Every drawing.
Every quantity.
One workspace.

Create a project, return to a recently used project, and save your current takeoff so measurements, labels, notes, and drawing context stay together.

1. Start a new project or open a saved one from the main File menu.
2. Name the project and use Save or Save As as appropriate.
3. Reopen recent work without repeating the initial organization.

Practical tip. Save after meaningful changes and keep a backup of your project files.

Open construction PDF drawing sets directly in the Takeoff environment, including multipage plans and reference sheets. The interface also supports drag-and-drop opening.

1. Browse for a PDF or drag a supported file into the application.
2. Navigate between sheets and identify the plan or detail you need.
3. Use page duplication and export features when a separate working or reference page is useful.

Practical tip. Use the original construction documents as your measuring reference.

Translate distances measured on screen into real-world quantities using a known dimension. Calibrated pages provide the basis for length, area, surface, and volume calculations.

1. Select Calibrate/Scale on the drawing toolbar.
2. Click two endpoints of a known dimension.
3. Enter the actual measured distance and confirm the scale.
4. Review the calibration status before starting quantity takeoff.

Practical tip. Calibrate each distinct drawing scale; a detail may not use the same scale as a floor plan.

Work in Feet, Yards, Meters, Millimeters, or Inches. Feet mode includes feet-and-inches entry and mixed fractions; an inch-precision selector controls how lengths are presented.

1. Enter known dimensions using the displayed unit controls.
2. In Feet mode, mixed fractions such as 1 1/2 inches are supported.
3. Choose an inch display precision of 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16.

Practical tip. Display precision formats the result; it does not replace careful drawing calibration.

Locate useful information inside a drawing package instead of manually scanning every page. Search PDF text, search takeoff items, give pages meaningful names, and return to a previously viewed sheet.

1. Search for a room, specification reference, sheet note, or item name.
2. Assign recognizable page names to frequently visited drawings.
3. Use GoTo, named-page tools, and Last Page navigation when checking cross-references.

Practical tip. Text search works best when the PDF contains selectable text instead of only scanned pixels.

Use Line to record a permanent straight length or Measure to check a distance without adding a takeoff-table row.

1. Click the first point and then the end point.
2. Use the live distance display to follow the measurement while drawing.
3. Choose Measure when you need a quick verification rather than a saved quantity.

Practical tip. Great for wall edges, linear trim, framing, flashing, and quick dimensional checks.

Trace paths made of multiple connected segments. The resulting cumulative length helps measure quantities that do not follow a single straight line.

1. Activate Polyline.
2. Click successive points along the intended path.
3. Finish with Enter, a double-click, or the documented right-click completion action.

Practical tip. Useful for piping routes, perimeter conditions, conduits, fencing, and irregular edges.

Trace a closed boundary around an irregular room, zone, or other shape and calculate its area from the calibrated drawing.

1. Choose Polygon.
2. Click around the outer perimeter in sequence.
3. Finish the shape and assign a meaningful takeoff name.

Practical tip. Use consistent item names when comparing the same material across multiple spaces.

Measure repeated rectangular rooms or circular elements more quickly with dedicated geometry tools.

1. For Rectangle, click one corner and then the opposite corner.
2. For Circle, click the center and then the circumference.
3. Assign item names and review the stored area values.

Practical tip. These tools are efficient for clean geometry without the extra clicks of a freeform polygon.

Follow a complex or nonrectilinear edge with a mouse-drawn line. A closed freehand trace becomes an area; an open trace remains a length.

1. Press and drag to draw along the intended path.
2. Move near the start point to use the configured snapping behavior.
3. Release to complete; check whether the result is open or closed.

Practical tip. Useful when a scanned or irregular shape is difficult to define with polygon clicks.

Convert a measured line or connected path into a surface quantity by supplying its depth or height.

1. Draw a Line Surface or Polyline Surface trace.
2. Enter the required height/depth when prompted.
3. Review the calculated surface quantity.

Practical tip. Useful for wall finishes, linear bands, curbs, vertical faces, and continuous surface work.

Estimate three-dimensional quantities using a drawn rectangle, circle, or polygon combined with a user-entered depth.

1. Choose the rectangular, circular, or polygonal volume tool.
2. Draw the matching plan geometry.
3. Enter the depth/height and review the calculated volume.

Practical tip. Supports conceptual quantities for excavation, slab pours, pads, and similar geometry; verify assumptions.

Calculate net area by deducting one or more interior polygons from an exterior boundary. This is especially helpful when openings or exclusions must be subtracted.

1. Draw the outer polygon, finish, and name it.
2. Draw each interior exclusion and finish each one.
3. Use the documented Ctrl+S finalization sequence before the last Enter to complete the subtraction.

Practical tip. Ideal for flooring around shafts, ceiling areas with openings, and other deductive takeoffs.

Count repeated devices or fixtures with persistent highlight-style marks. Matching names and colors help visually audit the counted elements.

