Elevation Faces (Sides) & Face Align Coming

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

Draw each building face (Side) as a directional line on the plan, link its elevation sheet, and align that sheet to the face so siding, trim and window takeoffs drawn on elevations land on the right wall in 3D.

Overview

Elevation sheets show the building's faces: Front, Right, Rear, Left, plus every jog on an L-shaped or complex house. DimSum turns each face into a Side object:

1. Elevation Face tool: draw the face on the floor plan as a line with an outward arrow.
2. Link the elevation sheet (e.g. "Front Elevation") to that Side.
3. Face Align: click matching points so DimSum knows where the sheet sits on the face and at what height.

Then anything you take off on the elevation sheet (siding, sheathing, trim, windows, lights) knows which side it's on ({Side 1 > Length}, totals per side) and appears on that wall in 3D, pushed outward by its thickness.

Where to find it

• Page ribbon tab → Elevation Face and Face Align.
• New Project Process → step 8 "Sides": name sides and assign elevation pages (faces are drawn later).
• Project Tree → Sides (n): each Side with its linked elevation pages; double-click for Side Settings.

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Elevation Face tool

How it looks

A thick line with an arrow pointing outward from the building, labeled with the side name in a tag (e.g. "Side 1 – Front Elevation"). Each side has a distinct color.

How to place it

1. Open the floor plan page (a Plan page, ideally aligned; see Overlay & Align).
2. Click Elevation Face on the Page tab.
3. Left-click the start point of the building face (e.g. the front-left exterior corner; snapping helps).
4. Left-click the end point (the front-right corner). For a face with jogs, keep clicking each corner (it's a polyline); Backspace picks up a wrong corner. Press Enter (or double-click) to finish, or N to finish this face and start the next one right away.
5. The arrow shows the viewing direction / outward normal. If it points into the building, left-click on the other side of the line to flip it.
6. Choose the Side.

How it operates

• Creates or links to a Side object. There is no limit: Side 1, 2, 3 … n for L-shaped and complex houses.
• The face length comes from the drawn line automatically.
• A polyline face makes each segment its own sub-plane (bump-outs, bays).
• In 3D, the face becomes a vertical plane from the Side's bottom elevation to its top elevation, facing along the arrow (Phase 6).

How to edit it

• Drag the end/vertex handles to adjust (length updates).
• Click on the other side to flip the arrow, or right-click the face → Flip direction.
• Double-click the face (or the Side in the tree) to open Side Settings.

Properties (Side Settings)

Property	What it does	Default
Name	e.g. "Side 1 – Front Elevation"	From the Building Template. names sides Front Elevation, Rear Elevation, Right Side Elevation, Left Side Elevation; the plan now uses these as the defaults. Names are always editable.
Compass direction	N / E / S / W / custom	Not set
Length	Face length from the line ({Side 1 > Length})	Automatic
Bottom elevation	Bottom of the face plane	Lowest level (first in the tree) or grade
Top elevation	Top of the face plane	Highest Plan Level elevation + its level height, or the Roof level
Linked elevation page(s)	Elevation sheets for this face	From New Project step 8 or tree drag
Color	Distinct per side	Auto-assigned
Show face plane in 3D	Faint translucent plane	Off

Uses on a plan

• Tie elevation sheets to plan faces.
• Siding, trim, window and wall-area takeoffs per side; formulas like {Side 1 > Length}.
• A 3D check that every face was taken off.

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Linking an elevation page to a Side

1. In the tree: drag the elevation page (e.g. "Page 6 – Front Elevation") onto Side 1 under Sides. Or set it in Side Settings → Linked pages, or during New Project step 8.
2. Set the page's Page Type = Elevation (Page tab → Page Type).

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Face Align (elevation page → 3D face)

How it looks

The plan page is shown with the Side's face line highlighted, alongside or alternating with the elevation page.

How to place it (click pairs + one elevation line)

1. Open the elevation page linked to the Side and click Face Align.
2. Face point A: click the left building corner on the plan (on the face line), then click the same corner on the elevation page.
3. Face point B: click the right corner on the plan, then that corner on the elevation page.
4. Known elevation: click a known elevation line on the elevation page (top of foundation, or the first-floor line), then pick or enter its elevation. The picker is a dropdown of the project's Plan Levels, or type a value.
5. DimSum maps the page onto the face plane: horizontal = along the face, vertical = Z. It warns if the elevation page's scale disagrees with the plan — but the warning is informational: the page's own 2D scale always drives quantities (see below).

Backspace picks up the last click, and you can zoom (wheel) and pan (right-drag / middle-drag) between clicks, the same controls as Overlay & Align.

2D page scale always wins

If the elevation page's scale and the scale implied by Face Align disagree, the 2D page (or region) scale is what every quantity is calculated from. Face Align only decides where the sheet sits in the 3D model — "the 3D is a bonus". DimSum shows a ⚠ with the percentage difference so you can fix whichever one is wrong, and nothing on the report moves in the meantime.

