Measure the Drawing. Let It Write the Estimate.
Take off quantities straight from a PDF, with proper scale calibration and a record of the revision you measured. Then let those measurements propose the estimate lines they drive, so you check and price a list instead of typing one out before you can start.
15-minute walkthrough. No credit card required.
Takeoff that stays connected to the price
Most takeoff tools end at a quantity, leaving somebody to retype it into an estimate. ScopeKit keeps the measurement and the line it drives attached to each other, through revisions, variations and remeasurement.
Measure on the drawing
Lengths, areas, counts and volumes taken directly off the PDF. Calibrate against a printed dimension rather than trusting the stated scale, so a sheet that has been exported to a different paper size still measures true.
Measurements propose the estimate lines
The measurement writes the line it drives. Instead of typing out a list of items before you can start measuring, you measure and then check and price a proposed list. Human judgement stays on whether the list is right and what it should cost.
Revision-aware
Every measurement records the drawing and the revision it was taken from. When rev E lands, you can see what you measured on rev C and where, rather than starting the takeoff again from nothing.
Net quantities, wastage kept separate
Measured quantities stay net. Wastage is applied as a visible percentage against the rate, where it belongs and where it can differ between a mosaic and a 600 by 600 porcelain, so nobody downstream has to guess what a number includes.
A full audit of the measurement
Who measured it, when, on which revision, with what calibration, at which coordinates on the sheet. On a remeasured contract or a disputed variation, that trail is the difference between a valuation and an argument.
Linked to the rest of the job
A measurement is tied to the estimate line, the line to the quote, the quote to the project. Raise an RFI against the drawing when it will not build as shown, and the question sits with the geometry that prompted it.
Questions contractors usually ask
What buyers ask before signing up — answered straight.
01
Do I need the CAD file, or will a PDF do?
A PDF is fine. A PDF exported from CAD carries true geometry, so once you have calibrated against a known printed dimension it measures as accurately as the drawing does. Scanned or photographed drawings can be slightly stretched, which is why ScopeKit encourages a second calibration check on an independent dimension before you rely on a sheet.
02
Why calibrate instead of using the scale printed on the sheet?
Because the printed scale is only true if the sheet is the size it was drawn for. Drawings routinely get exported A1 to A3, cropped, or scaled to fit by a print driver, and the scale note never updates. Calibrating against a dimension written on the drawing tests the sheet you actually have. It also catches detail insets drawn at a different scale on the same page, which is the error that produces a price out by a factor of five.
03
Does the software price the job for me?
No, and deliberately. Takeoff is measurement; estimating is money. ScopeKit proposes the estimate lines a measurement implies — the item, the unit, the quantity — and you apply the rates, labour constants, wastage and margin. Keeping the two separate means a rate change reprices the job without anyone remeasuring, and a drawing revision remeasures without disturbing the rates.
04
What happens when a drawing is revised mid-price?
Measurements carry the drawing and revision they were taken from, so a superseded measurement is identifiable rather than invisible. You remeasure the areas the revision touches instead of redoing the whole takeoff, and the estimate lines those measurements drive are traceable back to them.
05
Can I still measure by hand where the drawing is unreliable?
Yes. Lines can be entered directly without a measurement behind them, which is what you want for provisional items, allowances, and anything priced from a site visit rather than a drawing. The two sit alongside each other on the same estimate.
Takeoff sits alongside estimating and quoting on every plan. See pricing to compare tiers.
Related features
Stop typing out lines you have not measured yet
See how a measurement on a drawing becomes a priced estimate line, with the revision and the audit that go with it.
15-minute walkthrough. No credit card required.