1. Select Count and mark a single item with the mouse.
2. Give the group a descriptive name and reuse the same style for matching instances.
3. Press Enter outside an editor to clear the active count name when switching to a new group.

Practical tip. Useful for lights, receptacles, diffusers, doors, sprinklers, and repetitive accessories.

Add quantities that do not need geometry on the drawing, such as allowance lines, schedule-derived quantities, or other table-only items.

1. Use the Manual add control or the table context menu.
2. Enter description, quantity, unit, cost, notes, and applicable drawing information.
3. Keep manual entries alongside measured items in the estimate table.

Practical tip. Manual entries should be clearly described so they remain traceable during review.

Select individual or grouped takeoff objects, reposition them, and duplicate suitable shapes without redrawing every measurement from scratch.

1. Choose Select (S) and pick the desired objects.
2. Use Move or Copy with the selected base point.
3. Choose destination points with the available corner/vertex snapping.

Practical tip. Use Undo when a move or copy lands in the wrong place.

Reorient or resize supported objects interactively using a base point and live geometry feedback.

1. Select the object.
2. Choose Rotate or Modify Scale.
3. Set the reference/base point and complete the cursor-driven transformation.

Practical tip. A transformed drawing shape can affect its quantities. Review the resulting measurements.

Remove unwanted portions of Line or Polyline measurements while retaining the takeoff item and updating its length.

1. Choose Trim.
2. Press on the intended line or polyline.
3. Drag across the segment to remove and release.

Practical tip. Useful when one originally measured route must be shortened after detail clarification.

Constrain new Line and Polyline segments to horizontal and vertical directions, including Line Surface and Polyline Surface workflows.

1. Enable the compact ∟ button or press F8.
2. Start the line or polyline and move the pointer.
3. Click to set the horizontal or vertical endpoint; disable Ortho when finished.

Practical tip. Ortho constrains new segment geometry; it does not automatically redraw existing measurements.

Use endpoint and start-point snapping behavior to help align traces, copied shapes, and closed freehand areas.

1. Review the Snap settings control.
2. Enable or configure snapping where supported.
3. Watch for the snap response at vertices and the beginning of a freehand trace.

Practical tip. Zoom into busy details so nearby snap targets are easier to distinguish.

Create visually distinct scope areas with automatic coloring and adjustable transparent fills that let the drawing remain visible underneath.

1. Draw and name one or more area shapes.
2. Enable ◩ Fill to display colored interiors.
3. Open ◐ Opacity and use the 0–100% slider to choose transparency.

Practical tip. A moderate opacity helps show an underlying wall, note, or fixture while still emphasizing the measured area.

Reposition takeoff labels away from dense drawing geometry and use leaders to connect names or quantities back to their shapes.

1. Select a takeoff item or its name/measurement block.
2. Use Move Label and drag the block to a clearer location.
3. Use corner handles to adjust how the item name wraps; measurement values remain intact.

Practical tip. Especially valuable when producing a clean review PDF or presenting takeoff results to a colleague.

Make heavily marked-up drawings easier to understand with the page legend, text notes, freehand highlights, and geometric markups.

1. Apply suitable colors and item names.
2. Open the page legend to review visible takeoff categories.
3. Insert text, highlights, circles, squares, or ellipses to call out important areas.

Practical tip. Annotation marks are separate from measured quantity rows, except for the dedicated Count workflow.

Record questions and decisions directly on the drawing. Regular comments relate to individual locations; permanent notes can appear across every page of a drawing document.

1. Click a drawing location in Comment mode to insert a comment.
2. Use the comment list to navigate and review records.
3. Place a Permanent Note for a document-wide instruction and edit its properties when needed.

Practical tip. Distinguish a design clarification from a measurement item to avoid mixing markup with estimate quantities.

Mark important locations on drawings and organize them into navigable destinations, including supported voice-mark navigation behavior.

1. Create a Voice Marking destination at the desired page location.
2. Give the destination a recognizable name.
3. Use the available destination or GoTo navigation to return to the marked location.

Practical tip. Availability of spoken navigation depends on the configured voice workflow.

Open two panes for everyday comparison, or configure up to fifty reference panes when you need a larger collection of sheets visible together.

1. Use the ▦ Split View control near the page selector.
2. Start with two views or choose a preset/custom count between 2 and 50.
3. Return to the original single-view workspace with the split control.

Practical tip. More panes reduce the space available to each sheet; two or three are usually more readable for precise takeoff.

Move, scroll, fit, and zoom each reference pane without forcing every displayed sheet to move together.

1. Choose a page number separately in each pane.
2. Use its zoom-in, zoom-out, and Fit controls.
3. Use Ctrl+mouse-wheel for reference-pane zoom where applicable.

Practical tip. Keep a floor plan on one side and a related detail or elevation on the other.

The live drawing canvas belongs to the active pane. Other panes serve as references, keeping the workspace clear about where new takeoff operations will be placed.

1. Double-click the reference pane you want to edit.
2. Look for its highlighted active border.
3. Measure or annotate in the newly active drawing pane.

