Takeoff Viewer

The takeoff viewer shows one sheet of the drawings and lets you take off its quantities on the sheet: you click each device to count it, you click along each run to measure its length, and you click around each area to measure it. Each mark belongs to a takeoff item, such as Duplex receptacles or 3/4" EMT, and the site adds the marks of each item over every sheet of the project.

Menu	Estimator > Projects, open a project, then Open the viewer. Or open Sheets and click Takeoff on the row of a sheet
Permission	View all projects and bids to see the sheet and its marks. Manage own projects and bids, or Manage all projects and bids, to add and delete marks
Feature	Estimator Takeoff

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

Move around the sheet

To	Do this
Zoom in or out	Click the zoom buttons, press + or -, or hold Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel.
Fit the sheet to the width	Click the fit button, or press 0.
Move the sheet	With the Select tool, drag the sheet. With any other tool, hold Space and drag, or drag with the middle mouse button.
Go to the next or previous sheet	Click the arrows at the right of the toolbar, or press Page Down or Page Up.

Check the scale first

The badge in the toolbar tells you which scale the site uses to measure the sheet:

Badge	Meaning
Scale from the sheet	The site uses the scale of the sheet, such as 1/8" = 1'-0". Check it on the Sheets page.
Calibrated scale	Somebody calibrated the sheet. The calibrated scale wins over the scale of the sheet.
No scale or Not to scale	The site cannot measure lengths or areas on this sheet. Counts still work. Calibrate the sheet to measure it.

Calibrate a sheet

Calibrate a sheet when it has no scale, when it is not to scale, or when a printed dimension does not agree with the scale.

1. Click Calibrate, or press K.
2. Type the real length in feet in the Real length (ft) box, such as 40.
3. Click the two ends of a dimension, or of a line whose length you know.

The badge changes to Calibrated scale, and every length and area on the sheet is measured again. To go back to the scale of the sheet, click Use the scale of the sheet in the side panel.

Pick a takeoff item

Every mark belongs to a takeoff item. Pick the item in the list in the toolbar, or click its name in the side panel. The site picks the tool that suits the item.

To add an item without leaving the viewer, type its name under Add a takeoff item in the side panel, pick Count, Length or Area, and click Add. To change its color or notes, use the Takeoff items page.

Count devices

1. Click Count, or press C.
2. Click each device on the sheet.

Each click adds one (EA) to the item.

Measure a run

1. Click Length, or press L.
2. To add the drops of the run, type them in feet in the Drops box, such as 10, 10 for two drops of 10 feet.
3. Click the start of the run, then each corner. Hold Shift to keep a segment horizontal or vertical.
4. Double-click the last point, or press Enter.

The length of the run, plus its drops, is added to the item in linear feet (LF). Press Backspace to remove the last point while you draw, and Esc to stop.

Measure an area

1. Click Area, or press A.
2. Click each corner of the area.
3. Double-click the last corner, or press Enter.

The area is added to the item in square feet (SF).

Undo or delete a mark

• To remove the last mark you added, click the undo button, or press Ctrl+Z.
• To delete any mark, click Select (or press V), click the mark, then click the delete button or press Delete.

Show or hide an item

The side panel lists the items, with the quantity of each on this sheet. Clear the check box of an item to hide its marks, so that the sheet is easier to read. This changes only what you see; the quantities stay.

Set the location of the sheet

Type the location of the sheet in Location of this sheet, such as Level 2 or Building A. The Takeoff items page gives the quantity of each item per location.

All the keys

Key	Does
V, C, L, A, K	Select, Count, Length, Area, Calibrate
Enter or double-click	Finish a run or an area
Backspace	Remove the last point while you draw
Esc	Stop drawing, and clear the selection
Delete	Delete the selected mark
Ctrl+Z	Undo the last mark you added
Shift	Keep a segment horizontal or vertical
+, -, 0	Zoom in, zoom out, fit to the width
Space and drag	Move the sheet
Page Down, Page Up	Next sheet, previous sheet