How to Draw in Simpro Takeoffs

The toolbar at the top of your drawing provides you with tools that help with placing items, adding information to layers and navigating large drawings.

You can zoom in on the plan by rotating your mouse wheel or click and drag to pan around the image.

Select Measurement	Select any placed measurement on the drawing.
Arc Tool	Select to create an arc in length items. Select the arc tool, then select the length item. Click and drag the length points to create an arc.
Select	Select multiple measurements on the drawing.
Resize Canvas	Change the size of the drawing space. This resizes the uploaded drawing file.
Fullscreen Mode	View Takeoffs in full screen.
Guidelines	Vertical and horizontal guidelines appear when you hover over the plan to help you draw or place items in a straight line. Click to enable or disable guidelines, as required.
Symbol Recognition	Select symbols to automatically be recognised and located on your drawing to associate symbols to items quickly.
Rotate Left and Right	Rotate the drawing left or right. Continue clicking to flip the drawing.
Pencil	Manually draw elements on a layer over the drawing.
Text	Place text on a layer over the drawing.
Ruler	Virtual ruler to measure distances on the drawing.
Image	Upload additional images on a new layer over the drawing.
Zoom	Zoom in and out.
Angle Snapping	Place length, area or volume materials on angles in the drawing.
Point Snapping	Place length, area or volume materials snapped to materials placed at set intervals.
Undo and Redo	Undo or redo your last action performed.
Delete	Delete a count item on the takeoff. Select the item and then the delete icon. Alternatively, use the delete key on your keyboard.
Visibility	Select to hide a single or multiple item types on the takeoff drawing. These include Count, Length, Area, Volume, Drawn, and Measurements.
Create As Built	If the takeoff is created on a job, you can create an As Built drawing from the takeoff. Learn more in How to Create an As Built Drawing.
Download	Download a JPG, PNG or PDF copy of the takeoff drawing to use externally.

Use the optional drawing tools available to mark your drawings, add text, images to adjust and design your takeoff drawings.

Pencil tool

View the above GIF in full screen.

To use the Pencil tool for freehand drawings:

1. Click the icon > the icon for freehand.
2. Adjust the line properties, such as Thickness, Colour and Pattern.
3. Click and drag on the plan to draw freehand lines.
4. Click Save.

To use the Pencil tool to draw straight lines:

1. Click the icon > the icon for straight lines.
2. Adjust the line properties, such as Thickness, Colour and Pattern.
3. Click and drag a spot on the plan to draw straight lines.
   • Use the Angle and Point Snapping tools to assist when creating straight lines.
4. Click Save.

Text tool

You can place text on a takeoff drawing for keeping track of items and add notes for your reference.

View the above GIF in full screen.

To use the text tool:

1. Click the icon.
2. Adjust the text properties, such as Font Face, Text Style, Text Align, Size, Colour and Background Colour.
3. Click on the drawing where you need to position the text.
4. Enter the required text and click the icon.
5. Click Save.

To edit a text box added to takeoff drawing:

1. Hover over the text on the drawing or under the Drawn menu.
2. Double-click the text box to edit the text.
3. Click and drag the text box to adjust its position and size on the drawing.
4. Click and drag the corner boxes on the text box to resize the text.
5. Click and drag the rotation handle to rotate the text position.
6. Click Save.

Ruler tool

Use the ruler tool to measure lengths / distances on a plan. To use the ruler tool:

1. Set the scale of the takeoff plan before you use this tool. Learn more in Set the Scale.
2. Select the icon.
3. Position and click on the drawing where you need the ruler to begin, move and click on the drawing where the ruler should end.
   • Use the Angle and Point Snapping tools to assist when using the ruler.

Note that the ruler is shown only until you select any other option or tool on the takeoff drawing.

Image tool

Use the image tool to add new or connected images to the takeoff drawing.

1. Click the icon > Add new image.
2. To Upload image, select or drag and drop an image from your local drive. Alternatively, select an image from the Connected images drop-down.
3. Click Add to Editor.
4. Click and drag the corner boxes to resize the image.
5. Click and drag the rotation handle to rotate the image, if required.
6. Click on the image and drag to move it to the desired position on the drawing.

Select Measurement tool

Use the Select Measurement tool to view and select a single item on the takeoff drawing. Alternatively, using the Select tool to select multiple items on the drawing at the same time.

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To use the select tools:

1. Click the icon and click any element on the drawing, as required.
   • For drawn items, hover over the item to view its highlighted border, and locate it in the Drawn tab. Click the item on the drawing, and adjust as required.
2. Click the icon and drag to select multiple elements on the drawing.
3. Perform required actions on the selected elements, as required.
4. Click Save.

Arc tool

Use the Arc tool to create curved lines on your takeoffs drawing and automatically calculate measurements of length items.

View the above GIF in full screen.

To create a curved line:

1. Click the icon.
2. Click the length-type item.
3. Click and drag the dot in the middle of the length-type item.
4. Click Save.

Resize canvas and Visibility tools

When drawing in Simpro Takeoffs you can select to hide a single or multiple item types on the takeoff drawing. Also, you can adjust the sizing of the takeoff drawing based on your requirements.

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To resize and adjust the view of the canvas:

1. Click the icon and Resize workspace, as required.
2. Enter the New size dimensions.
3. Select the Anchor, as required and click Resize.

To hide a single or multiple item types on the takeoff drawing:

1. Click the icon.
2. Select the item type that you need to hide on the drawing.
3. Alternatively, use the icon next to individual items to hide in the Take Off Items pane.

When drawing in Simpro Takeoffs you can select the symbol recognition tool to search for similar symbols on a plan to easily mark.

Note that all symbols found by the recognition tool will be created as a count type one-off item, which can be converted to a catalogue item.

To use the Symbol Recognition tool:

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1. Click the icon.
2. Click Start Selection.
3. Click and drag around the symbol.
4. Click Reselect to retry selection or Continue.
5. Adjust the sensitivity of the search to refine matches.
6. Approve found symbols by selecting Approve or Reject, or select Approve All to approve all found symbols.
7. Click Save and Finish.
8. Select Count in the left panel to view and adjust the properties or convert to a catalogue item and change material.
9. Click Save.

For additional training, complete an interactive material in the Simpro's Learning Toolbox. Learn more in About Simpro's Learning Toolbox.