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QuickEye Estimator Help Topic:

Measure Tool Dialog

Dialog purpose:

Quick Tips:



Detailed Instructions:

To open the Measure Tool dialog box, choose the Item Creator icon from the main window toolbar. This will open the Measure Scale dialog the first time (because the scale has not been set for the sheet). Then the Item Creator dialog box will open. Create a new Measurement Group or select an existing one that you want to draw measurements into. Then press the Measure button in the top-left corner.

Now that the Measure Tool dialog is open, first pick the Measuring Tool you wish to use, by selecting it on the left. Rectangle Area and Polygon Area both produce area (such as Sq. Ft.), and perimeter as length.

Mark-Up Adjustments:

Before you start measuring, you may want to adjust the line thickness. This affects the perimeter line of Rectangle and Polygon measurements and the line thickness of Length measurements. If you are going to use the Count tool, the symbol size adjusts the size of the Count symbol drawn on the sheet with each click.

In both cases, the sizes are indicated in approximate, thousandths of an inch. The actual number is not real important, because you usually adjust it by experimenting, to produce the look you want.

The symbol size and line thickness are also adjusted as you draw, by pressing the plus (+) and minus (-) keys on the keyboard.

After everything is selected, press the Start button in the bottom left hand corner.

Measure Tool Functionality:

When you press start, the Measure Tool dialog will close, taking you back to the main window with your selected drawing sheet open. In the Status Bar, on the bottom of the main window, you will see the current tool. As you draw measurements, this will be followed by the measurement totals.

Notice that your cursor over the drawing is now a set of crosshairs. Click your left mouse button to place a point. If you are zoomed out to less than 45%, the view will magnify, while the left button is held down, so that you can precisely place your point. The system is designed for accuracy. You can draw quickly, ignoring the magnified view, or for high accuracy, you can hold down the left button and adjust the position of the crosshairs before you let up. On the right end of the Status Bar, you will see your current Zoom percentage.

If a point is misplaced, press the Undo command; the number 3 key. As you finish drawing an Area or Length measurement, press the "Next" command to start the next in the series; the number 2 key (not needed for Rectangle or Count).

When the next command is issued while drawing with the Polygon Area tool, a new line will appear between the last point you placed and the first point of the area, to close the shape and fill it with color. Then you may proceed with the rest of the areas of the Measurement Group. Multiple measurements in the same group (all for the same item) have their results summed together. For example, with the Rectangle Area tool, the total Sq. Feet and the total Perimeter of all the rooms traced.

You may also close a polygon by clicking on the first point. And you can cut off a length measurement by clicking on the last point again.

To work with the resulting quantites and finish building the Item, return to Item Creator. Press the number 4 key or click on the toolbar icon. There you will specify the Item or Assembly represented by the summed quantities from the Measurement Group, and create a new Measurement Group for the next Item.

These command and shortcut keys, function anytime you are working with a drawing, while no dialog boxes are open. For a cheat-sheet of controls and shortcuts, please check our QuickEye Estimator Controls page.

Correcting/Changing Measure Settings:

As mentioned above, the symbol size and line thickness can be adjusted as you draw, by pressing the plus (+) and minus (-) keys on the keyboard. You may also return to the Measure Tool dialog, adjust the sliders and then press the "Apply + Continue" button. Your new settings will apply to the measurement series you just drew, and then you can continue drawing the rest. The shortcut to return to the Measure Tool dialog is the number 1 key on the keyboard.

The other shortcut keys that apply to drawing measurements is for rotating symbols. E and R rotate a symbol left and right by 90 degrees per keypress. The next keys on either side rotate 2 degrees at a time. The W key to rotate left (Counter-Clockwise) 2 degrees, and the T key to rotate right 2 degrees. This gives you full control over how the symbol looks if you have a directional symbol such as an Elbow or a Sprinkler Head symbol. You can remember it by thinking R for Rotate Right. All four are in a row and should work well for quickly setting the rotation.

The rotation will apply to the most recent symbol only and will also be used for successive symbols, until you set a different rotation.

Accessing Single Lines and Design Grid:

If your measurement requires single line segments only, set the Single Lines checkbox. This eliminates the need to end every segment manually. This results in only needing two clicks per line, but all the lines will be single. While drawing you may toggle "Single Lines" mode by pressing the S key. The current mode is indicated on the status bar at the bottom of the main window.

Checking the Design Grid checkbox, turns on the Design Grid. Please check out our Design Grid page to learn about this powerful tool.