Tools & global settings¶
Around the wizard's steps there are tools that stay available across steps: the 3D preview on the left with the "Visibility" panel directly below it, the "Colors" panel on the right, and the collapsible "Settings" block at the top right of the header bar. The full components list (also on the right) appears in the Fit-out & Add-ons, Openings and Extras steps. This page explains them one by one.
3D preview¶
The preview is always visible — it shows the model from every step. Rotating, panning and zooming work with the mouse (orbit control). In the top left corner of the preview sits the view cube: a click on one of its faces jumps to a fixed view — Right · Left · Back · Front · Top · Bottom.
How the model is displayed is controlled by the four switches in the title row of the "Visibility" panel below it.
Visibility¶
The "Visibility" panel hides and shows parts of the model via light-bulb toggles — purely for the preview.
The four switches in the title row¶
They sit in the title row of the panel and stay visible even when the panel is collapsed.
| Switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| X-Ray | Make walls semi-transparent to see inside (on by default). |
| Environment | Show or hide the ground/sky environment (off by default). |
| Section X | Cuts the building open vertically and takes one half away. |
| Section Y | The same across it. |
Both sections run through the middle of the entire building — main building and extensions taken together — not through the middle of a single body. Switched on together they give a quarter section. The cut face stays open (no cap), so that you see the wall thicknesses directly. Ground and sky are not cut along.
Groups and components¶
- Floors — Ground floor, Floor 1, Floor 2 … and Roof switchable separately. If your building has extensions, each extension gets a switch of its own ("Extension 1", "Extension 2" …); it switches the whole body with its windows, doors and its roof.
- Components — across floors, e.g. exterior walls, interior walls, slabs, openings, flooring, stairs, railings, balconies, terraces, columns, canopies.
A switch only appears if the component or the body exists in the model at all.
Extension roofs hang on two switches
The roof of an extension disappears both with its extension and with the Roof switch — hide "Roof" and all roofs are gone, those of the extensions included.
View only
Hiding doesn't change your model. At export you can decide separately whether only the visible parts are output — see Export.
Colors¶
The collapsible Colors block in the right-hand column gives every component a color. Here too a category only appears if the component exists. The categories are:
- Floors / Ceilings
- Walls
- Roof
- Openings
- Special parts
For the foundation slab, floor slab, exterior wall and roof you choose between Solid (one color) and Duo (two colors: visible face and interior/core color kept separate). All other components (openings, stairs, balconies, terraces, columns, canopies) have exactly one color. With a floor texture or a flooring, the floor is automatically set to single-color.
Closes on step change
The Colors block closes automatically whenever you change step.
Full components list¶
In the Fit-out & Add-ons, Openings and Extras steps, the right-hand column shows the placed components — one drawer per floor, plus global drawers for Roof (roof windows, dormers) and Bomb Blast. Per row:
- Dimensions as clickable values — a click jumps into the matching editor and highlights the component.
- Copy — take a component from one floor to another (choose via From floor / To floor, switch "Include when copying").
- Delete — remove the component.
The list follows the type selected above¶
The list does not show everything at once, but what you are working with right now:
| Selected above | In the list |
|---|---|
| an opening type (window, door, gate, wall break, corner glazing, roof window, dormer) | only that type — across all floors |
| nothing outlined | walls plus fit-out and add-ons |
Esc clears the selection at the top. After that no type is outlined, nothing is placed any more, and the list shows walls and fit-out/add-ons again. That is the way out if you only want to look and not place anything.
The panel opens by itself as soon as its content changes — so when you switch the type or select a component, you don't have to pull it open first.
Undo / Redo¶
Top right in the main panel are two icon buttons, Undo and Redo. The keyboard shortcuts also work:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Undo | ⌘ Z (Mac) · Ctrl + Z (Windows) |
| Redo | ⌘ ⇧ Z (Mac) · Ctrl + ⇧ + Z (Windows) |
The native undo in text fields is unaffected.
Cascade warning
If you change something fundamental — floor-plan shape, dimensions, mirroring, a floor or the roof shape — some placed components may no longer fit afterwards. PrintHaus then shows a warning listing the affected components ("… will be deleted"). You confirm with "Change anyway" or cancel with "Cancel".
Settings¶
The collapsible "Settings" block is the third panel of the header bar, to the right of the logo and the step tabs. In the Floors step it is open; in every other step it closes by itself — opening it pushes only the right-hand column down. It bundles the global options:
- Light / Dark mode — toggle for the color scheme (Dark is the default).
- Language — a drop-down with 12 languages (German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese).
- Version number — the currently running app version.
- Load project — "Load project (model.json)" restores a saved configuration.
Saving is not here but sits as a blue tile with an arrow symbol in the button row above
the 3D preview, immediately after "Reset"; it writes the current settings as
model_…jsonand requires a login. - Sign in — opens "Unlock download" (account/access code). Configuring and the 3D preview also work without an account.
- Feedback — a message to the PrintHaus team; your current configuration is sent along automatically, and images can be attached.
Reset (red button) sits on the left of that same button row above the 3D preview: after a confirmation it discards all inputs and starts over at "Floors". From left to right the row reads Reset · Save · Back · Next.
Technical terms
Eaves, ridge, verge and the like are explained in the Glossary.