Tutorials TakeoffCraft help Getting started
The TakeoffCraft screen
A tour of the window by on-screen name - the toolbar, the sheets list, the sheet, the Items panel, the Quantities table and the status bar.
Written for TakeoffCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
TakeoffCraft fills the browser window under the CadCraft app bar. From top to bottom and left to right:
| Part | Where | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| App bar | Very top | The app name, the version, About TakeoffCraft, Help (F1F1), Save for offline, Settings (⌘,Ctrl+,), the Full screen button and the Paper / Model theme switch. |
| Toolbar | Under the app bar | Every command, in groups: File, Export, Scale, Takeoff, Edit, View. |
| Sheets | Left | Every page of every open PDF, with a thumbnail, its scale and its mark count. |
| The sheet | Middle | The open page. You measure here. |
| Items | Right | Your takeoff items, the selected item's settings, and the selected mark. |
| Quantities | Bottom | Quantities and costs by item or by sheet, and the job total. |
| Status bar | Very bottom | The live measurement, messages, the 45° hint and the zoom. |
The toolbar
Hover over any button to see what it does and its key.
| Group | Buttons |
|---|---|
| File | New (empty takeoff), Open PDFs (⌘OCtrl+O), Open takeoff (a .takeoff.json project), Save takeoff (⌘SCtrl+S) |
| Export | XLSX, CSV, Marked PDF |
| Scale | Calibrate (KK), Check (DD), and the Preset list |
| Takeoff | Select (VV), Linear (LL), Area (AA), Circle (OO), Arc (RR, an on/off switch), Cut-out (XX), Count (CC), Auto count (SS) |
| Edit | Undo (⌘ZCtrl+Z), Redo (⌘YCtrl+Y), Copy (⌘CCtrl+C), Paste (⌘VCtrl+V), and More: Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste in place, Duplicate, Delete, Select all, Select none |
| View | Fit page (FF), Fit width (WW) |
The tool you are using is shown pressed. The Arc button stays pressed while arc mode is on.
Sheets (left)
- Search sheets filters the list by sheet name, file name or page label.
- Each sheet shows a thumbnail (drawn as you scroll), its name, and either its scale or No scale.
- The right side of each row shows how many marks the sheet has. While an item is highlighted, it shows how many of that item's marks are on the sheet instead.
- Click a sheet to open it. fn ↓Page Down and fn ↑Page Up move to the next and previous sheet in the list.
- When a takeoff covers PDFs that are not open, a note under the list names them. See Save and reopen a takeoff.
Sheet names come from the PDF: a page label such as A-101 becomes the sheet name. A page with no label is named after its file and page number, like "Plans, page 3". With several PDFs open, labeled sheets also show the file name.
The sheet (middle)
- The bar under the sheet shows the sheet name and its scale, or "No scale yet: pick a preset or calibrate". Its 3D button opens the 3D check view of the sheet.
- Before any PDF is open, the middle shows a short five-step guide.
- The wheel zooms at the pointer. Drag to pan. See Keyboard and mouse.
- While you use Auto count, a bar with its controls appears at the top of the sheet.
Items (right)
- New item opens a small form: a name, a type (Linear (length), Area or Count) and Add.
- The list shows each item's color, type icon, name and quantity. Click an item to draw with it and highlight its marks on every sheet. Click it again to stop highlighting.
- Under the list, Item: (name) is the item editor: name, type, color, unit, height or depth, waste, material and labor rates, the measured values, and the Assembly. See Create takeoff items.
- Selected mark appears when you select a mark: which item it belongs to, its sheet, its measurements, and buttons such as Add a cut-out and Delete mark. With several marks selected it becomes Selected marks: how many of each item, and Copy, Duplicate, Cut and Delete marks.
- The item editor ends with Copy item and Duplicate item: an item with its assembly and costs, without marks. See Copy, paste and duplicate marks.
Quantities (bottom)
- By item lists every item and its assembly components with quantity, waste, rates and extended costs. You can type waste and rates straight into the table.
- By sheet lists each item's quantity on each sheet.
- A warning starting with Incomplete: appears when something is left out of the totals.
- Job total is at the right of the header.
- The arrow button at the far right hides or shows the table to give the sheet more room.
See Read quantities and the estimate.
Status bar (bottom)
From left to right: the live measurement while you draw (length, area, radius or a check result), messages from TakeoffCraft, the reminder "Shift snaps to 45°" (or "Snaps to 45°; Shift frees the angle" when that is on in Settings), and the zoom percentage.
Full screen and themes
The Full screen button in the app bar, or ⌃⇧FCtrl+Shift+F (Control on every platform, also on a Mac), cycles through normal, full screen, and full screen with the bars hidden. With the bars hidden, move the pointer to the top edge to show them again.
Paper is the light theme and Model the dark one. In Model the drawing is shown inverted (light lines on dark) on screen only; exports are never changed.