels (stories) in the building. You can add additional sheets as needed. Sheets contain layers. Layers are specialized subsets of sheets that contain specific things. For example, the Building layer contains only building components, such as rooms, windows, doors, flat ceilings and floors. Sheets and layers can be made visible or hidden by checking or un-checking the box to the left of their name in the Sheets & Layers Tree.

To add another story, add another sheet. Right click anywhere in the Sheets & Layers Tree and select Add Sheet. Enter a name and an elevation (basements and below ground stories will have negative elevations). There is also an ‘Is building level?’ checkbox.

Is building level?: If checked, the new sheet that you add is assumed to be another level in the building (this does not refer to whether the building is tipped!). If a sheet is a level (check in the checkbox), Right-Draw will adjust ceiling and floor areas because it knows the proximity of the levels (i.e. is considered “smart”). If a sheet is not a level, it can only be used for notation and it is not “smart”, therefore, the objects placed in the Building layer will not be associated with the rest of the house for calculations. Temporarily hide sheets and layers: While your are working on your drawing, you may want to hide certain parts of it temporarily, to make it easier to work on. For example, if you are adding the second story of a 2-story building, once you have added the rooms, you might want to hide the first floor, to make it easier to place the windows. With both stories displayed, the drawing can look confusing. You can control the sheets and layers that are displayed with the Sheets & Layers Tree. Only the checked sheets and layers are displayed. To hide a sheet or layer, un-check it; to display a sheet or layer, check it.

View one sheet at a time: Just below the Sheets & Layers Tree is a checkbox for ‘One Sheet at a Time’. When you place a check in this box, you can only view one sheet at a time. Just click on the box immediately to the left of whatever Sheet you want to see. All other sheets will be turned off. Notice that if you deselect the ‘One sheet at a time’ box, you can view more than one sheet at a time.

The easiest way to to zone in Right-Draw is:
  • Add all the rooms in Right-Draw
  • Assign the rooms to zones in the Multizone Tree

Make sure Hot Link Drawing is checked under the Options tab of the gray tool bar

Click on the Drawing Tab, then grid Settings, change the settings to your preference.

First, left click outside upper left hand corner of the house. While holding down the mouse button, drag mouse across entire house until it is totally encompassed in the square. Release Button. The house should now have blue boxes, position mouse in middle of the square. Hold down left mouse button and drag floor to desired location

Make sure the floor you want to work with is highlighted on the right hand side of the screen. (for easier navigation, just have that particular floor checked). You can then begin making changes to that floor

On the bottom of the right hand screen, you should see a check box that says, ‘ One sheet at a time’. Check the box by clicking on it.

You can rotate rooms, catalog objects and notations to any angle.
  • Draw a room or drag a catalog object onto the drawing area. You can also select an object that is already on the drawing area.
  • While the object is selected, click the ROTATE button, which is located in the upper right corner of the draw screen. The green handles will change from squares to circles.
  • Move your cursor over a handle until you see the black rotating cursor WITHOUT the white arrow.
  • Click and drag until the object is rotated to your liking and release the mouse. When you release the mouse, the rotate functionwill be off and the handles will be back to green squares.

Stairwells, closets, and halls that are not significant load contributors should be incorporated with the loads of adjoining rooms. Stairwells should be included with the upper floor. Major stairwells should be treated as separate ‘rooms’ with their own return duct. If you want staircases in your drawings, there are many to choose from in the Building Components catalog provided with the program.

Advanced Techniques

When you group several HVAC Shapes together, they are treated as one shape when you move or resize them. For example, if you group a room and a window together and then resize the room, the window will be resized proportionally to the room.

You can also group non-HVAC Shapes together. For example, you could combine two rectangles together to make an L-shape. If you group them together, you can move and resize the L-shape without having to move or resize the individual rectangles.

Two group two or more shapes together:

  • Select the shapes you want to group together by holding the Shift key down and then clicking on each shape.
  • Click on the  button on the Right-Draw toolbar.

If you change your mind and want to un-group a group of shapes:

  • Select the group
  • Click on the  button on the Right-Draw toolbar.

Aligning objects: If you have 2 or more objects that you want to line up exactly with one another, you can use the ALIGN  button. 1) Select the objects you want to align (hold as you click on the objects to select multiple objects). 2) Click on the arrowhead to the right of the ALIGN button to choose an alignment option (top, bottom, left or right edges). All of the objects will be aligned based on the first object you selected (the first object selected if you select multiple objects had green handles, the other objects will have aqua handles).

