Draw tools & Line Style editor Coming

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

Plain markup geometry (solid and styled lines, polylines, arcs, rectangles, circles, freehand, arrows) for sketching and marking up plans, plus the Line Style editor for dashed, utility and property-line styles.

Overview

Draw tools put simple graphics on the plan: a missing wall sketched in, a gas line shown with a —— GAS —— style, a demolition area boxed, an arrow pointing at a problem. They are markups, not takeoffs: they report their length but never create quantities, parts or costs. When you need something counted or priced, use a takeoff tool instead.

Where to find it

• Draw ribbon tab: Solid Line, Custom Line, Polyline, Arc, Rectangle, Ellipse/Circle, Freehand, Arrow.
• Shortcuts: L Solid Line, Shift+L Custom Line.
• Line Style editor: Settings.

All tools follow Shared tool behavior: left-click places points, Backspace picks up the previous point, Enter/double-click finishes, N starts a new section of the same tool, Esc stops the tool, right-click opens the context menu and right-/middle-drag pans. Snapping, ortho (Shift/O), handles and exact input by arrow keys (arrow = lock the direction, then type the length in the dialog; Space for a free angle) work as everywhere else.

Drawn as it will be finished. A line that has a width is drawn at that width while you draw it — every segment placed and the one following the cursor, on its Draw Side, mitred at the corners — not as a thin line that widens when you press Esc, and what you have placed snaps (corners and faces) before you finish. Built for the Linear takeoff's Line Width, the only drawn width today; a draw tool that gains a real-world width follows the same rule. A line with no width draws as before. Spans already drawn don't move, the item's Draw Side isn't changed, and it works when carrying on an item too — Shared tool behavior → Ctrl draws on the other side. (Ctrl while drawing a Solid Line still chains segments: a Solid Line has no Line Width.)

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Solid Line — L

How it looks

A continuous straight line. Default 2px, black or the chosen color.

How to place it

1. Press L.
2. Click the start point.
3. Click the end point (hold Shift for ortho; or press an arrow key to lock the direction and type 10' in the length dialog, then Enter).
4. To draw several connected segments, hold Ctrl while clicking: each click chains a new segment from the last end point. Release Ctrl and click to end.
5. The tool stays armed; the next click starts a new line. Esc stops it.

How it operates

A straight segment between two points. Its scaled length is reported as a property but is not a takeoff quantity.

How to edit it

Drag either end handle (re-snaps); drag the line to move it; change color/weight/opacity in Properties.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Color	Line color	Black
Weight	px on screen, or plotted mm	2 px
Opacity	Transparency	100%
Length	Scaled length (reported only)	Measured
+ common properties	Name, locked, visible, tags…

Uses on a plan

Sketch a missing wall, draw a reference/guide line, mark where a section cut is, underline a note.

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Custom Line — Shift+L

How it looks

A line drawn with a user-defined line style: dashed, dotted, dash-dot, center line, hidden line, property line, custom dash patterns, double lines, arrowheads at start/end, and optional repeating text in the line (e.g. —— GAS ——).

How to place it

1. Press Shift+L.
2. Pick the line style from the style dropdown on the ribbon.
3. Place it exactly like a Solid Line (2 clicks) or a Polyline (clicks + Enter).

How to edit it

Same handles as Solid Line/Polyline; change the style in Properties and the line re-renders.

Properties

Property	What it does	Default
Line style	Named style from the library	"Dashed"
Color, weight, opacity	Override the style's defaults	From style
Length	Scaled length (reported)	Measured

Uses on a plan

Utilities (gas, water, electric, low-voltage runs as a markup), property lines and setbacks, demolition (dashed), beam/header lines above (hidden line), centerlines.

Line Style editor

1. Open the Line Style editor (see Where to find it).
2. Click New (or duplicate an existing style) and name it, e.g. "Gas line".
3. Set the pattern, lines, ends and text as in the table; the preview updates.
4. Save. The style is reusable in every project and is included when you export .tsum tool libraries.

Style setting	What it does
Name	Shown in the style dropdown
Dash pattern	Solid, dashed, dotted, dash-dot, center, hidden, property line, or custom dash/gap lengths
Double line	Two parallel lines with a spacing
Start / end arrowhead	None, arrow, tick, dot…
Repeating text	Text inserted at intervals, e.g. GAS
Text interval / size	Spacing and size of the repeating text
Default color / weight	Used when the style is picked

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Polyline

How it looks

A connected multi-point line in the chosen color/style.

