I measured a house in 2020 and designed an addition to it that was built in 2021. The work was done in Archicad 24. In 2026 the client hired me to do a larger remodel/addition to the rest of the house. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to migrate the project to my Archicad 29 template and replace the old USA Library with the Global Libraries. The video above covers much, but not all of my process. There were too many little steps to remember everything. A few big picture items:
- This was proof of how valuable my template is. Moving a project forward from my Archicad 24 template to my Archicad 29 template (other than Libraries) was fairly easy. Most things came over without issue and it was pretty easy to delete and replace Attributes as necessary. There were a few Surfaces, Fills, and Composites that remained unique. That’s okay. There’s some other file set up stuff I skipped over in the video because that’s just normal new project items.
- I didn’t copy over Layouts or Views because my template already has all those set up. If you needed to match the previous set, you’d likely just manually save Views missing from the template and build out the Layout Book.
- I only copied elements accessible from the floor plan. Copying data in Details, Worksheets, etc. would be a similar process. Copying Markers would create the details in the Project Map and then you’d go View by View, copying out the 2D data. Ideally Schedules would just automatically be recreated by the new file.
- My Work Environment also made this easy. I’m sure I clicked all sorts of buttons and used lots of keyboard shortcuts in the video that you might not have if you aren’t using my Work Environment. Sorry. I try to say everything I’m doing, but this process was a hot mess. So it was hard to catch every move I made.
- Anyone that says Archicad hasn’t improved much over the past few years has never used Design Options. Design Options were critical to making this transfer process incredibly manageable. This would have been a trainwreck without Design Options. Watch the video. You’ll see why. The more I use Design Options, the more cool shit I figure out to do with them.
- A better understanding/use of Element Transfer Settings would make this process better, but I didn’t want to spend the time to dial in the settings since this was a one-off exploration.
- Don’t do this. Seriously. If you’re working on an old project, migrate the libraries to Archicad 27 and stop there. Work in a newer version of Archicad, but just use the old libraries. This process was annoying and I’m sure I’ll keep finding holes as I work. Also it’s not worth it in most cases. There’s too much risk of graphic errors, lost data, and other hidden surprises if you’re deep into a project. It made sense on this project because I was basically migrating an as built model. There wasn’t much metadata to worry about. I can fix graphics later. And much of the model will either stay exactly as is or get demolished.
Since my last post, I made a few tweaks to the Shoegnome Open Template for Archicad. It’s now at v29.12. See the changes below and get the template.
Shoegnome Open Template v29.12 changes (updated 3/9/2026):
- Layer Combinations (Revised) – Removed 4 | Site – Property Line Layer from 5 | Schematic Design
- View Map (Revised) – Changed Schematic Plans Graphic Overrides to 2 | Poched, Zones (Color), New Walls (Green)
- View Map (Revised) – Updates to Standard Notes, Seattle specific items
- Layout Book (Revised) – A001 and A004 Floor Area Ratio Calculations revised
- Attributes (Reindexed) – Reindexed Composite 1 | Exterior Wall – Existing (4 3/8″) to #103
- Favorite (Revised) – Stair Walk Line, reversed arrow and circle
- Favorite (Revised) – Water Heater – Tank, gas, removed connections
- Favorite (Revised) – Water Heater – Tankless, gas removed connections
- Favorite (New) – Tree Protection Fence
- Favorite (New) – Development Impact Area
Ready to download the template? Click the big support button or go to the template page. As always the template is free; clicking the PayPal support button (below or on the template page) is optional. Every time PayPal sends me an email notification that someone clicked the support button—whether it’s for $5 or $300—it brightens my day. If you support my template with a contribution of $100 or more and send me an email with your address, I’ll ship you an 8 oz tumbler as a thank you. The PayPal button below will take you to the latest version of the Shoegnome Open Template.
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If you aren’t using the current version of Archicad, you can download older versions of my template. If you use my template, I highly recommend you use my Work Environment as well. The two work together well and the Work Environment is designed to reinforce the best practices of the template. You can download my Work Environment here.
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