Takeoff tools: Linear, Area, Point

Partly availableSome of what this page describes is in DimSum today and some is still coming. Parts marked Coming are designed but not built yet.

The three base takeoff tools that turn clicks on a scaled plan into live quantities (lengths, areas, counts, volumes) that every formula, part and report builds on.

Overview

Every quantity in DimSum starts with one of the three default tools:

Tool	You draw…	Typical uses (any trade)
Linear	Lines and polylines (runs)	Walls, footings, plates, trim, gutters, fence, pipe, conduit, low-voltage cable
Area	Closed polygons, with optional cutouts	Floors, slabs, roofs, sheathing, drywall ceilings, paving, flooring, insulation
Point	Single clicks (a symbol at each)	Windows, doors, fixtures, outlets, data drops, posts, piers, hold-downs, anchor bolts

Every other takeoff tool, including the smart tools (Beam, Joist, Wall…), starts from one of these three. DimSum is trade-agnostic: the default tools make no assumptions about framing, concrete or electrical. Trade smarts are added in the tools you build from them, with parts and assemblies. The one exception DimSum ships is a pair of built-in smart tools, the Joist Tool (an Area) and the Beam Tool (a Linear), in DimSum Defaults → Framing (; Joist & Rafter tools, Beam tool).

Each tool has one color. Quantities update live while you draw, and changing a page's scale recalculates every quantity on it instantly, because geometry is stored in page units and scale is applied when calculating.

Where to find it

• Ribbon → Takeoff tab: Linear, Area, Point, plus the variants Rectangle Area, Circle Area, Cutout, Segment/Continuous, Continue Tool and Quick Takeoff.
• Tools panel (right side): click any loaded tool to arm it.
• Shortcuts: 1 Linear, 2 Area, 3 Point, C Cutout (Area), Ctrl+Enter continue the selected tool. See Keyboard shortcuts.
• Extract tab: Pick Line, Trace Path and Pick Region can also create takeoff shapes (see Line extraction).

How to use it

Before you start, the page must be scaled (unscaled pages show a ⚠ badge). See Page tools.

Mouse & keys while drawing

Input	What it does
Left-click	Places a point. That's all it does while drawing.
Right-click (tap)	Opens the context menu (copy / paste / delete…)
Right-drag or middle-drag	Pans the canvas without interrupting the tool. Middle-click alone does nothing.
Mouse wheel	Zooms
Backspace	Picks up (removes) the previous point
N	Starts a new section of the same tool: finishes the current run/polygon and starts the next shape in the same instance
Enter / double-click	Finishes the shape
Esc	Stops the tool

Exact input: arrow key, then the length

Typing a number while drawing does not start a length. Instead:

1. Press an arrow key (← ↑ → ↓, or any direction key your shortcut set defines). That sets the direction of the next segment.
2. A small length dialog opens. Type the distance (12'6", 12.5, 150in) and press Enter.

This keeps the number keys free to arm tools at all times — 1/2/3 always mean Linear / Area / Point, drawing or not — and it makes an exact segment two deliberate keystrokes instead of a mode you can fall into by accident.

Take off a Linear item (e.g. exterior walls)

1. Click a Linear tool in the Tools panel (or press 1 for the default Linear tool). The cursor becomes a crosshair and the status bar says "Click first point — Esc to cancel".
2. Click the start point. Snapping (S) locks onto plan lines, endpoints and existing tool vertices — and, onto the corners and faces of anything already drawn at a Line Width and onto the drawn lines themselves. Hold Shift for ortho.
3. Keep clicking corners. For an exact segment, press an arrow key to set the direction and type the length in the dialog that opens; an angle can be typed as <45.
4. You do not have to finish it. Every click is committed as you place it, so there is no draft to lose — Enter and double-click still end the run, and Esc ends it keeping everything and puts the tool away.
5. The tool stays armed. Click again (or press N mid-run) to start another run in the same instance.
6. Press Esc to stop the tool.

Made a mistake? Backspace picks up the previous point while drawing. After finishing, select the shape and drag its vertex handles, or right-click a vertex → Delete vertex.

Coming back to it later — three different jobs, three commands (Instances & shapes):

Command	What it does
Draw more points	Carries on from the last point of the last shape. Ctrl+Enter.
New section	A separate run in the same item — one name, one total. N mid-run.
New item like this	A separate item copied from this one, with its own total.