Multi-segment faces

For a face with jogs, split the elevation page into matching regions by clicking the jog lines, so each region maps to its own sub-plane.

Several elevations on one sheet

One sheet often carries Front and Rear (sometimes at different scales). You don't have to duplicate the page:

1. On the elevation sheet, draw a region around each elevation (the same rectangle used for region scales).
2. Link each region to its own Side (region → right-click → Link to Side).
3. Give each region its own scale, and run Face Align for that region: the click pairs are made inside the region, against that Side's face line on the plan.

Each region then behaves like its own elevation page: takeoffs drawn inside it belong to that Side, use that region's scale for quantities, and land on that face in 3D. Duplicating the page onto separate Sides is still allowed if you prefer it.

How to edit it

Run Face Align again to replace the alignment.

Stored data

face_alignment on the page: the two face points, their positions on the elevation page, and the datum elevation.

Uses

Required for the 3D model: without it the elevation page's takeoffs can't be placed on the face.

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Drawing takeoffs on a face

Draw on the linked elevation page with any takeoff tool; DimSum places the result on the face plane, pushed outward along the normal.

Tool on an elevation page	Meaning	3D result
Area (siding, sheathing, brick, gable wall)	Panel starting at Face Offset, extruded outward by Thickness (e.g. 1/2" siding sits 1/2" out). Cutouts (windows/doors) are holes.	Panel on the wall
Linear (trim, fascia, band board)	Thickness = how far it projects out from the face; Width = its size on the face. The drawn line is the trim's centerline (justify top/center/bottom).	Trim board on the face
Point (lights, vents, hose bibs)	Objects on the face	Objects on the wall
2D markups	Flat decals on the face plane	Decals

Face Offset: if a wall Assembly is behind the face, Face Offset defaults to the wall's total exterior layer thickness, so siding sits on the sheathing, not inside it.

Which level it belongs to: every takeoff tool's Base Elevation is a dropdown of any Plan Level, defaulting to the page's own level. On an elevation sheet that covers two storeys, that's how the gable-end siding drawn at the top of the page is assigned to the Second Level while the trim below stays on the Main Level — without leaving the page.

Properties used on faces

Property	Meaning	Example
{Face Offset}	Distance out from the face where the tool starts	7/16" (OSB behind)
{Thickness}	Projection outward	1/2" siding; 3/4" trim
{Width}	Size on the face (Linear)	3 1/2" for 1x4 trim
Justification	Top / Center / Bottom of the drawn line (Linear)	Center
{Side > Name}	The face the tool is on	"Side 1 – Front Elevation"

Face properties for formulas and reports

{Side 1 > Length}, {Side 1 > Height}, {Side 1 > Gross Area}, and in reports, "sum of all Area tools on Side 1".

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Examples

• Siding per side (2-story house): Faces drawn for Sides 1–4 on the Main plan, elevation sheets linked and Face Aligned (known line: first floor = 10'). On the Front Elevation, an Area tool "Siding – Front" (Thickness 1/2") with window cutouts gives net siding SF for Side 1; in 3D it sits 1/2" off the sheathing.
• 1x4 corner and window trim: a Linear tool "1x4 Trim – Front", Thickness 3/4", Width 3 1/2", drawn around the windows on the elevation; LF for the material list, boards visible on the face in 3D.
• L-shaped house: six faces (Sides 1–6); the front face has a jog, drawn as a 2-segment polyline, and the Front Elevation is split into two regions at the jog line.
• Formula: a housewrap part RoundUp({Side 1 > Gross Area} / 1000, 0) rolls per side.
• Four elevations on one sheet at mixed scales: the sheet is 1/8" but the rear elevation is 1/4". Draw a region around each elevation, link Sides 1–4 to those four regions, give the rear region its own 1/4" scale, and Face Align each region separately. No page duplication, and each side's siding SF is calculated at its own scale.

Tips & shortcuts

• Draw faces on an aligned plan page so all faces share one coordinate system.
• Pick A and B at the outermost corners of the face for the best horizontal accuracy.
• Use a clearly drawn horizontal line for the known elevation (top of foundation or a floor line).
• No default shortcuts for Elevation Face or Face Align; bind them in Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts if you use them often.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• A Side without a drawn face.
• Elevation pages only; Detail pages are never placed in 3D.
• Scale conflict: if the elevation page's own scale and the scale implied by Face Align disagree, DimSum warns with the difference, and the 2D page/region scale drives every quantity. Only the 3D placement is affected.
• Non-vertical faces (sloped walls) are not supported by Sides; use vertex elevations on plan takeoffs.
• (Later) "Wall from line" creates vertical Area planes directly from the plan.

Related features

• Page tools (Page Type, Scale) · Overlay & Align
• Project Tree (Sides) · New Project Process (step 8)
• Takeoff tools · 3D settings & vertex elevations
• Wall tools · Assemblies
• 3D viewport · Building Templates (default Sides)