Measuring Your Plans with Takeoff

Upload plans, set a sheet scale, add takeoff items with named measurements, read totals per plan set, and export CSVs. Measured quantities never change your Budget.

A **takeoff** is the list of quantities you read off your drawings: how many square feet of flooring, how many linear feet of trim, how many toilets. The **Takeoff** page lets you do that on the plan itself instead of on a legal pad, and keeps a record of exactly where each number came from.

Takeoff measures. It does not buy anything, price anything or change your Budget. Nothing you draw here appears on a budget line, an expense, a draw request or an order.

Start here

1. Open **Takeoff** and select **Upload Plans**. Pick one PDF. The first upload creates a plan set for you and opens the PDF straight away — there is nothing to set up first.
2. Move to the sheet you want with the **‹** and **›** sheet buttons, or type a sheet number in the box between them and press Enter.
3. Select **Set scale**, choose your drawing's scale, and save it. Counts do not need a scale; everything else does.
4. Select **+ Takeoff Item**. Give it a plain name — *Flooring*, *Exterior Walls*, *Toilets* — choose the **Measurement type**, and select **Add and start measuring**.
5. Draw. For **Count**, click each fixture. For everything else, click points and double-click (or press Enter, or select **Done**) to finish the shape.
6. Select **Quantities** at any time to read your totals, or download them.

Plans, sets, files and sheets

Everything above the drawing is navigation:

| Control | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Upload Plans** | Adds one PDF and opens it. While it works the button reads **Uploading…**; if it fails you get a reason and a **Try again** button. |
| Plan set list | Appears once you have more than one plan set. |
| Plan file list | Every PDF in the selected plan set. |
| **‹ / 1 / 4 / ›** | Sheet navigation within the selected PDF. |
| **Manage Plans** | Create a plan set, rename one, give it a revision label, and delete a plan file. |

A **plan set** is one issue of the drawings — for example *Issued for Permit*, or *Rev B*. A plan set holds as many PDF files as you like, and each PDF has as many sheets as it has pages.

**This is the rule that keeps your numbers honest: your totals are the totals of the plan set you have selected.** An item's total adds up its measurements across every file and every sheet inside that one plan set. Measurements taken on a different plan set — an older revision, say — are never mixed in. If you get revised drawings, put them in a new plan set and measure them there; both sets keep their own quantities.

OwnerDraw remembers the last file and sheet you had open on each project, so returning later puts you back where you left off. If that file has since been deleted, it opens the first file in the set instead.

Takeoff items and named measurements

There are two levels, and understanding them is most of the job.

  • A **takeoff item** is the thing you are measuring: *Flooring*.
  • A **named measurement** is one piece of that thing, on one sheet: *First Floor*, *Second Floor*.

An item's quantity is the sum of its named measurements:

```text
Flooring — 2,000 SF
First Floor — 1,200 SF (A-101, sheet 2)
Second Floor — 800 SF (A-102, sheet 1)
```

Each named measurement remembers the file and sheet it was drawn on. One named measurement can hold as many shapes or count marks as the real thing needs — a floor drawn as four rectangles is still one measurement of *First Floor*, counted once, contributing once to the item total.

**+ Takeoff Item** asks for three things:

  • **Name** — what you would call it out loud.
  • **Measurement type** — see the table below.
  • **Wall height (ft)** or **Depth (inches)**, for wall and volume items only.

| Measurement type | Unit | Use it for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Area** (SF) | square feet | floors, roofs, slabs by area, drywall by sheet area |
| **Linear** (LF) | linear feet | trim, gutter, footing, plumbing runs |
| **Count** (ea) | each | toilets, windows, outlets, cans |
| **Wall SF** (SF) | square feet | wall area from a wall run × a wall height |
| **Volume** (CY) | cubic yards | concrete, fill, gravel |

Adding an item drops you straight into its first measurement, already named **Measurement 1** — rename it to something meaningful. To add another piece, expand the item in the list and select **Add measurement**; it inherits the item's type and its height or depth, and you can change those on the new measurement without disturbing what you already measured.

Selecting an existing item picks up the right drawing tool automatically. Selecting a named measurement opens the sheet it lives on and flashes its shapes so you can see what you are looking at.