Segment mode: switch the tool to Segment (ribbon toggle) when every two clicks should be a separate piece, e.g. individual headers or short trim pieces. Continuous (the default) connects every click into one polyline. Hold A while drawing to add an arc segment.

"Id like it to function in single line segments rather than a continuous line. If I place 2 pionts, this should be a segment and I can edit points of this segment or delete it. Without deleting the entire line we drew."

A 4-point run is three 2-point shapes in the same item. Properties stay on the item, so changing one changes all of them. What a segment gives you is something to select, edit and delete on its own:

Do	Get
Click a segment	Just that segment. Delete deletes only it
Shift+click	Add or drop one segment
Ctrl+click another segment	The whole chain between them, across any Linear items that meet end to end
Ctrl+Shift+click	The chain, but only the first item's segments
Double-click	The whole wall of that item. Double-click it again and its Tool Settings open. An area, a count or a wall of one span opens them on the first
Drag a corner	Only the segment you grabbed moves
Shift+drag a corner	Every segment of the item meeting there moves together, one undo

Two ways to take segments out of a chain:

• Delete this segment — it goes, the rest of the item stays, and the gap stays a gap. A garage door in a wall is a real gap.
• Ungroup into a new item — the selected segments leave for a new item called "… (split)", carrying a copy of the look. One undo.

Areas do not work this way. An area's ring is a loop, not a chain; the way you carve one up is a cutout, above.

Take off an Area item (e.g. a slab or floor)

1. Arm an Area tool (or press 2).
2. Click each corner of the area. Close it by clicking the first point, pressing Enter, or double-clicking.
3. Other ways to draw:

• Rectangle: click two opposite corners.
• Circle: click the center, then the radius.
• Pick Region: click inside a room and DimSum fills it from the plan linework.

4. Deduct a cutout (stairwell, chase, courtyard, skylight): right-click the area — you do not have to select it first — and choose Cutout by points (click a polygon) or Cutout by box (click two opposite corners); C does the same from the keyboard and a second C flips between the two. Cutouts show as hatched holes and are subtracted from the net Area. Ortho applies while you draw one, because a cutout is an area by another name. A cutout may extend past the area's edge; only the overlapping part is deducted.

"We should also make it an actual shape, just a negative one, so we could select it and delete it, which would bring back the area from underneath." "We should create new points along the shape where the cutout is, in case we want to snap items to it."

• It is hollow: a click inside a hole selects nothing, so it never gets in the way of selecting the area.
• Identify cutouts (n) on the area's right-click menu highlights its holes and makes them clickable. Click one to select it and drag its corners, or delete it (Delete, or Delete this cutout — the area comes back). Esc ends it.
• Deleting the area takes its holes with it, and one Ctrl+Z brings them all back.

Quantities do not change: net is still gross minus the holes.

Count with a Point tool (e.g. outlets, data drops, posts)

1. Arm a Point tool (or press 3).
2. Click once on each item. A symbol appears in the tool's color, with an optional running count number.
3. The tool stays armed; keep clicking. Shift+drag a box to remove points you placed by mistake.

Need different values on some points (e.g. a different mounting height)? Duplicate the instance and change the copy's values, rather than editing individual points.

Manual counts: items you don't draw

Dumpsters, permits, delivery fees and allowances aren't on the plan. Use a Point tool as a holder:

1. Arm a Point tool such as "Job Extras" and click once anywhere on the page, or create the instance without clicking (right-click the page in the Project Tree → New instance).
2. In the Properties panel, type the Count (e.g. 1). A typed Count replaces the clicked count.
3. Add parts under it: Dumpster, Permits, Delivery Fee, each with its own Qty and price. Or use a single-item holder (just "Delivery Fee").
4. The instance lives on the page it was created on and shows on the Estimating tab and in reports like any other instance.

Add more to an existing instance later

Select the instance (on the canvas, in the Project Tree or on the Estimating tab), then press Ctrl+Enter (Continue Tool) and draw. New shapes are added to that instance. See Instances & Shapes.

