Documentation by phase

Materials

The Materials phase lets you assign materials to shapes (e.g. decking, siding, roofing). Materials control fill patterns and colors in the plan view and can be used for documentation or cut lists. You can create and edit material definitions and assign them to selected shapes or House Planner faces.

What this phase does

Select Materials from the phase dropdown. The right panel shows:

Material library — Built-in and custom materials (e.g. wood, composite, roofing)
Assignment — Assign a material to the selected shape(s) or to House Planner room faces
Appearance — Color, pattern, opacity for plan-view display

Assigning materials

Select one or more shapes (from Custom Shapes, Deck/Dock, or House Planner faces) and pick a material from the list. The shape or face then displays that material’s fill in the plan. You can clear the assignment to return to the default appearance.

Export and documentation

Material assignments are saved with the project (.bdf). When you export to PDF or DXF, the fill patterns and colors can be included so drawings show material types for permits or client handoff. See Export & Save and Export Composer.