Tutorials TakeoffCraft help Coming from other software
Coming from other takeoff software
How the habits of dedicated takeoff programs and PDF markup tools map to TakeoffCraft, and the differences that trip people up.
Written for TakeoffCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
If you have done takeoff in PlanSwift or with the measurement tools in Bluebeam Revu, most of TakeoffCraft will feel familiar: a plan set, a scale per sheet, things you measure, and a priced total. The way the pieces fit together is different in places, and those places are below.
Habits mapped
| You are used to | In TakeoffCraft |
|---|---|
| Opening a job or project that stores the plans (PlanSwift) | Open the PDFs and the .takeoff.json project side by side. The project stores only the takeoff; the PDFs stay your own files. |
| Measurements saved as markups inside the PDF (Bluebeam) | The takeoff lives in the .takeoff.json file, not inside the PDF. Marked PDF writes a copy with the takeoff drawn in, for sharing. |
| Takeoff items (PlanSwift), custom measurement tools saved in the Tool Chest (Bluebeam) | Items under Items: name, type, color, unit, height or depth, waste, rates. |
| Parts and assemblies with formulas (PlanSwift) | The item's Assembly: components with a formula using L H A N P. |
| Setting the page scale, or calibrating (both) | Preset list or Calibrate in the Scale group, per sheet. Check measures a known dimension. |
| Applying one scale to a page range | Not yet: set each sheet. |
| Viewports with different scales on one sheet (Bluebeam) | Not yet: one scale per sheet. |
| Polylength and area tools (Bluebeam), linear and area takeoff (PlanSwift) | Linear (LL) and Area (AA). |
| Holding Shift for straight lines | ⇧Shift snaps to 45° steps, the same idea. |
| Count tool (both) | Count (CC). |
| Visual search for symbols (Bluebeam) | Auto count (SS): box one symbol, review, add. |
| Cut-outs or deductions in areas | Cut-out (XX) on a selected area, and round cut-outs. |
| Deductions on linear runs | Not yet. Draw the runs without the deducted part. |
| Arc segments in a polyline | Arc (RR): click a point on the curve, then its end. |
| The Markups list with quantity columns (Bluebeam) | The Quantities table, By item or By sheet. |
| Estimating grid with pricing (PlanSwift) | The same table: waste, material and labor per unit, extended totals, Job total. |
| Exporting to Excel | XLSX with live formulas, or CSV. |
| Escape to stop a tool | EscEsc cancels and returns to Select. |
| Right-click to finish | Right-click finishes a run or closes an area here too. There is no right-click menu. |
Differences that trip people up
The takeoff is not inside the PDF. Nothing you do changes your PDFs. Save the .takeoff.json file and keep it with the drawings. Sending someone the marked PDF does not send them an editable takeoff; send the project file and the original PDFs.
PDFs are matched by contents, not by name. A revised sheet saved over the old file name is a new file to TakeoffCraft, with no scale and no marks. Your old marks stay on the old version and keep counting. See Save and reopen a takeoff.
Unscaled marks are left out, not counted as zero. If a sheet has no scale, its runs and areas do not count, and the table says "Incomplete". In many programs you would just see 0. See Set the scale.
There is no page-size guessing. Presets assume the PDF is printed at full size. A half-size or "fit to page" PDF needs Calibrate. Always use Check.
One item, one type. An item is linear, area or count, and its type locks once it has marks. A condition that gives you both an area and its perimeter is an area item: its perimeter is the P variable. A wall with both length and area is a linear item with a height.
Formulas run on totals. Assembly formulas use the item's totals across every sheet, not each run separately. N (the number of runs or areas) is there for per-run extras, like one extra stud per wall.
Perimeter includes cut-outs. An area's P adds the edges of its holes. See Measure areas with cut-outs.
Dragging pans. A left-button drag on the sheet pans, in every tool except Auto count. You never need to switch to a pan tool. The wheel zooms; it does not scroll.
No auto-save, no cloud. Save with ⌘SCtrl+S. Cloud saving is not available yet.
Everything is in the browser. There is nothing to install, and the plans are never uploaded. Desktop builds are not available yet.
Not here yet
Typing coordinates or lengths while drawing, deductions on runs, per-sheet scale regions, item libraries, multi-condition items and saving the takeoff inside the PDF are not built yet. See What is not built yet for the full list and what to do instead.