New Project Process Coming

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

A step-by-step wizard that creates a `.dsum` project: project info, Building Template, levels, plan upload, page reorder/rename/assignment, scaling, level alignment, sides and tool packs, then opens the canvas on the lowest level, ready for takeoff.

Overview

The New Project Process takes you from "I just got a plan set" to "I'm drawing takeoffs" in one guided flow. It's a Process (wizard): each step is one screen, Back/Next are always available, and optional steps can be skipped and done later with the normal tools.

1. Create the project: the project name, and the plan file name as the description, so both are on record.
2. Upload the plan file.
3. Set the scale, usually automatically for all pages at once, then fix the odd pages at a different scale.
4. Start at the bottom of the building and work up.

Where to find it

The Home screen is the entry point. DimSum opens on it whenever no job is open, it comes back after Close Project, and the Home tab in the top bar returns to it at any time. Home offers three ways in, as buttons you can see without touching the keyboard:

Home action	What it does	Shortcut
New Job	Opens the New Job dialog (step 1 below), then creates the .dsum	Ctrl+N
Open Job	The recent-jobs list, plus Browse… for a .dsum anywhere	Ctrl+O
Import plans into a new job	Picks the plan set first, then makes the job around it and imports straight away — the real first move	Ctrl+I

The same three sit on File → New Project / Open Project / Import Plans, and View → Home returns to Home (Ctrl+Shift+H). The menu bar is always visible in packaged builds: the first build auto-hid it behind Alt, which is how an app shipped with no visible way to start a job.

Below the buttons, Home lists the recent jobs — Name · Description · Job # · Last opened · Location — with a search box, sortable columns and double-click to open. A job whose file has moved is shown greyed, still with its old path, and offers Locate… rather than quietly disappearing. On a machine with no jobs yet, Home says so and points at the two buttons instead of showing an empty table.

(The command palette Ctrl+K → "New Project" arrives with Settings in a later release.)

How to use it

Step 1 — Project Info (the New Job dialog)

1. Enter the Job / Quote # if you have one.
2. Enter the Name, e.g. "Smith Residence". This is the only required field — nothing else stops you creating the job.
3. Description is optional. It fills in with the plan file name the moment you choose plans (e.g. Smith_Plans_Rev2.pdf), and anything you have already typed is never overwritten.
4. Notes are optional.
5. Location is where the .dsum is saved. It shows the folder in full, defaults to your Jobs folder (where you last saved one, else Documents\DimSum Jobs), and has a Browse… button. The exact file the job will become — …\Smith Residence.dsum — is printed under the field before anything is written.
6. Choose Units: Imperial or Metric.
7. Choose plans… (optional) picks the plan set now, so the description can default from it and the import can run the moment the job exists.
8. Create job. Enter does the same from any field (Ctrl+Enter inside Notes, where Enter is a newline).

Coming

If a .dsum of that name is already in that folder, DimSum refuses to write and asks first, in words that say what would be lost. Nothing is replaced without a second, deliberate click.

Step 2 — Choose Building Template

1. Pick a Building Template from any loaded .bsum library. A preview shows its levels and elevations.
2. Or pick Blank.
3. Levels, elevations and sides load as editable copies. The Building Template itself is never changed.
4. Fill in the Building Template's custom project properties (e.g. Lot #, Subdivision) on this screen.
5. Next.

Step 3 — Edit Levels (optional)

1. Add, remove or rename levels (names are always yours: "Main Level", "First Floor"…).
2. Adjust elevations in the Level Editor: a live section view of the building where each level's elevation, plate height, floor-system thickness and gap to the next level can be typed or dragged (Building Templates).
3. Change the display order. Levels are listed lowest first by default.
4. These changes apply to this project only — the Building Template is never touched.
5. Next (or Skip).

Step 4 — Upload Plans

1. Drag and drop files onto the upload area, or browse: PDFs (primary), TIFFs, images, DXF, and more (DWG later).
2. You can add multiple plan sets (e.g. architectural + structural + a truss layout).
3. Each file is auto-converted to DimSum's internal page format and embedded in the .dsum. Import runs in the background with a progress bar; thumbnails appear as each page is ready.
4. The project Description fills in with the plan file name (the first file, if you upload several) unless you already typed one.
5. Next. You don't have to wait for every page to finish.

Step 5 — Reorder, rename & assign pages

This is the first real job after upload. The screen shows a thumbnail grid of every page, with the Plan Levels (lowest first) and the Details Section as drop targets on the left.

1. Reorder pages: drag thumbnails in the grid into the order you want.
2. Rename pages: click a page name and type (e.g. "A-101 Main Floor Plan"). The default name is <plan file name> – p<page #> (e.g. "Smith Residence – p4"), because reading sheet titles is unreliable.
3. Drag a page onto a level, e.g. PDF page 4 → "Basement". A level can hold several pages (e.g. a foundation plan and a basement finish plan).
4. Need the same sheet on two levels? Right-click it → Use this page on another level. That duplicates the page: same source sheet, its own takeoffs, its own scale and alignment — so the foundation plan can live on both "Footing" and "Basement".
5. Pages you don't assign go to the Details Section by default.
6. Mark cover sheets and other pages you don't need as Ignore to hide them.
7. (Optional, best effort) Click Suggest from sheet titles to have DimSum propose names and levels from title-block text ("BASEMENT PLAN", "A-101"). It's never automatic, and you confirm each suggestion. Title blocks vary a lot, so expect to correct some.
8. Next.