Scale

Scale is set **per sheet of per file** — sheet 3 of A-101 has its own scale, and so does sheet 3 of S-201. That is deliberate: details and enlarged plans are rarely at the same scale as the floor plan.

Select **Set scale** above the drawing. The chip reads **Set scale** when the sheet has none, and **Scale set** once it does. You have two ways in:

  • **Standard scale** — pick the architectural or engineering scale printed on the sheet.
  • **Calibrate** — click two points along a dimension you know, then type the real length (`20'-6"` and `20.5` are both accepted). Use this when the PDF has been resized in printing, which is common.

**Count needs no scale.** You can count fixtures on an unscaled sheet all day.

**Every other type needs a saved scale before a quantity can be saved.** If you draw a length or an area on a sheet with no scale, OwnerDraw tells you *Set the scale first* — but it keeps your drawing on screen. Set the scale and the shape saves itself with the correct quantity. You do not redraw.

Changing a scale that already has measurements

If you set a new scale on a sheet that already carries measurements, OwnerDraw asks first: **Recalculate this sheet?** Select **Change scale and recalculate** and every length, area and volume **on that sheet** is recalculated. Select **Keep the current scale** and nothing changes.

What recalculating does not do: it does not move, reshape or delete anything you drew, it does not touch your openings, wall heights or depths, and it does not touch any other sheet. Counts are unaffected — a count is a count at any scale.

Drawing

Above the sheet: zoom out, the zoom percentage, zoom in, and reset zoom. The prompt beside them tells you what the current tool expects.

  • **Rectangle** — click two opposite corners. **Polygon** — click points and double-click, press Enter, or select **Done** to close the shape. For an **Area** item these are two ways of drawing the same thing; the buttons sit on the blue **Measuring:** strip while a tool is live. Rectangles you drew previously are still rectangles and still count normally.
  • **Linear** and **Wall SF** — click along the run and finish the same way.
  • **Count** — one click, one mark.
  • **Select / Pan** on the **Measuring:** strip stops the tool so you can pan, zoom and select what you have drawn. Pressing Escape also stops.

The blue strip always names where your work is going, for example **Measuring: Flooring → Second Floor · Area**. If that is not the destination you meant, fix it in the list before you draw.

Selecting a finished shape opens a row of controls for it:

  • **Wall height (ft)** or **Depth (in)** with a tick to apply — the value is stored on that shape, so different measurements can use different heights.
  • **Cut out opening** — click two opposite corners of a window, door or stair opening to deduct it from an area. Repeat for each opening. **Restore openings** puts the full area back.
  • **Delete** removes that one shape.

Renaming, hiding and deleting

In the items list, the small **⋮** menu on any row renames, changes the colour, or deletes. The eye icon hides an item's drawings on the plan.

**Hiding changes what you see, not what you have.** A hidden item's quantity still appears in the list, in **Quantities** and in the exports.

Deletion is spelled out before it happens, and there are two different scopes:

  • Deleting a **named measurement** removes that measurement and its shapes only. The item and its other measurements are untouched.
  • Deleting a **takeoff item** removes the item, all of its named measurements, and every shape and count mark in them. This cannot be undone.

Quantities and exports

**Quantities** opens a panel showing the same totals as the list: item name, type, total, and each named measurement with its file, sheet and subtotal. Selecting a measurement jumps to its sheet. The heading names the plan set the totals belong to.

Two downloads, both CSV spreadsheet files:

| Button | You get | File name |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Summary CSV** | one row per takeoff item with its total | `takeoff-summary-<plan set>.csv` |
| **Detailed CSV** | every named measurement, with its file and sheet | `takeoff-detailed-<plan set>.csv` |

Both exports cover the selected plan set, and match the list and the **Quantities** panel exactly. Open them in any spreadsheet program.

Measured quantity is not a purchase quantity

This matters more than anything else on the page.

What Takeoff gives you is the **measured quantity from the drawing**. What you order is a different number, and you work it out yourself:

  • **Waste and overage** — cuts, breakage, pattern match. Takeoff adds none of this.
  • **Purchase units** — 1,240 SF of drywall is not 1,240 of anything you can buy; it is a number of sheets. 285 LF of trim becomes a count of stock lengths.
  • **Price** — Takeoff holds no prices at all.

