Before you start
Every shortcut below works in the takeoff workspace once a drawing is open. On macOS read Ctrl as Cmd and Alt as Option throughout. Shortcuts are ignored while your cursor is in a text field, such as a group label or a pipe-size input.
The same list is available inside the app: open the user menu at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Help .
New Takeoff shortcuts
Each of these arms the matching tool from the New Takeoff menu without opening the menu.
| Shortcut | Tool | What you do next |
|---|---|---|
| ⌥+C | Count Symbol | Click to place count dots in a new Count group |
| ⌥+S | Auto Count Symbol | Draw around one symbol; ZeroCount finds every instance |
| ⌥+L | Linear Measurement | Draw a run in a new Linear group |
| ⌥+A | Area Measurement | Draw a polygon in a new Area group |
Add Shift to open the Linked Takeoff version. The item picker opens first so you can choose a priced item, then the tool arms with that item already linked.
| Shortcut | Tool |
|---|---|
| ⇧+⌥+C | Linked Count Symbol |
| ⇧+⌥+S | Linked Auto Count |
| ⇧+⌥+L | Linked Linear Measurement |
| ⇧+⌥+A | Linked Area Measurement |
These shortcuts do nothing while a tool is already armed. Cancel the current tool first, either with Esc or by clicking the Current Tool button that replaces New Takeoff in the toolbar. They stay available while mask view is on.
Auto Count is bound to S rather than Space because Alt+Space is reserved by the operating system and never reaches the browser.
Keys on the canvas
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ESC | Cancels, stops or deselects, in the order described below |
| DELETE | Deletes every selected marker of any type and clears the selection |
| CTRL+B | Toggles Remove Background on the open drawing |
| ⌥ (hold) | Panning mode: Alt + left-drag pans in both control schemes |
| ⇧+CLICK or CTRL+CLICK on a marker | Adds the marker to the selection instead of replacing it |
| CTRL+CLICK on a sidebar group row | Adds or removes that group from the mask, entering mask view if it is off |
What Esc does, in order
Esc performs the first of these that applies:
- Cancels a shape you are still drawing. A polygon with fewer than two points is discarded and its empty group removed; one with two or more points is finished.
- Stops Continuous creation, so the tool disarms after the current marker.
- Exits mask view, when nothing is selected and the mask is on.
- Otherwise deselects every marker and clears the drag-select rectangle.
It also closes the overlapping-marker picker and the Auto-detect symbols and Auto-detect patterns windows, and cancels a size-badge drag, a Split drag or an Auto Linear sample in progress.
With Continuous ticked in the New Takeoff menu, one press of Esc ends the run of markers you are placing. A second press deselects.
Mouse gestures with the default controls
| Gesture | Effect |
|---|---|
| Left-drag on empty canvas | Pan |
| Middle-button drag | Pan |
| Middle-click three times quickly | Reset zoom to fit the drawing |
| Mouse wheel | Zoom in or out towards the cursor |
| Left-click a marker | Select it; the floating action menu appears in Takeoff mode |
| Left-click where two or more markers overlap | Opens the Select Marker picker listing every marker under the cursor |
| Left-drag a selected marker or one of its grips | Move or resize it |
| CTRL + left-drag on empty canvas | Rubber-band select several markers |
| CTRL + left-click with a Linear, Area or Zone tool armed | Place the next point (a plain click pans instead) |
| CTRL + left-click on top of an existing marker with any tool armed | Place the new marker there (a plain click is blocked) |
| Left-drag with a box tool armed (Auto Count in Box mode, AoI, legend, rectangle annotation) | Draw the box |
| Left-click with Count Symbol armed | Place a dot; keep clicking with Continuous on |
| Click the first grip of a Linear run you are drawing | Close the run into a loop; the closing leg is measured |
| Right-click | Finish a Linear, Area or Zone shape; cancel any other armed tool; otherwise deselect everything |
| Left-drag with Auto Linear (sample one line) armed | Draw the sample line along the pipe, with no modifier |
Panning is suspended while the cursor is over a marker, so that dragging moves the marker rather than the drawing. Move a few pixels off the marker to pan again.
The cursor shows which mode you are in: a hand when idle, a closed hand while panning, and a crosshair while a tool is armed or Ctrl is held.
What changes under Legacy Controls
Legacy Controls (User Preferences › Canvas › Controls) swaps the modifier logic. Its tooltip reads: "Switches to an alternative control scheme. Left-click to place markers and interact, Ctrl/Cmd + left-click drag or middle-mouse to pan."
| Action | Default | Legacy Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Pan | Plain left-drag | CTRL + left-drag |
| Place a point, draw a box, rubber-band select | CTRL + left-click or left-drag | Plain left-click or left-drag |
| Middle-button drag | Pan | Pan |
| ⌥ + left-drag | Pan | Pan |
| Idle cursor | Hand | Crosshair |
Everything else is unchanged: the keyboard shortcuts, right-click, the mouse wheel and the triple middle-click behave the same in both schemes. See User preferences for how to switch.
Sidebar gestures
| Gesture | Effect |
|---|---|
| Click a detection thumbnail | Select or deselect it |
| CTRL+CLICK a thumbnail | Add it to, or remove it from, the selection |
| ⇧+CLICK a second thumbnail | Select the range between the two |
| Drag a thumbnail onto another group's grid | Move that detection into the other group |
| Press and hold a group header for half a second, then drag | Drop on a Service section to assign the group, or on Ungrouped to unassign it. Moving more than a few pixels during the hold cancels it |
| Click a group label | Edit it in place |
Enter and Esc in inputs and dialogs
| Where | ↵ | ESC |
|---|---|---|
| Group label or Service name | Saves | Reverts |
| Add a size input on the mask bar | Adds the size | Cancels |
| Coverage radius field in the mask group picker | Commits (zero or less is refused) | Reverts |
| Sizes on drawing popover input | Adds the size | Cancels |
| Custom Scale › Manual Entry field | Applies the scale | Closes the dialog |
| Form dialogs such as New Project, Category Name, Set revision and Move files | Submits | Closes |
| Auto-detect symbols and Auto-detect patterns windows | — | Closes (clicking outside also closes them) |
Two dialogs deliberately ignore Esc: Reconnected — resyncing… and Stale pending changes. See Working with others.
Undo and redo
Undo and redo shortcuts are not currently available. Pressing CTRL+Z or CTRL+Y does nothing, and there are no undo buttons in the toolbar. This is why marker and group deletions warn "This action cannot be undone" — read the prompt before confirming. See Undo and redo for the current position.
Next steps
- Navigating the canvas — zoom, pan and fit-to-screen, including the floating zoom controls.
- Selecting and moving markers — multi-selection and the floating action menu in detail.
- User preferences — where to turn Legacy Controls and Continuous creation on or off.
- Mask view — the Ctrl+click gesture and the mask bar.
- Detect New Symbol — the tool behind Alt+S.