First-Run Setup Coming

ComingThis feature is designed but not in DimSum yet. This page describes how it will work.

A short guided Process that runs the first time you open DimSum: accept the license agreement, start a trial or activate, then set up units, storage, your user and company info, defaults and starter libraries.

Overview

The First-Run Setup Process gets a new install ready for real work in a few minutes. It's a wizard (a Process, in DimSum terms): one screen per step, with the answers saved as you go. It's part of the first-5-minutes test: DimSum has to be fast and just work out of the box, for everyone.

Everything you type here becomes a Property you can use later in formulas, labels, stamps and reports. Your name becomes {User > Name}, your initials become {User > Initials} (used on stamps, notes and the audit properties), your company name becomes {Company > Name}, and your unit choice becomes {Settings > Units}.

It's for every new user: a solo estimator installing a trial, or a lumber yard rolling DimSum out to its estimators.

Where to find it

• Automatically on the first launch of DimSum.
• Re-run it any time from Settings.
• The license and trial status afterwards live in Settings → Account & License.

How to use it

Before step 1: License Agreement and license

1. Read the License Agreement (EULA) and click to accept it. You can't continue without accepting.
2. Choose one:

• Start a 14-day free trial. Every feature, no payment details required. Reports and PDFs exported during the trial carry a small "DimSum Trial" watermark.
• Activate a license. Enter your license key, or sign in to your Workspace to take a seat. (The exact activation screen is covered in Licensing.)

3. Click Next.

Step 1 — Welcome

1. Choose Imperial (the default) or Metric (optional).
2. Choose the theme: Light or Dark, and the UI text size if you prefer larger text.
3. Click Next.

Step 2 — Storage

1. Review the App Data folder (the default for your OS is shown). Change it only if you need to, for example to a larger drive.
2. Decide whether to use a separate Jobs folder for your projects (.dsum files) and pick where. The default is ~/Documents/DimSum Jobs.
3. Check the free disk space shown for the chosen locations. Plan sets can be large.
4. Click Next.

Step 3 — User info

1. Enter your Name, Initials, Email, Phone and Title.
2. Your initials appear on stamps and notes (e.g. "REVIEWED by ZB"), and your name is recorded as Created By / Modified By on everything you place or change.
3. Click Next.

Step 4 — Company info (optional)

1. Enter the Company name, address, phone, email, website, license #.
2. Upload your logo (used on reports and stamps as {Company > Logo}, and in Report Branding).
3. Superseded: no money is built in, and there is no Currency property type.
4. Superseded: every part has a blank Tax Rate and Taxable, and DimSum never applies tax; your own formula does.
5. Click Next, or Skip to fill this in later in Settings → Company.

Step 5 — Defaults

1. Set the display precision. The default is feet-inches to 1/16" (e.g. 142' 6 3/16"); you can choose 1/8", 1/2", decimal feet, etc.
2. Set the default scale for new pages.
3. Turn snapping on or off, and choose the ortho default.
4. Check the default waste %. This sets the default row of the Waste % list (10% out of the box), which tools link to (Property System → list-linked properties).
5. Pick the default report template.
6. Click Next.

There's no autosave setting: DimSum saves every action as it happens (File types).

Step 6 — Starter libraries

1. The DimSum Defaults pack (basic Linear, Area, Point, Pitched Area and markups) is always installed. You can't untick it. (it holds the built-in Joist Tool and Beam Tool too, in its Framing folder (The DimSum Defaults tools).
2. The example libraries are pre-checked. They cover the CSI MasterFormat divisions 01–14, 21–28, 31–35 and 40–48, so whatever trade you're in there's a starting point (table below).
3. Untick any you don't want. You can add or remove them any time later in Settings → Tools.
4. Choose starter Building Templates ("Single Story", "2 Story", "2 Story w/ Basement"), or start blank.
5. (Optional) Import .tsum / .bsum files you already have, e.g. your company's tool library.
6. Click Next.

Divisions	Example content
06 Wood, Plastics & Composites — framing 🎯	Built first and in the most depth: Beam / Joist / Rafter smart tools, Wall / Floor / Roof assemblies, Dimensional & Engineered Lumber lists, fasteners and hangers, a framing count-sheet report template
01–05, 07–14	General requirements, sitework, concrete, masonry, metals, thermal & moisture, openings, finishes, specialties, equipment… — usable skeletons: report sections, lists and common items
21–28	Fire suppression, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, communications, safety & security (including the low-voltage parts-list example)
31–35	Earthwork, exterior improvements, utilities, transportation, waterway & marine
40–48	Process interconnections, material handling, pollution control, water & wastewater, power generation, electrical power generation

Everything outside framing starts as a skeleton (report sections, lists and common items) and grows with later releases. It's all example content: copy it, change it, or delete it — these are clearly labeled examples, not rules baked into DimSum. The core has no hard-coded framing rules: behaviors measure the geometry, and your own parts and lists decide the materials (e.g. a "2x4x92 5/8 Stud" list row). The built-in Joist and Beam tools are the one place DimSum ships parts you can't delete — their fixed parts, the Joist Material and the Beam, Flitch and LF Material — and even those say only where a material goes: you link each to your own table.

