On-Screen Takeoff - 01.04.01 Takeoff Boost™ AI-Powered Takeoff Tools

Takeoff Boost is integrated into On-Screen Takeoff, although it requires a separate subscription and license key (see Overview and Requirements for details).

Takeoff Boost makes it easier for you to get a preliminary scope of work on a takeoff project. In seconds, Takeoff Boost analyzes a plan and then creates Conditions and takeoff to account for:

• Footprint area
  • Footprint Area (area outline of a building, drawn along the outside edge of the exterior walls)
• Net Area (less walls)
  • Net Area (cumulative area drawn along the inside edge of exterior and interior walls)
• Ceilings - Gypsum Board and ACT are taken off separately (v.4.0.0.288 and newer)
  • Broken out by Type if identified on plan
• Walls (linear)
  • Broken out by Types if identified on the plan (v.3.98.12.04 and newer)
  • Existing Wall (after 12/18/2025 service update)
• Painting (linear) (v.4.0 and newer)
  • Wall Surface Areas (both sides of interior walls are taken off)
• Windows by Type as identified on the plan (v.3.98.18.03 and newer)
• Counts
  • Counts such as Plumbing Fixtures, Doors, Elevators, etc.
• Volume, specifically concrete footings

Using Takeoff Boost's automated takeoff you can:

• Save up to 95% of your time by automating repetitive takeoff tasks
• Spend more of your time in detailed analysis of your project and takeoff results
• Estimate the scope of a project to see if you're interested in investing the time and effort necessary to work up a formal bid
• Generate a rough cost estimate using your historical Unit Costs and Takeoff Boost's results (along with your own manual takeoff)

Example of Conditions and results that Takeoff Boost results can provide

From here, you could export the results to your favorite estimating program (such as Quick Bid) or simply use the Estimate Tab to develop a rough Unit Cost estimate.

Let’s get this out of the way, no technology or automation can take the place of a seasoned, knowledgeable estimator. Takeoff Boost is not “complete, automated takeoff” that a user can use, with the press of a magic button, to estimate an entire project. Takeoff Boost gives you a great head start on your takeoff, and our Artificial Intelligence models are improving all the time, but as the estimator, you still play a critical role in bringing “human experience” to review and fine-tune the project.

Also, Takeoff Boost isn’t a "fit" for every contractor. For the initial version, what Takeoff Boost finds may not help you in your particular trade or scope of work. You’ll need to judge if what Takeoff Boost can do for you brings value to your organization. Our recommendation: Give Takeoff Boost a try - it’s free to trial 5 uses to see it’s a fit for your takeoff needs.

Although the results Takeoff Boost delivers gives you a significant jump start on your Project, you must review all takeoff Results, rename Conditions, reassign takeoff from the Conditions Boost creates to appropriate Conditions you create, and fill-in missing takeoff manually, we cover all that in Chapter 6, see Related Articles for details.

First, AI-Powered Auto Count is different than the standard Auto Count takeoff function that uses OCR to scan a single page and return matching results.

With the all-new Auto Count, you select what you want to search for (similar to the old Auto Count), but then, you tell Auto Count all the Pages you want to search on (up to 15 Pages at a time).

Takeoff results are added to Pages as they become available; you’re free to use the current or any other Project in On-Screen Takeoff while Auto Count is running.

See detailed information about Auto Count (AI) here: Using AI-Powered Auto Count to “Count Anything” (article will be available May 2026)

Creating Hot Links and Named Views is one of the first things an estimator does to make navigating through plans easier. But it takes a LONG TIME! Hours, even Days of creating the Named Views and then placing Hot Links wherever that view is referenced, over and over, across dozens if not hundreds of pages.

Auto Link does all that painful, tedious work for you - in seconds or minutes. There are two ways Auto Link can work:

Embedded

Some PDFs are created with embedded metadata that store information about page-linking. Auto Link reads that embedded information and creates Hot Links to Pages in seconds. The Named Views are to an entire Page, not the specific details, but this may be all you need to improve efficiency and get your takeoff done faster.

When detected, Auto Link gives you the choice between using this embedded data or our cloud-based AI linking service.

AI-Powered

If your plan files don’t include this embedded data, or if you want links to specific details on the Detail Pages, use the AI-Powered option. With this option, your plans are uploaded to our service where Architectural and Structural plans are analyzed and Named Views and Hot Links are created.

Either way, you see the Named Views that Auto Link creates, along with all those you manually create, in a new Views tab in the Conditions window.

See detailed information about Auto Link here: Using Auto Link to Create Named Views and Hot Links (article will be available May 2026)

Auto Name updates your Sheet Numbers and Sheet Names for your entire plan set in just a few minutes. Instead of spending your valuable time on mundane tasks, focus on value-driving objectives.

See detailed information about Auto Name here: Using Auto Name to Speed Up Bid Setup