Where to start
Saved quote → Draw & Apply Edges → PDFBefore you start
- Open a saved practice quote with the intended price list. Use a readable PDF with known dimensions; the upload limit is 50 MB.
- Check the plan revision, pages and scale notes. Different pages can use different scales, and a PDF resized to fit a page can disagree with its printed scale.
- Captured outlines, openings and detected labels need review. Detection does not guarantee correct fabrication dimensions.
1Open countertop takeoff from the saved quote
In Draw & Apply Edges, keep Tile Off for this countertop workflow, choose PDF and select the plan. Wait for Takeoff Studio and the first sheet to load. This workspace captures countertop pieces; the flooring takeoff workflow is separate.
Uploading the same PDF again for the same quote resumes its existing takeoff session. It is not a way to start a clean copy. Check the pieces already listed before capturing anything again.
2Find the correct sheet and controls
Use the numbered sheet buttons on the left. The VECTOR, RASTER or MIXED badge describes the page's detected content; it does not certify its accuracy. The center shows the plan, the left tree groups captured pieces, and the right panel shows the selected piece and catalog choices.
On a narrower screen, open Sheets & areas or Details from the toolbar. Selecting a sheet closes the sheets panel; Escape closes an open panel and releases the current drawing tool.
3Confirm a suggested scale
An unconfirmed sheet shows a suggested Use scale button or No scale — measuring locked. A suggestion may come from a printed scale note or matched dimensions. Choose it only after checking that it applies to this sheet and the detail you are measuring.
Scale is stored separately for each sheet. Confirm the scale on every sheet containing captured pieces; confirming page one does not calibrate page two.
4Calibrate from a known dimension
Choose Calibrate, click one endpoint of a known dimension, then click the other endpoint. Enter its real length in the unit requested by the prompt. Use the endpoints of the measured span, rather than the dimension text or arrow outside it.
For the practice plan, the first sheet's kitchen run is 120 inches and the second sheet's utility island is 96 inches. Calibrate each sheet separately and verify another dimension before capturing more work.
5Enter an architectural scale or metric ratio
Open Scale. The architectural presets mean the shown paper inches equal one real foot: choosing 1/2 means 1/2 inch = 1 foot. For another architectural scale, enter a decimal in the custom field and press Enter. For a ratio, enter a value such as 1:100 and choose Use ratio.
Changing Units changes the dimension display and relevant dimension-entry controls. It does not calibrate the drawing or resize an existing piece. Use Scale or Calibrate to establish the relationship between the PDF and real measurements.
6Verify scale with Measure
Choose Measure and click two points on the plan. Check the displayed result against a second printed dimension, including a dimension inside an already captured piece. Escape releases Measure when finished.
If the check disagrees, correct the sheet scale before proceeding. Do not compensate for a wrong scale by editing every captured edge separately.
7Zoom and move around the plan
Use Zoom in and Zoom out for the sheet view, or hold Ctrl while scrolling over the plan to zoom around the cursor. Middle-button dragging pans the sheet. Ordinary scrolling moves around the workspace; it does not change the scale used for measurements.
A selected catalog cutout is a special case: while it follows the cursor, ordinary scrolling rotates that cutout in 15-degree steps. Press Escape to release the placement tool before returning to ordinary navigation.
8Capture a counter with an outline click
With no tool armed, click inside the intended countertop run. O returns to this outline-click mode. Wait for the captured region, then inspect its perimeter and any detected openings against the plan.
Clicking an existing region selects it. Select its row in the tree when several outlines overlap or a small piece is difficult to target. The selected region's area, vertex count and holes appear in Details.
9Use Highlight for a complete boundary
Choose Highlight, or press H, and drag a rectangle around one complete countertop boundary. The detector takes the largest complete shape inside the box. Include the entire perimeter without enclosing unnecessary neighboring counters.
Check holes separately. In the practice plan, Highlight captures the island's outer boundary, but its sink opening still needs review and a separate cutout action. A successful outline does not prove that every opening was captured.
10Trace a boundary manually
Choose Trace, or press T, and click around the perimeter in order. The cursor can snap to the sheet's linework. Click the first point again or press Enter to close the shape. Backspace removes the last placed point; Escape cancels the active trace.
Trace a complete outline without crossing its own edges. A closed trace inside an existing region can become a hole in that region, so check whether you intended a separate countertop or an opening.
11Check and edit dimensions
Select the piece and turn on Dims. Click a displayed edge measurement, enter the intended value and press Enter. Tab accepts the value and moves to another edge; Shift+Tab moves backward. Escape cancels the current entry.
