It’s more than just a passing fad! Taking off material on the screen (instead of with a digitizer) has come of age. Check out your local Craig’s List and you’ll see more and more customers have ditched their digitizers and moved to a paperless format.

Why are people bypassing paper prints for piping, plumbing, and sheet metal estimating?  The reasons vary. We have customers who are saving thousands of dollars by not printing off drawings anymore. Others like the convenience and portability of being able to cart their takeoff with them outside of the office. Many customers like seeing the drawing and tracing directly on it during their takeoff.

Customers are using On-Screen View of Takeoff for more than just plan and spec work; they are using it to bid conceptual estimates and design build work. It’s easy to place your assemblies for hook-ups and bathrooms, and then play “connect the dots” to quickly generate estimates based on partial design documents.

On-Screen View of TakeOff uses QuickPen’s patented automatic fitting generation to produce fittings, duct, or pipe during takeoff. The correct branch connections in piping – or taps in sheet metal – are automatically generated based on your specifications. And even when others claim to “auto generate” pipe or duct, our automatic fitting generation is still half as many mouse clicks as other estimating systems.

Have you done takeoff on the screen but have been less than impressed with the results?  It may be a hardware set-up issue. The number one issue customers typically have with On-Screen View (OSV) for AutoBid Mechanical (Piping and Plumbing) or AutoBid SheetMetal is how to use that “pesky” mouse. Proper mouse configuration and usage can be the difference between hating OSV and loving it.

So, how can you set-up your mouse to work properly?  You need a mouse that has a roller wheel on it. This roller wheel should be in between the left and right mouse buttons of the mouse. Not only does this wheel roll, but it can also act as a mouse button. If you depress the mouse, it can act as a middle button on the mouse.

That middle button functionality is the key to being successful with On-Screen View of TakeOff. By pushing and holding in on the roller wheel, you can now pan through the drawing in OSV. You can even do this while you are in the middle of a takeoff command. If you are taking off a piping or duct run and you get to the edge of the page, hold down on the roller wheel, pan the drawing to where you can see your next takeoff area, and then release the roller wheel. You’re still in TakeOff mode and can keep stripping the drawing.

Rolling the mouse wheel in OSV will also allow you to zoom in (by rolling the wheel up) or zoom out (by rolling the wheel down). Just like the panning capability, these can also be done dynamically in takeoff.

If you’ve been watching our latest releases of AutoBid, you’ve probably noticed that we continue to focus much of our update efforts on On-Screen View of TakeOff. This trend continues as we are in Beta release for AutoBid Mechanical 2011 v1. This release includes ways to quickly adjust item elevation to offset around obstructions during takeoff – as well as the ability to compare a revised drawing and see what changed (which can also be handy during the conceptual estimating phase).

Are you ready to give it a try or do you want to hone your OSV skills?  Here at QuickPen, we want you to be successful!  If you are interested in learning more about our On-Screen View takeoff, please attend one of our webinars for On-Screen View of Takeoff. You can find a calendar of these webinars by clicking here.  Or, if you’d like a one-on-one approach, please contact me directly to discuss options. You can reach me here or by phone at 303-268-3260.