Pick several placed items and delete them together Coming

Pick them in the Project Tree or the Takeoff list: Shift+click takes everything between the last row you clicked and this one, Ctrl+click adds or drops one, a plain click still picks one. The pick is one set shared by the tree, the Takeoff list and the canvas, so the items you picked in the list are highlighted on the sheet. Right-click offers Delete 4 items, Delete does the same, and one Ctrl+Z brings them all back.

There is no marquee on the canvas. You do not drag a box around items to pick them; the pick is made in the list. (Shift+drag a box still removes points you placed by mistake with a Point tool, above — that is a different thing.)

The full behaviour, including what a mixed pick of items and sheets offers, is on the Project Tree page.

Options & settings

Drawing appearance (defaults)

Setting	Linear	Area	Point
Look	Thick polyline in the tool color (default 4 px on screen) with vertex dots	Filled polygon, 30% opacity fill, solid 2 px outline in the tool color, optional hatch	Symbol at each click: circle, square, triangle, X, diamond, custom SVG
Labels	Optional length at each segment midpoint + total label	Area label centered	Optional running count number
Width on the plan	Drawn at the true scaled Width (see 3D settings); a "Minimum on-screen width" keeps thin tools visible		Footprint = Width
Modes / variants	Continuous (default) / Segment; arc segments	Polygon, Rectangle, Circle, Pick Region, Cutout

Base properties (automatic measurements)

Every takeoff tool has these properties.

Base property	Linear	Area	Point	Notes
Linear Total	✅	✅ (perimeter)		Scaled length
Segment Count	✅	✅ (edges)
Run / Shape Count	✅	✅		Number of separate shapes
Point Count (vertices)	✅	✅	✅ (count)	For Point = the count
Area		✅ (net)		Gross − Cutouts (see the pitch rule below)
Gross Area		✅
Cutout Area / Cutout Count		✅
Cutout Perimeter		✅
Base Elevation	✅	✅	✅	A dropdown of every Plan Level (plus "Custom…"), defaulting to the page's own level. Ceiling joists drawn on the Main Level page can be assigned to the Second Level without leaving the page; a level-linked value follows that level when its elevation changes.
Width	✅		✅	Real-world width: drives 2D drawn width and 3D width
Height	✅		✅	Rise above Base Elevation (wall height, post height)
Thickness / Height		✅		Area extrusion (slab 4", sheathing 3/4")
Top Elevation	✅	✅	✅	Base Elevation + Height/Thickness (or highest vertex)
Wall Area	✅		—	Linear Total × Height, one side. Wall Area (2 sides) also available
Volume	✅ L × W × H	✅ Surface Area × Thickness	✅ W × W × H	cu ft / cu yd
Plan Length / 3D Length	✅	✅ (perimeter)		3D Length includes vertex elevation changes
Plan Area / Surface Area		✅		Surface Area = true area of a sloped or face plane
Pitch / Slope	✅	✅		Computed from vertex elevations, or entered to generate them
Rise (Min/Max Elevation)	✅	✅		From vertex elevations
Count		—	✅	Clicked points, or a typed manual count
Page / Level / Side / Scale	✅	✅	✅	Context properties
Created By / At, Modified By / At, location	✅	✅	✅	Audit properties on everything

Plus the common properties: Name, Color (one per tool), Description, Visible, Locked, Tags, and any custom properties you add (e.g. Stud Spacing dropdown 12/16/24", Treated checkbox, Wall Height ticked as Input, so placing the tool asks for it). See Property System.

The default properties on every tool

The three tool types share one set of default properties: Color, Opacity, Area, Linear, Segment Count, Point Count, Section Count and Line Width, plus the Name, Description, Type, Division, SubDivision, Construction Phase, Trade, Created By and Time Stamp every part and tool has.

Group	Properties
General	Name, Description, Type (Linear, Area or Point, read-only)
Measured (read-only)	Qty, Linear (feet; also answers to {Linear Total}), Area (sf), Perimeter, Segment Count (also {Segments}), Point Count (also {Count}), Section Count, Wall Area, Linear items only
Dimensions	Height, Thickness
Appearance	Color, Opacity (a slider), Line Width, Line Height and Line Drawn, Draw Side
Classification	Division, SubDivision, Construction Phase, Trade
Location	Page, Level
Audit	Created By, Time Stamp, Modified By, Modified At