A dimension edit changes the outline, not the PDF's scale. Inspect neighboring edges and cutouts after the change. Use Undo or Ctrl+Z to restore a recent supported drawing edit; the undo history belongs to the current workspace session.
12Correct vertices and detected compartments
Release the current tool with Escape, select the piece and drag its white vertex handles to correct the perimeter. Check the snapped endpoint and all adjacent dimensions before keeping the edit.
For detected compartments, Shift+click adds the clicked compartment to the selected region and Alt+click removes one. Review the resulting whole boundary and holes. These actions depend on the plan's detectable linework; use Trace or finish the correction on the quote canvas if the detector cannot identify the intended boundary.
13Apply a radius, clip or corner bump-out
Choose Corners and click the intended corner of a captured piece. Select radius, clip or bump-out and enter the dimensions shown in the corner controls. Inspect the preview, then choose Apply. Cancel leaves the corner unchanged.
A corner bump-out is different from extending a full counter run. Check its position, width and depth, and review the shape again after Continue to canvas. Use Undo to restore a recent corner edit while the workspace remains open.
14Create or remove a freehand opening
Select the countertop first. Open Cutouts and choose Freehand — punch the fixture drawn on the plan, then click inside the fixture footprint. Inspect the resulting hole against the plan and its displayed dimensions.
Details lists detected holes under Cutouts (holes). Use the hole's remove control if it is not a real opening. A plain opening and a catalog fixture are different records: avoid adding both for the same sink unless that is deliberate.
15Place a catalog cutout
Check the Pricelist selection in Details, open Cutouts and choose a named fixture from that catalog. Move the preview inside the intended counter and click to place it. Scroll before placing to rotate in 15-degree steps; Escape ends placement.
Catalog cutouts carry their configured dimensions and fixture information, such as faucet holes. If the menu has no catalog entries, maintain the applicable price list's Cutouts catalog. Selecting a takeoff catalog does not replace the quote's price list; keep them consistent and check the quote's pricing afterward.
16Move, remove and review placed fixtures
With the placement tool released, select a placed cutout and drag it within its parent piece. Check its setback, orientation and clearances. The cutout stays bound to that piece.
Use Delete on the selected cutout or its removal control in Placed cutouts. Undo restores a recent catalog-cutout removal. Inspect the final quote's Cutouts step as well; a saved catalog selection is not a substitute for checking the actual fixture specification.
17Apply edge types and strip heights
Open Edges and choose the required boundary type, then click the edges that should receive it. The tool remains armed for repeated clicks until Escape or another tool is selected. F, U, A, M and W arm finished, unfinished, appliance, miter and waterfall edges; B arms a 4-inch backsplash.
For splash, miter and waterfall edges, set the height before clicking the boundary. The toolbar height control uses the current dimension unit. This describes the physical strip or drop; it does not choose a finished-edge catalog profile or establish the charged rate.
18Apply splash to wall edges
On a selected piece, Splash on wall edges changes its U edges to splash edges. Choose a 3-, 4- or 5-inch preset, or enter the custom height in inches and press Enter. Check which edges are U before applying a batch change.
Detected detail references may offer a sheet jump and height suggestions. Open the referenced drawing and check it. Specs from drawings and detected dimensions are reference aids, not proof that the right finish or splash was selected.
19Use rooms for drawing labels
Choose + Create Room and enter a room name. Creating a room can assign the currently selected piece as well as set the room for subsequent captures, so check the selection before saving. Use room names such as Kitchen or Utility to explain where the pieces belong.
Rooms label and organize the drawing. Pricing areas group pieces for materials and nesting. They serve different purposes and can contain several pieces. Right-click a room in the tree to inspect its editing options.
20Assign pricing areas and materials
Choose + Create Area, name the group and select the intended material, color and thickness. Drag each piece's tree row onto the area header to assign it. A room can also be dragged onto an area to move its grouped pieces together.
Inspect the area summary and all assignments. For example, the practice plan uses a Training White area for three counters while keeping Kitchen and Utility as room labels. Area material choices carry into the quote's Materials & Slabs step; complete and verify its remaining material, edge-profile and slab-layout choices there.
21Rename and copy pieces deliberately
Double-click a piece's tree row to rename it. In Details, Piece type classifies the existing outline as Counter, Island, Backsplash or Other; it does not create a new outline or replace its material area. Check the name, type, room and area against the plan. Select a piece and use Ctrl+C, then move the cursor to the intended position and use Ctrl+V to paste a copy. Recheck its room and area assignment and remove accidental duplicates.