Step 6 — Scale Pages (optional now)

1. Click Auto Scale all pages. DimSum reads each page's scale note (e.g. 1/4" = 1'-0") and lists what it found with a confidence level. You confirm each one: Auto Scale never applies silently, because it can be wrong.
2. For pages at a different scale (e.g. a detail sheet at 1/8"), choose Manual Scale: calibrate on a known dimension, or pick a preset.
3. Select several pages to apply one scale to all of them.
4. Pages left unscaled show a ⚠ warning badge until scaled.
5. Next (or Skip). See Page tools.

Step 7 — Align Levels (optional now)

Needed for exact overlays in 2D and correct stacking in 3D; 2D takeoff works without it.

1. Pick a base page (e.g. the Main Level plan).
2. For each other level's plan, use the 4-click Overlay & Align:
3. Click point 1 on the base page (e.g. a building corner).
4. Click the same point on the overlay page.
5. Click point 2 on the base page (a second corner, far from the first).
6. Click the same point on the overlay page.
7. DimSum moves and rotates the overlay onto the base and warns if the scales disagree.
8. Next (or Skip). See Overlay & Align.

Step 8 — Sides (optional)

1. Name the sides (e.g. Front Elevation, Rear Elevation, Side Elevation (Right), Side Elevation (Left)), or keep the Building Template's names.
2. Optionally assign elevation-sheet pages to Sides (e.g. "Front Elevation" page → the Front side).
3. The faces themselves are drawn on the plan later with the Elevation Face tool and aligned with Face Align. See Elevation Faces.
4. Next (or Skip).

Step 9 — Load Tool Packs

1. The Building Template's default packs are pre-selected.
2. Add or remove packs from any loaded .tsum library.
3. Next.

Step 10 — Summary → Create

1. Review the summary.
2. Click Create.
3. DimSum creates the .dsum and opens the Project Canvas on the first (lowest) level (e.g. Basement), ready to take off from the bottom up. From here on the project saves itself continuously.

Refresh Center

A new project takes its own copy of everything it uses: the settings and user/company values, the list rows and prices, the tools and assemblies. That's what makes a .dsum safe to hand to someone else — it never changes its numbers by itself on another machine.

When the originals move on, Project → Refresh Center shows what's available, one row per kind of change:

Row	Example	What you can do
Settings & user/company values	Company address changed; Default Waste is now 12%	Refresh / keep
List & price updates	41 lumber prices changed since your last pull	Re-price, with a before/after comparison
Tool updates	"Ext Wall 2x6" changed in your library	Update from tool, with a diff
Page versions	A newer revision of A-102 has been loaded	Switch, or compare the two
Missing or unmatched items	3 parts didn't match a list row	List Matching is now the Advanced Part: a part with no match is flagged "No material matches these conditions" in Needs attention; the quick-create / pick-a-row prompt is not in it

Each row shows exactly what would change before you apply it, and any row can be dismissed. Nothing updates silently.

, templates ): the Tool updates row came early, without the rest of the panel. A job that placed a tool you have since changed is asked when it opens, on its update screen (titled Updates): what changed, listed once for the tool, a tick per placed item, one Undo, Skip per tool version — and what you changed on an item stays yours (Tool folders and files → Pull tool changes into a job).

Doing skipped steps later

Skipped step	Do it later with
Edit Levels	Double-click a level in the Project Tree (Level Settings), or open the Level Editor; drag to reorder
Put a sheet on another level	Right-click the page → Use this page on another level (it duplicates)
Reorder / rename / assign pages	Drag pages in the Project Tree; double-click a page to rename (Page Settings)
Scale Pages	Page tab → Scale (K manual, Shift+K auto)
Align Levels	Page tab → Overlay & Align
Sides	Page tab → Elevation Face, Face Align; double-click a Side for Side Settings
Tool Packs	Load packs into the Tools panel

The quick version

The first prototype build has a shorter flow without Building Templates or packs: Home → New Job (Job #, Name, Description, Notes, Location, Units) → choose plans → Create → import runs with a progress bar → reorder / rename / assign to levels (lowest first) → Auto Scale (confirm each). Levels come from a simple built-in default you can edit. See How DimSum is built and Home screen notes.

