Count first or link first
The usual order is to count, then link: draw the group, then pick its item from the Database Items window. Linked Takeoff reverses it. You choose the item first, and the tool that starts afterwards creates its new group already carrying that link.
Reverse it when you already know what you are counting — you are working from a spec or a schedule and every group's product is decided before you touch the drawing. It saves a pass over the sidebar at the end of the job, and it means nothing can be left unlinked by accident.
Where the Linked Takeoff menu is
Open New Takeoff in the workspace header and scroll to the Linked Takeoff section, below Auto Takeoff and above Import.
| Item | Icon | Creates |
|---|---|---|
| Count Symbol | A Count group. Click on the drawing to place a dot per symbol. | |
| Auto Count | A Detection group. Draw round one symbol and ZeroCount finds the rest. | |
| Linear Measurement | A Linear group. Draw a polyline along the run. | |
| Area Measurement | An Area group. Draw a polygon round the area. |
These are the same four tools as the Takeoff section higher up the same menu. The only difference is that the item picker opens before the tool arms.
Using it
- 1
Open New Takeoff and click the tool you want under Linked Takeoff.
- 2
The Database Items window opens. Switch the dataset dropdown to the source you need — Components, Contractors Choice, Assemblies, Custom or Recent.
- 3
Search or filter, then double-click the item. The window closes.
- 4
The tool is now armed and a new group has been created for it. Count, measure or draw as you normally would.
- 5
Check the new group's row in the sidebar. Its link button is already blue , and the code and description sit in the menu.
The window is pre-filtered to match the tool you picked, exactly as it is when you link an existing group: L or Linear for Linear Measurement, U or Unit for Count Symbol and Auto Count, and Area in the Custom view for Area Measurement. Clear the chip if you need an item that is classified differently.
The keyboard shortcuts
Each of the four has a Shift-modified version of the plain takeoff shortcut:
| Shortcut | Starts |
|---|---|
| ⇧+⌥+C | Linked Count Symbol |
| ⇧+⌥+S | Linked Auto Count |
| ⇧+⌥+L | Linked Linear Measurement |
| ⇧+⌥+A | Linked Area Measurement |
Drop the Shift and you get the unlinked version of the same tool. Auto Count is bound to S rather than the more obvious key because that combination is reserved by the operating system.
These shortcuts are ignored while a tool is already armed. If nothing happens when you press one, look at the header — while a tool is running, the New Takeoff button is replaced by a Current Tool button. Click it, or press Esc, and try again.
Closing the picker without choosing
If you close the window with or Esc, nothing is created and no tool arms. Linked Takeoff commits only at the double-click, so backing out is free.
Continuous and linked Auto Count
Continuous — the checkbox at the top of the New Takeoff menu — keeps a tool armed after each marker so you can place several without reopening the menu. It behaves differently for one of the four:
- Count Symbol, Linear Measurement and Area Measurement keep adding to the group they just created, which is already linked. Continuous works as it always does.
- Auto Count creates a new group each time it runs. Re-arming it after a linked run would build an unlinked group, so a linked Auto Count deliberately does not re-arm — it runs once and stops, whether or not Continuous is on.
That is not a fault to work around. To do a second linked Auto Count, start it again from the menu or with ⇧+⌥+S, so the item picker opens and the next group is linked too.
What you end up with
A group created this way is an ordinary marker group in every other respect:
- It takes the usual default name,
Group 1,Group 2and so on. Rename it in the sidebar — the label becomes the Takeoff Description column in the Excel export, so a real name is worth the few seconds. - It can be recoloured, merged, moved into a Service, added to a mask and deleted like any other group.
- The link can be removed with the blue button on the row, and replaced by linking again.
Common issues
The picker opened but the list is empty
The catalogues had not finished loading. Click in the window header, wait for the status line to show a record count, then pick your item.
I picked the item but no tool started
Check whether a tool was already armed when you pressed the shortcut. Press Esc to clear it, then use the menu instead of the shortcut.
I wanted a plain group, not a linked one
Use the Takeoff section of the New Takeoff menu, or the unmodified ⌥+C, ⌥+S, ⌥+L and ⌥+A shortcuts.
Next steps
- The Database Items window — the picker this menu opens, in full.
- The New Takeoff menu — every tool in the menu, including Continuous and Draw shape.
- Group templates — arrive on a drawing with a whole set of pre-linked groups.
- Group costs and totals — where the link shows up once the counting is done.