Overlay lets you compare two plans to see what is different between them. You can compare revisions of the same plan (revisions are covered in the Related Articles) or any two plans in the Plan Organizer.

The Overlay function is available on the Takeoff Tab and uses a combination of the Revision and Set Navigation controls, the Overlay Pane, and the Overlay Toolbar.

Overlays do not necessarily have to be a Revision of the Page or Plan to which you want to compare. You can compare different trade's Plans to check for "collisions". We call this "Coordination Overlay" (because you are assessing coordination between multiple trades) and it allows you to compare one Plan in your Project to any other Plan.

Notes

When comparing Revisions Blue is NEW and Red is DEAD meaning that objects that are colored in Blue exist on the newer revision (or whichever the Plan you choose to Overlay on top of the current plan) but do not exist on the older or base plan. Objects colored in Red have been removed meaning the objects exist on the current/earlier/base plan but not the newer Revision (again or whichever Plan you chose to use as the Overlay).

The Overlay function is designed to show you differences in the Plans at reasonable zoom. Overlay will show you pixel-level changes if you zoom in extremely closely. Use Overlay to identify changes on the Plan not to compare high-zoom details.

In the next few articles we will show you how to compare Revisions of the same Plan as well as compare plans from different trades or divisions to identify construction "collisions" or potential building problems.

Related Articles