Guides & help
How to get the most out of CountTooling — from your first PDF takeoff to scale zones, reports, and exports.
Start here — pick a path
New to CountTooling? Take The Basics, then pick the track for your trade. Each path walks the guides below in order.
The Basics
Everything a first takeoff needs — upload to export, in order.
Plumbing track
Fixture counting and pipe measuring, the plumbing way.
Electrical track
Device counts, conduit runs, and typical floors.
HVAC track
Room volumes first — then equipment and duct runs.
Working faster
The keyboard, quick creators, and a palette that follows you.
On the job site & with your team
Offline, on a tablet, and shared without stepping on each other.
All guides
How to do a takeoff from a PDF
Step-by-step — upload a plan PDF, set the scale, count fixtures, measure runs, and export a report, all in your browser with CountTooling.
Preparing a plan set
Get a bid set ready to count — upload PDFs, trim to just your sheets, rotate and rename pages, and add addendum sheets without losing work.
Setting the scale on a plan
Calibrate a PDF so measurements are accurate — set scale from two points, use architectural/engineering presets, or enter a custom scale.
Is your scale lying to you?
Compressed PDFs silently break preset scales. How CountTooling detects rescaled sheets, corrects presets, and lets you verify a scale before you trust a bid to it.
Counting fixtures with counters
Place point counts on a plan with custom icons and colors, keep a live tally, and organize them into groups — the heart of any takeoff.
Custom icons — make the plan read like your trade
Pick from the built-in trade icon library or upload your own SVG symbols, manage and reorder them, and carry your icon library between devices.
Keeping a dense takeoff organized
Groups with subtotals, page filters, search, and mark-appearance settings — how a sheet with hundreds of marks stays readable and auditable.
Building your palette in two clicks
The Quick Count and Quick Line creators build correctly-named counters and line types from Size, Type, and Material pickers — no typing, consistent names.
Measuring runs with lines and polylines
Trace pipe, conduit, and other linear runs to get real lengths off the plan — straight lines, multi-segment polylines, arcs, drops, and the Measure tool.
Fixing mistakes and editing marks
Undo 50 steps, clear a whole region with Delete Area, edit any mark from its right-click menu, and rename or recolor an entire type at once.
Scale zones and multiply zones
Handle multi-scale sheets and repeated areas — give a region its own scale, or multiply everything inside a boundary so typical floors and units count correctly.
Measuring room volumes with the Room Sizer
Draw room boxes, give each a ceiling height, and get floor area and air volume per room — the numbers behind airflow, air changes, and equipment sizing.
Canvas layers — alternates and options on one sheet
Every page can hold multiple annotation layers — keep the base bid and alternates side by side, switch with the arrow keys, and compare with one tap.
Highlights, notes, and reading the bare drawing
Flag regions with highlights, pin questions as notes, style the on-canvas legend, and peel the whole takeoff off the drawing with one tap.
Reports, exports, and sending a takeoff onward
Turn your marked-up plan into numbers and deliverables — the on-canvas legend, Show Report, Export PDF, Copy to PipeTooling, and email summaries.
Working faster with the keyboard
Tool hotkeys, the visual Keyboard Map, Quick Keys for your counters and line types, and 45° snap — how experienced estimators keep both hands moving.
Your palette, every bid — Artboard and Palette Insights
Save your counters, line types, modifiers, Quick Keys, and custom icons to your account, and mine your own project history for the palette you actually use.
Sharing takeoffs and view links
Work together without stepping on each other — share projects with viewers or editors, check out to edit, and send email-gated view-only links that need no sign-in.
How your work is saved (and how to tell)
Auto-save every few seconds, local backups on your device, and the Save Status bell — what each state means and what to do on the rare yellow day.
Installing the app and working offline
Add CountTooling to your device for a one-tap icon, and keep working on a takeoff with no connection — built for the job site, not just the office.
Takeoffs on a tablet in the field
Touch gestures, the aim loupe for fingertip precision, and full offline support — how CountTooling works on a tablet at the job site, not just at a desk.
Doing a plumbing takeoff
Count fixtures, measure pipe runs, and price plumbing work straight off the plan PDF — custom counters, scale zones, and exports built for plumbing estimating.
Doing an HVAC takeoff
Room volumes for airflow and equipment sizing, counters for diffusers and equipment, and duct runs measured off the plan — HVAC estimating on the PDF.
Doing an electrical takeoff
Count devices and fixtures, measure conduit and homeruns with drops for risers, and multiply typical floors — electrical estimating straight off the plan PDF.
Browser-based vs. desktop takeoff software
Desktop installs, per-seat cloud subscriptions, and browser-based tools compared — where each model fits, and what CountTooling's approach changes.
Admin handbook
Creating users, resetting passwords, transferring projects, forcing turn-in, reading activity, and pushing updates — the admin surfaces inside the app.