You can also center objects in the drawing area with the CENTER  button. You can evenly space 3 or more objects with the SPACE  button; the 2 outside objects will not move but the objects in between will be spaced evenly.

Sizing objects: Use the SIZE button to make 2 or more objects the same size. 1) Select the objects you want to size. 2) Click on the arrowhead to the right of the SIZE button to choose from the sizing options (height, width, both). All of the objects will be sized based on the first object you selected.

To change the properties of multiple shapes:
  • Hold the Shift key down and select all the shapes that you want to change
  • Click on the right mouse button with the mouse pointer over one of the selected shapes

You can edit the properties that all of the shapes have in common. For example, you can change the height of multiple windows. They can have different CST’s and shading, but all be the same height.

To move a shape in even snap increments:
  • Select the shape you want to move
  • Drag the shape to the new location

Note that the shape doesn’t move until you’ve moved the mouse pointer the distance of the snap setting (usually one foot).

To move the shape in one inch increments:

  • Select the shape you want to move:
  • Press the up, down, left, and right arrow keys

The default drawing area size is 150’x150′, however, you can resize the drawing area if your drawing does not fit. To do change the size of the drawing area:
  • click the right mouse button with the mouse pointer over the drawing area but not over any shape. This will display the Property Sheet for the drawing area.
  • Select the General tab.
  • Make the necessary changes in the ‘Scrolling width’ and ‘Scrolling height’ fields. Press <enter> or close the Property Sheet to view the changes. You may want to take the time to click on all of the tabs to become familiar with the fields you can change in the drawing area Property Sheet.

While your are working on your drawing, you may want to hide certain parts of it temporarily, to make it easier to work on. For example, if you are adding the second story of a 2-story building, once you’ve added the rooms, you might want to hide the first floor, to make it easier to place the windows. With both stories displayed, the drawing can look confusing. Which layers and sheets are displayed is controlled with the Layer Tree Screen. Only the checked layers and sheets are displayed. To hide a sheet or layer, un-check it. To display a sheet or layer, check it.

The shapes that are on the HVAC Shapes Toolbox are the shapes that are needed by Right-Suite Residential for calculations. You can add other shapes that are not needed for calculations, but that can enhance your drawing or even help you draw special odd-shaped HVAC Shapes. These shapes are placed on a special Notation layer. They can be moved, grouped, resized, and re-shaped just like HVAC Shapes. Draw Notation layer objects by selecting Notation Layer tools from the Right-Draw toolbar.

You can come up with a variety of creative uses for these shapes. For example, suppose you need to add a room that has a complex shape, but is really just several rectangles put together. You can build the shape with the rectangles in the Notation layer and then use it as a template to re-shape the room on the Building layer. You could do a hexagonal room using the same method. You can also add text, graphic images (icons or bitmaps) and dimensions to your drawings. See the User’s Guide manual or Help for more details on each of these buttons.

While we are discussing the drawing area Property Sheet, now is a good time to discuss color. You can change the color of the drawing area (white by default) and the sheet colors (automatically assigned and each sheet is different). Below is a list of each tab and the default colors for the various items.
Tab Field Default Color
General Color (background) White
Ducts Overlap color Red
Outside of building color Cyan blue (aqua)
Fitting background color Yellow
Building Foreground color (sheet color with one-line drawings; outside color for two-line drawings) Automatic
Background color (between the walls in two-line drawings) Medium gray
Notations Color (duct notation color) Automatic (matches sheet color)
Notation layer color Automatic (matches sheet color)

The Design Process

Below are the steps you would follow for residential project design Using Right-Suite Residential.
  • Describe the building – Start a project from a template, add rooms, doors and windows, add special ceilings and floors if needed, repeat the step for each building level.
  • Select the equipment – Assign the zoning, assign the equipment location, design the geothermal loop (optional), evaluate the equipment (optional) and select the final system.
  • Document the project – Complete the job quotation, save the project and prepare the reports.

Duct Sizing and Layout

If you own the Right-D module of Right-Suite Residential, Right-Draw will add supply and return air outlets as you add rooms. To automatically generate a duct layout, move the unit and air outlets to appropriate locations and choose the duct layout. To choose the duct layout, select the unit and right click. Choose the duct layout and close the Property Sheet for the unit. Right-Draw draws the duct design for you and calculates the duct sizes.

Once a duct layout has been generated, you can modify it by adding registers, trunks, etc. First you must change the duct layout to User defined. To do this,
  • select the unit and right click to view the Property Sheet.
  • Change the duct layout to ‘User defined’. This will allow you to make modifications.

