Your first takeoff

Every quantity in DimSum starts with one of three default tools: Linear for runs like walls and footings, Area for floors, slabs and roofs, and Count for things you click once, like posts and outlets. Quantities update live while you draw.

Steps

1. Open a scaled page. If the page still shows ⚠, set its scale first.
2. Arm a tool. Click a tool in the Tools panel on the right, or press 1 for Linear, 2 for Area or 3 for Count. The status bar tells you what to click.
3. Draw a Linear run. Click each corner of the wall. Snap (S turns it on and off) catches ends, corners and the faces of anything already drawn. Hold Shift for straight lines. For an exact length, press an arrow key for the direction, type the length (12'6") and press Enter.
4. Finish or keep going. Enter or a double-click ends the run and keeps the tool armed for the next one. Backspace picks up the last point. Esc ends the run, keeps everything, and puts the tool away. Right-drag or middle-drag pans without stopping the tool.
5. Draw an Area. Click each corner and close it on the first point, or press Enter. To take out a stairwell or chase, right-click the area and choose Cutout by points or Cutout by box (or press C).
6. Count things. Arm a Count tool and click once on each item. Keep clicking; the tool stays armed.
7. Add parts to an item. Select the item, then in the Properties panel find Parts and click + Part. Name it ("Plates"). Its Qty starts as the item's own quantity; click fx to write your own formula, such as ROUNDUP({Item > Qty} * 1.10, 0) for 10% waste. Type a unit in the box beside the Qty (ea, sheet, lf).
8. Check your totals. Click the Estimating tab. Items are grouped by level, then page, with LF, SF and EA totals. Open an item's twisty to see its parts and their numbers.
9. Clear anything flagged. Needs attention at the top of the Estimating tab lists every broken formula and warning. Click a row to jump straight to it. Double-click an item row to go to its page.

TIP

Work from the bottom of the building up. Start on the lowest level and step up with Ctrl+PgDn.

Good to know

• Nothing is a draft. Every click is saved as you place it, and every change is one Ctrl+Z.
• Each span of a Linear run is its own segment. Click one to select just it and Delete removes only that piece. Double-click selects the whole item; double-click again opens its Tool Settings.
• No money is built in. Parts carry blank fields like Cost Each and Markup %. DimSum adds up what you put in them, using your own formulas.
• Lengths, areas and counts never mix. LF, SF and EA are always totalled separately.
• Still to come: filling an area by clicking inside a room, and picking several placed items to delete them together, are Coming.

Next

Next: Joist and Beam tools

Read more

• Takeoff tools: Linear, Area, Point
• Shared tool behavior
• Parts
• Estimating tab