Area, Perimeter, and Volume Tools

Overview

Ensign X provides three region-based measurement tools that all work in the same way — you trace the outline of a region and the tool calculates the result. Only the unit of measurement differs:

These tools are useful for tasks such as calculating floor areas for lighting design, measuring perimeters for skirting trunking, or determining volumes for ventilation calculations.

Setting up a perimeter, area, or volume measure

1. 1

   Make sure the correct service is active in the service panel.

2. 2

   Click the Perimeter, Area, or Volume button in the toolbar.

3. 3

   Enter a description — for example, Ground Floor Office Area.

4. 4

   Choose a display colour. Using a distinct colour for region measures (e.g. red for areas) helps you distinguish them from linear and unit takeoff at a glance.

5. 5

   For the area and volume tools, you can specify a slope angle if the surface is not flat. Leave this at zero for standard horizontal surfaces.

6. 6

   Optionally fill in product code, hours, and cost.

7. 7

   Press Start.

Tracing the region

1. 1

   Left-click at each corner of the region you want to measure. Work your way around the perimeter of the shape — four clicks for a rectangle, more for irregular shapes.

2. 2

   Right-click to close the shape and finalise. Ensign X automatically connects the last point back to the first and calculates the result.

The measurement appears in the service panel — for example, 33.13 m² for an area measure.

Worked example — measuring an office area

You need to know the floor area of an open-plan office to estimate containment or lighting quantities:

1. Click Area, enter Open Plan Office, choose red, and press Start.
2. Left-click at each corner of the office perimeter on the drawing — four clicks for a rectangular room, more for an irregular shape.
3. Right-click to finalise. The service panel shows the area in square metres.

If the room has columns or voids that need to be excluded, use the Cutout tool (described below) to subtract those regions.

Cutout tool

The cutout tool removes a portion of an existing area or perimeter measurement — for example, a structural column, a stairwell void, or any region where materials are not required.

1. 1

   Click on the area or perimeter measure you want to modify on the drawing. The measure becomes selected (its outline highlights).

2. 2

   Click the Cutout Takeoff button in the toolbar. This button only becomes available once a measure is selected — if you cannot see it, click your measure on the drawing first.

3. 3

   Left-click at each corner of the region you want to remove.

4. 4

   Right-click to finalise the cutout. The measurement automatically recalculates, subtracting the cutout area from the original.

You can apply multiple cutouts to a single measure by repeating the process. Each cutout is independent and can be adjusted or removed separately.

Adjusting region measures after placement

After placing a region measure, you can fine-tune it without deleting and redrawing:

White circles (corner points)

Each corner you clicked during tracing is shown as a white circle. Click and drag any white circle to reposition that corner. The measurement updates live as you move it.

Yellow circles (new pivot points)

Yellow circles appear along the edges between corners. Drag a yellow circle outward to create a new pivot point, splitting that edge into two segments. This lets you add detail — for example, following an L-shaped wall that you initially drew as a straight line. You can repeat this as many times as needed.

Moving the entire measure

Click on the body of the shape (not one of the circles) and drag to reposition the entire measure on the drawing. The shape, dimensions, and logged measurement remain unchanged — only its location on the PDF moves.