Options & settings

Step	Field	Default	Required?
1	Name		Yes — the only required field
1	Description	Plan file name (once plans are chosen)	No
1	Job / Quote #	Blank	No
1	Notes	Blank	No
1	Units	Imperial	No
1	Customer, Address, Bid date Coming	Blank	No
1	Estimator Coming	{User > Name}	No
1	Save location	Jobs folder (last used, else Documents\DimSum Jobs)	Yes — pre-filled
2	Building Template	— (or Blank)	Yes
2	Custom project properties	From the Building Template	No
3	Levels, elevations, display order	From the Building Template; lowest first	Optional step
4	Plan files		Optional; a project can be created with no plans and plans added later
5	Page order	Import order
5	Page name	<plan file name> – p<page #>
5	Use this page on another level	Duplicates the page onto the chosen level
5	Page → level / Details / Side assignment	Unassigned → Details
5	Suggest from sheet titles	Off (click to run); low priority, best effort
5	Ignore	Off
6	Scale per page	Unscaled (⚠); Auto Scale always needs a confirm	Optional step
7	Alignment	Unaligned	Optional step
8	Side names, linked elevation pages	From the Building Template	Optional step
9	Tool Packs	The Building Template's default packs

Supported plan files

Format	Becomes	Notes
PDF (vector)	Vector Page	Primary input; sharp at any zoom, snappable
PDF (scanned)	Raster Page + background OCR	OCR supports Auto Scale, search, Text Off
TIFF (incl. multi-page, CCITT G4)	Raster Page
PNG / JPG / BMP / WebP / HEIC	Raster Page	Deskew crooked photos with the Straighten page tool (renamed from "Level" so it isn't confused with Plan Levels)
SVG	Vector Page
DXF	Vector Page (layers, blocks, units kept)	Best for line extraction
DWG	Vector Page	Later
Office docs (xlsx/docx) of specs	PDF → pages	If feasible

Examples

Two-story house with basement

1. Info: "Smith Residence", Job # 2026-114, bid date next Friday. Saved to DimSum Jobs/Smith Residence.dsum.
2. Building Template: 2 Story w/ Basement → Basement 0', Main 8', Second 18' 0 5/8", Roof 27' 11 3/4", Details, 4 Sides.
3. Levels: unchanged.
4. Upload: Smith_Plans_Rev2.pdf (20 pages). Description becomes "Smith_Plans_Rev2.pdf".
5. Reorder/rename/assign: drag the foundation plan and basement plan to the top and onto Basement, rename them from "Smith_Plans_Rev2 – p2/p3" to "S-100 Foundation" and "A-100 Basement" (and put a duplicate of the foundation sheet on a "Footing" level if you take footings off separately); A-101 → Main Level; A-102 → Second Level; roof plan → Roof; A-201/A-202 (elevations) → Sides; cover sheet → Ignore. Details and schedules land in Details.
6. Scale: Auto Scale all pages finds 1/4" = 1'-0" on the plans; you confirm each. One detail sheet is 1/8"; you fix it with Manual Scale.
7. Align: base = Main Level; align Basement, Second and Roof with the 4-click method (or skip for now).
8. Sides: the Front Elevation sheet → Front Elevation, the right-side sheet → Side Elevation (Right)…
9. Packs: Framing + Roofing (from the Building Template).
10. Create → the canvas opens on Basement (the lowest level), and you start taking off from the bottom up.

Multi-family / hotel set

A 300-page set. The first page is usable in about 2 seconds while thumbnails keep filling in; you reorder and assign pages as they appear, run Auto Scale on all pages, confirm, and create.

Low-voltage fit-out

Blank Building Template; add levels "Level 1" (0') and "Level 2" (14'); upload the electrical PDF; assign E-101/E-102 to the levels; skip alignment and sides; load "Low Voltage Pack"; create.

Tips & shortcuts

• Reorder and rename pages first; everything after (scaling, assigning, taking off) is faster when the page list reads like the plan set.
• Mark cover sheets and index pages Ignore so they don't clutter the Details Section.
• Run Auto Scale all pages, confirm, then fix only the odd pages manually.
• If a sheet has drawings at two scales, put a scale region around the odd one, so the whole sheet stays one page: anything you start drawing inside the box measures at its scale (Page tools → Viewport / region scales;: Scale ▾ → Region scale, or right-click the canvas, and drag a box around it).
• Align levels early if you'll use 3D or overlays; it's quick while you're already looking at every page.
• PgDn / PgUp move between pages and Ctrl+PgDn / Ctrl+PgUp between levels once the canvas is open.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• Unassigned pages go to the Details Section.
• Auto Scale always needs a confirm click.
• Ignored pages are hidden.
• A level can hold multiple pages; a page belongs to one level (or Details, or a Side). To use a sheet on two levels, duplicate it — pages are never shared.
• Unaligned Plan pages still appear in 3D at their level's elevation using the page origin, with a ⚠ badge prompting alignment.
• The Overlay & Align step warns when two pages' scales disagree beyond a tolerance and offers to match.
• DWG import is not in v1.

Related features

• Building Templates
• Tool library files (.tsum / .bsum)
• Tool Designer & Tools
• File types & the .dsum project file
• Plan import & auto-conversion
• Project Tree
• Page tools: Scale, Rotate, Straighten, Color/Text, Fade, Layers
• Overlay & Align (4-click)
• Page Versions
• Elevation Faces (Sides) & Face Align