Quickstart

This walks one plan set from open to export. It works the same in the Mac app and the browser app unless noted.

1. Open your plans

In the Mac app, open the folder that holds the bid’s plans. You get a file tree of every PDF plus page thumbnails, and the app restores your session next launch.

In the browser app on Chrome or Edge, click Open plans folder and pick the same kind of folder. On other browsers, drag a single PDF onto the page instead. Details are on The web app.

2. Calibrate the scale

Measurements are only as good as the scale, so do this first on every sheet you measure. Either trace a known dimension (click one end, click the other, type what it really is) or pick a standard scale from the preset list. You can set the scale per page or apply it to all pages. Full detail on Scale calibration.

3. Mark up with presets

The tool chest holds your reusable presets, each one a tool plus a style plus a label. Press 1 through 9 to arm a preset and start drawing. If you do not have presets yet, pick a tool from the toolbar, style it, and save it as a preset so tomorrow is faster. In the browser app, import the chest you exported from the Mac and arm presets from the toolbar dropdown instead. See Tool chest and Markup tools.

4. Measure

Press M for the length tool and click along the run. The label updates live in feet and inches as you go. The area tool works the same way and reports square feet. The count tool drops a tick per click. Everything you measure lands in the takeoff panel at the bottom, grouped by label. Click any group to jump to its markups on the sheet. More on Measure and takeoff.

5. Export

Two exports, two audiences:

Export CSV from the takeoff panel writes detail rows plus totals, ready to open in Excel and price. See Measure and takeoff.
Export PDF writes a marked-up copy of the plan: flattened if you want it read-only, or with editable annotations if the GC’s team runs Bluebeam or Acrobat. The browser app exports the flattened flavor. See Export marked-up PDFs.

Your original PDF is never modified. Markups auto-save to a sidecar file next to the plan the whole time, so there is no save button to forget.