When to draw a run by hand
A Linear measurement is a line you trace point by point on the drawing. Its value is the real-world length of that path, worked out from the drawing scale, so a run of trunking traced at 1:100 comes back in metres (or feet and inches under the Architectural scale system).
Use the hand tool when the run is not drawn as one continuous line the app could sample — skirting, dado, beading, a route you are planning rather than one the drawing shows — or when Auto Takeoff has missed a stretch and you want to add it yourself. For runs the drawing does draw as a line, Auto Takeoff from one sample is faster.
Set the scale before you draw. A measurement made at the wrong scale is wrong by a fixed ratio and looks perfectly plausible. See Setting the scale.
Where the tool is
Open New Takeoff in the header and choose Linear Measurement under the Takeoff heading, or press ⌥+L. A new Linear group appears in the sidebar and the header button changes to Current Tool: linear. Click that button at any time to put the tool away.
To add another line to a group you already have, click on that group's row in the sidebar instead.
Drawing the run
- 1
Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) and click the start of the run. A plain click pans the drawing instead of placing a point.
- 2
CTRL+CLICK each corner along the route. Straight stretches need no extra points.
- 3
Right-click to finish the line where it ends.
- 4
To measure a perimeter instead, click the first point again. The line closes into a loop and the closing leg is counted in the length.
The finished marker shows a dark length badge at its top-right corner, such as 12.00 m, and the sidebar group row shows the running total for the group. Each line is listed under the group as Linear 1, Linear 2 and so on with its own length.
Turn on Continuous at the top of the New Takeoff menu to keep the tool armed after each line, so you can trace several runs without reopening the menu. Press ESC to stop.
If you press ESC with fewer than two points placed, the unfinished line is discarded and its empty group removed. With two or more points, Esc finishes the line where it is.
Editing a run
Click on or near the line to select it. The clickable band around a line stays the same width on screen at any zoom, so zoom in on busy drawings rather than hunting for the exact pixel.
- Drag a grip (a corner handle) to move that point. The badge and the sidebar length update as you release.
- Drag the line itself to move the whole run.
- Press DELETE to remove the selected line, or use on its sidebar row.
- Hover a sidebar row for Duplicate marker, or right-click it for Focus, Duplicate and Delete.
Scale on the group
Every Linear group carries its own scale, which starts as the drawing's default. To change it, open the group's menu and choose Adjust Scale . The Adjust Scale dialog explains that it works at takeoff level and that measurements update automatically; pick a preset and click Confirm.
When a group's scale differs from the drawing default, adding a new line to it opens Select Scale for New Group so you can choose which of the two to use. See Per-group scale for when this is worth doing.
The linked variant
If you already know which database item the run will be priced against, choose Linear Measurement under the Linked Takeoff heading instead, or press ⇧+⌥+L. The item picker opens first; once you choose an item the tool arms with the new group already linked. See Linked takeoff.
Common issues
Clicks pan the drawing instead of placing points
Under the default controls, points are placed with CTRL+CLICK and a plain click pans. If you prefer plain clicks to place, switch on Legacy Controls in Preferences; panning then moves to Ctrl-drag or the middle mouse button.
The length badge is missing
Badges are controlled by Show measurements on canvas in Preferences and by the Show Measurements tick in the Actions menu. Either one can hide them for a cleaner drawing; the values are still in the sidebar. See Showing measurements on the drawing.
The value reads in feet when you expected metres
Measurements follow the scale system: Architectural displays feet and inches, Metric and Both display metres. See The scale system.
Next steps
- Drawing area measurements — the same gestures, applied to a polygon that reports its area.
- Auto Takeoff from one sample — let the app trace every run of a service from one short drag.
- Per-group scale — when a group should carry a different scale from the drawing.
- Selecting and moving markers — multi-select, drag-select and the floating action menu.