• None of them can be deleted.
• Section Count is On a Linear, spans that share an end point on one sheet are one section, and a section counts when it has two or more segments: a chain of two spans is 1, a lone span 0. An Area counts each outline once (cutouts don't count); a Point is 0.
• Segment Count is the edges across every shape, not counting cutouts. Point Count is the placed points plus a typed count.
• Line Width is the drawn width of the line. … "This will be dynamic, but could also just be a number." It is drawn A Linear item strokes at its Line Width in real inches, so a 24" width is a band that thickens as you zoom in and thins as you zoom out, like everything else you measure. Blank or zero keeps the hairline, so nothing already drawn changes; Areas and Counts ignore it. Which side of the line the band sits on is Draw Side, next. Filling it from the parts is a formula you write on the item's Line Width (SUM({Children > Width})), and a table row or a formula on Line Width reaches the drawing too. {Width} on an item is its Line Width — one number with two names, not two numbers to keep in step.
• Line Height, and the ⇋ that says which one is drawn.
• The two sit on one row in the Properties panel, with a ⇋ between them. Each half is an ordinary property with its own name, hover, fx, ↺, right-click menu and Settings…; only where they sit changed.
• {Width} on an item is its Line Width. Not a copy that has to be kept in step — an alias, same id, same column, so a 2x6 laid flat draws 5½" because somebody set its width once, and the two can never disagree. A part's material Width is a different and ambiguous question — a wall has plates, studs and sheathing, three widths — so if that is what you mean, write {Studs > Width}.
• The ⇋ chooses which of the two the 2D canvas draws, and the choice lives on the item, in a column, exactly as Draw Side does: a plate seen from above is 5½ wide and the same plate in section is 1½, and those are two items, not two tools.
• The value not drawn is kept. The swap writes which, never a number, so both always hold theirs and swapping back gives them.
• The stored choice is a preloaded Line Drawn property in Appearance, a two-value list (Line Width / Line Height), read in a formula as {Line Drawn}. It has no row of its own in the grid: the ⇋ is its editor, because a switch in two places is two answers waiting to disagree.
• Draw Side is which side of the line a Linear item's Line Width is drawn on: Right, Left or Centerline.
• Right and left are as you walk the line — from your first click toward the next. Walking east, Right is below the line on screen. Trace a room clockwise and Right puts the width inside it; counter-clockwise puts it outside.
• Three levels, each pulled from the one above. System Settings → Canvas & Drawing → Draw side for Linear tools is the default, and ships as Right side. A tool can set its own Draw Side, and a tool's own value wins; a tool that leaves it blank takes the system default at the moment it is placed. Then the item keeps what it was placed with: changing the system default never moves anything already drawn — it only decides the next item placed from a tool with no side of its own. A copy (New item like this, Ungroup) keeps its source's side.
• Items drawn before stay centred. Nobody chose that for them, but moving every wall by half its width on upgrade would be a silent change to a drawing. Select them and set Draw Side to put them on a side.
• Quantities don't move. Linear is the line you drew, on every side; Draw Side is where the width is drawn, not what is measured.
• Clicking inside the band selects the item, wherever the band sits, and the empty side of the line does not.
• It is a full property: Settings…, Input (ask for it when the tool is placed), Locked, a formula, and {Draw Side} in a formula reads Right, Left or Centerline. One Ctrl+Z puts a change back.
• Areas and Counts show the row and nothing draws it, the same as Line Width.
• Snapping follows the side: the box's corners and faces are where the band actually is, so a wall with its width on the right catches on the right. Coming a per-shape side with Tab to flip it while drawing. hold Ctrl while placing a span of a Linear with a Line Width and that span goes on the other side (Right ↔ Left), Other side (Ctrl) in the status bar. Spans already drawn don't move, and the item's Draw Side is never changed — Properties shows it with (some sections flipped). Carrying on an item (N, Draw more points, Continue) flips its new spans the same way. Where the side changes the corner is a plain joint; same-side corners stay mitred. Length is still the centreline, so quantities don't change. A Draw Side that's Locked or set by a formula isn't flipped (Draw Side is set by the tool), and Centerline has no other side — Shared tool behavior → Ctrl draws on the other side. The 3D view's Width Justification will read this same value when it exists (3D settings).
• The base-properties table above is the long-term design. Report Section is gone from items; Division and SubDivision cover it.