Add air outlets: To add supply or return registers,

  • select supply or return registers from the HVAC Shapes Toolbox.
  • Click where you want the new register. If you do this before you choose the duct layout, the air outlet will automatically be included in the duct layout. If you have chosen the duct layout and are now modifying the layout, you can either connect the air outlet manually or select the duct layout again in the Property Sheet for the unit and the duct layout will be regenerated with the new register added. It is recommended that you add and delete all registers before you draw the duct system layout.

Delete air outlets and ducts: To delete an air outlet or duct (make sure the duct layout is user defined),

  • select the air outlet or duct you want to delete.
  • Press the delete key to delete the air outlet or duct. The loads and duct calculations will be adjusted automatically.

Add a new duct: To add a new duct,

  • select supply or return ducts from the HVAC Shapes Toolbox.
  • Draw the duct by connecting the snap points (blue boxes that surround the unit and are located in the center of the air outlets) on the unit and air outlet.

Resize a duct:

  • select the duct you want to resize.
  • Drag one of the green or red handles on the duct to the new point.

If you own the Right-D module of Right-Suite Residential, Right-Draw will add supply and return registers as you add rooms. You can add, delete, and move registers and ducts to layout the ducts manually. First, make sure the duct system type is set to ‘User defined’ (right click on the unit and choose ‘User defined’ for the duct layout). Now all you have to do is use the supply and return duct shapes in the HVAC Shapes Toolbox to draw the duct system. Make sure the snap points are on (‘Snap On’ in the grid settings and that the Toggle snap points button is such that the snap points are visible).

In the menu, if Drawing | Duct System is set to either Plenum or Radial, just drag either a supply register or return grill from the HVAC Shapes toolbar into the room where you want it. Right Draw will automatically connect the new register or grille to the duct system, and adjust the duct sizes automatically. If Drawing | Duct System is set to User Defined

No, not at all. The Right-D, Right-CommDuct, and Right-Ducts Static Pressure and Duct Preferences Screens are still fully functional. But Right-Draw is entering new ducts and registers into the Supply Branch and Trunks and Return Branch Screens, so you should just ignore them unless you want to disable Right-D, Right-CommDuct, or Right-Ducts’s automatic duct design features.

Working with CAD Files in Right-Draw

For a one story house:
  • Once the program is open and the drawing screen is shown, CLICK on the CAD button.
  • The cursor will turn into cross hairs when moved into the drawing area. DRAW a rectangle, which we will call an object box. You will only see the handles. When this is done, a dialog box entitled ‘Open AutoCAD File’ should pop up.
  • SELECT a one story file to be opened and CLICK OPEN. The AutoCAD drawing should appear on the screen.

If you only see a portion of the house, the object box can be resized using the handles to view the entire house.

By right clicking on the AutoCAD drawing, a ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box appears; here the scale, color, and units of the AutoCAD drawing as well as which AutoCAD layers are displayed can be changed (see the FAQs). To simplify your AutoCAD drawing in Right-Draw, you may deselect AutoCAD layers.

To move the whole AutoCAD drawing within the object box, without moving the object box, press SHIFT and drag the drawing with the mouse. This is the method used to line the drawing up with the margins.

Now you can trace the rooms in the same manner that you would draw any Right-Draw rooms.

RSU recognizes both .DXG and .DXF file types. These are associated with AutoCad version 9 through AutoCAD 2000.

After you click the AutoCAD button, cross hairs show up and you draw a rectangle (called an object box). When you open the AutoCAD file, Right-Draw shows the portion of the drawing that fits in the box, given the scale. To view the rest of your drawing, increase the size of the object box using the handles.

There are three scales that can be used. Open the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box by right clicking on the AutoCAD layer. You will see the field ‘AutoCAD scale’. ‘Current scale’ is the default. With ‘Current Scale’, the AutoCAD drawing scale will correspond to the Right-Draw current scale. Only the part of the drawing within the boundaries of the object box is displayed. The ‘Rectangle to fit’ AutoCAD drawing scale will correspond to the Right-Draw current scale and the size of the object box will change to fit the entire AutoCAD drawing. In other words, the object box will automatically change size to display the entire AutoCAD drawing. With ‘Scale to fit’ the entire AutoCAD drawing will fit into the object box, but the AutoCAD drawing scale will not correspond to the Right-Draw current scale. With this scale, Right-Draw sizes the AutoCAD drawing to fit into the object box. The AutoCAD drawing will shrink or grow to fit the object box, but the scale of the AutoCAD drawing will not correspond to the Right-Draw scale.

