Create takeoff items

An item is one thing you measure and price: a wall type, a floor finish, a ceiling, a door, a light fixture. Every mark you draw belongs to an item. Other programs call these conditions.

Each item has one type:

Type	You draw	It reports	Units
Linear	Runs of connected points	Length, number of runs, and wall area when it has a height	LF or m
Area	Closed outlines, with cut-outs	Area, perimeter, number of areas	SF, SY or m²
Count	One click per thing	How many	EA

Make an item

In the Items panel on the right, choose New item.
Type a name, like Interior wall type A or Carpet tile.
Pick the type: Linear (length), Area or Count.
Choose Add (or press ReturnEnter). The item appears in the list with its own color, becomes the item you draw with, and its editor opens below the list. The status bar tells you which tool to pick next.

Press EscEsc in the form to close it without adding an item.

Pick the item you draw with

Click an item in the list. It becomes the item new marks go to, and its marks are highlighted on every sheet while the others fade. If the open sheet has none of its marks, TakeoffCraft jumps to a sheet that has. Click the item again to stop highlighting; it stays the item you draw with.

Clicking a mark with the Select tool also makes its item the current one.

Set up the item

The item editor (Item: (name)) has these fields. Each one is saved when you leave the field or press ReturnEnter, and each change can be undone.

Field	What it does
Name	Shown in the list, the tables and the exports.
Type	Linear, Area or Count. It is locked once the item has marks ("An item with marks keeps its type").
Color	The color of its marks on screen and in the marked PDF.
Unit	What the quantity is reported in: LF or m for linear; SF, SY or m² for area; EA for count.
Height (linear)	A wall height. The item then also reports wall area (length × height).
Depth (area)	A depth or thickness, used in assembly formulas (for example concrete volume).
Waste %	Added to the quantity before pricing: 10 means quantity × 1.10.
Material $/LF	Material cost per unit. The label follows the unit: $/SF, $/EA and so on.
Labor $/LF	Labor cost per unit.

Height and depth take feet and inches (9'-0", 8' 6") or decimal feet (9) for imperial units, and meters (2.7, 2700 mm) for metric units. Rates take amounts like 12.50 or $1,250, up to four decimals. See Length, rate and percent entry.

Below the fields, Measured shows the totals the item's formulas can use, with their letters: Length (L), Runs (N), Wall area (A) for linear; Area (A), Perimeter (P), Areas (N) for area; Count (N) for count.

Further down is the Assembly: components such as studs or board, each with its own formula and rates. See Assemblies and formulas.

At the bottom: Move up and Move down change the item's place in the list and in the exports, and Delete item removes it with all its marks (after asking; you can undo it).

Rates in the table

You can also type Waste %, material and labor rates straight into the Quantities table at the bottom (By item). It is the same setting as in the editor.

How pricing works

For each item and each assembly component:

With waste = quantity × (1 + waste %).
Material = with waste × material per unit, rounded to the cent.
Labor = with waste × labor per unit, rounded to the cent.
Total = material + labor.

The Job total adds every item and every component. An item can carry its own rates and an assembly at the same time; both are counted, so leave the item's rates at 0 when its components carry the cost.

Metric items

Pick m (linear) or m² (area) as the unit. Quantities, heights and formula values are then in meters. The sheet scale can be any preset or calibration; units and scales are independent.