When copying between sheets, confirm both sheet scales first. Paste preserves physical dimensions while adapting the outline and cutout positions to the destination sheet's scale. Inspect the copied measurements and fixture positions before retaining the copy. Undo removes a recent pasted piece.
22Inspect linework and difficult captures
Vectors overlays the extracted linework. With Vectors on, Only hides the PDF rendering so you can inspect the extracted lines alone. Turn Only off to compare them with the original page.
Vision makes outline clicks use the rendered page ink when the vector boundaries are incomplete. Gap leniency reruns a selected region with a different gap tolerance; higher values can change its detected boundary. Start conservatively and inspect the new perimeter and holes after every rerun. Do not use a larger tolerance as a substitute for checking a missing wall or ambiguous line.
23Check saved edits and failed writes
Takeoff captures and edits save as you work. Watch for an error message after changing a name, geometry or assignment. A failed write can roll back to the previous value; correct the problem and retry, then reopen or reselect the piece to verify it.
Saving the takeoff session and saving the final quote are separate steps. Avoid closing the browser during an unfinished upload or write. Back returns to the linked quote; check its current drawing before deciding whether to resume the takeoff.
24Continue to the quote canvas
Review every captured piece and confirm the scale on each sheet that contains one. Choose Continue to canvas. If a piece's sheet is unconfirmed, the workspace asks you to resolve that scale first.
The handoff adds the reviewed pieces to the quote. Existing drawing pieces stay in place and newly imported pieces are placed below them. A normal return or reload does not replay the handoff, but deliberately choosing Continue to canvas again from the takeoff session adds another set. Review the quote before repeating the action.
25Inspect the drawing and show strip pieces
On Draw & Apply Edges, use Refocus to see the whole result. Check each counter's dimensions, openings, room labels and edge assignments. Compare the result with the plan, including any corner modifications. Inspect existing quote pieces as well as the new takeoff pieces.
Use Show Strip Pieces to inspect the miter, splash and waterfall pieces associated with the assigned edges. Check their heights and placement before nesting or printing. Correct crowded room labels, drawings or annotations and review any Drawing Health notices.
26Review materials, quantities and pricing
Open Materials & Slabs and verify every area, material, thickness, finished-edge profile and slab layout. Make sure any pre-existing or unassigned counter belongs to the intended pricing area. Then open Summary & Pricing and check quantities, rates, strip material, cutout lines and totals against the selected quote price list.
The takeoff's net outlined area can differ from the quote's billable quantity. Openings, splash and strip material, and the quote's pricing rules affect the figures shown at different stages. Inspect the actual line items instead of expecting every area total to be identical.
27Save, reopen and review the attached markup
Choose Save → Save & Continue, then Skip note & save or Save with note in the revision-note prompt. Wait for saving to finish. Reopen the quote and confirm its counters, cutouts, area assignments and pricing.
Continue to canvas also starts creation of a marked-up plan in the quote's Files. Wait for that file to appear and inspect the relevant sheets, labels and dimensions. It is a takeoff reference; review the quote's own rendered PDF separately for the final drawing, pricing and page layout before sharing it.
Check the result
- A second known dimension agrees on every used sheet, including sheets with different scales.
- The saved quote contains the intended counters and correctly attached openings, with no duplicate import or overlap with the original drawing.
- Room labels, area/material assignments, strip heights, cutout selections and quote prices are checked after reopening.
- The attached markup and the quote's rendered PDF have both been reviewed for their separate purposes.
If something looks wrong
- If PDF is absent, check pilot availability and whether the quote has been saved. Keep the countertop and flooring takeoff workflows separate.
- If a tool click appears to select a piece instead, confirm which toolbar tool is armed; Escape releases it. On a narrow screen, close Sheets & areas or Details to return to the plan.
- A scanned image may not contain the same detectable boundaries as a vector plan. Compare Vectors/Only with the PDF, try Vision where appropriate, or Trace and verify manually.
- If Continue to canvas reports an unconfirmed scale, inspect every sheet containing captured pieces. Confirming the currently visible sheet alone may be insufficient.
- Resuming the same PDF does not clear its captured regions. Repeating Continue to canvas is an additional import, so remove unintended duplicates deliberately.
- If a save fails or the marked-up plan is still being created, wait or retry the failed action and verify the saved result before sharing it.