Step 7 — Quick tour

1. A 60-second interactive overlay shows you the canvas layout, the familiar mouse (left-click places, right-click menu, right/middle-drag pans) and where to find the Quick Guide (F1).
2. Finish the tour (or skip it).
3. DimSum opens, ready for your first project (New Project Process).

Re-running setup later

1. Open Settings (Ctrl+,).
2. Start the First-Run Setup Process again.
3. Each step shows your current values. Change what you need and finish.

Options & settings

Step	Field	What it does	Default	Stored as
Pre-step	EULA acceptance	Required to use DimSum		Settings → Account & License
Pre-step	Trial / Activate	Starts the 14-day trial or activates a license		Settings → Account & License
1	Units system	Imperial or Metric	Imperial; Metric optional	{Settings > Units}
1	Theme / UI text size	Light or dark; scalable text	Not specified	Settings → General
2	App Data folder	Settings, masters, tool libraries, cache	OS default (see File types)	Settings → Storage & Files
2	Separate Jobs folder	Where .dsum projects are saved	Off / ~/Documents/DimSum Jobs when on	Settings → Storage & Files
3	Name, Initials, Email, Phone, Title	Your identity on stamps, notes, reports and audit properties; default Estimator on new projects		{User > Name}, {User > Initials}, {User > Email}…
4	Company name, address, phone, email, website, license #	Company info for reports and stamps	Blank (optional)	{Company > Name}, {Company > License #}…
4	Logo	Report headers (Report Branding), stamps	None	{Company > Logo}
4		Superseded: a part's Tax Rate starts blank and nothing applies tax
4		Superseded: no Currency type; a cost is a Number
5	Display precision	How lengths and quantities display	Feet-inches to 1/16"; Decimal places 2	{Settings > …}
5	Default scale	Starting scale for new pages	Not specified	{Settings > …}
5	Snapping	Snap on/off at start	On	Settings → Canvas & Drawing
5	Ortho default	Ortho on/off at start	Off	Settings → Canvas & Drawing
5	Default waste %	Default row of the Waste % list	10%	Waste % list (list-linked)
5	Default report template	Used when you run a report without picking one	Not specified	Settings → Reports
6	Starter libraries	Which example libraries to install (CSI divisions 01–14, 21–28, 31–35, 40–48; framing first and deepest)	All pre-checked	Settings → Tools
6	Starter Building Templates	Which building templates to install, or blank	Not specified	Settings → Tools
6	Import .tsum / .bsum	Brings in existing libraries		Settings → Tools

Examples

• Lumber yard estimator, trial. Accepts the EULA, starts the 14-day trial, keeps Imperial and ft-in 1/16", enters name and initials, leaves tax blank, keeps all starter libraries, picks "2 Story w/ Basement". Ready to create a project in about three minutes.
• Low-voltage contractor. Unticks the framing smart tools and the Wall/Floor/Roof assemblies, keeps the Default Dynamic Lists and the division 27 example library, and imports the company's LowVoltage.tsum. The Tools panel then shows only what that trade uses.
• Company rollout. The Workspace admin sets up one machine (including Report Branding), exports the settings as .ssum, and emails it with the company .tsum/.bsum files. Each estimator runs First-Run Setup, imports the libraries in step 6, and later imports the .ssum for identical defaults.
• Using your answers. After setup, a stamp defined as REVIEWED by {User > Initials} on {TODAY()} shows "REVIEWED by ZB", and a new project's Estimator field defaults to {User > Name}.

Tips & shortcuts

• Enter your initials carefully; they're stamped on notes and markups as "created by".
• If you're unsure about starter libraries, leave them checked. It's easy to remove them later in Settings → Tools.
• F1 opens the Quick Guide at any time; Ctrl+, opens Settings.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• You can't use DimSum without accepting the EULA.
• The DimSum Defaults pack can't be unticked.
• Leaving the tax rate blank means no tax anywhere until you set one.
• A lapsed trial or license never holds your data hostage: editing stops until you renew, and nothing is deleted. If the account is closed, Download all my data unlocks every file you own so you can still view it, read-only. Files are bound to accounts, so a copied .dsum won't open for someone it wasn't shared with.
• Sync/cloud setup is not part of First-Run in v1 (all local).

Related features

• Settings page
• Property System
• File types & the .dsum project file
• Tool library files (.tsum / .bsum)
• Building Templates
• The DimSum Defaults tools & Smart Behaviors
• Licensing, Workspaces, seats & trial
• Keyboard shortcuts