Every property on a tool works the same way

• Settings… is on every row — Height, Colour, Qty, Division, your own O.C., all of them. Group, hint, Input Condition, Units, decimal places, a List, the Input tick, Hidden and Locked: the same set everywhere.
• Rename and Delete stay on a preloaded property's right-click menu, greyed with the reason, rather than quietly not being there — its name is what formulas across the job read, and everything past the name is yours to change.
• Input — ask for it when the tool is placed is a tick in any property's Settings…. Place the tool and one dialog opens, headed Place Ext Wall 2x6, listing every Input property with the tool's own value already filled in — in the order the tool's Form tab lays out, panel order until somebody lays it out. Cancel or Esc places nothing.
• Add existing property…, beside + Add property on an item or a part, lists the job's own properties. Pick one and DimSum makes a local property of the same name and type and writes the linking formula, {Job > Labor Rate}; the row reads Linked — follows {Job > Labor Rate}. Unlink — stop following the job, on the row's menu, stops it following and keeps the number it was reading.
• A number can read two ways on one row, and both are shown. A length whose unit is in with Show as feet and inches ticked reads 1'-4" with a small 16 in under it. That is one number and one unit written two ways — there is no second unit to convert to, because a property has one unit and is stored in it, and Show as feet and inches is a spelling, a tick that appears on a length and nowhere else, beside the Fraction. The second reading stays for exactly the case it was built for. Only when the two spellings differ, and never on an ERROR row, a — row, a slider, a colour, a checkbox or a strict drop-down.

Properties of other tool kinds are carried, hidden

A tool carries the measures of the other two kinds as well as its own — they are real properties with real values, just not the ones you measure with this tool — and they are hidden, not greyed out in the list.

This tool	carries these, hidden
Linear	Area, Perimeter, Point Count
Area	Linear, Point Count, Section Count, Wall Area
Count (the Point tool)	Linear, Area, Perimeter, Segment Count, Section Count, Wall Area

• Show hidden (n) sits in the strip at the top of the grid, with the count in the label. On a tool there is no Only set / Show all pair, so it sits there on its own; on a part it sits beside them.
• A shown hidden row says which kind of hidden it is: "Hidden — it belongs to another kind of tool" or "Hidden — you hid this one".
• Naming a new property the same as a hidden one brings that one back instead of refusing, with whatever value it already had. Nothing is duplicated.
• Hidden, locked and read-only are three different things. A locked row is shown but not typed into, with a padlock and the badge Locked — shown, not editable. A read-only row — every Measured property here, and the audit stamps — has nothing to type into it ever; that is not a setting and cannot be switched off.

Examples

Framing: exterior walls (Linear)

Three runs: 40'-0", 28'-6" and 12'-0". Height = 9'-0".

• {Linear Total} = 40 + 28.5 + 12 = 80.5 ft (80'-6"), {Run / Shape Count} = 3
• {Wall Area} = 80.5 × 9 = 724.5 sf; {Wall Area (2 sides)} = 1,449 sf

Concrete: slab and footing

Slab (Area): 30' × 40' rectangle, Thickness 4".

• {Area} = 1,200 sf
• {Volume} = 1,200 × (4/12) = 400 cu ft ÷ 27 = 14.81 cu yd

Footing (Linear): 140 LF, Width 20", Height −10" (extrudes down).

• {Volume} = 140 × (20/12) × (10/12) = 140 × 1.6667 × 0.8333 = 194.44 cu ft ÷ 27 = 7.20 cu yd

Floor sheathing with a cutout (Area)

Gross polygon 1,280 sf, stair cutout 3'-6" × 10'-6".

• {Cutout Area} = 3.5 × 10.5 = 36.75 sf, {Cutout Count} = 1
• {Area} (net) = 1,280 − 36.75 = 1,243.25 sf

Roofing: one roof plane (Area with pitch)

Plan outline 30' × 14' = 420 sf, pitch 6/12 (factor 1.118).

• {Plan Area} = 420 sf
• {Sloped Area} = 420 × 1.118 = 469.56 sf (= {Area} by default)
• {Surface Area} = 420 × √1.25 = 420 × 1.1180 = 469.57 sf (exact geometry)
• If the 6/12 factor is edited to 1.116 in Behind the scenes: {Sloped Area} = 468.72 sf, while {Surface Area} stays 469.57 sf.

