Photoreal renders from Chief Architect views

Export Picture saves the active plan or 3D view to an image file. You set the pixel size in the dialog, which beats a screen grab for sharpness.

1. Create the view with a camera tool from the 3D menu and frame the house.
2. With the camera view active, choose File > Export > Export Picture.
3. Set Width and Height, at least 2,000 pixels on the long side.
4. Click OK, choose PNG as the file type, and save.
5. Upload it to ArchFor. Model screenshot and Exterior are already set.

Standard gives the most reliable input. It shows your materials as color without heavy effects, so the AI can read siding, roofing and trim as hints. Clay works too; upload it with the Clay / white model input.

Vector View and Technical Illustration produce line-heavy images. Those work best with the Hand sketch input. Watercolor and Glass House are stylized, and Glass House shows see-through surfaces, so walls can come out thin or glassy. If you export a Physically Based view, it is already a render: use the Render Enhancer on it instead.

Homeowners respond to light, planting and material, not linework. Run the front elevation camera at Golden hour, then use Change facade material to show the same house in red clay brick and in smooth white render. Two or three rounds give a material board in under ten minutes.

Add people & planting puts life in the yard; Night shows the same house after dark. For print boards, render at 4K; it takes longer and makes large files. Tell clients the images are illustrative: small trim, railings or gutter lines can shift, and they are not construction documents.

Keep one camera per elevation and reuse it after design changes. Because ArchFor holds camera and horizon from the upload, a new export from the same camera gives renders that line up with the earlier set, which makes before-and-after slides easy to read.

A front view, a rear view and one interior at two rounds each is 6 rounds at 2K, or 48 credits. The $24.99 Project pack holds 220 credits. Chief Architect and Home Designer are trademarks of their owner; ArchFor is not affiliated with it.

ArchFor is a web app that turns 3D model screenshots, sketches and existing renders into photorealistic architectural images. Credit packs from $9.99; no plugin and no subscription required.