Nothing measured here flows into the Budget, an expense, a bid, an order, or a draw request. When you are ready to budget the work, type the quantity onto the **Budget** line yourself, with your own waste allowance and unit price. The **Calculators** button (on a wide screen) opens the construction calculators if you want help converting.

AI Helper

**AI Helper** opens a chat that can see your takeoff totals for the current project and talk about materials — turning measured wall area into sheet counts with a waste factor, linear feet into stock lengths, volume into yards to order.

  • It is included with an active OwnerDraw subscription; subscribers get 500 AI credits a month.
  • A normal message costs **1 credit**. **Vision mode**, where the assistant also looks at the sheet you have open, costs **10 credits** per message. Your balance shows at the top of the panel, and **Manage credits** goes to the Credits page.
  • It writes suggestions. It does not draw, measure, change your quantities, price anything or place an order. Read what it gives you and check it against your supplier and your local code before you spend money on it.

On a phone

  • The items list is behind the **Items** button at the top left, in a drawer with the same rows, search, **+ Takeoff Item** and **⋮** menus.
  • **Upload Plans**, the file and sheet controls and **Manage Plans** wrap onto a second row above the drawing.
  • **Quantities** and **AI Helper** work exactly as they do on a computer.
  • **Calculators** is hidden on narrow screens; reach it from the navigation instead.
  • Practical advice: a phone is good for counting fixtures and reading quantities on site. Precise tracing and calibrating a scale are much easier on a computer with a mouse.

What do I do next?

| If you… | Do this |
| --- | --- |
| have no plans in OwnerDraw yet | **Upload Plans** — the first upload creates and opens the plan set for you |
| got a revised set of drawings | **Manage Plans** → create a new plan set, then upload into it |
| are measuring anything but a count | **Set scale** on that sheet first |
| were told *Set the scale first* | leave the drawing alone, **Set scale**, and it saves itself |
| printed the plans at the wrong size | **Set scale** → **Calibrate**, using a dimension you can read |
| are measuring one floor at a time | one item, one named measurement per floor |
| drew on the wrong sheet | delete that shape, open the right sheet, draw again |
| want your numbers in a spreadsheet | **Quantities** → **Summary CSV** or **Detailed CSV** |
| are ready to budget the work | open **Budget** and enter the quantity yourself, with waste and a unit price |
| want a hand converting to purchase units | **AI Helper**, or the construction **Calculators** |

Common questions

**Does measuring change my Budget?** No. Nothing on this page writes to a budget line, an expense, a bid, a draw request or an order. Takeoff is a measuring tool and a record.

**Why is my quantity zero, or refusing to save?** Almost always no scale on that sheet. Set it and the shape saves itself. A shape with no size — two clicks on the same spot — will not save either.

**I changed a sheet's scale. Did I lose work?** No. Your shapes, openings, wall heights and depths are exactly as you drew them; only the calculated quantities on that one sheet were recalculated, and only after you confirmed.

**Can one item cover several sheets?** Yes — that is the point of named measurements. The item total adds them up, within the selected plan set.

**Do old and new drawings get added together?** No. Totals belong to one plan set. Different revisions are counted separately.

**I hid an item and the total didn't change.** Correct. Hiding only affects what is drawn on the plan.

**Can I count on a sheet with no scale?** Yes. Count never needs a scale.

**Does the export include waste?** No. Exports carry measured quantities. Waste is yours to add.

**What can a client see?** A client with portal access can look, and read quantities. They cannot upload plans, draw, measure, set a scale, or use the AI Helper.

Professional builder notes

  • Scale lives on the file-and-sheet pair, so enlarged plans and details behave correctly without you fighting a single project-wide scale.
  • Calibrate rather than trusting the printed scale on any PDF that has been through a plotter or a scanner.
  • Use one plan set per issue and per revision. It costs nothing and it is the only way to compare a re-measure against the original honestly.
  • Openings are rectangular deductions applied per shape, so a wall elevation with many openings is faster measured as several shapes within one named measurement.
  • Wall SF is a run × a stored height. Two-storey walls are usually clearer as two named measurements at two heights than one averaged one.

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