Features & tutorials

Everything Tracer Takeoffs does, and how to do it — short, no-fluff guides written by an estimator. No account needed to read them.

⤓ Download the guide (PDF)

Measure anything on a PDF

Lengths, paths that turn corners, areas, rectangles, circles and counts — straight off the drawing, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Scale it properly

Calibrate from a known dimension or pick a ratio. Scale Zones let a 1:20 detail sit on a 1:100 plan and still measure right.

Organise and style

Colour-coded groups with running totals, line thickness per group or drawing, eight hatch patterns, and labels you control.

Export what you need

CSV with project roll-ups, a marked-up PDF for the client or checker, or take off straight into your own Excel bill of quantities.

Keep up with revisions

Upload the new issue and your measurements carry over. Compare the two in red and blue, cloud what changed as a checklist, and print the comparison.

Write on the sheet

Text notes in your own words, printed on the marked-up PDF — and a sheet plotted sideways turns a quarter at a time, takeoff and all.

Your first measurement — 2 minutes

1Create a joband upload your PDF drawings
2Open a drawingclick its row in the job
3Set the scaleclick the scale chip — measure a known length, or pick a ratio like 1:100
4Measureclick the ／ tool, then click where the length starts and where it ends — the value appears instantly
5ExportCSV for a spreadsheet, PDF for a marked-up drawing

The same idea works for everything: ▱ areas — click each corner, then press Enter (or click your last point again) to finish · ● counts — click each item to tally it · made a mistake? right-click for undo and delete, or Ctrl+Z.

Toolbar key — what every button does

📐Scale chipSet or calibrate the sheet scale — always do this first. Shows +N SZ when the sheet has scale zones

RevRev chipWhich issue of the drawing you're on. Click it to upload a new revision, rename one, or go back to, compare with or download an earlier one

SZScale zoneBox a detail drawn at a different scale and give it its own scale (or press Z)

↖SelectClick a measurement to select it; Ctrl+click (⌘ on Mac) adds more; hold Space to pan the drawing

／LinearStraight length — click the two end points

〜PathLength that turns corners — click each point, Enter to finish

▱AreaPolygon area — click each corner, Enter to close

▭RectangleArea by two opposite corners

◯CircleClick the centre, then a point on the edge

●CountClick each item to tally it into one count

TText noteClick the sheet and type a note in your own words — a query, a reminder. Prints on the marked-up PDF (or press N)

≡Line thicknessFour lines, thin to thick, with the width beside them. Sets the active group's width, or the selected measurement(s); apply it to the whole group or to everything (or press W)

⊹SnapSnap new points to existing ones for clean joins

🏷LabelsShow or hide the value labels on the drawing

⇆CompareLay an earlier revision under the current one: slider, red/blue overlay, clouds round the changes

↻RotateTurn the sheet a quarter clockwise; everything measured on it turns with it

🗑DeleteRemove the selected measurement (or press Del)

⤓CSV / PDFExport a spreadsheet, or a marked-up copy of the drawing

⛶FullscreenHide the browser bars for maximum drawing space

?GuidesOpen these guides in a new tab

Getting started

Set up a job and get your drawings in.

Set the scale first

Every sheet needs a scale before its measurements mean anything.

Measuring

The takeoff tools, and how each one behaves.

Organising your takeoffs

Groups, names and visibility — keep big jobs under control.

Revisions — when the drawings change

Upload the new issue, keep your measurements, and see exactly what moved.

Exporting

Get your numbers out, client-ready.

Working comfortably

Small things that make long sessions easier.

Stuck on something not covered here?

Send us a message from the Support page — every tool also has a hint at the bottom of the editor.

Contact support

Try it on your own drawings

15 days free, no card required. Upload a PDF, set the scale and start measuring — everything in these guides is included on every plan.

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