How to place it

1. Arm Polyline.
2. Left-click each point. Backspace picks up the previous point.
3. Hold A while placing the next point to make that segment an arc.
4. Enter or double-click to finish; click the first point to close it. Press N instead to finish this polyline and start a new one right away.

How to edit it

Drag vertex handles; drag midpoint handles to insert a vertex; right-click a vertex → Delete vertex.

Properties

Color, weight, line style, opacity, fill (if closed), length.

Uses on a plan

Outline a scope area, trace an irregular edge, sketch a run of pipe or cable as a markup.

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Arc

How to place it

• 3-point: click the start, a point the arc passes through, then the end.
• Center-start-end: click the center, the start (sets the radius), then the end.

How it looks / edits

A circular arc; drag the end or through handles to reshape it.

Properties

Color, weight, line style, opacity, radius and arc length (reported).

Uses on a plan

Door swings, curved walls, radius corners.

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Rectangle

How to place it

• 2 corners: click one corner, click the opposite corner.
• Rotated (3 points): click corner 1, corner 2 (sets the angle and one side), then a point setting the width.

How it looks / edits

A rectangle outline with optional fill; drag corner handles to resize, the rotate handle to rotate.

Properties

Color, weight, line style, fill color/opacity, width/height and area (reported).

Uses on a plan

Box a demo area, block out an equipment pad, frame an area of interest for a report snapshot.

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Ellipse / Circle

How to place it

• Center + radius: click the center, move and click to set the size. Hold Shift for a perfect circle.
• 3 points: click three points on the circle.

How it looks / edits

An ellipse/circle outline with optional fill; drag handles to resize.

Properties

Color, weight, line style, fill, opacity, radius/diameter (reported).

Uses on a plan

Circle a problem, mark a tree to protect, round columns or piers (as markups).

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Freehand

How to place it

Press the left button and drag like a pen; release to finish. (Right-drag still pans, so you can move the sheet between strokes.) The stroke is smoothed.

How to edit it

Move, rotate, change color/weight; vertex editing.

Properties

Color, weight, opacity.

Uses on a plan

Quick sketches, circling items, signatures of intent ("this goes here").

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Arrow

How it looks

A line with a styled arrowhead; can include text at the tail.

How to place it

1. Arm Arrow.
2. Click the tail (where the text goes).
3. Click the head (what it points at).
4. Type the tail text.

How to edit it

Drag the tail/head; double-click the text to edit.

Properties

Color, weight, arrowhead style, tail text, font size.

Uses on a plan

Point at an item to verify, show slope/drain direction, show which way joists run as a markup.

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Examples

• Remodel scope: dashed Custom Line "Demo" around walls being removed; a Rectangle with 20% red fill over the demolition area; an Arrow with text "REMOVE WALL".
• Site utilities (low-voltage estimator): Custom Line style "—— LV ——" from the house to the pedestal to show the route; when you need footage priced, draw the same route with a Linear takeoff.
• Sketching a missing wall: Solid Line, → to lock the direction, 11'4" in the length dialog, Enter; later replaced by a wall takeoff.
• Beam lines on a framing plan: a hidden-line Custom Line style "Beam above" marks where beams go before you take them off with the Beam tool; it prints on the marked-up plan.

Tips & shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Solid Line	L
Custom Line	Shift+L
Chain Solid Line segments	hold Ctrl
Arc segment in Polyline	hold A
Circle (not ellipse)	hold Shift
Ortho	hold Shift / O
Exact length	arrow key → length dialog → Enter

Rules, limits & edge cases

• Draw tools never produce takeoff quantities, parts or costs.
• Shift means "circle" in Ellipse/Circle but "ortho" in line tools.
• Converting a draw line into a takeoff shape is not specified (Pick Line converts plan lines, Line extraction).
• Draw tools print on marked-up plans unless excluded, but they are not legend rows: a legend row is a takeoff instance — swatch · instance name + its Report Section · qty + unit · color swatch — and draw tools have no Report Section or takeoff quantity. Put explanatory text in a custom legend box instead.

Related features

• Shared tool behavior · Annotation tools · Dimension tools
• Takeoff tools
• Tool Designer & Tools · Tool library files
• Settings page