Manage Takeoffs Screen Field Reference

Information tab

Enter or edit the job information for an estimate. The information you enter will print on many of the estimating reports. You are automatically prompted to enter job information when you create the job.

Note: You can leave any or all of these fields blank. This information can be edited at any time by clicking Job Information.

Field

Description

Job

Number

Click to view the list of used jobs numbers and enter a number for this job.

Name

Displays the name you entered for the job.

Description

Enter a description for the job.

Address

Line 1

Enter the first line of the street address for the job.

Line 2

Enter the second line of the street address for the job.

City

Enter the city for the job.

State

Enter the state or province for the job.

Zip

Enter the postal or ZIP code for the job.

Dates

Bid

Click to select the due date for the bid from a calendar.

Start

Click to select the start date for the estimate from a calendar.

Changed

Click to select the changed date for the estimate from a calendar.

Contact

Name

Enter the name of the contact for the bid you are preparing the estimate for.

Phone

Enter the phone number for the contact.

Email

Enter the e-mail address for the contact.

Fax

Enter the fax number for the contact.

Invitations to Bid - Use this section to set up the interaction between the estimate and invitations to bid.

Company

Click to select the company for which you will create invitations to bid.

Invitation to Bid Item WBS Code

Click to select the WBS code to use to identify cost items that will be included in invitations to bid. When vendor bids are received, you can update the cost items in the estimate based on this WBS code. See Manage Invitation to Bid Selection screen for more information.

Estimator

Estimator

Enter the name of the person preparing the estimate.

Comments

Enter any additional comments about the estimate.

Job Template tab

Select one of the following options:

  • No job template or catalog selected - Do not use a template.

  • Use an existing Job as a template for this job – Use an existing job as a template. Click to select the job to base the new job on. Select the Zero Quantities checkbox to remove all item quantities from the new job.

Get Plans tab

Use the Get Plans tab to add plans to the estimate job. You can add multiple plans in multiple formats.

Field

Description

Import From

Select one of the following options to add plans to your job:

  • My Computer – Select this option if the plans are stored somewhere on your hard drive, CD, or external drive. Click Browse to locate the folder that contains the files, then select the individual drawings you want to include and click Open.

    Note: You can select and import multiple sheets at once in the Select Plan(s) window by pressing and holding Ctrl to select individual files or Shift to select a range of files.

  • Online Plan Room – Select this option to download drawings from an online plan room. Type the URL in the text box and click Retrieve, at which point your default Internet browser will open and log onto the Web site you specified. From there, follow the Web site's instructions for downloading plans.

  • Internet Site – Select this option to launch a browser to a specified URL. Type the URL in the text box and click Go. This option still requires you to manually download the plans to your hard drive.

Image Output Type

Color

Select one of the following options to set how you want color images imported from PDF files to appear in takeoff:

  • Color Image - Select Color Image if you are importing a color image and want the colors to appear in takeoff. The application maintains the colors of the drawing. This option uses more memory and you may not be able to import larger files. You may also experience performance delays while using color images.

  • Grayscale Image - Select Grayscale image to convert a color image to shades of gray. This option uses less memory than the Color Image option, but more than the Black and White option.

  • Black and White - Select Black and White to convert a color image to black and white image. When the image is imported, the application removes all colors and shades of gray. This option uses the least amount of memory and has the best performance. Select this option if the image you are importing is black and white.

Image Quality (for PDF, AutoCad Import)

Click to select the image quality in DPI (dots per inch) of imported PDF and AutoCAD images. A higher DPI results in better image quality, but the Estimating module may perform more slowly. Lower DPI causes lower image quality with faster performance.

Job Plans (Digital images & blueprints)

Displays digital images and physical drawings added to the job. You can rename or remove plans from the job.

To Rename a plan:

  1. Click on the plan.
  2. Click Rename or right-click on the plan and select Rename.
  3. In the New Name field, enter the new name for the plan.
  4. Click OK.

To Remove a plan from the job:

  1. Click on the plan. To remove multiple sheets at one time, hold Ctrl and click on each plan you want to remove.
  2. Click Delete or right-click and select Delete.
  3. Click Yes.

Locate Drawing/Add New Sheet
  1. Position the drawing on the digitizer and secure the edges of the drawing to prevent it from slipping.
  2. Click Locate Drawing/Add New Sheet to manually locate a set of blueprints on a digitizer board.
  3. Locate the physical sheet by digitizing the lower-left and upper-right corners of the blueprint with your stylus pen or puck. All sheets added will use the same drawing location, so use the largest possible location coordinates to account for each sheet.
  4. In the Number of sheets to add field, enter the number of sheets you are adding to the job.
  5. Select the Automatically import sheets checkbox to automatically close the Get Plans window and return to the Takeoff screen after you locate the drawing.

  6. Click OK.

    Note: Each sheet is named Page 1 through Page x, where x is the last sheet numerically. The sheets are named sequentially in the order they are added.