Low-voltage: data drops and cable (Point + Linear)

• Point tool "Data Drop": 36 clicks → {Count} = 36.
• Linear tool "Cat6 Run": three runs totaling 186 LF → {Linear Total} = 186 ft. A part J-Hooks = ROUNDUP({Item > Linear Total} / 4, 0) gives 186 ÷ 4 = 46.5 → 47. (The ROUNDUP is your choice, in the formula. DimSum never rounds on its own.)

Job extras: a manual count (Point, typed)

Point instance "Job Extras", Count typed as 1, nothing clicked on the plan. Parts: Dumpster (Qty 1), Permits (Qty 1), Delivery Fee (Qty {Item > Count} = 1).

Tips & shortcuts

• Arm, draw, Enter, keep drawing: one armed tool can place many runs without re-clicking the tool.
• For an exact run off a printed dimension, press an arrow key for the direction and type the length in the dialog.
• Wheel-zoom and right-drag / middle-drag (or Space+drag) pan without interrupting the tool.
• Press N to start the next section of the same tool without re-arming it.
• Use Segment mode for many short, separate pieces (headers, blocking, trim returns).
• For roofs, use the Pitched Area tool rather than setting vertex Z by hand.
• To catch scale mistakes, measure one known dimension with Quick Measure (M) before a big takeoff.
• Keep: a Quick Measure, Quick Area or Quick Count you just made can be turned into a real instance with Keep — pick the tool and the throwaway measurement becomes a Linear, Area or Point instance with its parts, instead of being redrawn.

Rules, limits & edge cases

• Unscaled page: tools can be drawn, but quantities are not meaningful until the page is scaled (⚠ badge). Scaling later recalculates everything.
• Cutouts may extend past the area's edge; only the overlap is deducted. Cutouts are reported separately ({Cutout Area}, {Cutout Perimeter}). {Linear Total} on an Area is the outer perimeter only, and cutout edges are reported only in {Cutout Perimeter}.
• Segment mode: each 2-click segment counts as one run in {Run / Shape Count}.
• Instances with shapes at different pitches: {Sloped Area} is computed per shape with each shape's own pitch factor and then summed. The instance-level {Pitch} shows the single value when all shapes agree, otherwise "Varies".
• Non-planar areas (vertex elevations not on one plane): DimSum warns and offers "Fit best plane" or "Triangulate (folded surface)".
• Colors: one color per takeoff tool, its Color property.
• Custom… below the grid opens the colour wheel, and anything you land on joins the grid for the rest of the session so you can get back to it. There is no hex box anywhere: the wheel's own dialog takes an exact value, and a picked colour shows its hex under the swatch — readable, not typable.
• Transparency: Fill opacity and Line opacity are separate values — separate, because a light fill under a solid outline is the combination that stays readable over a plan and one slider can't give you both. They're ordinary properties, so formulas and list-linked defaults reach them.
• Snap and ortho defaults belong to the tool, but your toggles are yours: each tool carries its own snap on/off, snap types, ortho on/off and ortho increment. Those are the values a new project starts with — arming a tool does not reset them.
• Ortho is judged on what you are drawing, not on what is armed: it applies to anything drawn as a line between two places, which is everything except a count. That distinction is not academic — a cutout is started from an area's right-click menu while another tool is still armed, so keying ortho off the armed tool meant a cutout drawn with Count armed had no ortho at all. The toggle greys out only while a count is the thing being placed. See Shared tool behavior.
• v1: an instance and all its shapes live on one page (see Instances & Shapes).
• Manual counts: when Count is typed, clicked points (if any) are still drawn but the typed value is the quantity. Clearing the typed value returns to the clicked count.
• Rounding: base quantities are never rounded. Rounding only happens where you put it: a ROUNDUP(…) in a part's Qty formula, e.g. ROUNDUP({Item > Area} * 1.10 / 32, 0) (see Parts).
• There is one way to round a part — ROUNDUP(…) in its Qty formula — not two.

Related features

• Instances & Shapes
• 3D settings & vertex elevations
• Parts
• Shared tool behavior
• Page tools (Scale)
• Area & Pitched Area tools
• Behind the scenes (pitch factor table)
• Formula language