Resources

Get the takeoff done.

How the work actually gets done on a sheet: setting scale, measuring, keeping markups you can total, and the mistakes that follow a bid to the number you submit. Written for estimators mid-bid, by people who build tools for them.

Guides

Straight answers, in the order you do the work.

Revu takeoff how-to

How to do a takeoff in Bluebeam Revu

Set the scale, measure areas, lengths and counts, keep the markups organised, and get the quantities out into your bid. The full Revu takeoff workflow, plus the four mistakes that follow a bid to the number you submit.

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Choosing a takeoff tool

AI takeoff software, compared

What the main AI takeoff tools actually do, taken from each vendor's own documentation and dated. Where you work, what gets measured, whether the markups are native to your file, and how you drive it.

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Revu takeoff how-to

How to set the scale in Bluebeam Revu

Calibrate against a dimension you can trust, set it per page rather than per set, handle sheets with two scales and scanned sets, and check it in two seconds on every sheet. The scale workflow in Revu, and the mistakes that follow a bid.

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Revu takeoff how-to

How to count symbols without missing any

Define what one symbol means, place the counts in Bluebeam Revu, let a visual search find the rest, and check the misses rather than the hits. The symbol count workflow, and the seven things that break a count.

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Electrical trade takeoff

How to do an electrical takeoff in Bluebeam Revu

Split demolition from new work, count each device family on its own, reconcile against the panel and fixture schedules, and measure conduit and homeruns to scale. The electrical takeoff workflow in Revu, filmed on a real power plan.

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Flooring trade takeoff

How to do a flooring takeoff in Bluebeam Revu

Key every room to its finish code, trace to the inner wall face, take out columns and shafts, count the doorway strip once, and keep net area separate from what you order. The flooring takeoff workflow in Revu, and the mistakes that follow a bid.

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Bluebeam MCP and Claude

Working with Claude and the Bluebeam MCP

What Bluebeam's MCP server actually exposes when you connect Claude to Revu: the 30 functions grouped by what they cover, the one that touches scale, and what still is not on the list. Sourced from Bluebeam's own documentation, dated.

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Bluebeam Max for takeoff

What Bluebeam Max does for takeoff, and what it leaves to you

Bluebeam Max's own published features, VisualSearch, Magic Markups, the Claude MCP connection, Smart Review and Smart Overlay, and which of them actually produces a quantity versus which still wants an estimator to run and check it. Sourced from Bluebeam's own site, dated.

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More are being written. If there is a question you keep hitting mid-bid and cannot find a straight answer to, tell us and we will write that one next.

By trade

What your trade measures off a sheet.

Nine trades, each with the scopes it takes off and the units it prices in.

ConcreteCY · SF · LF · EA SiteworkSF · LF · CY · EA DrywallLF · SF · EA FramingLF · EA · SF MechanicalLF · EA · SF ElectricalEA · LF RoofingSF · LF · EA GlazingSF · EA · LF FlooringSF · LF · SY

By tool

The software on your screen.

Bluebeam Revu is live today. The rest are next, and each page says so plainly rather than implying otherwise.

Bluebeam RevuLive today PlanSwiftComing soon Autodesk RevitComing soon Autodesk TakeoffComing soon

Let’s get to work

Or just watch it run.

Reading about a takeoff is slower than seeing one. Tell us the scope you price most often and we will take it off on a live sheet in Bluebeam Revu, on the call.

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