AutoCAD stores drawing dimensions in abstract AutoCAD units. Each unit usually represents one inch in an architectural drawing. The default setting used by Right-Draw is one inch to correctly size the AutoCAD object. To change the AutoCAD units in Right-Draw, right click on the AutoCAD drawing to pop-up the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box; click on the ‘AutoCAD units’ field and choose the appropriate units from the list that drops down.

Yes, right click on the AutoCAD drawing to get the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box. The AutoCAD color is ‘Automatic’ and corresponds to the colors in the original AutoCAD drawing. To change the color, click on the ‘AutoCAD color’ field and choose a color from the ones provided in the drop down list. Changing the color in Right-Draw does not change the color in the original AutoCAD file.

Open the ‘Property Sheet’ by right clicking on the AutoCAD drawing. Click on the ‘AutoCAD layers’ field. In this dialog box, you can select or deselect layers as desired. The original layers still exist in the AutoCAD file; you are only choosing the layers displayed in Right-Draw. With many layers, it will be easier to clear all of the layers and click only the layers needed. You can add or remove layers at any point in the drawing process.

The differences in the load calculations are negligible if the walls of the rooms drawn in Right-Draw do not match up exactly with the walls in AutoCAD. If you want to line up the Right-Draw rooms exactly with the AutoCAD drawing, the grid size can be reduced or turned off and the rooms drawn more accurately. But this is not necessary to get accurate, usable load calculations.

If you have a license for the Right-D module of RSR, Right-D will add supply and return registers in Right-Draw as you add rooms. In the drawing menu, select ‘Duct System Type’ and then either ‘Plenum’, ‘Radial’ or ‘User defined’ where you can draw your own duct system. Right-Draw will generate the duct system. You can then modify the generated duct layout if you wish.

In the menu bar, click on Drawing, then Write to AutoCAD files, and a ‘Write to AutoCAD’ dialog box will appear. Here select the Right-Draw layers you would like to add to your AutoCAD file. ‘Ducts’ is selected as the default. Once you have selected the layers, click on WRITE. When you right click on the AutoCAD drawing to get the ‘Property Sheet’ and select ‘AutoCAD layers’ field, a new layer titled in the format: RSU_(sheet name)_(layer) will appear (ex.‘RSU_SHEET_1_DUCTS’).

Yes, Open the ‘Write to AutoCAD files’ dialog box as described above. Select the layers you would like to delete but this time click DELETE (instead of WRITE). To check to see whether the RSU layer has been removed from the AutoCAD file, open the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box by right clicking on the AutoCAD drawing and click on the ‘AutoCAD layers’ field.

If you look at the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box by right clicking on the AutoCAD drawing, you will see ‘Viewport offset X’ and ‘Viewport offset Y’. This is similar to the viewport in AutoCAD. When you first open the AutoCAD drawing in Right-Draw, the original location of the drawing is considered viewport offset X=0 and viewport offset Y=0. As you move the drawing using SHIFT and dragging it with the mouse you will change the viewport. It is sort of like looking out a window at some trees, now move the window. The part of the trees that you will see changes but the size of the window does not. You can view your drawing in this fashion. This is also very helpful when drawing additional stories and lining up the two floors.

Working with additional floors is not difficult especially if you are familiar with AutoCAD. First, open your AutoCAD file. You want to resize your object box so that only the first floor can be seen. You may want to move your drawing so that it lines up with the margins. To do this, press SHIFT and use the mouse to drag the building where you would like it. Once you are satisfied with the placement of the first floor, add a new sheet (you can call it ‘Second Floor’). Now open the AutoCAD file again. It will be opened on the Second Floor sheet. Move the drawing (using SHIFT and the mouse) until only the second floor is in view. Now line up the two floors (again using SHIFT and the dragging the building with the mouse). You can treat these sheets as you would other Right-Draw sheets.

The two floors should line up but they do not have to be exact. It is more important to be sure that the stories line up in the Right-Draw sheets because that will affect your calculations. You can look at sheets simultaneously to determine how well they line up.

Yes. In the RSU menu bar select File then Print Preview. You can select the layers that will be printed. You may want to overlay the duct system over the AutoCAD drawing on your printout. To display the ducts on your AutoCAD drawing, select ‘Ducts’ and ‘AutoCAD’. If you would like to restore the AutoCAD colors for your printout, right-click on the AutoCAD layer to bring up the ‘Property Sheet’ dialog box then select ‘AutoCAD color’ and choose ‘Automatic’.

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