Page Versions (plan revisions) & As-Bid Snapshots Coming

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

Load Revision 2 of a sheet as a new version of the same page, line it up with the 4-click Overlay & Align, view the old, the new or both overlaid, keep every old version forever — and freeze the whole takeoff as an As-Bid Snapshot you can compare against later.

Overview

Plans change mid-bid. The architect sends Revision 2 of A-101, and the estimator has to find what changed and fix the takeoff without losing the work already done.

the answer: "Add new page version, where we can turn on one, both, or fully replace it. But the old version should never go away." So a page in DimSum can hold several versions of its sheet:

• Your takeoffs stay on the page, not on a particular version, so nothing has to be redrawn.
• Each new version inherits the page's scale and alignment, but can be given its own scale, its own alignment, or even a different sheet/location when the revision moved things.
• You choose what to see: the current version, a previous version, or both overlaid in contrasting tints (like Overlay & Align), so changes jump out.
• Old versions are never deleted, and everything travels with the file — including Export for Sharing.
• An As-Bid Snapshot freezes the whole takeoff at bid time ("Bid 1 – 9/22") so you can see exactly what changed after a revision.

Where to find it

• Right-click a page in the Project Tree → Add new page version…
• Page ribbon tab → Page Versions dropdown: Add new version, View current / previous / both, Make current.
• Page Properties → Version field.
• The tree shows a version badge on the page: A-101 · v2.
• As-Bid Snapshots: Project menu → Snapshots (take a snapshot, list them, compare).
• A page with a newer version loaded also shows up as a row in the Refresh Center, where you can switch or compare.

How to use it

Add a new version (Revision 2 arrives)

1. Right-click the page (e.g. Page 3 – A-101 Main Floor Plan) → Add new page version…
2. Pick the file (e.g. A-101 Rev2.pdf) and, for multi-page files, the page within it. It imports and converts like any plan (Plan import).
3. Optionally type a revision label (e.g. "Rev 2 – 10/14 addendum").
4. Align it with the 4 clicks: a corner on the old version, the same corner on the new one, a second corner on the old, the same on the new. Backspace picks up a wrong click. See Overlay & Align.
5. The new version inherits the page's scale and alignment and becomes the current version. The tree badge changes to · v2.
6. If the revision changed things, override what you need on the version itself — it can have its own scale, its own alignment, or be a different sheet at a different location (the architect moved the plan on the sheet, or re-issued it on a different sheet number). DimSum prompts to verify the scale when it looks different.

Check your takeoff against the new version

1. Page Versions → View both. The old version shows in one tint, the new one in another, with an opacity slider.
2. Pan around: anything drawn in only one tint has changed (a moved wall, a new window, a deleted room).
3. Adjust your takeoffs on the page: drag vertices, add or remove shapes. Your tools sit on top of whichever version(s) you're viewing.
4. Mark changed areas with a Revision Cloud if you want a record (Annotation tools).
5. Page Versions → View current when you're done.

Look at an older version

1. Page Versions → View previous (or pick a specific version from the list).
2. The canvas shows that version's plan with your current takeoffs on top.
3. Switch back with View current.

Switch fully to a version ("fully replace")

1. Page Versions → pick a version → Make current.
2. From now on the page shows that version by default, prints it and reports it. The other versions are kept.

Compare side by side instead

Open the page in two panes, set each pane to a different version, and turn on Sync Views (Split views). The version shown is a per-pane setting.

---

As-Bid Snapshots

A page version tells you what the plan said. A snapshot tells you what your takeoff said.

Take a snapshot

1. Finish the takeoff you're about to send out.
2. Project → Snapshots → Take snapshot.
3. Name it — the default is the bid name and date, e.g. "Bid 1 – 9/22".

The snapshot freezes the whole takeoff: every instance and its quantities, the prices in force at that moment, and the report output. It sits inside the .dsum and is never touched by later edits.

Compare after a revision

1. Load the new page version(s) and fix the takeoff as usual.
2. Project → Snapshots → pick "Bid 1 – 9/22" → Compare with now.
3. You get a change list: instances added, removed and changed, with old → new quantities and prices, and a total difference. Each row has "Show on plan".

💡 Take a snapshot every time you send a number out. It costs nothing and it's the only way to answer "what changed since the bid?" later.

Rules

• A snapshot is read-only; it can be renamed and deleted, but never edited.
• Snapshots travel with the .dsum, including Export for Sharing.
• Comparison is between a snapshot and the live takeoff, or between two snapshots.

---

Options & settings

Setting	What it does	Default
Current version	The version shown, printed and reported by default	Newest added
View mode	Current / Previous / Specific version / Both overlaid	Current (per pane)
Overlay tints and opacity	Colors and transparency when viewing both	Same as Overlay & Align (old = gray/black, new = red/blue)
Revision label	Free-text label per version, e.g. "Rev 2"	Empty
Version alignment	The 4-click alignment of this version	Inherited from the page; overridable per version
Version scale	This version's scale	Inherited from the page; overridable per version
Version source	The file/sheet and location this version came from	Can differ from the previous version
Snapshots	Named frozen copies of the takeoff (As-Bid)	None
{Page > Version}	Version number/label for formulas, stamps and reports	Current version

Examples

• Addendum mid-bid: A-101 Rev 2 moves the garage wall back 2'. Add new page version, align on two house corners, View both: the garage wall shows twice in two tints. Drag the wall takeoff vertices to the new line; the wall LF updates. Reports print "A-101 · v2".
• Customer asks "what did you bid?": View previous on A-101: the plan you bid on is still there, with the same takeoff on top.
• Wrong revision loaded: Make current on v1; the Rev 2 you loaded by mistake stays in the list (it's never deleted) but is no longer shown.
• Revision on a different sheet: Rev 3 of the main floor plan is issued as A-101.1 at 3/16" instead of 1/4". Add it as a version of the same page, give the version its own scale and alignment, and the takeoff carries over.
• "What changed since the bid?": snapshot "Bid 1 – 9/22" before sending; three weeks and two addenda later, Compare with now shows +42 LF of exterior wall, 6 more posts and a $1,180 difference.

Tips & shortcuts

• Align versions on the same two corners you used for level alignment; they're usually the best-drawn points on the sheet.
• Use "View both" with a low opacity on the old version so the new plan reads clearly.
• Add a revision label as you load it; "v3" means little six weeks later, "Rev 3 – window changes" means a lot.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• Versions cannot be deleted (by design), and none are dropped from exports.
• Takeoffs are not copied per version; there is one set of tools per page. To keep the takeoff as it was when you bid it, take an As-Bid Snapshot (above) rather than duplicating the page.
• A version drawn at a very different layout (sheet re-drawn from scratch, building moved on the sheet) still aligns with the 4 clicks; a version that is mirrored cannot.
• Automatic change highlighting (DimSum marking what changed) is v1.1; in v1 you spot changes by viewing both versions overlaid.
• Protected pages: all versions of a protected page are protected, and the whole page stays hidden everywhere until the project password is entered (protected pages).

Related features

• Overlay & Align (the alignment every version uses)
• Project Tree (version badge) · Plan import · Page tools (Page Properties)
• Split views (side-by-side comparison with Sync Views)
• Annotation tools (Revision Cloud)
• Report Designer (print the version used)