Practical tip. Switch back and forth to compare details before completing a takeoff.

Review Type, Drawing, Detail, CSI, Description, Page, Count, Length, Area, Volume, Weight, Units, Unit Cost, Cloud Cost, Total Cost, and Notes together.

1. Select an item on the drawing or in the table.
2. Edit supported fields directly.
3. Use sorting/filtering, item search, and linked selection to review quantities.

Practical tip. Clear descriptions and units make exports more useful for bid review.

Use direct cell editing, clipboard copy/paste, fill-handle workflows, and applicable table sorting tools to work through repeated information.

1. Select one or more supported table cells.
2. Copy or paste values or use the fill handle where supported.
3. Review totals after a mass edit.

Practical tip. The table can contain both geometry-driven values and separately entered manual fields.

Organize estimate data with construction classification fields and the CSI table view, then prepare a CSI-oriented Excel export when required.

1. Assign CSI numbers and section information to rows.
2. Review the CSI table separately from the standard takeoff view.
3. Export the organized CSI data for downstream estimating.

Practical tip. This is especially helpful for combining multi-trade quantity information into a bid structure.

Attach manual unit costs to takeoff items and use the Cloud Cost database search to look up available price references.

1. Enter unit costs in the takeoff table.
2. Use the Cloud Cost search for matching database items where available.
3. Confirm the selected cost unit and relevance before relying on pricing.

Practical tip. Cloud lookup depends on an internet connection and the availability of matching price records.

Combine quantities written in different common measurement notations, including feet-and-inch fractions and supported metric entries.

1. Click the Σ toolbar control.
2. Paste or type a quantity list.
3. Choose the intended output unit and review the calculated result.

Practical tip. A convenient tool for assembling dimensional notes and field or supplier information.

Export organized takeoff data to spreadsheet-friendly files for pricing, bid comparison, scope reconciliation, and recordkeeping.

1. Review the table and check descriptions, quantities, and units.
2. Use the main Excel export or CSI-specific export command.
3. Open the result in your spreadsheet software for further estimating work.

Practical tip. Exported figures should be checked against the drawing set before bid submission.

Extend the takeoff workflow into grading-oriented quantity analysis using the dedicated earthwork calculator and its point preview.

1. Load the applicable source drawing.
2. Preview the points used in the computation.
3. Calculate Cut/Fill and export the results to Excel.

Practical tip. The accuracy of earthwork results depends on the quality and interpretation of input elevations and surface information.

Move around the PDF and select supported annotations for editing, moving, copying, or scaling.

1. Open PDF Studio using the ▣ control.
2. Choose Pan to navigate or Select to edit a supported object.
3. Use page thumbnails and zoom controls to find the right location.

Practical tip. Selecting a PDF annotation differs from selecting a construction takeoff shape.

Add new text annotations directly onto a page, with formatting tools for size, color, and bold treatment.

1. Activate T (Insert Text).
2. Click a position on the page and type.
3. Use the A color control, B bold control, and adjacent size settings.

Practical tip. Ideal for plan notes, review callouts, and markup headings.

Use Edit PDF to modify editable text already embedded in a PDF, in addition to creating new text annotations.

1. Choose Edit PDF.
2. Click a supported existing text area and make the correction.
3. Review the page and save the result with Save As.

Practical tip. Text that is only part of a scanned image is not ordinary editable PDF text.

Mark important text or regions with translucent color and clear highlights from a current Studio page when needed.

1. Select the Highlight tool.
2. Choose a color in the highlight palette.
3. Drag across the desired region; use the clear-highlights control for the current page.

Practical tip. Highlighters are designed for emphasis without obscuring the original content.

Create handwritten-looking annotations, freeform ink strokes, and signatures directly on the page.

1. Choose ✍ Draw/Sign.
2. Use the options menu to select an ink color and stroke thickness.
3. Draw on the PDF page, then save the edited document.

Practical tip. Useful for internal acknowledgments, review redlines, and marked-up supporting documents.

Resize supported selected annotations interactively to improve layout or reuse a shape at a different size.

1. Select the object or objects with the Studio selection tool.
2. Activate ⤢ Modify Scale.
3. Choose a base point, preview the new scale, and click to confirm.

Practical tip. This is a graphical transform tool, separate from the Takeoff drawing calibration process.

Organize document sets by assembling PDFs, moving pages, duplicating details, extracting selections, and splitting large documents into smaller files.

1. Use Add PDFs, Insert, Duplicate, Delete, Extract, and Split.
2. Reorder pages using the thumbnail area.
3. Save the revised document to the intended location.

Practical tip. Useful for producing targeted drawing packages for subcontractors, architects, and review teams.

Convert supported images to PDF pages and rotate individual pages for more readable submissions or archival documents.

1. Open the Image to PDF command and choose the files.
2. Arrange or review their order as needed.
3. Rotate pages left or right and save the output PDF.

Practical tip. Page arrangement is a document function; it does not automatically change takeoff measurements.